MSU ISP 205 ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT CERTIFIED
ANSWERS (100%
VERIFIED ANSWERS)
LATEST 2026/2027 UPDATE
|A+ GUARANTEED PASS
|BRAND NEW !!!
PAGE1
,Rank the following 4 items by how long it takes for light to reach us from these object, from
shortest to longest.
The Andromeda Galaxy
the center of the Milky Way
Pluto
Sun.
Sun, Pluto, center of the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy.
The current best estimate for the age of the universe is about
14 billion years.
What do astronomers mean when they say the universe is expanding?
Average distances are increasing between most galaxies.
Which statement is false?
1. A constellation demarcates a patch of sky, making it easier for astronomers to locate
interesting sources.
2. Modern-day constellations include Musca the Fly and Triangulum the Triangle.
3. There are 88 constellations, as defined by the International Astronomical Union.
4. Practically every ancient culture had their own version of constellations, typically used
for story telling.
1
Suppose we look at two distant galaxies: Galaxy 1 is twice as far away as Galaxy 2. In that
case,
We are seeing Galaxy 1 as it looked at an earlier time in the history of the universe than Galaxy 2
Identify the falsifiable statement below:
1. President Kennedy's murder was orchestrated by an undetectable shadow government of
the United States.
2. The laws of nature are magnificent and beautiful.
PAGE2
,3. The Sun is at the center of the solar system.
4. The universe was created by God.
3
The Greeks rejected the notion that the Earth orbits the Sun. Why?
They could not measure parallax (a change in stars' positions on the sky due to the Earth's orbit)
What did Tycho, Kepler, and Newton do?
Tycho collected the data, Kepler provided the model in the form of laws, Newton explained the
model in terms of gravity.
Galileo observed all of the following. Which observation offered direct proof of a planet
orbiting the Sun?
phases of Venus.
During the period each year when we see Mars undergoing apparent retrograde motion in
our sky, what is really going on in space?
Earth is catching up with and passing by Mars in their respective orbits.
What would change if the Earth started spinning faster?
A day would be shorter.
What is the main reason it is warm in Michigan in the summer?
The tilt of the Earth's axis means we receive the most direct sunlight then.
Consider four planets that are identical except for different tilts of their rotation axis
compared to the axis of their orbit around their Sun. One has no tilt at all, another one a
tilt of 10 degrees, the third a tilt of 23 degrees, and the fourth a tilt of 45 degrees. Which of
these four planets will have the largest seasonal changes in temperature in its northern and
southern hemispheres (coldest winters and warmest summers)?
The one with a 45 degree tilt.
When there is a solar eclipse, what is the phase of the moon?
PAGE3
, New moon.
Consider the elliptical orbit of a comet around the Sun. Where in its orbit is the comet
moving the fastest?
When it is closest to the Sun.
If you left a camera out to take time-lapse photographs of the moon for a whole month,
would you be able to photograph the Moon's entire surface?
No, half of the Moon is always pointed away from Earth.
You observe a full moon rising at sunset. What will you see 6 hours later?
a full moon on or near your meridian
When we see Venus in its new phase, what phase would Earth be in as seen by a
hypothetical Venetian?
full
Which of the following statements about the orbits of the planets is true?
The eight major planets go around the Sun in the same direction and do so all in the same plane
like a disk.
According to Kepler's third law (p2 = a3), how does a planet's mass affect its orbit around
the Sun?
A planet's mass has no effect on its orbit around the Sun.
Suppose the Sun were to shrink suddenly in size while its mass stayed the same. According
to the law of conservation of angular momentum, what would happen?
The Sun's rate of rotation would speed up.
Imagine a Star Wars type spaceship in orbit around a planet. Its engine suffers a severe
malfunction, and explodes. What is the most physically realistic depiction of this event?
The spacecraft breaks apart, and the pieces continue to orbit the planet.
