Supermassive galaxies are found at the core of rich galaxy clusters.
An infinite universe is a basic assumption of the cosmological principle.
There is new evidence that water has flowed as mud on Mars in recent times.
Titan’s surface has been mapped using Earth based visual telescopes.
Population I stars came billions of years before Population II stars.
The Murchison meteorite, a carbonaceous chondrite, contained many of the amino acids
needed by living things on Earth.
A massive star may change its color and size notably, but its high luminosity remains
fairly constant.
Stars within an emission nebula, such as M42, are considered Population I stars.
Luminosity class V stars are larger than class Ia stars.
In the proton-proton chain, helium atoms are fused into hydrogen.
Seismic S-waves can travel through Earth’s liquid outer core.
The instability strip is above the main sequence on the H-R diagram.
The Sun, at absolute magnitude +4.8, would be one of the brightest stars in the sky if
seen from 32 light-years distance.
The Sun is actually more luminous at sunspot minimum than at maximum.
The luminosity of the red giant during its second trip to the upper right on the H-R
diagram is less than before the helium flash expansion.
A telescope with an 8-inch mirror will collect twice as much light as one with a 4-inch
mirror.
Astronomical events, such as an asteroid impact or nearly supernova, have probably
altered the course of evolution on Earth.
The lunar highlands appear brighter than the mare, because these highlands are due to
meteor impact that completely avoided the mare.
A 3rd magnitude star appears 2.5 times brighter than a 4th magnitude star.
Seismic P-waves can be detected worldwide from any strong epicenter.
In the past, most of the landmass on Earth was concentrated in a single, large continent.
Mapping the intracluster gas is largely done with red light from the ionized emission
lines of hot hydrogen.
A Newtonian reflector needs no secondary mirror.
The orbits of Population II stars and globular clusters are much like comets, rising high
above the galactic plane with eccentric orbits.
The simplest reflector telescope design is the prime focus reflector.
The brightest active galaxies are giant ellipticals.
Once the helium flash occurs at stage 10, the star stabilizes again on the horizontal
branch of the H-R diagram, but now hundreds of times as bright as on the main
sequence.
The predominant color of emission nebulae is blue.
The sunspot cycle averages about 11 months.
Olbers’s paradox seeks the explanation for why the night sky is dark.
Virtually all galaxies are moving away from the Milky Way.
The formation of carbon requires a core temperature of about 100 million K, but iron
takes much higher temperatures and pressures.
Planets similar to our terrestrials have been found orbiting pulsars.
Almost all stars on the main sequence range from 1 to 10 solar luminosities.
Our Earth is about four times larger than the Moon in diameter.
The proton-proton cycle converts all of the mass of the four hydrogen atoms into pure
energy.
Galactic evolution is due to collisions between galaxies.
In a closed universe, if you could send out a powerful enough light, it would eventually
return from behind you.
Like radio and optical astronomy, infrared astronomy is easily done with ground-based
telescopes.
Seyferts are irregular galaxies with very strong radio emission.
Sunspots
A) are always found close to the Sun’s poles.
B) come in pairs, representing the north and south magnetic fields.
C) were most numerous during the Maunder Minimum.
D) travel over the surface of the Sun from pole to pole.
E) are relatively constant in number every year.
On a night when a human eye can see a fourth magnitude star, a 60mm telescope, with
100 the surface area as our pupil, would be able to just barely detect
A) seventh magnitude Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.
B) eighth magnitude Uranus.
C) ninth magnitude Barnard’s Star.
D) eleventh magnitude Tethys, Saturn’s second largest moon.
E) thirteenth magnitude Pluto.
What two energy transport mechanisms, in order from outside the core to the surface,
are found in the Sun?
A) convection, conduction
B) radiation, convection
C) conduction, radiation
D) radiation, conduction
E) conduction, convection
In Ptolemy’s geocentric model, the normal eastward motion of the planets was along
A) a deferent.
B) an epicycle.
C) a retrograde loop.
D) an ellipse.
E) the equant.
