1. When the Moon is in total eclipse it is still seen because
d) of light that is scattered into the shadow by the Earth's
atmosphere
2. A total eclipse of the Sun (when none of the bright portion of the Sun can
be seen) takes place with the Moon near
a) perigee (closest to Earth)
3. When Jupiter is in retrograde motion, it is close to
a) opposition to the Sun
4. When the Moon is in its first quarter we are seeing
e) half the nighttime side of the Moon, half the daytime side
5. What is the lunar phase when the Moon is 90 degrees to the east of the Sun
(that is, it has gone 90 degrees around its orbit from new Moon)?
c) first quarter
6. Eclipses of the Moon can take place only at
e) full Moon
7. Which planet can be seen in a crescent phase from Earth?
a) Venus
8. What is at (or near) the focus of Venus's orbit?
b) Sun
9. Who discovered Uranus?
b) Herschel
10. An inferior planet moves fastest in orbit in kilometers per second when it
is at
c) perihelion
11. What observation below best supports (or pertains to) Copernican
heliocentric theory?
a) retrograde motion
12. For a planet of the Solar System, the sidereal period in years squared
equals the semimajor axis in AU raised to what power?
b) 3
13. If you were to halve the mass of the Earth, but keep the radius the same
you would weigh
c) 1/2 as much as you do now
14. What curve(s) lead(s) to orbits that are open ended (such that an orbiting
body will not return)?
d) both a parabola and a hyperbola
15. Orbiting astronauts are weightless because
e) they and their craft falling with the same acceleration
16. A planet does not move in a straight line, but is in an elliptical orbit
about the Sun, because of the acceleration provided by
a) gravity
17. The movement of what planet was responsible for the discovery of
Neptune?
e) Uranus
18. The mass of the Sun is derived from
e) Kepler's third law as generalized by Newton
19. Planetary orbits are not perfect ellipses because of
e) the gravitational pulls of the planets on each other and on the
Sun
20. In Einstein's theory of relativity, gravity is caused by
d) a distortion (bending) of spacetime caused by mass
21. Which particle carries the positive electric charge?
a) the proton
22. Which force holds the electrons to the atomic nucleus
d) electromagnetic
23. The kind of chemical element (whether hydrogen, carbon, iron, etc.) is
determined by the number of nuclear
a) protons
24. The isotopes of any particular chemical element depend on the number of
nuclear
c) neutrons
25. Which force holds the neutrons to the protons in an atomic nucleus
a) strong
26. The speed of light is
b) 186,000 miles per second
27. The electromagnetic radiation below with the longest wavelength is
c) infrared
28. What kind of radiation is responsible for sunburns?
d) ultraviolet light
29. The astronomical unit is the average distance between the
d) Earth and Sun
30. Neptune is about how many AU from the Sun.
d) 30
31. The Earth's diameter is roughly
b) 8000 miles
32. What planet is between Saturn and Neptune?
b) Uranus
33. A city is 1/3 of the way from the equator to the south pole. Its latitude
is
b) 30 degrees south
34. Your latitude is 25 degrees north. What is the altitude of the north
celestial pole?
b) 25 degrees
35. "South" is defined by the intersections of the
e) celestial meridian and horizon
36. A star is a two-thirds of the way from the celestial equator to the north
celestial pole. Where will it rise for an observer at the equator?
c) northeast
37. At a latitude of 60 degrees north, the celestial equator runs
d) from exact east to exact west
38. Where on Earth would you see the fewest circumpolar stars?
d) equator
39. What is the best evidence for a rotating Earth (and not a rotating
sky)?
a) Foucault pendulum
40. The obliquity of the ecliptic is
e) 23.5 degrees
41. When will the Sun appear lowest in the sky at noon as seen from
Chicago?
b) December 22
42. It is cooler in winter than in summer because of
b) the obliquity of the ecliptic
43. The Sun passes overhead on June 21 at
c) the tropic of Cancer
44. The Sun is seen for 6 months straight
a) at the south pole
45. The Earth is at its perihelion point about
a) January 2
46. Polaris, the North Star, is in
a) Ursa Minor
47. The brightest star in a constellation is usually called
d) lower case Greek alpha
48. Most star names are
b) Arabic
49. Which is a constellation of the Zodiac?
b) Aquarius
50. The modern constellations were invented
d) between 1600 and 1800 AD