Astronomy 101 Practice Test Questions and Correct Answers

Astronomy 101 Practice Test Questions and Correct Answers Solar System Characteristics: orbits, what do inner planets do compared to outer, and what about spin - Answer- Counter Clockwise Orbits, Inner planets move faster, Each planet has individual spin Number of planets and names - Answer- 8: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Gravity - Answer- Attractive force, holds everything together, requires 2 objects pull on each other Gravity on Earth - Answer- 9.8 m/s What does gravity depend on - Answer- 1) Very large for large objects, 2) Distance: closer = stronger Earth Orbit time - Answer- 365 days Earth Rotation time - Answer- 24 hours AU, what distance does it distinguish and how many miles is one AU? - Answer- Astronomical Unit, Sun-Earth distance, 93 million miles, AU and the Solar System - Answer- 0-100 AU Light Year - Answer- Distance (not a time) light travels in an Earth year How many stars are in our solar system including our sun? - Answer- 1 Planets - Answer- round, with a clear path Asteroids - Answer- Smaller than a planet, orbits a star (the sun) Moons - Answer- Smaller than a planet, orbits a planet Star - Answer- self-luminous, nuclear bomb Comet - Answer- Made of ice and dirt, orbits a star Meteor - Answer- Made of rock, ice, dust: burns up in atmosphere What does a galaxy contain? - Answer- Billions of stars, dust (not in our SS)