Based on galactic rotation curves and cluster dynamics, we think dark matter
A) is a minor component of the entire mass of the universe.
B) is best detected from the X-rays it produces in the intergalactic medium.
C) will have no effect on the fate of the universe.
D) comprises over 90% of the entire mass of the universe.
E) will doom the universe to collapse, overcoming the redshifts we now observe.
The element first found in the Sun’s spectrum, then on Earth 30 years later, is
A) hydrogen.
B) helium
C) solarium.
D) technicum.
E) aluminum.
Why are star clusters ideal “laboratories” for stellar evolution?
A) The combined light of all the stars makes them easier to see.
B) Like our Sun, they lie in the plane of the Milky Way.
C) Their stars are all about the same age, composition, and distance from us.
D) Their stars are all about the same mass and temperature.
E) Their stars are all the same composition and stage in evolution.
If the distance between two asteroids is doubled, the gravitational force they exert on
each other will
A) also be doubled.
B) be half as great.
C) be one fourth as great.
D) will be 1/16 as great.
E) be four times greater.
Our most detailed knowledge of Uranus and Neptune comes from
A) spacecraft exploration.
B) the Hubble Space telescope.
C) ground-based visual telescopes.
D) ground-based radio telescopes.
E) manned missions.
A star has a parallax of 0.01 arc seconds. Its distance is
A) 0.01 parsecs.
B) 0.1 parsecs.
C) 1 parsec.
D) 10 parsecs
E) 100 parsecs.
The tail of a comet always points
A) toward the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
B) toward Earth and never varies.
C) away from the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
D) away from the Sun and becomes longest and brightest at perihelion.
E) in the direction of the comet’s motion.
Which of these events is not possible?
A) low-mass stars swelling up to produce planetary nebulae
B) red giants exploding as Type II supernovae
C) close binary stars producing recurrent novae explosions
D) white dwarfs and companion stars producing recurrent Type I supernova events
E) a white dwarf being found in the center of a planetary nebula
Pulsars are created in a Type I supernova.
Medium A blocks more of a certain wavelength of radiation than medium B. Medium A
has a higher
A) transparency.
B) seeing.
C) clarity.
D) opacity.
E) albedo.
If you could find a bathtub big enough for Saturn, the planet would
A) precipitate more helium.
B) float.
C) explode due to its liquid metallic hydrogen.
D) catch fire, as liquid sodium reacts with water.
E) sink due to its metallic interior.
What is the typical age for a globular cluster associated with our Milky Way?
A) a few million years
B) 200 million years
C) a billion years
D) 10-12 billion years
E) 45 billion years
The speed of light is 3.00 108 m/s. If 2.00 kg of mass is converted to energy, how much
energy will be produced?
A) 1.80 x 1017 J
B) 6.00 x 108 J
C) 1.50 x 108 J
D) 6.00 x 104 J
E) 9.00 x 1016 J
The only probe into the atmospheres of any jovian planet was launched by
A) Voyager 2 into Titan’s atmosphere.
B) Pathfinder into Mars’ atmosphere.
C) Cassini into Saturn’s clouds.
D) Galileo into Jupiter’s equatorial zone.
E) Huygens into Saturn’s equatorial belt.
At what core temperature does hydrogen begin to fuse to helium?
A) 3,000 K
B) 5,800 K
C) 1 million K
D) 10 million K
E) 100 million K
The total energy radiated by a blackbody depends on
A) the fourth power of its temperature.
B) the square of its temperature.
C) the square root of its temperature.
D) the fourth root of its temperature.
E) the cube of its temperature.
The Manicouagan reservoir near Quebec is an example of
A) a volcanic event.
B) cometary debris.
C) Earth’s interaction with a comet’s dust tail.
D) a large meteorite impact.
E) a micrometeorite impact.
What is true about solar system densities?
A) The denser planets lie closer to the Sun.
B) In differentiated bodies, the denser materials lie near their surfaces.
C) The asteroids all have about the same density.
D) Saturn has the same density as water.
