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Astronomy 103 Exam 3

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104 Astronomy Quiz on Astronomy 103 Exam 3, created by Natalie Balzert on 05/05/2016.
Natalie Balzert
Quiz by Natalie Balzert, updated more than 1 year ago
Natalie Balzert
Created by Natalie Balzert almost 8 years ago
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Question 1

Question
As the universe cooled shortly after the Big Bang, which was the first fundamental force to separate itself out from the others?
Answer
  • Electromagnetism
  • Gravity
  • The nuclear force
  • The strong force
  • The weak force

Question 2

Question
The ability for one generation to pass on its characteristics to future generations is known as:
Answer
  • Luck
  • Mutations
  • Heredity
  • Self-replication
  • Duplication

Question 3

Question
Which of the following Solar Systems objects is NOT a good candidate for future searches for life?
Answer
  • Mars, because it once had liquid water on the surface
  • Jupiter's moon Europa, because it appears to have liquid water under its frozen surface
  • Saturn's moon Titan, because it has an atmosphere containing many organic molecules
  • Pluto, because a large portion of it is made of water ice.
  • Saturn's moon Enceladus, because its cryovolcanoes indicate that it has liquid water under the surface

Question 4

Question
Why was a comet impact 65 million years ago a chance happening that benefited the evolution of humans?
Answer
  • It deposited a significant amount of nitrogen into the Earth's atmosphere
  • It led to an increase in global UV radiation, which killed off most of the forests and jungles
  • Mammals got an evolutionary boost
  • Plant life began to decline
  • It brought human DNA to Earth

Question 5

Question
In 1952, chemists Harold Urey and Stanley Miller mixed ammonia, methane, and hydrogen; in a closed container; zapped it with electrical sparks and found that:
Answer
  • They could induce cold fusion to occur
  • They could not induce any amino acids to form
  • Single-celled microorganisms had been spontaneously created
  • They had created many of the amino acids contained in DNA
  • They created life in a test tube

Question 6

Question
Why could life not have existed on land any earlier than 475 million years ago?
Answer
  • The temperature was too high
  • There was too little sunlight
  • There was too little oxygen in the atmosphere
  • Earth was covered in erupting volcanoes
  • There was no land because Earth was covered in water

Question 7

Question
Which of the following is a likely source of the energy needed to create the first life of Earth?
Answer
  • Land volcanoes
  • Asteroid impacts
  • Lightning
  • Fire
  • Earthquakes

Question 8

Question
What do astronomers mean when they say that the Sun makes energy by hydrogen burning?
Answer
  • The Sun is combusting hydrogen in a fire and releasing energy
  • The Sun is fusing hydrogen into uranium and releasing energy
  • The Sun is made of mostly hydrogen at very high temperature
  • The Sun is fusion hydrogen into helium and releasing energy
  • The Sun is accumulating hydrogen from the solar wind and releasing energy

Question 9

Question
When two atomic nuclei come together to form a new species of atom, this is called:
Answer
  • Nuclear fission
  • Nuclear recombination
  • Nuclear splitting
  • Nuclear fusion
  • Ionization

Question 10

Question
If the core of the Sun were hotter than it is now, how would the Sun's energy production change?
Answer
  • It would produce less energy per second than it does now
  • It would produce more energy per second than it does now
  • Its energy production would vary more than it does now
  • Its energy production would be more stable than it is now
  • The Sun's energy production would not change.

Question 11

Question
The energy that fuels the Sun is generated:
Answer
  • Only on its surface
  • Only in its core
  • Only in the solar wind
  • Both in its core and on its surface
  • By plugging into the wall socket

Question 12

Question
The detection of solar neutrinos confirms that:
Answer
  • The Sun's core is powered by proton-proton fusion
  • Energy transport by radiation occurs throughout much of the solar interior
  • Magnetic fields are responsible for surface activity on the Sun
  • Convection churns the base of the solar atmosphere
  • Sunspots are cooler than the rest of the photosphere

Question 13

Question
Sunspots appear dark because they have _____ then the surrounding gas.
Answer
  • Higher densities
  • Lower densities
  • Higher pressures
  • Lower temperatures
  • Higher temperatures

Question 14

Question
Which of the following are created by solar magnetic activity?
Answer
  • Sunspots
  • Prominences
  • Coronal mass ejections
  • Solar flares
  • All of the above

Question 15

Question
The darkest part of a sunspots is called the:
Answer
  • Penumbra
  • Umbra
  • Granule
  • Photosphere
  • Magnetic field

