Unit 7 - Components of the Universe Review

Which statement best explains why the sun appears brighter to people on Earth than any other star?

• Sunlight reaches Earth’s atmosphere at an angle that causes the sun’s light rays to intensify.

• Unique chemical reactions in the sun’s core produce a high-energy wavelength of light.

• The sun burns at a higher temperature than any other star.

• The sun is closer to Earth than any other star.

With the use of the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists recently discovered a giant runaway star. It is 90 times larger than the sun and is very hot and blue-white in color. Why does the sun appear to be brighter than this runaway star when viewed from Earth?

• The sun is a different color than the runaway star.

• The sun is older than the runaway star.

• The sun is closer to Earth than the runaway star.

• The sun is made of different elements than the runaway star.

Alpha Centauri appears as a bright object visible in the Milky Way galaxy. Alpha Centauri is actually a system of three objects. Each object produces light and rotates on its own axis. The system is an average of 4 light-years from Earth. Based on this information, the three objects that make up the Alpha Centauri system are all —

• asteroids

• comets

• planets

• stars

A Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram is shown. A star that has a luminosity of 10^-2 and a temperature of 20,000 K is most likely a –

• Main sequence

• White dwarf

• Blue giant

• Red giant

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-3

The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram shown is divided into four sections. Which section of the diagram includes the coolest, brightest stars?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-3

Four students are asked to describe a nebula and a star. Their responses are shown in the table below. Which student described these two celestial bodies correctly?

• Student 1

• Student 2

• Student 3

• Student 4

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-1

The temperature of a star determines the wavelength of visible light that is produced. The visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum is shown. Stars with the highest temperatures will emit most of their light at wavelengths that are near —

• Infrared

• Below Visible

• Above Visible

• UltraViolet

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS4-1

Quasars are extremely distant celestial bodies. Investigators using a special telescope determined that a certain quasar was emitting waves with a frequency of 1.41 x 10⁹ Hz. An electromagnetic spectrum is shown. The investigators were most likely using a telescope that detects —

• microwaves

• visible light

• x-rays

• gamma rays

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS4-1

NGSS.HS-PS4-3