E) Planetary density increases with increasing distance from the Sun.
In size and density, both Io and Europa resemble
A) Mercury.
B) our Moon.
C) Mars.
D) Pluto.
E) Charon.
A moon with a smooth, uncratered surface would imply
A) meteorites have never struck the moon.
B) a strong magnetic field surrounds the moon.
C) the surface is very young.
D) the moon lies within the planet’s Roche Limit.
E) the surface is completely liquid.
The radiation our eyes are most sensitive to is the color
A) red at 6563 Angstroms.
B) yellow-green at about 550 nm.
C) violet at 7,000 Angstroms.
D) blue at 4,321 nm.
E) black at 227 nm.
The stars with masses comparable to our Sun’s, but sizes like the Earth are
A) red main sequence stars.
B) white dwarfs.
C) red giants.
D) blue main sequence stars.
E) neutron stars.
Drawing on Eratosthenes’ method, if two observers are due north and south of each
other and are separated by 400 km, what is the circumference of their spherical world if
they see the same star on their meridian at altitudes of 23 degrees and 47 degrees
respectively, and at the exact same time?
A) 2,000 km
B) 4,000 km
C) 6,000 km
D) 8,000 km
E) 12,000 km
The erupting geysers of nitrogen gas on Triton
A) can be viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
B) are caused by a not yet determined internal energy source.
C) produced the large liquid oceans.
D) are increasing the moon’s rotation rate.
E) produced the frozen nitrogen surface.
Jupiter and the other jovian planets are noticeably oblate because
A) they all have strong magnetic fields that deform their shape.
B) their powerful gravity acts stronger on the closer poles than the distant equator.
C) they are fluid bodies that are spinning rapidly.
D) they are tidally distorted by the pulls for their satellite systems.
E) All of the above are correct.
Which of the following best describes the evolutionary track of the most massive stars?
A) diagonally to lower right, then vertical, then horizontal left
B) horizontally right, diagonal to lower left, then horizontal right
C) horizontal right, then a clockwise loop
D) horizontal right
E) vertically left, then straight down
The bright photosphere is much hotter than the faint corona.
Earth’s magnetic field
A) prevents charged particles in the solar wind from reaching the surface.
B) is a remnant of the solar nebula’s magnetic field.
C) is weakening the Van Allen radiation belts.
D) is the force behind plate tectonics.
E) lines intersect the atmosphere at the equator.
When a low mass star first runs short of hydrogen in its core, it becomes brighter
because
A) it explodes as a nova.
B) helium fusion gives off more energy than does hydrogen.
C) its outer, cooler layers are shed, and we see the brighter central core.
D) the core contracts, raising the temperature and extending the hydrogen burning shell
outward.
E) the helium flash increases the size of the star immensely.
In which of the following models will the universe stop expanding?
A) open universe
B) closed universe
C) critical density universe
D) steady state universe
E) All have an ultimate collapse.
Why is detecting Earth-sized planets much more difficult than finding Jupiter-sized
planets around other stars?
Mars and Mercury are similar in size, and Mercury is even denser. Why then is it Mars
that has more atmosphere?
Describe changes in atomic structure that accompany the making of neutron star.
Our molten core is believed to consist primarily of the element ________.
Why do spirals seem to be more abundant on the HST deep surveys than they are in the
present universe?
Contrast the main mirrors of Newtonian and Cassegrain designs.
All four rings systems lie within their planet’s ________.
Why don’t stars less massive then type M exist?
What are coronae?
The clouds on Venus are made primarily of ________.
Our own Milky Way’s Hubble class, according to the best data, is ________.
In the light curve of a nova, the rise to maximum luminosity takes only a few
________.
The large reflector, the 10 m Keck, gathers ________ times more light than the 1.0 m
Yerkes refractor.
That we do not get eclipses every new and full Moon is due to the ________ degree tilt
of the Moon’s orbit, relative to the ecliptic.
What common gas assumes an uncommon state in the mantles of Jupiter and Saturn?
Why?