Astronomy 101 - Final Exam Review | Questions with 100% Verified Answers | Latest Update 2026/2027

Astronomy 101 - Final Exam Review | Questions with 100%
Verified Answers | Latest Update 2026/2027
Question: Explain the physical reason why we on Earth experience day
and night.
Answer: Earth rotates about an axis of rotation once every 24 hours.

Question: What is a light year?
Answer: The distance light travels in one year.

Question: Approximately how far is the Sun from Earth?
Answer: 1 AU, 150 million km, 93 million miles, 8 light minutes

Question: About how far is the closest star to the Sun?
Answer: 4 light years

Question: Explain why Earth has seasons.
Answer: Earth's axis is tilted with respect to the orbital plane. When the northern hemisphere
is
tilted toward the Sun it is summer, even though we are further from the Sun.

Question: Objects in the sky rise in the east and set in the west because
Earth rotates from ___ to ___ about its axis.
Answer: West to East

Question: What two main factors dictate how bright a star is as seen
from Earth?
Answer: How intrinsically bright it is and how far away it is.

Question: What are commonly recognized star patterns known as?
Answer: Constellations

Question: What is significant about the Zodiac in the sky?
Answer: They lie along the plane of the ecliptic (the plane of the solar system)

Question: Explain why stars appear at the same locations on the celestial
sphere while the Sun, Moon, and planets move during the
course of the year.
Answer: The stars are so incredibly far away that even though they are moving, the motion is
hardly recognizable from Earth .

Question: List the 7 major types of electromagnetic radiation (light) from
highest to lowest energy.
Answer: Gamma, x-ray, ultra violet, visible, infra red, microwave, radiowave

, Question: What is the light carrying particle known as?
Answer: Photon

Question: A fundamental limitation of a telescope's ability to resolve
images, based on the wave-like nature of light is known as _____.
Answer: Diffraction

Question: What can be determined by the peak of a blackbody
spectrum?
Answer: Peak indicates the temperature of the object

Question: How would the blackbody spectrum of stars that are the same
temperature differ between a large and small star?
Answer: The peaks would be at the same location, since they are the same temperature, but
the
peak would be higher for the larger star (more energy emitted per second)

Question: How is an absorption spectrum generated?
Answer: Photons are absorbed by atoms raising electrons in atoms to higher energies

Question: How is an emission spectrum spectrum generated?
Answer: Photons are emitted by atoms lowering the energy of electrons in the atom

Question: Do any elements on the periodic table have the exact same
absorption/emission spectrum?
Answer: All elements have their own unique absorption/emission spectra

Question: What types of telescopes can be used on Earth? Why?
Answer: Radio and optical/visible. Earth's atmosphere is transparent at those wavelengths.

Question: How can Earth based observatories (telescopes) reduce
interference from the atmosphere?
Answer: Locate the observatory in high and dry location and use adaptive optics.

Question: What are five major differences between the inner planets and
outer planets?
Answer: Inner planets are rocky, warmer, have few moons, short years, and are small in size

Question: Excluding eclipses, how much of the moon is lit at all times?
Answer: 1/2 the moon is always lit

Question: What causes the phases of the Moon?
Answer: The relative location of the Sun, Moon and Earth