Pluto has only a single moon, Charon.
Triton and Pluto both probably originated in the Kuiper Belt.
Without the strong nuclear force, the universe would be made only of hydrogen.
Methane drives the weather of Titan, for there it can be liquid, solid, or gas.
Early telescopic observers thought the lunar mare were seas of water; today we know
they are not liquid water but molten basalt, long ago frozen out.
Galileo’s early telescopes revealed the four large moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn,
and its large moon Titan.
In the GUT, electromagnetism and the strong nuclear force are the last to appear.
While more massive than most of its neighbors, our Sun is still technically a low-mass
star.
Pluto is more similar to the jovian planet’s icy moons than to any of the other planets.
The critically bound universe, with omega = 1, is saddle shaped.
The light-gathering ability of a telescope is most dependent on the diameter of its
primary objective.
According to Wein’s law, the larger the blackbody, the shorter its peak wavelength.
Like Saturn’s more famous ring system, Jupiter’s ring is also made of ice, just older and
dirtier than the bright fresh material at Saturn.
Seyferts are spirals with quasar-like nuclei.
Alone among all the large moons, Triton orbits Neptune retrograde, and also at a 20
degree inclination to Neptune’s equator.
The large, dark mare on Ganymede were created by water that erupted from within the
moon.
A +6.0 magnitude star is brighter than a +3.0 magnitude star.
No optical traces have been found of the gamma-ray bursters.
The frequency of a water wave gives us its height.
The escape speed at the event horizon of a black hole is c, 300,000 km/sec.
For nearby galaxies, determining the rotation curve allows us to calculate the mass.
There is a solar eclipse of some kind every new moon.
Special relativity says that c, the speed of light, is the maximum velocity for both matter
and energy in our universe.
Living cells have already been recreated in our laboratories.
The Virgo Cluster of galaxies is not much larger in size than the Local Group, but it
does contain far more galaxies.
Because the probe came so close, Voyager 1 sent back high resolution photos of detail
on the surface of Titan in 1980.
Halo stars are all Population II objects.
The Van Allen belts are cloud layers in the jet streams of the stratosphere, similar to the
belts that Galileo saw on Jupiter.
Compared to the spirals, elliptical galaxies tend to be more dusty.
Astronomers have not yet been able to detect planets outside our solar system.
Decoupling refers to the separation of matter and antimatter during inflation.
In stage 3 of star formation, the cloud has collapsed enough that its inner regions are
opaque to their own radiation.
A Kuiper Belt object was discovered that may be larger than Pluto.
The full Moon’s apparent magnitude is
A) +4.83.
B) +12.7.
C) -1.4.
D) -26.2.
E) -12.5.
In the formation of our Galaxy, the ________ formed first.
A) galactic disk
B) galactic center
C) globular clusters
D) planetary nebulae
E) spiral arms
If new moon fell on March 2nd, what is the Moon’s phase on March 14th?
A) waxing crescent
B) first quarter
C) waxing gibbous
D) full
E) waning crescent
When we glimpse the chromosphere at the start and end of totality, its color is
A) green (the famous flash).
B) yellow, like the photosphere below it.
C) red, due to ionized hydrogen at lower pressure.
D) blue, due to the ionization of nitrogen by the magnetic fields.
E) white from the moonlight.
The type of radio galaxy that reveals its motion through the intergalactic medium is
called a
A) quasar.
B) dual lobe.
C) bi-polar jet.
D) head-tail.
E) Seyfert.
Why are dark dust clouds largely misnamed?
A) The cloud is an illusion, for the dust is evenly distributed around the Galaxy.
B) Dust clouds do radiate energy, but not as much light as the stars do.
C) It is ice, not dust, which make them look dark.
D) They contain much more gas than dust.
E) All of the above are correct.
Compared to our Sun, a typical white dwarf has
A) about the same mass and density.
B) about the same mass and a million times higher density.
C) a larger mass and a hundred times lower density.
D) a smaller mass and half the density.
E) a smaller mass and twice the density.
The primary source of the Sun’s energy is
A) oxidation of carbon in the core.
B) gravitational collapse of the helium towards the core.
C) dark energy.
D) the strong force fusing hydrogen into helium.
E) the weak force creating energy from uranium decay.
In general, what can be said about type O and B stars compared to type K and M stars?
A) They are hotter and older.
B) They are cooler and older.
C) They are hotter and younger.
D) They are cooler and younger.
E) They are neither hotter nor cooler, younger nor older.
The atmospheric pressure on Venus
A) shows an extreme change with the seasons.
B) is much lower than on Earth.
C) is about the same as on Mercury.
D) is much higher than on Earth.
E) causes variations in surface temperature.
A solar-mass star will evolve off the main sequence when
A) it completely runs out of hydrogen.
B) it expels a planetary nebula to cool off and release radiation.
C) it explodes as a violent nova.
D) it builds up a core of inert helium.
E) it loses all its neutrinos, so fusion must cease.
The visible color of the Galactic Bulge is
A) blue from the OB associations.
B) yellow from the old Population II stars.
