Astro 1 Exam 2 PSU | 100 Verified
Questions with 100% Correct
Answers | Updated for
Academic Year
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. - What is the order of
the planets with distance from the Sun?
Venus - Which planet has the highest surface temperature?
Jupiter - Which planet has the largest mass?
Uranus - Which planet has the largest tilt of its spin axis?
Mercury - Which planet has the largest temperature variations?
Venus - Which planet rotates backwards?
Mars - Which planet has polar ice caps?
0 - How many moons does Mercury have?
0 - How many moons does Venus have?
2 - How many moons does Mars have?
Mercury - Which planets have no atmosphere?
Titan - Which moon has a thick atmosphere in the solar system?
Planet mass, Gas mass, Gas Tempiture - Which 3 factors determine if a planet holds onto
an atmosphere?
its dense atmosphere traps heat in a runaway version of the greenhouse effect that warms
Earth. - What is the primary reason why Venus is much hotter than Earth?
Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 - Who discovered Pluto?
Astronomers noticed that the orbits of Neptune and Uranus were being affected by the gravity of
an unknown object in the Solar System. - How was Pluto discovered?
30 to 50 AU - What is the distance of Pluto from the Sun in AUs?
248 years - What is pluto's Orbital period?
New Horizons - Which spacecraft visited Pluto?
it's highly elliptical and titled - How does the orbit of Pluto compare to the 8 planets?
it lacks enough mass and gravity to clear its neighborhood and is not a moon. - Why isn't
Pluto considered a planet?
dwarf planet - What is the official classification of Pluto now?
Eris and Ceres, Vesta - What other members are apart of the same class as Pluto?
Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud - What are the 3 regions of the solar system
containing asteroids and comets?
Ceres,vesta Pluto, Eris - What are the largest known members of the Asteroid Belt and
Kuiper Belt?
1 - How many asteroids are visible to the naked eye?
Ice Rocky material - What are comets and asteroids made of?
The Dawn spacecraft - Which spacecraft has visited Vesta and Ceres?
Rosestta - what space craft deploy a lander onto a comet?
Gravity - What causes a cloud of gas and dust to collapse to form a star?
Pressure and fusion in the core of the sun - What halts the star's collapse?
hydrogen Fusion - What is the source of the Sun's energy?
Helium energy - What are the products of hydrogen fusion?
matter which became energy - Where does the energy produced by hydrogen fusion come
from?
millions of years - How long does it take for stars and planets to be born?
a star is born with a mass below 0.1 M, its core never becomes hot enough to fuse hydrogen.
These stars that are too small in mass for hydrogen fusion - What is a brown dwarf?
it gets colder and dimmer - How does a brown dwarf change over time?
0.1 M - What is the boundary in mass between stars and brown dwarfs?
Planets orbit the sun in the same direction, all orbit the same plane, planets farther away from
the sun are gas giants and have lower denses - What 3 characteristics of the planets
provide clues about how they formed?
cooler tempters allowing them to capture heaver elements - Why did the gas giant planets
form far from the Sun?
collision with a mars size object - How do we think the Moon was formed?
parallax - How are distances to nearby stars measured?
4.37 light years - What is the distance to the nearest star in light years?
D= 3.26/p - What is the equation relating parallax and distance?
total energy output of a star b = L/d^2 - What is luminosity?
Using absorption lines - How are temperatures of stars measured?
o is hottest m is coolest - What are the spectral classes of stars in order of temperature?
R = square root of (L)/t^2 - How are the radii of stars measured?
horizontal is the temp and vertical is luminosity - What's the H-R diagram?
fusing hydrogen - What's the main sequence?
binary stars - How are masses of stars measured?
All stars have masses between 0.1 M and 100 M - What are the minimum and maximum
masses of stars?
larger rotates slower - How can you measure the relative masses of stars in a binary
system?
The mass - What property of a star determines how it will evolve?
Fusion - What do all stars on the main sequence have in common?
