In the Bohr model of the atom, an electron can only exist in specific, well-defined
energy levels.
Like Titan, Triton has a nitrogen atmosphere.
Paradoxically, while the core of the red giant is contracting and heating up, its radiation
pressure causes its photosphere to swell up and cool off.
In keeping with its Greek god, Neptune probably contains a lot of water, in a slushy
mantle ocean.
Most of Jupiter’s volume is probably in the form of liquid metallic helium.
The Earth’s inner core is about the same temperature as the surface of the Sun.
The Andromeda galaxy will eventually collide with the Milky Way.
The radio signals from Earth are greater than those from the Sun.
Pluto is probably one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt bodies beyond Neptune.
The density of Mars is very similar to that of the other terrestrial planets.
We usually find dark molecular clouds beside bright emission nebulae.
It appears that while they are similar in size, Ganymede is much more differentiated
than Callisto.
A unique characteristic of type O stars is ionized helium lines in its spectrum.
No evidence of impact craters has been found on Venus.
The percentage of dark matter in galactic clusters is less than the percentage in
individual galaxies.
The Milky Way is smaller than most members of the Local Group.
Euclidean geometry is useful for most common problems, but the geometry of space
requires general relativity as well.
Irregulars typically have very few blue stars.
There is a clear relationship between the interior and atmospheric rotation rates of the
jovian planets.
Shapley’s measurements of the distances to open clusters vastly revised our
understanding of our position in the Galaxy.
Quasars may come from mergers of black holes in early galaxies.
At its brightest, Venus, at magnitude -4, is 100 times brighter than a 1st magnitude star.
Irregular galaxies, although small, have large star-forming (HII) regions and much
ongoing star formation for their size.
A hypernova is a gamma-ray burster that forms a black hole as well.
The bright blue stars of Orion’s Belt are Population I, while our yellow Sun is
population II.
Newly-formed neutron stars start with weak magnetic fields, but they strengthen over
time into pulsars.
The helium flash shows up on the H-R diagram on the way to the horizontal branch.
A parsec is slightly more than 200,000 AU.
The Moon’s far side is more ancient and heavily cratered; on Mars, the same is true of
its southern hemisphere.
For bright stars to form, the protostars must condense in dense, dark nebulae.
Our Sun will likely die as a Type I supernova in about five billion years.
Weather occurs in the troposphere.
There are more giant elliptical than dwarf galaxies.
Neptune has a single, broad ring that is extremely thin.
The closer the observer comes to the event horizon, the slower his watch will appear to
run to a distant observer.
Although protons repel each other at a distance, they will actually bind if they come
close enough together.
The 26,000 year cycle that changes the poles and equinoxes is called
A) a retrograde loop.
B) the Earth’s rotation.
C) precession.
D) regression.
E) revolution.
Which is the correct description of the Sun’s location within the Milky Way?
A) at the outer edge of the galactic bulge but in the plane of the disc
B) in the disc but at its outer edge
C) as Herschel found, very close to the Galactic center
D) above the disc and about one-third of the galactic radius from the center
E) in the disc and about one-half a galactic radius from the center
Much of the water on Mars
A) is thought to be in a layer of permafrost just below the surface.
B) lies in shallow pools near the poles.
C) is locked in the seasonal ice cap.
D) is found in deep pools near the equator.
E) is in the form of clouds.
Which statement about black holes is true?
A) Their escape velocity is greater than the speed of light.
B) They form from 1.4 solar mass stars.
C) They form an event horizon at twice the Schwartzschild radius.
D) Their main-sequence mass was 5-10 solar masses.
E) Their event horizon is a physical surface boundary.
Which of these would typically be among the brightest stars in an ancient globular
cluster?
A) O3
B) B3
C) A4
D) K3
E) M5
What happens to light passing through even thin clouds of dust?
A) The light that passes through them is blue shifted due to the cloud’s approach.
B) It dims and reddens the light of all more distant stars.
C) Even a little can completely block all light, such as the Horsehead Nebula.
D) Its motion causes the light of stars beyond to twinkle.
E) Its motion causes all light to be red shifted as it passes through these clouds.
A 20-solar-mass star will stay on the main sequence for 10 million years, yet its iron
core can exist for only a
A) day.
B) week.
C) month.
D) year.
E) century.
Given that a large sunspot, about 100 smaller than the Sun, is about the same size as our
planet, how many Earths could fit inside the Sun’s vast volume?
A) 100
B) 1,000
C) 10,000
D) 100,000
E) one million
What temperature has the Big Bang cooled to by now?
A) about 3,000 K
B) 5,800 K
C) about 300 K
D) just over 2.7 K
E) 1.4 K
As a star’s evolution approaches the Type II supernova, we find
A) the heavier the element, the less time it takes to make it.
B) the heavier the element, the higher the temperature to fuse it.
C) helium to carbon fusion takes at least 100 million K to start.
D) photo disintegration of iron nuclei begins at 10 billion K to ignite the supernova.
E) All of the above are correct.
What information can be gained from the light curves of eclipsing binaries?
A) their distances
B) their masses
C) their sizes
D) their temperatures
E) their luminosities
In general, what is true of the alpha star in a constellation?
A) It is the brightest star in the constellation.
B) It is the easternmost star in the constellation.
C) It is the westernmost star in the constellation.
D) It is the reddest star in the constellation.
E) It is the star that is closest to Earth.
The concept that on the grandest of scales, the universe is similar in appearance
everywhere is
A) special relativity.
B) general relativity.
C) homogeneity.
D) isotropy.
E) universality.
The Doppler shift is used to find
A) eclipsing binaries.
B) spectroscopic binaries.
