Astro 1 Final Exam |112 Q’s and
A’s
Place structures in order from smallest to largest - -Earth - smallest
The Sun - 2nd
Galaxy (Milky Way) - 3rd
Universe - largest
- Define a "light year" - -The distance that light travels in one year
- Rotation - -A circular motion around a fixed position (spin)
- Revolution - -a circular motion around an external object, not at the center
of the body (orbit)
- Identify what causes the daily apparent motion of the stars in our sky as
viewed from Earth - -The rotation of the earth about its own axis
- Given the current position of stars in the sky, predict how their appearance
will change as time passes - -Rise and set throughout the day
- Identify which direction the earth spins when viewed from the top (north)
down: clockwise or counter clockwise - -Viewed from the North Pole, the
earth is rotation counter clockwise
- Solstice - -Suns path is highest and lowest in the sky; length of daylight is
longest/shortest
- Equinox - -Suns path is intermediate
- Explain why seasons change, and predict how seasons would be different if
this factor were different - -Seasons are a result of the way the tilt of earths
axis causes sunlight to fall differently on earth at different times of the year
- Describe how high the Sun gets in the sky at different times of year and at
different latitudes and explain the importance of this effect on seasons - -
When the suns path is high in the sky, light is more concentrated (more
direct angle) and the number of daylight hours is great (higher in the sky in
summer)
- Name and recognize the 8 main phases of the Moon, and in which order
they occur - -New Moon
Waxing Crescent moon (getting "fuller")
, 1st quarter moon
Waxing gibbous moon
Full moon
Waning gibbous moon
3rd quarter moon
Waning crescent moon (getting "less")
- Identify the period (time) for a full cycle of moon phases - -The moon will
go through all 8 phases in one month, the moon will complete a full orbit in
one month
- Explain why the Moon goes through phases - -Half the moon is always
illuminated by the sun but the portion of its illuminated half that we see from
earth depends on the moons position in its orbit
- Lunar Eclipse - -When earth lies directly between the sun and moon, so
earths shadow falls on the moon
- Solar Eclipse - -When the moon lies directly between the sun and the
earth, so the moons shadow falls on earth
- Explain why eclipses dont happen every month - -Moons orbit is slightly
includes to the plane of earth orbit around the sun, called the ecliptic plane.
Because of their inclination, the moon spends most of its time either above
or below the surface
- List the elements the sun is primarily composed of - -Hydrogen
Helium
- List what elements are used/created in the fusion reactions in our sun - -
Hydrogen
Helium
- Explain why the sun shines - -Nuclear fusion in the core maintains both
gravitational equilibrium between pressure and gravity and energy balance
between thermal energy related in core and radiative energy lost from the
suns surface
- Describe where fusion happens in a star - -2 hydrogen atoms fuse to
become a helium atom
- State about how long our sun will live - -In about 5 billion years the sun
will run out of hydrogen
A’s
Place structures in order from smallest to largest - -Earth - smallest
The Sun - 2nd
Galaxy (Milky Way) - 3rd
Universe - largest
- Define a "light year" - -The distance that light travels in one year
- Rotation - -A circular motion around a fixed position (spin)
- Revolution - -a circular motion around an external object, not at the center
of the body (orbit)
- Identify what causes the daily apparent motion of the stars in our sky as
viewed from Earth - -The rotation of the earth about its own axis
- Given the current position of stars in the sky, predict how their appearance
will change as time passes - -Rise and set throughout the day
- Identify which direction the earth spins when viewed from the top (north)
down: clockwise or counter clockwise - -Viewed from the North Pole, the
earth is rotation counter clockwise
- Solstice - -Suns path is highest and lowest in the sky; length of daylight is
longest/shortest
- Equinox - -Suns path is intermediate
- Explain why seasons change, and predict how seasons would be different if
this factor were different - -Seasons are a result of the way the tilt of earths
axis causes sunlight to fall differently on earth at different times of the year
- Describe how high the Sun gets in the sky at different times of year and at
different latitudes and explain the importance of this effect on seasons - -
When the suns path is high in the sky, light is more concentrated (more
direct angle) and the number of daylight hours is great (higher in the sky in
summer)
- Name and recognize the 8 main phases of the Moon, and in which order
they occur - -New Moon
Waxing Crescent moon (getting "fuller")
, 1st quarter moon
Waxing gibbous moon
Full moon
Waning gibbous moon
3rd quarter moon
Waning crescent moon (getting "less")
- Identify the period (time) for a full cycle of moon phases - -The moon will
go through all 8 phases in one month, the moon will complete a full orbit in
one month
- Explain why the Moon goes through phases - -Half the moon is always
illuminated by the sun but the portion of its illuminated half that we see from
earth depends on the moons position in its orbit
- Lunar Eclipse - -When earth lies directly between the sun and moon, so
earths shadow falls on the moon
- Solar Eclipse - -When the moon lies directly between the sun and the
earth, so the moons shadow falls on earth
- Explain why eclipses dont happen every month - -Moons orbit is slightly
includes to the plane of earth orbit around the sun, called the ecliptic plane.
Because of their inclination, the moon spends most of its time either above
or below the surface
- List the elements the sun is primarily composed of - -Hydrogen
Helium
- List what elements are used/created in the fusion reactions in our sun - -
Hydrogen
Helium
- Explain why the sun shines - -Nuclear fusion in the core maintains both
gravitational equilibrium between pressure and gravity and energy balance
between thermal energy related in core and radiative energy lost from the
suns surface
- Describe where fusion happens in a star - -2 hydrogen atoms fuse to
become a helium atom
- State about how long our sun will live - -In about 5 billion years the sun
will run out of hydrogen