More massive stars fuse their fusion quicker - How does the time spent on the main
sequence depend on mass?
high: type 2 supernova to a black hole, neutron start
Low: planetary nebula, white dwarf - What are the evolutionary stages of stars of high- and
low-mass stars?
Carbon and oxygen - What are the 2 most abundant elements in a white dwarf?
hydrogen and helium, electron degen, neutron degn - What prevents the collapse of a main
sequence star, a white dwarf, and a neutron star?
1.4, 1.4 to 3, more than 3, - What are the ranges of masses for white dwarfs, neutron stars,
and black holes?
earth, city, town - What are the ranges of the diameters for white dwarfs, neutron stars, and
black holes?
basically a neutron star - What is a pulsar?
Iron - The appearance of which element in a star's core triggers a Type II supernova
explosion?
a white dwarf that accumulates material off a companion and periodically has thermonuclear
runaway and blasts layers of gas out into space - What is a nova?
fusion of carbon and oxygen that makes it explode - What is a Type Ia supernova?
hydrogen and helium and lithium - What elements were created by the Big Bang?
neutron stars - Where is most of the gold in the universe produced?
The minimum velocity needed to leave the vicinity of a body without ever being pulled back by
the body's gravity - Define escape velocity.
Mass and distance - What 2 parameters does the escape velocity depend on?
something that can't escape the speed of light, same speed of light, point in the center of black
hole - Define black hole, event horizon, and singularity.
giant, main sequence, white dwarf, neutron star, black hole - What is the order of main
sequence stars, white dwarfs, red giants, neutron stars, and black holes in terms of surface
gravity?
3km - To what diameter would you need to compress the earth to make it a black hole?
What about the Sun?
its slowed down - How are time and light affected near a black hole?
tittle forces - Why do black holes tear apart anything that comes near them?
it is possible to detect its presence based on how it affects its surroundings (like Binary stars) -
How are black holes detected?
Anything can become a black hole if it is compressed enough. But the only way that nature
currently makes black holes is through the supernovae of massive stars - How are black
holes created?
2-30M - What are their typical masses and diameters of a black hole?
It explains that black holes lose mass and dissipates - How does Hawking radiation affect a
black hole?
We see it a band across the earth proving that its flat - What does the appearance of the
Milky Way in the sky tell us about its true shape?
open is younger globular is older measured by - How can we measure ages of open
clusters and globular clusters?
disk of the galaxy expect for globular clusters - What are the locations in the Milky Way of
globular clusters, open clusters, gas/dust clouds, most stars, and the Sun?
100,000 light years - What is the diameter of the Milky Way?
200 billion - How many stars does the Milky Way contain?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. - What is the order of
the planets with distance from the Sun?
Venus - Which planet has the highest surface temperature?
Jupiter - Which planet has the largest mass?
Uranus - Which planet has the largest tilt of its spin axis?
Mercury - Which planet has the largest temperature variations?
Venus - Which planet rotates backwards?
Mars - Which planet has polar ice caps?
0 - How many moons does Mercury have?
0 - How many moons does Venus have?
2 - How many moons does Mars have?
Mercury - Which planets have no atmosphere?
Titan - Which moon has a thick atmosphere in the solar system?
Planet mass, Gas mass, Gas Tempiture - Which 3 factors determine if a planet holds onto
an atmosphere?
its dense atmosphere traps heat in a runaway version of the greenhouse effect that warms
Earth. - What is the primary reason why Venus is much hotter than Earth?
Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 - Who discovered Pluto?
Astronomers noticed that the orbits of Neptune and Uranus were being affected by the gravity of
an unknown object in the Solar System. - How was Pluto discovered?
30 to 50 AU - What is the distance of Pluto from the Sun in AUs?
248 years - What is pluto's Orbital period?
New Horizons - Which spacecraft visited Pluto?
it's highly elliptical and titled - How does the orbit of Pluto compare to the 8 planets?
it lacks enough mass and gravity to clear its neighborhood and is not a moon. - Why isn't
Pluto considered a planet?
dwarf planet - What is the official classification of Pluto now?
