1. We know the age of the Earth and Moon to be about 4.5 billion years old
from
b) the decays of radioactive elements
2. Earthquakes are caused by
b) crustal plates moving against each other
3. The Moon has
d) neither oceans nor any significant atmosphere
4. The large dark markings on the Moon are made of
e) solidified lava
5. The Earth's core is made mostly of
a) iron
6. The Earth's magnetic field is produced by the circulation of its
a) fluid core
7. Continental drift is caused by
e) convection in the Earth's mantle
8. Global warming and the greenhouse effect are at least in part caused by
atmospheric
c) carbon dioxide
9. The Moon is thought to have been
c) born in a gigantic collision between Earth and a competing planet
10. Venus is hot primarily because of
b) its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere
11. Mercury is known for its
d) relatively huge iron core
12. In what way is Mars similar to the Earth?
a) polar caps, seasons, and rotation period
13. Evidence that a thick atmosphere once surrounded Mars comes from
a) old river beds
14. Mars's volcanos have grown large because
d) there is no plate motion
15. The visible clouds of Saturn are made of
a) ammonia
16. Jupiter is made mostly of
c) liquid molecular hydrogen
17. Saturn's satellite Titan is known for its
d) thick atmosphere and methane lakes/seas
18. If Saturn has only a third the mass of Jupiter, why is it almost as large?
e) The density is much lower as a result of lesser self-gravity
19. Saturn's rings are made of
d) ice coated rocks a few centimeters in diameter
20. Neptune has "captured" Pluto and
e) Triton
21. The least massive planet in the Solar System (barring Pluto) is
e) Mercury
22. The Sun's diameter is roughly
a) 10 times that of Jupiter, 100 times that of Earth
23. The asteroids are mostly found between
b) Mars and Jupiter
24. Pluto's status as a planet is controversial, as it is also a member of the
e) Kuiper Belt
25. Almost all meteors come from
b) comets
26. Metallic asteroids and metallic meteorites are made mostly of
e) iron
27. Comets have two tails, one made of an ionic gas, the other of
b) dust
28. Where do long-period comets come from?
b) the Oort Cloud
29. The inner planets have few volatile elements and compounds (like water)
because
a) these planets formed close to the Sun and were hot
30. The planets all began to form through the accumulation of
c) dust grains in the solar nebula
31. Granulation in the solar "surface" is produced by
b) convection
32. The most second-most abundant element in the Sun is
d) helium
33. Sunspots are produced by
c) localized magnetic fields that block convection
34. What event on the Sun causes aurorae on Earth?
a) coronal mass ejections
35. The length of the solar sunspot cycle, excluding any changes in the
directions of magnetic fields, is
c) 11 years
36. In the first step of the proton-proton chain, two
a) protons fuse to deuterium
37. Counting from NOW, how long does the Sun have left to it until its core
hydrogen runs out (in billions of years)?
b) 5
38. What makes the Sun hot in its center (hot enough to run fusion)?
e) gravitational compression
39. A 4th magnitude star is how many times brighter than a 5th magnitude
star?
a) 2.5
40. The parallax of a star is 0.001 seconds of arc. What is its distance?
d) 1000 pc
41. What spectrum principally characterizes a class M star?
a) molecules (principally titanium oxide)
42. The standard spectral sequence is a result of
a) different stellar temperatures
43. We know that supergiants are really larger than giants because
supergiants
e) are brighter than giants that have the same temperatures
44. Of the classic spectral sequence (OBAFGKM), the most common dwarf stars
are of class
b) M
45. Stellar masses are found from
b) double stars
46. As you move up the main sequence from class M, stellar masses
c) increase
47. Below what stellar mass does the full proton-proton chain cease and a
"star" is called a "brown dwarf?"
c) 0.08
48. You can determine the age of a star cluster by
d) the maximum mass of its main sequence stars
49. Which kind of main sequence star below will live the longest
period of time?
e) M
50. Open clusters are
d) all of the above: found in the Galaxy's disk; much less massive than
globular clusters; are much more common than globular clusters