Question 16

Question
If you observe a maximum number of sunspots right now, how long would you have to wait to see the next solar maximum?
Answer
  • 24 hours
  • 6 months
  • 1 year
  • 11 years
  • 22 years

Question 17

Question
Most asteroids are located between the orbits of:
Answer
  • Earth and Mars
  • Mars and Jupiter
  • Jupiter and Saturn
  • Neptune and Pluto
  • The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud

Question 18

Question
The mass of all the known asteroids combined is approximately equal to:
Answer
  • Half the mass of Earth
  • Three times the mass of Earth
  • Twice the mass of Mars
  • The mass of Mars
  • One-third the mass of the Moon

Question 19

Question
Most asteroids are closest in shape to:
Answer
  • A potato
  • A banana
  • A hot dog
  • A stick
  • A baseball

Question 20

Question
The one orbital characteristic both short- and long-period comets share is:
Answer
  • Mostly prograde orbits
  • Orbits with completely random tilts
  • Mostly retrograde orbits
  • Orbital periods longer than any planet
  • Highly eccentric orbits

Question 21

Question
Comet Halley is unique because:
Answer
  • It was the first comet whose return was predicted
  • It is a member of the Jovian family, but has a retrograde orbit
  • Its period is less than a human lifetime
  • It was successfully visited by a spacecraft
  • It was the brightest comet ever observed by humans

Question 22

Question
A large meteor shower will often occur once a year because:
Answer
  • Earth typically has one large volcanic eruption every year
  • The Earth's orbit passes through the Apollo asteroid belt
  • The comet-keeper has a good calendar
  • Jupiter routinely disturbs the orbits of asteroids in the Jovian belt
  • The Earth passes through the debris left behind by a specific comet

Question 23

Question
In the early universe, when the Solar System had yet to be cleared of the debris out of which it formed, which type of object would have been most likely to deposit water onto Earth's surface?
Answer
  • Comets
  • Asteroids
  • A Mars-sized protoplanet
  • A rogue moon
  • A monsoon

Question 24

Question
Meteor showers appear as if they are coming from one particular place in the sky because:
Answer
  • That is the direction in which the comet is coming toward us
  • That is the direction in which the comet is moving away from us
  • That is the direction toward which Earth is traveling
  • That is the direction Earth just passed
  • That is the location in the sky from which the meteors originate

Question 25

Question
Hydrostatic equilibrium is a balance between:
Answer
  • Heat and centrifugal force
  • Core temperature and surface temperature
  • Pressure and gravity
  • Radiation and heat
  • Centrifugal force gravity

Question 26

Question
The majority of the Sun's energy comes from:
Answer
  • Gravitational contraction
  • Nuclear fission of uranium
  • Hydrogen fusion
  • Helium burning
  • Burning material as in a fire

Question 27

Question
Jupiter and Saturn are composed primarily of:
Answer
  • Hydrogen
  • Helium
  • Water
  • Ammonia
  • Carbon

Question 28

Question
Which planet received the least amount of energy from the Sun?
Answer
  • Jupiter
  • Earth
  • Neptune
  • Saturn
  • Uranus

Question 29

Question
Which of these observations would allow you to measure the mass of a planet?
Answer
  • The planet's orbital period
  • The planet's rotational period
  • The planet's distance from the Sun
  • The orbit of one of that planet's moons
  • The planet's blood pressure

Question 30

Question
Which of the giant planets was predicted to exist mathematically before it was ever seen through a telescope?
Answer
  • Jupiter
  • Saturn
  • Uranus
  • Neptune

Question 31

Question
How is the atmosphere of Saturn similar to the atmosphere of Earth?
Answer
  • They are both made of mostly hydrogen and helium
  • They both create magnetic fields
  • They both have jet streams and periods of stormy and calm weather
  • They both rotate in less than 11 hours
  • They both have a seamless transition between gas and liquid

Question 32

Question
The Great Red Spot, Jupiter's most prominent storm system, has a diameter that is _____ times the Earth's diameter.
Answer
  • Two
  • Five
  • 10
  • 50
  • 100

Question 33

Question
Why aren't all clouds on Jupiter white, like on Earth?
Answer
  • Jupiter's clouds are made of methane
  • Jupiter's clouds are made of carbon dioxide
  • There are chemical impurities in the ice crystals in Jupiter's clouds
  • The Sun is not as bright when views from Jupiter compared to what it looks like from Earth
  • For the same reason that we see colors in rainbows on Earth

