PHYS 1600 Astronomy Final Exam Review
UPDATED QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
True or false: All planets undergo retrograde motion as seen from Earth - CORRECT ANSWER
True
When Mercury is at its farthest distance from the Earth, it is at - CORRECT ANSWER
superior conjunction
The Sun is at one focus of the Earth's elliptical orbit. What is at the other focus? - CORRECT
ANSWER nothing
The figure is of a planetary orbit about the Sun (S). At which point is the planet moving fastest? -
CORRECT ANSWER A , is moving the fastest as its the closet to the suns gravity
The planet Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth. Which value below is the sidereal period of
Venus? - CORRECT ANSWER 225 days
The concept of the universe adopted by most ancient Greek philosophers was - CORRECT ANSWER
Earth-centered, with Sun, Moon, planets, and the stars orbiting around a stationary Earth.
The major contribution of Tycho Brahe to the development of modern astronomy was - CORRECT
ANSWER measure planetary positions very accurately.
An orbit with which of the following eccentricities is most circular? - CORRECT ANSWER
0.10
What two things about Venus couldn't be explained by a geocentric cosmology? - CORRECT
ANSWER That it has phases and changes apparent size.
How would the mass of a brick change if it were placed on the Moon? - CORRECT ANSWER
Its mass would be the same as it is here on Earth.
,One statement below is incorrect; which one?
The rotation and revolution of the Earth are in opposite directions.
The rotation of the Earth is counter clockwise viewed from the north.
Leap years are necessary because the length of the year is not an exact integral number of days.
The seasons are a result of the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis relative to the plane of its orbit around
the Sun. - CORRECT ANSWER The rotation and revolution of the Earth are in opposite
directions.
One statement below is correct; which one?
In the time that the Moon makes one revolution about the Earth the Earth moves through about 1/2 of
its orbit about the Sun.
Because the Moon does not rotate with respect to the distant stars, we see all sides of the Moon once
each month.
The plane of the Moon's orbit is tilted at about 5° to the ecliptic plane
In its orbit about the Earth the Moon has to travel a smaller distance to come back to the same phase
than to make one full turn with respect to the distant stars. - CORRECT ANSWER The plane
of the Moon's orbit is tilted at about 5° to the ecliptic plane
The main reason for seasonal effects at mid-latitudes on the Earth is: - CORRECT ANSWER
the tilt of the spin axis of Earth to its orbital
plane, resulting in a change in the angle of
incidence of solar radiation on the Eirth's
, surface as the Earth orbits around the Sun.
At what part of its cycle will the Moon be
seen high in the sky at midnight, from mid-latitudes? - CORRECT ANSWER Full moon
Which of the following correctly describes the
rotation of the Moon? - CORRECT ANSWER The Moon rotates once per month to keep
one side always pointing toward the Earth.
The typical size of the shadow of the Moon
when it is cast upon the Earth during a total
solar eclipse, from inside of which no part of
the solar disk is visible, is: - CORRECT ANSWER very small, with a typical diameter less
than about 270 km.
The Sun and the Moon appear to us to
be the same size in the sky. We know that the
Sun is much further away. this means: - CORRECT ANSWER The diameter of the Sun is
greater than the
diameter of the Moon.
What is the basic structure of Earth's interior? - CORRECT ANSWER solid iron inner core,
molten iron outer core, rocky mantle, lighter
rocky crust
Which of the following is necessary for the production of a substantial planetary magnetic field?
Continental plates moving under the action of tectonic activity.
UPDATED QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
True or false: All planets undergo retrograde motion as seen from Earth - CORRECT ANSWER
True
When Mercury is at its farthest distance from the Earth, it is at - CORRECT ANSWER
superior conjunction
The Sun is at one focus of the Earth's elliptical orbit. What is at the other focus? - CORRECT
ANSWER nothing
The figure is of a planetary orbit about the Sun (S). At which point is the planet moving fastest? -
CORRECT ANSWER A , is moving the fastest as its the closet to the suns gravity
The planet Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth. Which value below is the sidereal period of
Venus? - CORRECT ANSWER 225 days
The concept of the universe adopted by most ancient Greek philosophers was - CORRECT ANSWER
Earth-centered, with Sun, Moon, planets, and the stars orbiting around a stationary Earth.
The major contribution of Tycho Brahe to the development of modern astronomy was - CORRECT
ANSWER measure planetary positions very accurately.
An orbit with which of the following eccentricities is most circular? - CORRECT ANSWER
0.10
What two things about Venus couldn't be explained by a geocentric cosmology? - CORRECT
ANSWER That it has phases and changes apparent size.
How would the mass of a brick change if it were placed on the Moon? - CORRECT ANSWER
Its mass would be the same as it is here on Earth.
,One statement below is incorrect; which one?
The rotation and revolution of the Earth are in opposite directions.
The rotation of the Earth is counter clockwise viewed from the north.
Leap years are necessary because the length of the year is not an exact integral number of days.
The seasons are a result of the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis relative to the plane of its orbit around
the Sun. - CORRECT ANSWER The rotation and revolution of the Earth are in opposite
directions.
One statement below is correct; which one?
In the time that the Moon makes one revolution about the Earth the Earth moves through about 1/2 of
its orbit about the Sun.
Because the Moon does not rotate with respect to the distant stars, we see all sides of the Moon once
each month.
The plane of the Moon's orbit is tilted at about 5° to the ecliptic plane
In its orbit about the Earth the Moon has to travel a smaller distance to come back to the same phase
than to make one full turn with respect to the distant stars. - CORRECT ANSWER The plane
of the Moon's orbit is tilted at about 5° to the ecliptic plane
The main reason for seasonal effects at mid-latitudes on the Earth is: - CORRECT ANSWER
the tilt of the spin axis of Earth to its orbital
plane, resulting in a change in the angle of
incidence of solar radiation on the Eirth's
, surface as the Earth orbits around the Sun.
At what part of its cycle will the Moon be
seen high in the sky at midnight, from mid-latitudes? - CORRECT ANSWER Full moon
Which of the following correctly describes the
rotation of the Moon? - CORRECT ANSWER The Moon rotates once per month to keep
one side always pointing toward the Earth.
The typical size of the shadow of the Moon
when it is cast upon the Earth during a total
solar eclipse, from inside of which no part of
the solar disk is visible, is: - CORRECT ANSWER very small, with a typical diameter less
than about 270 km.
The Sun and the Moon appear to us to
be the same size in the sky. We know that the
Sun is much further away. this means: - CORRECT ANSWER The diameter of the Sun is
greater than the
diameter of the Moon.
What is the basic structure of Earth's interior? - CORRECT ANSWER solid iron inner core,
molten iron outer core, rocky mantle, lighter
rocky crust
Which of the following is necessary for the production of a substantial planetary magnetic field?
Continental plates moving under the action of tectonic activity.
