Astro1 UCSB Final Practice Exam 2025 With 250
Questions And Correct Answers/ Astro1 Final
Exam 2025 Prep Questions With 100% Correct
Answers Graded A UCSB (Latest)
Which of the planets fits the following description? "A hot, solid surface, cloud-
shrouded, and with a dense CO2 (carbon dioxide) atmosphere."
Venus
Global warming is caused by
carbon dioxide and other gases making Earth's atmosphere less transparent to
infrared radiation.
When the Moon is full, at what time does it rise?
sunset
The intersection of the plane of the Earth's orbit with the celestial sphere is known
as
the ecliptic - D.
Carbon dioxide production is making the atmosphere more transparent to infrared
light
False
What determines the temperature of a rocky planet without an atmosphere?
the sunlight absorbed and the infrared light emitted
Pluto's average distance from the Sun is about 40 AU. What is the approximate
orbital period?
250 years
What is the closest the Sun ever gets to the zenith (the point directly overhead)
from Santa Barbara? Our latitude is about +34 degrees.
11 degrees
pg. 1
,A supernova can be produced by
the collapse of the core of a very massive star.
Immediately after leaving the main sequence, a star becomes a
red giant
The Great Red Spot...
is a large, long-lived storm system in Jupiter's atmosphere.
The Moon must be full at the time of a solar eclipse
false
If the Sun was twice as far from Earth, it would appear only half as bright.
False
The wavelength of Hβ in the spectrum of the star Megrez in the big dipper (part of
the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear) is 486.112nm. Laboratory
measurements demonstrate that the normal wavelength of this spectral line is
486.133. Which is true?
The star is approaching us at 13 km/s
Energy can be produced by
fusion of light elements.
When a proton meets its antimatter equivalent, the two annihilate and produce two
photons. What is the approximate energy of each photon? You need to know that
the mass of the proton (and the anti-proton) is around 2 x 10-27 kg
2 x 10^-10 J
On the main sequence,
more massive stars consume their fuel very quickly and have relatively short lives.
Which of the following is false regarding the Big Bang Theory?
It explains the production of the heavy elements, such as carbon, oxygen and iron.
The principle nuclear reaction that occurs in main-sequence stars is
hydrogen being converted to helium.
pg. 2
,In the chemical symbol "4 He", the "4" gives
the number of protons plus neutrons.
The red supergiant star Betelgeuse has a parallax of 5.1 milliarcsec. The apparent
brightness is 1.0 x 10-7 J/m2 /s. Calculate the luminosity.
4.6 x 10^31 J/s
Suppose you travel to the center of the Milky Way to see the supermassive black
hole there, and you travel almost as fast as light. Which is false?
You'll definitely die long before you get there, because you can only travel about
70 light years in a human lifetime and the distance to the Galactic Center is 25,000
light years.
Which planets can never be seen at midnight?
The Inferior planets.
Which is true?
Acceleration has units m/s2 .
Io always shows the same side to Jupiter, and it revolves around Jupiter in 44
hours. Roughly how long would the Sun be above the horizon (sunrise to sunset)
for an astronaut on Io?
22 hours
A main sequence star of mass 3 M☉has a luminosity of approximately 50 L☉.
How long is the Main Sequence phase for such a star?
6 x 10^8 years
Two electronic orbitals in the Helium atom differ in energy by approximately 3.3 x
10-19 J. When an electron drops from the upper orbital to the lower one, what
frequency of radiation is created?
5 x 10^14 per second.
A curious fact about the structure of the planet Jupiter, compared to that of Earth,
is that it has
much greater mass but much lower average density.
pg. 3
, The motions of large portions of the Earth's surface, the "plates", are caused by
convective flow of matter in the Earth's interior
Which is true regarding the nature of light?
It has particle-like properties as well as wavelike properties
Which physical phenomenon keeps a white dwarf star from collapsing inwards
upon itself?
electron degeneracy or "quantum crowding"
A spaceship travels through empty space. There are no gravitating bodies nearby:
The Captain wants to change course.
It's possible only using the rocket effect.
How is the transparency of Earth's atmosphere changing in optical light?
It's roughly constant
A THEORY is a pattern in nature thought to have predictive power. The test of a
theory is a prediction. That's where pseudo-science fails. T/F
T
Red giant stars are powered by hydrogen burning in a shell surrounding a core,
which has been depleted of hydrogen. T/F
T
Jovian planets have densities similar to that of water, and we know in fact that they
are mostly made of water. T/F
F - Jovian planets are gaseous
The Sun appears to circle the Celestial Sphere in one year because the Earth is
circling the Sun. The Sun's apparent path is called the horizon. T/F
F - it's called the ecliptic
A planet can occasionally act as a circumpolar star as seen from Santa Barbara. T/F
F
Opaque bodies approximately obey the blackbody laws: the Stefan-Boltzmann
Law and Wien's Law. T/F
pg. 4
Questions And Correct Answers/ Astro1 Final
Exam 2025 Prep Questions With 100% Correct
Answers Graded A UCSB (Latest)
Which of the planets fits the following description? "A hot, solid surface, cloud-
shrouded, and with a dense CO2 (carbon dioxide) atmosphere."
