MSU ISP 205 FINAL Question and Answer
2026 | Complete Study Guide & Review
Pack | Grade A+
• 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.
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? -✓✓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
2026 | Complete Study Guide & Review
Pack | Grade A+
• 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.
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? -✓✓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
