ASTRO 101 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS WITH
DETAILED VERIFIED ANSWERS
At noon, which phase could the observer see?
Waxing crescent
When could you see a full moon?
sunset, midnight, sunrise
When the moon is seen as full in WA, what is the phase of the moon as viewed twelve hours
later from the opposite side of the Earth?
Full
If you were on the moon, could you see the Earth go through phases?
Yes
Kepler's first law
Rather than circular orbits, planets have elliptical orbits, with the sun at one focus
Kepler's second law
Planets change speeds as they orbit, moving fastest as they are closest to the sun
Kepler's third law
Planets close to the sun travel on shorter orbits than planets that are farther away from the sun
Galileo's first discovery
Jupiter has four moons orbiting, which supports that they weren't orbiting around Earth
Galileo's second discovery
Venus acted a lot like the moon related to phases, which was orbiting around the Sun
Newton's first law
Objects in motion must stay in motion
, Newton's second law
If a net force acts on an objects, then an objects motion changes
Newton's third law
Forces come in pairs, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reactions
Newton's law of gravity
F= (GM1M2)/ (r^2)
When viewed from the Earth which of these objects could appear in a crescent phase?
Venus, a comet that crosses the Earth's orbit, small asteroid on orbit entirely between Venus' and
Earth's orbits
Consider two planets, A and B, orbiting a distant star. Planet B orbits twice as far from the
star as Planet A does. how does planet B's orbital period compare to planet A's?
More than twice as long
The Asteroid Belt is a ring of debris which resides between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
in the Solar System. If an object in the Asteroid belt is location 2.8AU from the Sun, how
long does it take to make one complete orbit around the Sun?
4.7 years
Comets orbit the Sun on highly eccentric orbits (e>0.8). When a comet is at closest
approach to the Sun, it is said to be at perihelion. When it is farthest from the Sun the
comet is said to be at aphelion. Which of the following statements is correct?
The comet is moving slower at aphelion than perihelion
The color of a star, and any thermal radiator, is determined by the mixture of light it emits.
If most of the emitted light is blue, then it looks blue; if most is red, then it looks red. What
color does a cool star appear?
Red
DETAILED VERIFIED ANSWERS
At noon, which phase could the observer see?
Waxing crescent
When could you see a full moon?
sunset, midnight, sunrise
When the moon is seen as full in WA, what is the phase of the moon as viewed twelve hours
later from the opposite side of the Earth?
Full
If you were on the moon, could you see the Earth go through phases?
Yes
Kepler's first law
Rather than circular orbits, planets have elliptical orbits, with the sun at one focus
Kepler's second law
Planets change speeds as they orbit, moving fastest as they are closest to the sun
Kepler's third law
Planets close to the sun travel on shorter orbits than planets that are farther away from the sun
Galileo's first discovery
Jupiter has four moons orbiting, which supports that they weren't orbiting around Earth
Galileo's second discovery
Venus acted a lot like the moon related to phases, which was orbiting around the Sun
Newton's first law
Objects in motion must stay in motion
, Newton's second law
If a net force acts on an objects, then an objects motion changes
Newton's third law
Forces come in pairs, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reactions
Newton's law of gravity
F= (GM1M2)/ (r^2)
When viewed from the Earth which of these objects could appear in a crescent phase?
Venus, a comet that crosses the Earth's orbit, small asteroid on orbit entirely between Venus' and
Earth's orbits
Consider two planets, A and B, orbiting a distant star. Planet B orbits twice as far from the
star as Planet A does. how does planet B's orbital period compare to planet A's?
More than twice as long
The Asteroid Belt is a ring of debris which resides between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
in the Solar System. If an object in the Asteroid belt is location 2.8AU from the Sun, how
long does it take to make one complete orbit around the Sun?
4.7 years
Comets orbit the Sun on highly eccentric orbits (e>0.8). When a comet is at closest
approach to the Sun, it is said to be at perihelion. When it is farthest from the Sun the
comet is said to be at aphelion. Which of the following statements is correct?
The comet is moving slower at aphelion than perihelion
The color of a star, and any thermal radiator, is determined by the mixture of light it emits.
If most of the emitted light is blue, then it looks blue; if most is red, then it looks red. What
color does a cool star appear?
Red
