The Essential Cosmic Perspective, 6e (Bennett/Donahue/Schneider/Voit)
Chapter 1 Our Place in the Universe
1.1 Multiple Choice Questions
1) The farthest bright galaxies that modern telescopes are capable of seeing are up to
A) 1 million light years away.
B) 10 million light years away.
C) 1 billion light years away.
D) 10 billion light years away.
E) 1 trillion light years away
Answer: D
2) Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit. How big an area
would the orbits of the nine planets of the Solar System cover?
A) the size of a typical dorm room
B) the size of a typical campus building
C) the size of a typical campus
D) the size of a small city
E) the size of a western state (e.g.,Colorado)
Answer: C
3) Earth is made mostly of metals and rocks. Where did this material come from?
A) It was produced in the Big Bang.
B) It was created by chemical reactions in interstellar space.
,C) It was produced by nuclear fusion in stars.
D) It was made by our Sun.
E) It was made by nuclear fission of uranium and other radioactive materials.
Answer: C
4) What is nuclear fusion?
A) an explosion caused by putting together two volatile chemicals
B) the process of splitting nuclei to produce energy
C) the process of turning matter into pure energy
D) the process of combining lightweight nuclei to make heavier nuclei
E) a process that only occurs in bombs
Answer: D
5) Which of the following statements does not use the term light-year in an appropriate
way?
A) It's about 4 light-years from here to Alpha Centauri.
B) It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment.
C) A light-year is about 10 trillion kilometers.
D) It will take the Voyager spacecraft about 20,000 years to travel just 1 light-year.
E) The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.
Answer: B
,6) Light takes approximately one second to travel from the Earth to the Moon. This
means that the moon is approximately
A) 1 astronomical unit from the Earth
B) 1 light year from the Earth
C) 3,000 kilometers from the Earth
D) 300,000 kilometers from the Earth
E) twice the distance from the Earth to the Sun
Answer: C
7) One light-hour is the distance that light travels in an hour. How far is this, in
kilometers? (Recall that the speed of light is 300,000 km/s.)
A) 300,000 km
B) 18 million km
C) 100 million km
D) 1.08 billion km
E) 9.46 trillion km
Answer: D
8) Suppose we look at a photograph of many galaxies. Assuming that all galaxies formed
at the same time after the Big Bang, which galaxy appears to us as the youngest?
A) The galaxy that is furthest from us.
B) The galaxy that is closest to us.
C) The galaxy that appears largest to us.
D) The galaxy that appears bluest to us.
E) All galaxies would appear to have the same age.
Answer: A
, 9) Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit. Which of the
following describes the size and distance of Earth on the same scale?
A) Earth is the size of a point about 1 meter away from the Sun.
B) Earth is the size of a golf ball about 1 meter away from the Sun.
C) Earth is the size of a point about 15 meters away from the Sun.
D) Earth is the size of a golf ball about 15 meters away from the Sun.
E) Earth is the size of a marble about 25 miles away from the Sun.
Answer: C
10) Which of the following correctly describes the concept of galactic recycling?
A) Stars near the center of the Milky Way are continually recycled to the outskirts of the
disk by their orbital motion.
B) Life is continuously being spread from star to star in the Milky Way.
C) New stars are continuously being formed in the Milky Way out of gas that has been
ejected from a previous generation of stars.
D) New galaxies are continuously being formed out of gas ejected from a previous
generation of galaxies.
E) In the formation of a star, no matter is wasted as all excess material ends up recycled
into planets.
Answer: C
11) What is the Sun mainly made of?
A) hydrogen and oxygen
B) hydrogen and helium
C) carbon and nitrogen
D) oxygen and carbon
E) nearly equal portions of all the elements
Answer: B
Chapter 1 Our Place in the Universe
1.1 Multiple Choice Questions
1) The farthest bright galaxies that modern telescopes are capable of seeing are up to
A) 1 million light years away.
B) 10 million light years away.
C) 1 billion light years away.
D) 10 billion light years away.
E) 1 trillion light years away
Answer: D
2) Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit. How big an area
would the orbits of the nine planets of the Solar System cover?
A) the size of a typical dorm room
B) the size of a typical campus building
C) the size of a typical campus
D) the size of a small city
E) the size of a western state (e.g.,Colorado)
Answer: C
3) Earth is made mostly of metals and rocks. Where did this material come from?
A) It was produced in the Big Bang.
B) It was created by chemical reactions in interstellar space.
,C) It was produced by nuclear fusion in stars.
D) It was made by our Sun.
E) It was made by nuclear fission of uranium and other radioactive materials.
Answer: C
4) What is nuclear fusion?
A) an explosion caused by putting together two volatile chemicals
B) the process of splitting nuclei to produce energy
C) the process of turning matter into pure energy
D) the process of combining lightweight nuclei to make heavier nuclei
E) a process that only occurs in bombs
Answer: D
5) Which of the following statements does not use the term light-year in an appropriate
way?
A) It's about 4 light-years from here to Alpha Centauri.
B) It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment.
C) A light-year is about 10 trillion kilometers.
D) It will take the Voyager spacecraft about 20,000 years to travel just 1 light-year.
E) The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.
Answer: B
,6) Light takes approximately one second to travel from the Earth to the Moon. This
means that the moon is approximately
A) 1 astronomical unit from the Earth
B) 1 light year from the Earth
C) 3,000 kilometers from the Earth
D) 300,000 kilometers from the Earth
E) twice the distance from the Earth to the Sun
Answer: C
7) One light-hour is the distance that light travels in an hour. How far is this, in
kilometers? (Recall that the speed of light is 300,000 km/s.)
A) 300,000 km
B) 18 million km
C) 100 million km
D) 1.08 billion km
E) 9.46 trillion km
Answer: D
8) Suppose we look at a photograph of many galaxies. Assuming that all galaxies formed
at the same time after the Big Bang, which galaxy appears to us as the youngest?
A) The galaxy that is furthest from us.
B) The galaxy that is closest to us.
C) The galaxy that appears largest to us.
D) The galaxy that appears bluest to us.
E) All galaxies would appear to have the same age.
Answer: A
, 9) Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit. Which of the
following describes the size and distance of Earth on the same scale?
A) Earth is the size of a point about 1 meter away from the Sun.
B) Earth is the size of a golf ball about 1 meter away from the Sun.
C) Earth is the size of a point about 15 meters away from the Sun.
D) Earth is the size of a golf ball about 15 meters away from the Sun.
E) Earth is the size of a marble about 25 miles away from the Sun.
Answer: C
10) Which of the following correctly describes the concept of galactic recycling?
A) Stars near the center of the Milky Way are continually recycled to the outskirts of the
disk by their orbital motion.
B) Life is continuously being spread from star to star in the Milky Way.
C) New stars are continuously being formed in the Milky Way out of gas that has been
ejected from a previous generation of stars.
D) New galaxies are continuously being formed out of gas ejected from a previous
generation of galaxies.
E) In the formation of a star, no matter is wasted as all excess material ends up recycled
into planets.
Answer: C
11) What is the Sun mainly made of?
A) hydrogen and oxygen
B) hydrogen and helium
C) carbon and nitrogen
D) oxygen and carbon
E) nearly equal portions of all the elements
Answer: B
