Astronomy Final Exam Practice Part 2 S2022

What does the technique of interferometry allow?

• It allows two or more telescopes to obtain a total light-collecting area much larger than the total light-collecting area of the individual telescopes.

• It allows two or more telescopes to obtain the angular resolution of a single telescope much larger than any of the individual telescopes.

• It allows us to determine the chemical composition of stars.

• It allows astronomers to make astronomical observations without interference from light pollution.

Which of the following wavelength regions cannot be studied with telescopes on the ground?

• radio waves

• ultraviolet

• X rays

• both B and C

From the center outward, which of the following lists the "layers" of the Sun in the correct order?

• core, radiation zone, convection zone, corona, chromosphere, photosphere

• core, corona, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere

• core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, corona

• core, convection zone, radiation zone, photosphere, chromosphere, corona

Which layer of the Sun do we normally see?

• photosphere

• corona

• chromosphere

• convection zone

Why do sunspots appear dark in pictures of the Sun?

• They are too cold to emit any visible light.

• They actually are fairly bright but appear dark against the even brighter background of the surrounding Sun.

• They are holes in the solar surface through which we can see to deeper, darker layers of the Sun.

• They emit light in other wavelengths that we can't see.

The overall fusion reaction by which the Sun currently produces energy is

• 3 H ⇒ 1 Li + energy.

• 3 He ⇒ 1 C + energy.

• 4 H ⇒ 4 He + energy.

• 4 H ⇒ 1 He + energy

What observations characterize solar maximum?

• The Sun becomes much brighter.

• The Sun emits light of longer average wavelength.

• The Sun rotates faster at the equator

• We see many sunspots on the surface of the Sun.

Why are neutrinos so difficult to detect?

• because there are so rare

• because they have no mass

• because they move at nearly the speed of light

• because they rarely interact with matter

Since all stars begin their lives with the same basic composition, what characteristic most determines how they will differ?

• location where they are formed

• time they are formed

• luminosity they are formed with

• mass they are formed with

A star's luminosity is the

• apparent brightness of the star in our sky.

• surface temperature of the star.

• total amount of light that the star will radiate over its entire lifetime.

• total amount of light that the star radiates each second.