Venus
Global warming is caused by
carbon dioxide and other gases making Earth's atmosphere less transparent to
infrared radiation.
When the Moon is full, at what time does it rise?
sunset
The intersection of the plane of the Earth's orbit with the celestial sphere is known
as
the ecliptic - D.
Carbon dioxide production is making the atmosphere more transparent to infrared
light
False
What determines the temperature of a rocky planet without an atmosphere?
the sunlight absorbed and the infrared light emitted
Pluto's average distance from the Sun is about 40 AU. What is the approximate
orbital period?
250 years
What is the closest the Sun ever gets to the zenith (the point directly overhead)
from Santa Barbara? Our latitude is about +34 degrees.
11 degrees
pg. 1
,A supernova can be produced by
the collapse of the core of a very massive star.
Immediately after leaving the main sequence, a star becomes a
red giant
The Great Red Spot...
is a large, long-lived storm system in Jupiter's atmosphere.
The Moon must be full at the time of a solar eclipse
false
If the Sun was twice as far from Earth, it would appear only half as bright.
False
The wavelength of Hβ in the spectrum of the star Megrez in the big dipper (part of
the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear) is 486.112nm. Laboratory
measurements demonstrate that the normal wavelength of this spectral line is
486.133. Which is true?
The star is approaching us at 13 km/s
Energy can be produced by
fusion of light elements.
When a proton meets its antimatter equivalent, the two annihilate and produce two
photons. What is the approximate energy of each photon? You need to know that
the mass of the proton (and the anti-proton) is around 2 x 10-27 kg
2 x 10^-10 J
On the main sequence,
more massive stars consume their fuel very quickly and have relatively short lives.
Which of the following is false regarding the Big Bang Theory?
It explains the production of the heavy elements, such as carbon, oxygen and iron.
The principle nuclear reaction that occurs in main-sequence stars is
hydrogen being converted to helium.
pg. 2
,In the chemical symbol "4 He", the "4" gives
the number of protons plus neutrons.
The red supergiant star Betelgeuse has a parallax of 5.1 milliarcsec. The apparent
brightness is 1.0 x 10-7 J/m2 /s. Calculate the luminosity.
4.6 x 10^31 J/s
Suppose you travel to the center of the Milky Way to see the supermassive black
hole there, and you travel almost as fast as light. Which is false?
You'll definitely die long before you get there, because you can only travel about
70 light years in a human lifetime and the distance to the Galactic Center is 25,000
light years.
Which planets can never be seen at midnight?
The Inferior planets.
Which is true?
Acceleration has units m/s2 .
Io always shows the same side to Jupiter, and it revolves around Jupiter in 44
hours. Roughly how long would the Sun be above the horizon (sunrise to sunset)
for an astronaut on Io?
22 hours
A main sequence star of mass 3 M☉has a luminosity of approximately 50 L☉.
How long is the Main Sequence phase for such a star?
6 x 10^8 years
Two electronic orbitals in the Helium atom differ in energy by approximately 3.3 x
10-19 J. When an electron drops from the upper orbital to the lower one, what
frequency of radiation is created?
5 x 10^14 per second.
A curious fact about the structure of the planet Jupiter, compared to that of Earth,
is that it has
much greater mass but much lower average density.
pg. 3
, The motions of large portions of the Earth's surface, the "plates", are caused by
convective flow of matter in the Earth's interior
Which is true regarding the nature of light?
It has particle-like properties as well as wavelike properties
Which physical phenomenon keeps a white dwarf star from collapsing inwards
upon itself?
electron degeneracy or "quantum crowding"
A spaceship travels through empty space. There are no gravitating bodies nearby:
The Captain wants to change course.
It's possible only using the rocket effect.
How is the transparency of Earth's atmosphere changing in optical light?
It's roughly constant
A THEORY is a pattern in nature thought to have predictive power. The test of a
theory is a prediction. That's where pseudo-science fails. T/F
T
Red giant stars are powered by hydrogen burning in a shell surrounding a core,
which has been depleted of hydrogen. T/F
T
Jovian planets have densities similar to that of water, and we know in fact that they
are mostly made of water. T/F
F - Jovian planets are gaseous
The Sun appears to circle the Celestial Sphere in one year because the Earth is
circling the Sun. The Sun's apparent path is called the horizon. T/F
F - it's called the ecliptic
A planet can occasionally act as a circumpolar star as seen from Santa Barbara. T/F
F
Opaque bodies approximately obey the blackbody laws: the Stefan-Boltzmann
Law and Wien's Law. T/F
pg. 4
