Astronomy 101 Final Exam questions and
Verified Answers
The bulge of the Milky Way - ANSWER The central region of a spiral galaxy that is similar in
appearance to a small elliptical galaxy. Extend above and below the disk. Football shaped.
Population II stars. High gas and dust content. Supermassive black hole at the center. Very
dense stellar population
Explain how black holes are observed. - ANSWER Black holes are observed by the large
amounts of light (x-rays) emitted from orbiting and infalling material
The formation of the Milky Way's _____ depended on the presence of gas - ANSWER disk
Halo objects orbit the center of the Milky Way, - ANSWER in random orientations and
directions.
The Milky Way's ______ is/are composed of stars (and gas and dust) in randomly oriented
objects - ANSWER halo and bulge
Consider the rotation curve (velocity vs. radius) graph of a merry-go-round. The velocity
a. declines as radius increases
b. increases as radius increases
c. is relatively constant as radius increases - ANSWER d. increases as radius increases
Consider a typical disk galaxy's rotational curve (velocity vs. radius). The velocity
a. increases as radius increases
b. decreases as radius increases
c. is relatively constant as radius increases - ANSWER c. is relatively constant as radius increases
, The Milky Way's rotational curve provides evidence of dark matter because - ANSWER
additional, invisible matter is required to keep the rotation speed relatively constant AND
the rotation curve extends far beyond the Milky Way's disk
Which type of galaxies appear to have many young stars? - ANSWER Disk Galaxies
Do disk galaxies also contain old stars? - ANSWER Yes
Which type of galaxies are more likely to show evidence of dust? - ANSWER Disk galaxies
If a galaxy is experiencing active star formation, it must contain, - ANSWER cool, dense gas
Which type of galaxies have cool, dense gas available for star formation? - ANSWER Disk
galaxies
Which type of galaxy shows evidence of significant numbers of O and M stars? - ANSWER Disk
galaxies
Which type of galaxy is likely to contain many M-Stars but few O-Stars? - ANSWER Elliptical
galaxies
rungs of the Cosmic Distance Ladder - ANSWER Parallax (out to 1000 pc with space based
telescopes)
Spectroscopic Parallax (out to 10,000 pc)
Cepheid variables (out to 15 Mpc)
Tully-Fisher Law (out to 200 Mpc)
Type 1a supernova (out to 1000 Mpc)
Hubble's Law (out to 10,000 Mpc)
Verified Answers
The bulge of the Milky Way - ANSWER The central region of a spiral galaxy that is similar in
appearance to a small elliptical galaxy. Extend above and below the disk. Football shaped.
Population II stars. High gas and dust content. Supermassive black hole at the center. Very
dense stellar population
Explain how black holes are observed. - ANSWER Black holes are observed by the large
amounts of light (x-rays) emitted from orbiting and infalling material
The formation of the Milky Way's _____ depended on the presence of gas - ANSWER disk
Halo objects orbit the center of the Milky Way, - ANSWER in random orientations and
directions.
The Milky Way's ______ is/are composed of stars (and gas and dust) in randomly oriented
objects - ANSWER halo and bulge
Consider the rotation curve (velocity vs. radius) graph of a merry-go-round. The velocity
a. declines as radius increases
b. increases as radius increases
c. is relatively constant as radius increases - ANSWER d. increases as radius increases
Consider a typical disk galaxy's rotational curve (velocity vs. radius). The velocity
a. increases as radius increases
b. decreases as radius increases
c. is relatively constant as radius increases - ANSWER c. is relatively constant as radius increases
, The Milky Way's rotational curve provides evidence of dark matter because - ANSWER
additional, invisible matter is required to keep the rotation speed relatively constant AND
the rotation curve extends far beyond the Milky Way's disk
Which type of galaxies appear to have many young stars? - ANSWER Disk Galaxies
Do disk galaxies also contain old stars? - ANSWER Yes
Which type of galaxies are more likely to show evidence of dust? - ANSWER Disk galaxies
If a galaxy is experiencing active star formation, it must contain, - ANSWER cool, dense gas
Which type of galaxies have cool, dense gas available for star formation? - ANSWER Disk
galaxies
Which type of galaxy shows evidence of significant numbers of O and M stars? - ANSWER Disk
galaxies
Which type of galaxy is likely to contain many M-Stars but few O-Stars? - ANSWER Elliptical
galaxies
rungs of the Cosmic Distance Ladder - ANSWER Parallax (out to 1000 pc with space based
telescopes)
Spectroscopic Parallax (out to 10,000 pc)
Cepheid variables (out to 15 Mpc)
Tully-Fisher Law (out to 200 Mpc)
Type 1a supernova (out to 1000 Mpc)
Hubble's Law (out to 10,000 Mpc)