Conservation of angular momentum dictates that the orbital speed of a planet
PAGE4
QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT CERTIFIED
ANSWERS (100%
VERIFIED ANSWERS)
LATEST 2026/2027 UPDATE
|A+ GUARANTEED PASS
|BRAND NEW !!!
PAGE1
,Rank the following 4 items by how long it takes for light to reach us from these object, from
shortest to longest.
The Andromeda Galaxy
the center of the Milky Way
Pluto
Sun.
Sun, Pluto, center of the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy.
The current best estimate for the age of the universe is about
14 billion years.
What do astronomers mean when they say the universe is expanding?
Average distances are increasing between most galaxies.
Which statement is false?
1. A constellation demarcates a patch of sky, making it easier for astronomers to locate
interesting sources.
2. Modern-day constellations include Musca the Fly and Triangulum the Triangle.
3. There are 88 constellations, as defined by the International Astronomical Union.
4. Practically every ancient culture had their own version of constellations, typically used
for story telling.
1
Suppose we look at two distant galaxies: Galaxy 1 is twice as far away as Galaxy 2. In that
case,
We are seeing Galaxy 1 as it looked at an earlier time in the history of the universe than Galaxy 2
Identify the falsifiable statement below:
1. President Kennedy's murder was orchestrated by an undetectable shadow government of
the United States.
2. The laws of nature are magnificent and beautiful.
PAGE2
,3. The Sun is at the center of the solar system.
4. The universe was created by God.
3
The Greeks rejected the notion that the Earth orbits the Sun. Why?
They could not measure parallax (a change in stars' positions on the sky due to the Earth's orbit)
What did Tycho, Kepler, and Newton do?
Tycho collected the data, Kepler provided the model in the form of laws, Newton explained the
model in terms of gravity.
Galileo observed all of the following. Which observation offered direct proof of a planet
orbiting the Sun?
phases of Venus.
During the period each year when we see Mars undergoing apparent retrograde motion in
our sky, what is really going on in space?
Earth is catching up with and passing by Mars in their respective orbits.
What would change if the Earth started spinning faster?
A day would be shorter.
What is the main reason it is warm in Michigan in the summer?
The tilt of the Earth's axis means we receive the most direct sunlight then.
Consider four planets that are identical except for different tilts of their rotation axis
compared to the axis of their orbit around their Sun. One has no tilt at all, another one a
tilt of 10 degrees, the third a tilt of 23 degrees, and the fourth a tilt of 45 degrees. Which of
these four planets will have the largest seasonal changes in temperature in its northern and
southern hemispheres (coldest winters and warmest summers)?
The one with a 45 degree tilt.
When there is a solar eclipse, what is the phase of the moon?
PAGE3
, New moon.
Consider the elliptical orbit of a comet around the Sun. Where in its orbit is the comet
moving the fastest?
When it is closest to the Sun.
If you left a camera out to take time-lapse photographs of the moon for a whole month,
would you be able to photograph the Moon's entire surface?
No, half of the Moon is always pointed away from Earth.
You observe a full moon rising at sunset. What will you see 6 hours later?
a full moon on or near your meridian
When we see Venus in its new phase, what phase would Earth be in as seen by a
hypothetical Venetian?
full
Which of the following statements about the orbits of the planets is true?
The eight major planets go around the Sun in the same direction and do so all in the same plane
like a disk.
According to Kepler's third law (p2 = a3), how does a planet's mass affect its orbit around
the Sun?
A planet's mass has no effect on its orbit around the Sun.
Suppose the Sun were to shrink suddenly in size while its mass stayed the same. According
to the law of conservation of angular momentum, what would happen?
The Sun's rate of rotation would speed up.
Imagine a Star Wars type spaceship in orbit around a planet. Its engine suffers a severe
malfunction, and explodes. What is the most physically realistic depiction of this event?
The spacecraft breaks apart, and the pieces continue to orbit the planet.
Conservation of angular momentum dictates that the orbital speed of a planet
PAGE4
