I.D.#
_______________________
·
Circle the
correct multiple choice answer.
·
Use back
of page for numerical calculations if necessary … but
·
Write final
numerical answer on underline provided with question.
· Use space provided to answer non-numerical questions.
1. What is meant by the statement, “The Moon subtends an angle of ½ degrees?”
(a) The Moon moves ½ degree every 30 seconds.
(b) The Moon lies ½ degree above the horizon every evening in the summer.
(c) ½ degree is the field of view that the Moon covers in the sky as seen by an observer on Earth.
(d) The Moon never overlaps the Sun by more than ½ degree.
(e) The Moon and the Sun are the same angular size.
2. How many arcseconds equal 1 degree? _______________________
3. The nearest star (discounting the Sun) is Proxima Centauri, about 4.2 light-years (LY) away. How far is this in AU?
_______________________
4. Write the following numbers using powers of ten notation:
(a) One hundred million _______________________
(b) Eighty thousand _______________________
(c) Seven one-hundredths _______________________
(d) Thirty-five billion _______________________
(e) Avagadro’s number _______________________
5. The speed of light is 3.00 x 10 8 m/s. Approximately how long does it take light to travel from the Sun to Earth? Express your answer in minutes to the nearest minute (i.e., 5 min, 10 min, whatever)
_______________________
6. On 01-Jan-98, the planet Uranus was 20.721 AU from Earth. The diameter of Uranus is 51,118 km. What was the angular size of Uranus as seen from Earth? Express your answer in arcseconds.
_______________________
7. Suppose that you can clearly distinguish features through a telescope if they are separated by an angle of 2 arcseconds. What is the diameter of the smallest crater on the Moon that you can see clearly with this telescope?
_______________________
8. The following hypotheses are either scientifically testable or they are not. Label them yes if they are … no if they are not.
(a) The universe was created by intelligent design.
(b) Aliens can manipulate time in such a way that they can travel from one point in the galaxy to another faster than light can travel between those two points.
(c) Bacteria from Earth can survive on Mars.
(d) The Earth is no more than 8000 years old.
(e) There is no liquid water on the surface of Venus today.
Chapter 2
9. What is the celestial sphere?
(a) a region in the sky where all angels live.
(b) a sphere that surrounds the Earth in which the motion of all celestial objects, such as stars and planets, is maintained by the god, Ra.
(c) a transparent sphere that surrounds the Earth, contains all celestial objects and rotates on its axis once per day.
(d) a useful model used by observers of the night sky to locate the positions of celestial objects.
(e) a protective sphere that surrounds the Earth to fend off alien attacks.
10. Where on Earth do you have to be for the north celestial pole to appear on the horizon?
(a) at the North Pole
(b) on a
ship sailing around
(c) somewhere on the equator
(d) somewhere on the prime meridian
(e) somewhere south of the 45th parallel
11. How are the vernal and autumnal equinoxes defined?
(a) They are defined relative to the prime meridian and the celestial equator
(b) They are the positions on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator and ecliptic intersect. These positions represent the directions in space from Earth toward the Sun on the first day of spring and autumn.
(c) They
are the two days of the year when (i) the
(d) They are defined to be the dates when the Sun and Moon more or less line up in the directions of the constellations Pisces and Gemini
(e) They represent that time of the year when days are longest and nights the shortest … and vice-versa.
12. How are the summer and winter solstices defined?
(a) They are positions of the Sun on the celestial sphere where its declination is a maximum (+23.5 o, summer solstice) and a minimum (-23.5 o, winter solstice). They represent the directions in space from Earth toward the Sun on the first day of summer and winter, respectively.
(b) They are the hottest and coldest days of the year, respectively.
(c) They are the days when the durations of day and night are equal.
(d) They are the first day you can go swimming and skiing, respectively.
(e) They
are the two days of the year when you can see the Sun directly overhead at noon
in
13. Figure 2-4 in
your text shows the constellation Cygnus at its highest point in the sky at
8:00 P.M. local time for a person in
14. At 10:00 P.M. on Dec 1, you see the bright star Procyon rising on the eastern horizon. What time will Procyon rise two weeks later, on Dec 15?
_______________________
15. Suppose that you live at latitude 40 degrees north (in fact, you’re close). What is the elevation of the Sun above the southern horizon at noon on the day of the winter solstice? _______________________
16. The Great Pyramid
at
Chapter 3
17. Suppose it is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. What is the phase of the Moon when it is located at
(a) the vernal equinox _______________________
(b) the summer solstice _______________________
(c) the autumnal equinox _______________________
(d) the winter solstice? _______________________
(Hint: Make a drawing showing the relative positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon.)
18. Why isn’t there a lunar eclipse at every full moon and a solar eclipse at every new moon?
(a) Lunar eclipses can never occur during the full moon phase … that’s why its’s full!
(b) Solar eclipses can occur only when the moon is full … otherwise the Moon could not block out the Sun.
(c) There is! We just don’t always see them because of cloud cover or storms.
(d) The Sun only goes around the Earth (apparently) once per year. Therefore, there can be no more than one solar eclipse per year.
(e) The orbital plane of the Moon around Earth is Sun inclined by about 5 degrees from the orbital plane of Earth around the Sun and the Moon, Earth and Sun can only line up when they each are positioned somewhere along the line of intersection of those two planes.
19. How did Eratosthenes determine the size of the Earth?
(a) He walked around it and counted his steps.
(b) He measured how much the angle between the Moon and the Sun changed during the course of a day.
(c) He was a citizen of the lost, technologically advanced civilization of Atlantis and used GPS … a technology that wasn’t rediscovered until recently.
(d) He noted that, at noon on the day of the summer solstice, the Sun’s rays would illuminate the bottom of a well in Syene, Egypt, when he knew the angle of a shadow cast by a gnomon in Alexandria, his home, was seven degrees, and that Alexandria was 5000 stades due north of Syene.
(e) He marched off the distance between 10 degrees of latitude and calculated that circumference of the Earth was 36 times longer.
20. How did Aristarchus estimate the distance from the Earth to the Sun and Moon?
(a) He timed how long it took a beam of light to travel to each of those places and back.
(b) He measured the angular size of both the Sun and the Moon.
(c) He measured the difference in time it took the Moon to travel from first quarter to third quarter and from third quarter back to first and calculated that the angle between the Moon and the Sun in those phases was 87 degrees. This meant that the angle between the Earth and Moon with respect to the Sun was only 3 degrees and from this he concluded that the Sun was about 20 times further away than the Moon (and therefore, 20 times larger).
(d) He noted how long it took for the Moon to pass through the Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse.
(e) He prayed to the Sun god, Ra, who revealed the answer to him in his dreams.