Eris and Ceres, Vesta - What other members are apart of the same class as Pluto?
Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud - What are the 3 regions of the solar system
containing asteroids and comets?
Ceres,vesta Pluto, Eris - What are the largest known members of the Asteroid Belt and
Kuiper Belt?
1 - How many asteroids are visible to the naked eye?
Ice Rocky material - What are comets and asteroids made of?
The Dawn spacecraft - Which spacecraft has visited Vesta and Ceres?
Rosestta - what space craft deploy a lander onto a comet?
Gravity - What causes a cloud of gas and dust to collapse to form a star?
Pressure and fusion in the core of the sun - What halts the star's collapse?
hydrogen Fusion - What is the source of the Sun's energy?
Helium energy - What are the products of hydrogen fusion?
matter which became energy - Where does the energy produced by hydrogen fusion come
from?
millions of years - How long does it take for stars and planets to be born?
a star is born with a mass below 0.1 M, its core never becomes hot enough to fuse hydrogen.
These stars that are too small in mass for hydrogen fusion - What is a brown dwarf?
it gets colder and dimmer - How does a brown dwarf change over time?
0.1 M - What is the boundary in mass between stars and brown dwarfs?
Planets orbit the sun in the same direction, all orbit the same plane, planets farther away from
the sun are gas giants and have lower denses - What 3 characteristics of the planets
provide clues about how they formed?
cooler tempters allowing them to capture heaver elements - Why did the gas giant planets
form far from the Sun?
collision with a mars size object - How do we think the Moon was formed?
parallax - How are distances to nearby stars measured?
4.37 light years - What is the distance to the nearest star in light years?
D= 3.26/p - What is the equation relating parallax and distance?
total energy output of a star b = L/d^2 - What is luminosity?
Using absorption lines - How are temperatures of stars measured?
o is hottest m is coolest - What are the spectral classes of stars in order of temperature?
R = square root of (L)/t^2 - How are the radii of stars measured?
horizontal is the temp and vertical is luminosity - What's the H-R diagram?
fusing hydrogen - What's the main sequence?
binary stars - How are masses of stars measured?
All stars have masses between 0.1 M and 100 M - What are the minimum and maximum
masses of stars?
larger rotates slower - How can you measure the relative masses of stars in a binary
system?
The mass - What property of a star determines how it will evolve?
Fusion - What do all stars on the main sequence have in common?
More massive stars fuse their fusion quicker - How does the time spent on the main
sequence depend on mass?
high: type 2 supernova to a black hole, neutron start
Low: planetary nebula, white dwarf - What are the evolutionary stages of stars of high- and
low-mass stars?
Carbon and oxygen - What are the 2 most abundant elements in a white dwarf?
hydrogen and helium, electron degen, neutron degn - What prevents the collapse of a main
sequence star, a white dwarf, and a neutron star?
1.4, 1.4 to 3, more than 3, - What are the ranges of masses for white dwarfs, neutron stars,
and black holes?
earth, city, town - What are the ranges of the diameters for white dwarfs, neutron stars, and
black holes?
basically a neutron star - What is a pulsar?
Iron - The appearance of which element in a star's core triggers a Type II supernova
explosion?
a white dwarf that accumulates material off a companion and periodically has thermonuclear
runaway and blasts layers of gas out into space - What is a nova?
fusion of carbon and oxygen that makes it explode - What is a Type Ia supernova?
hydrogen and helium and lithium - What elements were created by the Big Bang?
neutron stars - Where is most of the gold in the universe produced?
The minimum velocity needed to leave the vicinity of a body without ever being pulled back by
the body's gravity - Define escape velocity.
Mass and distance - What 2 parameters does the escape velocity depend on?
something that can't escape the speed of light, same speed of light, point in the center of black
hole - Define black hole, event horizon, and singularity.
giant, main sequence, white dwarf, neutron star, black hole - What is the order of main
sequence stars, white dwarfs, red giants, neutron stars, and black holes in terms of surface
gravity?