C) visual binaries.
D) astrometric binaries.
E) photometric binaries.
At Titan, the lakes are made mostly of liquid
A) water.
B) carbon dioxide.
C) ethane.
D) metallic hydrogen.
E) nitrogen.
If light from a distant star passes close to a massive body, the light beam will
A) bend towards the star due to gravity.
B) continue moving in a straight line.
C) change color to a shorter wavelength.
D) slow down.
E) accelerate due to gravity.
Which of the following rings of Saturn lies closest to the planet?
A) the A ring
B) the B ring
C) the C ring
D) the E ring
E) the F ring
According to the HST data, very distant (and early) galaxies tend to be
A) larger and bluer that modern galaxies.
B) nothing but quasars.
C) smaller, bluer, and more irregular than modern ones.
D) redder, due to the recession of the universe.
E) very well formed into clusters of nothing but spirals.
Why does the Cepheid distance method fail us beyond about 20 Mpc?
A) Distant galaxies are seen in the past, and Cepheids evolve with time.
B) Distant galaxies are younger than our Milky Way; too young to have Cepheids yet.
C) The intergalactic dust reddens the Cepheid’s light and apparent brightness.
D) Even with the HST, the most luminous Cepheids are too faint to be seen beyond 20
Mpc.
E) The periods of Cepheids grows longer as the distances increase.
The twelve constellations the solar system bodies move through are the
A) equatorial constellations.
B) signs of the zodiac.
C) nodes of the ecliptic.
D) galactic equator.
E) stages of heaven.
As we look at larger and larger scales in the universe, we find
A) smaller and smaller masses.
B) almost exclusively visible matter.
C) a larger and larger percentage of the matter is visible.
D) a larger and larger percentage of the matter is dark.
E) an equal amount of visible and dark matter.
How long between the evolution of single versus multicellular organisms?
A) 4.5 billion years
B) 2.5 billion years
C) one billion years
D) 600 million years
E) 63 million years
The most detailed look we’ve had of an asteroid comes from
A) spacecraft sent to an asteroid.
B) ground based optical images.
C) Earth orbital X-ray images.
D) ground based radar images.
E) high-altitude UV spectroscopy.
What information does 21-cm radiation provide about the gas clouds?
A) their motion
B) their distribution
C) their density
D) their temperature
E) all of these
If Euclid is right, then Ωo is
A) zero.
B) 0.3.
C) 1.0.
D) 2.0.
E) infinite.
Which statement about the Local Group is false?
A) It contains about 55 member galaxies.
B) Its notable spirals include the Milky Way, M31, and M33.
C) Most of its members are dwarf elliptical and irregular galaxies.
D) It contains the large radio galaxy Centaurus A.
E) It is about three million light years across.
A star with a right ascension of 1.0 hours will rise
A) 1.0 hours before the vernal equinox.
B) 13.0 hours before the vernal equinox.
C) 1.0 hours after the vernal equinox.
D) 11.0 hours after the vernal equinox.
E) at the same time as the vernal equinox.
A star near the lower right of the H-R diagram is likely to be
A) red, with high luminosity.
B) blue, with high luminosity.
C) red, with low luminosity.
D) hot, bright, and very large.
E) yellow, with luminosity similar to our Sun’s.
Astronomers believe that a spiral galaxy may form
A) from a collision between a small and a large galaxy.
B) due to a quasar shutting down.
C) from the sudden contraction of an elliptical galaxy.
D) from the collision of two giant elliptical galaxies.
E) from the explosion of a dwarf irregular galaxy.
Homogeneity and isotropy, taken as assumptions regarding the structure and evolution
of the universe, are known as
A) Olbers’s paradox.
B) Hubble’s law.
C) Wien’s law.
D) the cosmological principle.
E) the Grand Unified Theory.
If Saturn takes about 30 years to orbit the Sun, and its rings were seen edge-on in 1995,
when did they next appear most open at solstice?
A) 1998
B) 2002
C) 2005
D) 2007
E) 2010
Which of these does not depend on a close binary system to occur?
A) a nova
B) a Type I supernova
C) a Type II supernova
D) All of these need mass transfer to occur.
E) None of these depend on mass transfer.
Pluto is most similar to
A) Europa.
B) Miranda.
C) Triton.
D) our Moon.
E) Mercury.
The process by which small debris condenses into planetesimals is ________.
Explain how the Doppler Effect has been used to detect invisible planets orbiting other
Sun-like stars.
What is happening to the mass of the Sun over time? Explain.
The ________ has the largest gravitational pull on Earth.
Of all the planets, the axial tilt and rotation period of ________ is most like our own.
Compared to the terrestrial planets, the jovian planets have ________ average densities.
The key ingredient in planetary formation in the solar nebula is ________.
If the ________ is good, the atmosphere is stable, and image quality is sharp.
To determine the distance to a Cepheid, we must measure its ________ of pulsation.
Discuss the population, size, and types of galaxies we find in our Local Group.
Why would galaxies colliding in a small cluster tend to stick together, while galaxies in
a large cluster tend to pass through each other?
________ is the only planet with a mean density less than water.
Two pairs of sunspots appear similar, but if one was observed in 1990, and the next in
2002, we would note what difference?
The star Arcturus shows a large proper motion, almost perpendicular to the galactic
plane. What Population might we assume it belongs to, and why?
The microwave background we now observe dates back to ________ of matter and
energy at 3,000 K.
What information about a star can be inferred from its Doppler shift?
The size of a quasar can be measured by ________.
Most astronomers now regard Pluto as the largest ________, and not a planet.
Pensacola, Florida lies at a latitude of 30 degrees north. Where is Polaris in its sky?