Question 34

Question
Uranus and Neptune are bluish green in color because they contain large amounts of:
Answer
  • Ammonia
  • Methane
  • Water vapor
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Oxygen

Question 35

Question
We refer to some of the inner regions of Jupiter and Saturn as metallic hydrogen because they:
Answer
  • Are as dense as lead
  • Are solid
  • Provide support for the upper layers of hydrogen and helium
  • Efficiently conduct electricity
  • Are found in the core like iron is found at the core of the Earth

Question 36

Question
Who first discovered moons around a planet in our Solar System other than the Earth?
Answer
  • Newton
  • Kepler
  • Galileo
  • Huygens
  • Einstein

Question 37

Question
Which property of a moon might lead you to believe it was a captured asteroid?
Answer
  • It is tidally locked
  • Its orbital axis is tilted by 5 degrees compared to the planet's rotational axis
  • It rotates in the opposite direction than its planet rotates
  • Its surface is very smooth and lacks craters
  • It is roughly the size of Earth's moon

Question 38

Question
Assume that we discover a new moon of Jupiter. It orbits Jupiter at a large distance and in the opposite direction that Jupiter rotates. It is much smaller than than most of Jupiter's other moons and has a density close to that of Earth rocks. Therefore, this moon is most likely:
Answer
  • A regular moon that formed with Jupiter in the early solar system
  • An irregular moon that is most likely a captured asteroid
  • An irregular moon that is most likely a captured comet
  • An irregular moon that is most likely a protoplanet which collided with Jupiter in the early solar system and then was caught in orbit by Jupiter's gravity
  • More information is needed before any conclusion can be made

Question 39

Question
Which of the following can be used as an indicator of the age of a moon's surface
Answer
  • Color of the surface
  • Crater density
  • Volcanic activity
  • Radioactive dating
  • All of the above

Question 40

Question
Io has the most volcanic activity in the Solar System because:
Answer
  • It is continually being bombarded with material in Saturn's E ring
  • It is one of the largest moons and its interior is heated by radioactive decays
  • Of gravitational friction caused by the moon Enceladus
  • Its interior is tidally heated as it orbits around Jupiter
  • The ice on the surface creates a large pressure on the water below

Question 41

Question
Titan is high-priority candidate for the search for life outside Earth primarily because it has:
Answer
  • Liquid water
  • A dense atmosphere like Earth's
  • Warm temperatures
  • Active volcanoes
  • Organic material

Question 42

Question
Which of the following moons do scientists believe most closely represents the primordial Earth, although at a much lower temperature?
Answer
  • Titan
  • Europa
  • Callisto
  • Io
  • Ganymede

Question 43

Question
Two years after first being observed, astronomers reported that Saturn's rings vanished. What happened to them?
Answer
  • The old ring system dissipated, and since then a new one has formed
  • The orbital plane of the rings was seen edge-on, and the rings were too thin to be visible
  • Most telescopes used hundreds of years ago couldn't adequately resolve the ring system
  • Astronomers were looking at the wrong planet, leading to the chance discovery of Uranus
  • They were stolen by the wicked witch of the east

Question 44

Question
Which of the giant planets does NOT have rings?
Answer
  • Jupiter
  • Saturn
  • Uranus
  • Neptune
  • All of the giant planets have rings

Question 45

Question
Extremophiles on Earth have been found:
Answer
  • In the scalding waters of Yellowstone's hot springs
  • In the bone-dry oxidizing environment of Chile's Atacama Desert
  • In the Dead Sea
  • The deep subsurface ice of the Antarctic ice sheet
  • All of the above

Question 46

Question
Pluto has a density that is roughly equal to two times that of:
Answer
  • A feather
  • Water
  • Lead
  • A rock
  • Air

Question 47

Question
Why is hydrogen burning the main energy source for main-sequence stars?
Answer
  • Hydrogen is the most common element in stars
  • Hydrogen nuclei have the smallest positive charge
  • Hydrogen burning is the most efficient of all fusion or fission reations
  • Hydrogen can fuse at temperatures lower than other elements
  • All the above are valid reasons

Question 48

Question
When astronomers refer to "heavy elements," which elements are they talking about?
Answer
  • All elements
  • All elements more massive than hydrogen
  • All elements more massive than helium
  • All elements more massive than carbon
  • All elements more massive than iron
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