Introduction to Astronomy Exam Questions Answered Correctly Latest Update () Already Passed

Introduction to Astronomy Exam Questions Answered Correctly Latest Update () Already Passed What is your "address"? - Answers Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Local Group, Local Super Cluster. Universe A television advertisement claiming that a product is light-years ahead of its time does not make sense because _________. - Answers it uses "light-years" to talk about time, but a light-year is a unit of distance When we look at an object that is 1,000 light-years away we see it _________. - Answers As it was 1000 years ago The total number of planets orbiting the sun is __. - Answers 8 The Astronomical Unit is about 150 million km. - Answers True This is the system of several hundred billion stars in which our sun lives: - Answers Milky Way Superclusters are ___________. - Answers Collections of many clusters of galaxies The local group are the closest galaxies to our Milky Way. - Answers True A light year is about 10 trillion km (6 trillion miles). - Answers True The distance from the sun to the center of the Milky Way is approximately _______. - Answers 25,000 ly The Earth orbits around the Sun. Another word for orbits is - Answers Revolves When a planet spins on its axis this is called rotation. - Answers True The speed of light is - Answers 300,000 km/ second A light-year is a unit of - Answers Distance Which of the following is the best analogy? The Earth is to the Solar System as...... - Answers The Sun is to the Milky Way A recognized grouping of stars in the sky is called a(n) _________. - Answers Constellation Declination on the celestial sphere has this role on the Earth: - Answers Latitude Right ascension on the celestial sphere has this role on the Earth: - Answers Longititude These stars are always above the horizon. - Answers Circumpolar Precession takes about ___________ to complete one full cycle. - Answers 26,000 years A solar day is - Answers The time it takes the Sun to go from its highest point in the sky one day, to its highest point in the sky on the following day. The new usage for blue moon means ___________. - Answers 2 full moons in same month A total solar eclipse is visible - Answers Only for observers in the moon's umbra. The best explanation of why an eclipse doesn't occur every new or full moon phase is that - Answers The moon's orbital plane is 5 degrees off of the Earth's orbital plane The solar system was born from - Answers An immense interstellar cloud of gas and dust. Kant and Laplace proposed this theory of the Solar System formation: _____. - Answers Solar nebula theory As far as the planets are concerned, the solar system could be described as a thin rotating disk because - Answers All the planets orbit in nearly the same plane and orbit in the same direction. A new theory about many planets orbiting other stars is they formed and then ______ to their present position. - Answers Migrated The origin of the Moon is thought to be best explained by _____. - Answers Collision Craters on the Moon are created mostly by _____. - Answers Impact Why are the inner planets made of denser materials than the outer planets? - Answers the sun's gravity pulled denser materials toward the inner part of the solar nebula, while lighter gases escaped more easily Based upon your understanding of the origins of the Solar System, which planet is the most metal-rich planet in our solar system? - Answers Mercury What was the primary role of the dust grains in the solar nebula cloud? - Answers To cool warm matter by radiating heat away within the nebular cloud, to act as condensation nuclei for atoms to attach too to form a planet, to provide the necessary high gravity to collapse the nebular cloud to form the protosun. What is responsible for this "apparent path" of the stars in the night sky? - Answers the rotation of Earth The changing constellations over the course of a year are a result of - Answers the revolution of the Earth around the Sun Which of the following best describes the meaning of declination and right ascension? - Answers They are coordinates on the celestial sphere, with declination telling us the angular distance of an object from the celestial equator and right ascension telling us how far around the celestial sphere an object is located from the vernal equinox When traveling north from the United States into Canada, you'll see the North Star (Polaris) getting _________. - Answers Higher in the sky How does Earth's varying distance from the Sun affect our seasons? - Answers It doesn't --- Earth's orbital distance plays no significant role in the seasons Which of the following best describes why we have seasons on Earth? - Answers The tilt of Earth's axis causes different portions of the Earth to receive more or less direct sunlight at different times of year. It's 6 am and the Moon is at its highest point in your sky (crossing the meridian). What is the Moon's phase? - Answers 3rd quarter All the following statements are true. Which one explains the reason that there is not a solar eclipse at every new moon? - Answers The orbital plane of the Moon is tilted slightly (by about 5 degrees) to the ecliptic plane The Moon always shows nearly the same face to Earth because ________. - Answers The Moon rotates once in the same amount of time that it takes the Moon to orbit Earth once At any particular place on Earth, certain constellations are visible in the evening only at certain times of the year because _________. - Answers Our evening view of space depends on where Earth is located in its orbit around the Sun In order for a lunar eclipse to occur, the Moon must be in which phase? - Answers Full As light travels through space getting farther and farther away, its speed - Answers remains at the same speed The changing position and "wobble" of Polaris is a result of - Answers the Earth's precession If ten Jupiters can fit across the surface (width) of the Sun, then approximately how many Earth's could fit across Jupiter? - Answers 10