3km - To what diameter would you need to compress the earth to make it a black hole?
What about the Sun?
its slowed down - How are time and light affected near a black hole?
tittle forces - Why do black holes tear apart anything that comes near them?
it is possible to detect its presence based on how it affects its surroundings (like Binary stars) -
How are black holes detected?
Anything can become a black hole if it is compressed enough. But the only way that nature
currently makes black holes is through the supernovae of massive stars - How are black
holes created?
2-30M - What are their typical masses and diameters of a black hole?
It explains that black holes lose mass and dissipates - How does Hawking radiation affect a
black hole?
We see it a band across the earth proving that its flat - What does the appearance of the
Milky Way in the sky tell us about its true shape?
open is younger globular is older measured by - How can we measure ages of open
clusters and globular clusters?
disk of the galaxy expect for globular clusters - What are the locations in the Milky Way of
globular clusters, open clusters, gas/dust clouds, most stars, and the Sun?
100,000 light years - What is the diameter of the Milky Way?
200 billion - How many stars does the Milky Way contain?
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Astro 1 Exam 2 PSU | 100 Verified
Questions with 100% Correct
Answers | Updated for 2024-2025
Academic Year
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. - ✔✔What is the order of
the planets with distance from the Sun?
Venus - ✔✔Which planet has the highest surface temperature?
Jupiter - ✔✔Which planet has the largest mass?
Uranus - ✔✔Which planet has the largest tilt of its spin axis?
Mercury - ✔✔Which planet has the largest temperature variations?
Venus - ✔✔Which planet rotates backwards?
Mars - ✔✔Which planet has polar ice caps?
0 - ✔✔How many moons does Mercury have?
0 - ✔✔How many moons does Venus have?
2 - ✔✔How many moons does Mars have?
Mercury - ✔✔Which planets have no atmosphere?
Titan - ✔✔Which moon has a thick atmosphere in the solar system?
Planet mass, Gas mass, Gas Tempiture - ✔✔Which 3 factors determine if a planet holds onto
an atmosphere?
its dense atmosphere traps heat in a runaway version of the greenhouse effect that warms
Earth. - ✔✔What is the primary reason why Venus is much hotter than Earth?
Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 - ✔✔Who discovered Pluto?
, Astronomers noticed that the orbits of Neptune and Uranus were being affected by the gravity of
an unknown object in the Solar System. - ✔✔How was Pluto discovered?
30 to 50 AU - ✔✔What is the distance of Pluto from the Sun in AUs?
248 years - ✔✔What is pluto's Orbital period?
New Horizons - ✔✔Which spacecraft visited Pluto?
it's highly elliptical and titled - ✔✔How does the orbit of Pluto compare to the 8 planets?
it lacks enough mass and gravity to clear its neighborhood and is not a moon. - ✔✔Why isn't
Pluto considered a planet?
dwarf planet - ✔✔What is the official classification of Pluto now?
Eris and Ceres, Vesta - ✔✔What other members are apart of the same class as Pluto?
Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud - ✔✔What are the 3 regions of the solar system
containing asteroids and comets?
Ceres,vesta Pluto, Eris - ✔✔What are the largest known members of the Asteroid Belt and
Kuiper Belt?
1 - ✔✔How many asteroids are visible to the naked eye?
Ice Rocky material - ✔✔What are comets and asteroids made of?
The Dawn spacecraft - ✔✔Which spacecraft has visited Vesta and Ceres?
Rosestta - ✔✔what space craft deploy a lander onto a comet?
Gravity - ✔✔What causes a cloud of gas and dust to collapse to form a star?
Pressure and fusion in the core of the sun - ✔✔What halts the star's collapse?
hydrogen Fusion - ✔✔What is the source of the Sun's energy?
Helium energy - ✔✔What are the products of hydrogen fusion?
matter which became energy - ✔✔Where does the energy produced by hydrogen fusion come
from?