PSU Astro 7N EXAM 1 SCRIPT 2026/2027
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
• A planet in a nearly circular orbit with its rotation axis tilted by 5 degrees relative to its
orbital plane around its star would ... -✓✓ Have seasons that are not very different from
each other as compared to Earth
• The rotation axis of the Earth is ... -✓✓ Tilted at about 23 degrees relative to the axis
of the Earth's orbit around the Sun
• In the diagram above, what season and planet is being represented by the red X on
the planet on the left in orbit around the Sun? -✓✓
• When is the waning gibbous moon highest in the sky? -✓✓ About 3 am
• What phase is the Moon in, when observed by the person standing on the Earth in the
diagram above? -✓✓ New
• At what time will the Moon set on the day of a Solar eclipse? -✓✓ Sunset
• Stars that are in the same constellation ... -✓✓ are likely to be at very different
distances from us.
• The "North Star" is a star in the constellation of Ursa Minor, which lies just above the
North pole of Earth. Which of the following is true? -✓✓ Ursa Minor is a Zodiac
constellation in the summer but not in the winter
• A particular Zodiac constellation is high in the sky at midnight in April. Where will it be
in October? -✓✓ Near the Sun in the daytime sky
• What do you expect the spectrum of an object that is 1,000,000 Kelvin to be like? -✓✓
It should peak at X-ray wavelengths
• As compared to a cool star, a hotter star emits ... -✓✓ Shorter wavelength, higher
frequency, bluer color
• Radio waves can travel large distances without interference because ... -✓✓ They
have longer wavelengths than visible light
• Compared to ultraviolet radiation, X-rays have a wavelength that is ... -✓✓ Shorter
, • Star A is 4000 K, and Star B is 8000 K. Which of the following is true? -✓✓ The color
of Star A is redder than Star B
• In the diagram above, what is happening in the box in the center? -✓✓
• A star is a hot, dense gas surrounded by a cooler, low density atmosphere. What type
of spectrum will a star create? -✓✓ Absorption Spectrum
• What makes a transition from a lower energy state to a higher energy state when a
photon is absorbed into an atom? -✓✓ Electron
• An emission line is produced when: -✓✓ An electron passes from a higher to a lower
energy level
• Bright lines in an emission spectrum represent: -✓✓ particular energies of light that are
emitted from a distant object
• The faintness of an object that a telescope can observe is mostly determined by the ...
-✓✓ Diameter of the opening of a telescope
• In what ways does a 5 meter telescope outperform a 1 meter telescope?I -✓✓ its
images are 25 times brighter than a 1 meter
• A mountain top is a good location for optical telescopes because the site ... -✓✓ Is
above much of the atmosphere
• Which statement about the rotation of the Inner planets is true? -✓✓ Venus rotates in
the opposite direction from the three other inner planets
• Which of the following is TRUE? -✓✓ Mercury rotates exactly one and a half times for
every one revolution around the Sun.
• Why do the orbits of the planets all lie in nearly the same plane? -✓✓ The early solar
nebula flattened into a disk.
• Of these choices, which planet has the most moons? -✓✓ Saturn has more than Earth,
Mercury, Mars, and Venus
• Venus is visible to us ... -✓✓ only near sunrise or sunset
• A planet is in orbit around the Sun. The semimajor axis of the orbit is 5 Astronomical
Units (AU). Use P^2 = a^3 to calculate the period of the orbit, in years. -✓✓ 11.2 years
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
• A planet in a nearly circular orbit with its rotation axis tilted by 5 degrees relative to its
orbital plane around its star would ... -✓✓ Have seasons that are not very different from
each other as compared to Earth
• The rotation axis of the Earth is ... -✓✓ Tilted at about 23 degrees relative to the axis
of the Earth's orbit around the Sun
• In the diagram above, what season and planet is being represented by the red X on
the planet on the left in orbit around the Sun? -✓✓
• When is the waning gibbous moon highest in the sky? -✓✓ About 3 am
• What phase is the Moon in, when observed by the person standing on the Earth in the
diagram above? -✓✓ New
• At what time will the Moon set on the day of a Solar eclipse? -✓✓ Sunset
• Stars that are in the same constellation ... -✓✓ are likely to be at very different
distances from us.
• The "North Star" is a star in the constellation of Ursa Minor, which lies just above the
North pole of Earth. Which of the following is true? -✓✓ Ursa Minor is a Zodiac
constellation in the summer but not in the winter
• A particular Zodiac constellation is high in the sky at midnight in April. Where will it be
in October? -✓✓ Near the Sun in the daytime sky
• What do you expect the spectrum of an object that is 1,000,000 Kelvin to be like? -✓✓
It should peak at X-ray wavelengths
• As compared to a cool star, a hotter star emits ... -✓✓ Shorter wavelength, higher
frequency, bluer color
• Radio waves can travel large distances without interference because ... -✓✓ They
have longer wavelengths than visible light
• Compared to ultraviolet radiation, X-rays have a wavelength that is ... -✓✓ Shorter
, • Star A is 4000 K, and Star B is 8000 K. Which of the following is true? -✓✓ The color
of Star A is redder than Star B
• In the diagram above, what is happening in the box in the center? -✓✓
• A star is a hot, dense gas surrounded by a cooler, low density atmosphere. What type
of spectrum will a star create? -✓✓ Absorption Spectrum
• What makes a transition from a lower energy state to a higher energy state when a
photon is absorbed into an atom? -✓✓ Electron
• An emission line is produced when: -✓✓ An electron passes from a higher to a lower
energy level
• Bright lines in an emission spectrum represent: -✓✓ particular energies of light that are
emitted from a distant object
• The faintness of an object that a telescope can observe is mostly determined by the ...
-✓✓ Diameter of the opening of a telescope
• In what ways does a 5 meter telescope outperform a 1 meter telescope?I -✓✓ its
images are 25 times brighter than a 1 meter
• A mountain top is a good location for optical telescopes because the site ... -✓✓ Is
above much of the atmosphere
• Which statement about the rotation of the Inner planets is true? -✓✓ Venus rotates in
the opposite direction from the three other inner planets
• Which of the following is TRUE? -✓✓ Mercury rotates exactly one and a half times for
every one revolution around the Sun.
• Why do the orbits of the planets all lie in nearly the same plane? -✓✓ The early solar
nebula flattened into a disk.
• Of these choices, which planet has the most moons? -✓✓ Saturn has more than Earth,
Mercury, Mars, and Venus
• Venus is visible to us ... -✓✓ only near sunrise or sunset
• A planet is in orbit around the Sun. The semimajor axis of the orbit is 5 Astronomical
Units (AU). Use P^2 = a^3 to calculate the period of the orbit, in years. -✓✓ 11.2 years
