Astro 1500 Trivia 2 - September 13, 2024

Kepler's first law went against something both the Ptolemaic and Copernican models said. What was it?

• Planets orbit the sun

• Planets travel in circular orbits

• Everything orbits the Earth

• Planets sometimes move in retrograde loops

Answer explanation

Up until Kepler proposed his laws, every model of the solar system suggested that the planets have perfectly circular orbits. Kepler found that the planets actually traveled in elliptical orbits.

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What does Kepler's second law tell us, in essence?

• Planets move in elliptical orbits

• Objects closer to the Sun move faster

• Planets have the Sun at one focus of their orbits

Answer explanation

Kepler's second law states in full that a line connecting a planet to the Sun will sweep out an equal area in an equal amount of time, no matter where it is in its elliptical orbit. An object in the part of its orbit closer to the Sun will move faster to sweep out an area equal to what it would sweep out when it is farther from the Sun in the same amount of time.

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Which of the four fundamental forces is responsible for light?

• Gravitational

• Strong Nuclear Force

• Weak Nuclear Force

• Electromagnetic

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Shorter wavelengths of light are _____ in color and ______ energetic.

• Bluer; more

• Redder; more

• Bluer; less

• Redder; less

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Astronomers can use light waves and what other kind of waves to study distant objects?

• Radioactive decay waves

• Dark energy waves

• Water waves

• Gravity waves

Answer explanation

Gravity waves are often formed when massive objects collide (like neutron stars and black holes). We've invented instruments that can detect these waves. Future lectures will discuss gravity waves more.

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What wavelengths do blackbodies emit light from?

• None of them, that's why they are called blackbodies

• Everything but visible light

• Only Gamma and XRAY

• All wavelengths

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What is a wavelength in light?

• The number of waves passing a point in 1 second

• The height of the waves peak (crest)

• The distance the wave can travel in one year

• The distance between successive peaks (crests)

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Why do astronomers try to detect light in many different wavelength ranges (e.g. visible and x-ray)?

• Certain wavelengths encounter interference in random directions

• Certain objects are best observed in certain wavelength ranges

• They're trying to find a wavelength to observe dark matter

• NASA has to use its funding somehow

Answer explanation

Different objects are of different temperatures, so they emit light at different wavelengths. Hotter objects, like new supernova remnants, emit shorter wavelengths of light (like x-ray light), so we need ways to detect those wavelengths.

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What can scientists use spectroscopy for?

• To study the composition of a star

• To identify elements in a given sample

• To take pictures of space objects

• To torture ASTRO 1500 students

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What happens when an atom absorbs light?

• An atomic bomb

• The electron moves to a lower energy level in the atom

• Atoms cannot absorb light

• The electron moves to a higher energy level in the atom

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