Download Midterm 2 Practice Exam

Astronomy 1: Midterm 2 Practice Exam
True/False (+2pts each)
Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false. On your scantron, mark A for true and B for false.
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1. Jupiter is less dense than water.
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2. With new technology astronomers are now able to get direct images of thousands of Earth sized planets in
orbit around other stars.
Multiple Choice (+2pts each)
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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3. When the different colors of light passing through a lens comes to a focus at the different distances, it is called
a. spherical aberration
b. refractive aberration
c. chromatic aberration
d. focal aberration
4. Which of the following people invented the first telescope?
a. Hans Lippershey
b. Johannes Kepler
c. Isaac Newton
d. Galileo Galilei
5. What is the most massive planet in our Solar System?
a. Saturn
b. Jupiter
c. Neptune
d. Mars
e. Saturn
6. 200 million years ago, the Earth’s only continent was called
a. North America.
b. Gondwaniland.
c. Laurasia.
d. Pangaea.
7. Which planet has the large hurricane called the Great Red Spot on it?
a. Neptune
b. Uranus
c. Saturn
d. Venus
e. Jupiter
8. Identify the only moon that is NOT considered as one of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter.
a. Ganymede
b. Europa
c. Callisto
d. Io
e. Titan
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9. What two elements currently dominate the Earth’s atmosphere?
a. carbon dioxide and oxygen
b. hydrogen and oxygen
c. hydrogen and helium
d. nitrogen and oxygen
10. Valles Marineris is a huge canyon system on which planet?
a. Earth
b. Mercury
c. Mars
d. Venus
11. Which of the following functions depend upon the diameter of the telescope?
a. resolution and magnification.
b. light gathering power and resolution.
c. light gathering power, resolution, and magnification.
d. light gathering power and magnification.
12. What causes plate tectonics to occur on the Earth?
a. The gravitational pull of the Moon results in tides that can also trigger motion of the plates
when the oceans rub against the land during strong tides.
b. The Earth’s outer molten iron core generates a current that causes the plates to shift over
time.
c. Strong volcanic eruptions in one part of the world can trigger the plates to move in another
part of the world later on.
d. Convection in the Earth’s mantle causes the rock to move in a slow circular motion which
causes the plates to move over time.
13. Which planet is tilted 98 degrees so its rings are orientated perpendicular (vertical) to the plane of its orbit?
a. Saturn
b. Uranus
c. Jupiter
d. Neptune
14. What element causes Uranus and Neptune to be blue in color?
a. methane
b. water
c. helium
d. hydrogen
15. How many of the planets in our Solar System have rings?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 5
e. 4
16. Which planet has an atmospheric pressure that is 95 times stronger than on the Earth?
a. Mars
b. Mercury
c. Venus
17. In order to have a significant magnetic field what two properties does a planet have to possess?
a. slow rotation and liquid metallic interior
b. fast rotation and liquid metallic interior
c. fast rotation and solid interior
d. slow rotation and solid interior
____ 18. The magnetic field of the Earth is important to humans because it
a. prevents solar flares from occurring.
b. prevents global warming from occurring.
c. blocks out most of the harmful ultra-violet radiation from the Sun.
d. blocks most of the dangerous charged particles released by the Sun.
____ 19. Which of the following everyday item is most closely related to the charge-coupled device (CCD)?
a. computer chip
b. GPS navigation
c. digital camera
d. compact disc
e. cell phone
____ 20. Interferometry is
a. the correction for spherical aberration of a mirror.
b. using a deformable mirror to counteract the scattering of light from the atmosphere.
c. using several telescopes together as one in order to increase resolution.
d. the correction for chromatic aberration in lens.
Completion (+1pt)
Complete each sentence or statement.
21. What is the name of another object in our Solar System besides the Earth and Mars that could potentially have
liquid water on it? ____________________
Short Answer (+2pts each)
22. Scientists have discovered compelling evidence for past and current liquid water on Mars. Describe two
discoveries that were made of Mars that demonstrates liquid water has existed or may still exist on Mars.
Short Answer (+4pts each)
23. a) List the names of the inner/terrestrial planets in their correct order from the Sun. (+2pts all or nothing) b)
List the names of the outer/Jovian planets in the correct order from the Sun. (+2pts all or nothing)
24. a) When did our Solar System form? (+1pt) c) Describe in detail how our Sun and our planets were formed
(+3pts)
25. a) What is currently happening to the distance of the Moon from the Earth (ie, is it moving away from the
Earth or is it moving closer to the Earth)? (+1pt) b) Explain in detail why the distance of the Moon is
changing. (+3pts)
26. a) Which Apollo mission (choose a number between 1-17) was the first to send humans to the Moon? (+1pt)
b) What were the names of the three people who were on that mission? (+3pts)