Download Astronomy 1: 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. The Moon has a very thin atmosphere that is made of sodium.
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2. The Kepler Spacecraft uses a technique that is very sensitive to detecting Earth-size planets 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. About how big is the current world’s largest telescope?
a. 2.5 meters
b. 30 meters
c. 10.4 meters
d. 8.5 meters
e. 4.3 meter
4. The planet that has the most number of visible craters is
a. Earth
b. Mars
c. the Moon
d. Venus
e. Mercury
5. Which of the following functions depend upon the diameter of the telescope?
a. light gathering power and resolution.
b. resolution and magnification.
c. light gathering power and magnification.
d. light gathering power, resolution, and magnification.
6. 200 million years ago, the Earth’s only continent was called
a. North America.
b. Gondwaniland.
c. Laurasia.
d. Pangaea.
7. The dark areas called “mare” or “maria” on the Moon are
a. lunar highlands
b. dried up seas
c. cooled lava flow
d. fine sandy material
8. When the different colors of light passing through a lens comes to a focus at the different distances, it is called
a. refractive aberration
b. focal aberration
c. chromatic aberration
d. spherical aberration
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9. What is the best reason why Mars is red in color?
a. Because it has a lot of volcanic activity which produces lava all over its surface.
b. Because it has iron oxide all over its surface.
c. Because the ice on Mars reflects mostly red light.
d. Because it has a thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide that reflects mostly red light.
10. Which of the following two places do astronomers believe may currently have liquid water beneath its
surface?
a. Mars, Mercury
b. Europa, Io
c. Io, the Moon
d. Venus, Mars
e. Europa, Enceladus
11. Which planet is tilted 98 degrees so its rings are orientated perpendicular (vertical) to the plane of its orbit?
a. Neptune
b. Uranus
c. Saturn
d. Jupiter
12. Interferometry is
a. the correction for chromatic aberration in lens.
b. using several telescopes together as one in order to increase resolution.
c. using a deformable mirror to counteract the scattering of light from the atmosphere.
d. the correction for spherical aberration of a mirror.
13. Which of the following people invented the first telescope?
a. Hans Lippershey
b. Isaac Newton
c. Johannes Kepler
d. Galileo Galilei
14. What element causes Uranus and Neptune to be blue in color?
a. water
b. helium
c. methane
d. hydrogen
15. Which planet has the Great Red Spot on it?
a. Uranus
b. Neptune
c. Saturn
d. Venus
e. Jupiter
16. 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. slow rotation and solid interior
c. fast rotation and liquid metallic interior
d. fast rotation and solid interior
17. Identify the only moon that is NOT considered as one of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter.
a. Enceladus
b. Io
c. Europa
d. Ganymede
e. Callisto
____ 18. Valles Marineris is a huge canyon system on which planet?
a. Mars
b. Mercury
c. Venus
d. Earth
____ 19. Which of the following is the least important function of a telescope.
a. magnifying the image.
b. brightening the image.
c. seeing fine detail in the image.
____ 20. What causes plate tectonics to occur on the Earth?
a. The Earth’s outer molten iron core generates a current that causes the plates to shift over
time.
b. Convection in the molten component of the Earth’s mantle causes the liquid move in a
slow circular motion which causes the plates to move 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. 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.
Short Answer (+2pts each)
21. Describe two specific ways that the ozone layer was important to the evolution of life.
22. What year did human beings first step on the Moon? _____________________
23. Besides having water, describe two properties (as discussed in class) that Mars (and no other planet has) that
is very similar to the Earth.
Short Answer (+3pts)
24. a) What do we call the side of the Moon that always faces the Earth? b) Explain why the same side of the
Moon always faces the Earth.
25. a) What is happening to the distance of the Moon, is it moving farther away or getting closer to the Earth? d)
What is causing the Moon’s distance to change over time?
Short Answer (+4pts to 5pts each)
26. a) What is the name of the best theory that describes the formation of the Solar System? (+1pt) b) When did
our Solar System form? (+1pt) c) Describe in detail how our Sun and our planets were formed (+3pts)
27. a) List the names of the inner planets in their correct distance from the Sun (starting with the closest one first).
(+2pts all or nothing) b) List the names of the outer planets in their correct distance from the Sun (starting
with the closest one first) (+2pts all or nothing)