C) red from the emission nebulae.
D) black from the dust clouds.
E) brown from the dwarfs in the dark matter.
Some quasars show absorption spectra with a smaller redshift than their emission
spectra. This indicates that
A) we still don’t understand redshifts.
B) they are much closer than previously thought.
C) there is cooler gas between us and the quasar.
D) their black holes are still contracting.
E) their black holes are still expanding.
Tycho Brahe’s contribution to Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion were
A) his detailed and accurate observations of the planets’ positions.
B) his observations of Jupiter’s moons.
C) a mathematical explanation of epicycles.
D) a precise lunar calendar.
E) the correct explanation of lunar phases.
If a star is over ________ solar masses, its core can collapse to a black hole in a
hypernova.
The average density of the Sun is most similar to which object?
A) Halley’s Comet’s nucleus
B) the Earth
C) Mercury
D) the Moon
E) Jupiter
We have not yet found meteoroids and meteorites derived from
A) Venus.
B) the Moon.
C) Mars.
D) asteroids.
E) comets.
Which two jovian planets have magnetic field tilts that are not along their rotation
poles?
A) Jupiter and Saturn
B) Jupiter and Uranus
C) Saturn and Neptune
D) Uranus and Neptune
E) All jovian planets have magnetic fields close to their rotational axes.
The main constituent of the Martian atmosphere is
A) hydrogen.
B) helium.
C) methane.
D) carbon dioxide.
E) nitrogen.
In astronomy, an interferometer can be used to
A) yield better seeing conditions with optical telescopes.
B) decrease the effects of light pollution in getting darker sky backgrounds.
C) improve the angular resolution of radio telescopes.
D) increase the sensitivity of infrared telescopes to longer wavelengths.
E) speed up the processing of CCD images.
A recurring nova might eventually build up enough mass to become a Type ________
supernova.
What can we detect from matter that has crossed an event horizon?
A) gamma-ray bursts
B) radio waves if the matter was traveling fast enough
C) visible light
D) X-rays if the matter was dense
E) nothing
X-ray bursters occur in binary star systems. The two types of stars that must be present
to make up such an object are
A) a white dwarf and a neutron star.
B) a contact binary system of two red giants.
C) a white dwarf and a main-sequence star.
D) a main-sequence or giant star and a neutron star in a mass transfer binary.
E) two neutron stars in a mass transfer binary.
What is so unusual about Pluto’s orbit?
A) It lies exactly on the ecliptic.
B) It has the lowest eccentricity of any planet’s orbit.
C) It is more inclined to the ecliptic than any of the eight planets.
D) It has an unexpectedly short orbital period.
E) Its orbital period is exactly twice that of Neptune’s.
Which statement about our core is FALSE?
A) It generates a stable and permanent magnetic field much as a regular bar magnet.
B) Its magnetic field generates the protective Van Allen radiation Belts.
C) It must be rich in both iron and nickel.
D) The seismic data indicates the outer portion is liquid, the inner part solid.
E) It is almost as hot as the Sun’s glowing surface, the photosphere.
A fragment of a collapsing gas cloud that comes to equilibrium with a central
temperature of 4 million K will become a
A) black hole.
B) brown dwarf.
C) black dwarf
D) T-Tauri star.
E) stage 1 protostar.
Which of these would be made up of only Population II stars?
A) elliptical galaxies
B) Irr type I
C) Irr type II
D) barred spirals
E) Seyfert spirals
A star has a parallax of .05.” Its distance is
A) 5 light-years.
B) 20 parsecs.
C) 66 parsecs.
D) 200 parsecs.
E) 660 light-years.
Which element is critical to the formation of the volcanic surface of Io?
A) iron
B) silicon
C) sulfur
D) phosphorus
E) carbon
Which was not a Voyager discovery about the rings of Saturn?
A) They have dark spokes that defy gravity.
B) They are made of tens of thousands of narrow ringlets.
C) There are hundreds of smaller moons imbedded in them, creating the gaps.
D) The F ring particles are herded by two shepherd moons.
E) The E ring may have been made by volcanic eruptions from Enceladus.
Contrast open clusters and associations.
Why is UV astronomy difficult to do from the ground?
How do we believe the Barringer crater formed?
The universe we live in now is said to be ________ dominated.
Why is the impact theory now preferred as an explanation for the Moon’s origin?
What is the primary determinant of whether a planet resides in the “habitable zone” of a
planetary system?
The strongest magnetic fields in the photosphere lie near ________.
The dusty ring around Jupiter was discovered in 1979 by ________.
What is a brown dwarf?
Define the Roche Limit.
How can astronomers determine the mass of the Sun?
Which side of the Moon has the thicker crust? Why?
A frequency of one hundred ________ means the wave is vibrating one hundred million
times per second; this is a typical carrier frequency for FM (frequency modulation)
radio.
What is the likely origin of Triton? Why do we believe this?
Name two consequences of the Earth’s magnetic field detected from space.
The model of ________ used circular deferents and epicycles in a geocentric universe
to explain planetary motions.