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WorksheetsASTRONOMY MIDTERM
Total questions: 70
Worksheet time: 41mins
This is a term for the wobbling of the Earth around its axis:
Based solely on color, which of these is likely the hottest (hint: look at a picture of a rainbow, the blue end has shorter wavelengths and the redder end has longer wavelengths).
These are unusually weak ocean tides at first or third quarter moon: (a)
Tidal friction causes:
The moon's spin to speed up and move it closer to Earth
The Earth's spin to slow down and the days to lengthen
The Earth's spin to speed up and the days to lengthen
The Earth's spin to slow down and the days to shorten
The Earth's spin to speed up and the days to shorten
The length of Earth's precession period is:
26,000 months
26,000 days
26,000,000 years
26,000 years
A day when the earth's axis is either closest or farthest from the sun is known as a
rotation
solstice
lunar month
season
equinox
Match the following celestial events with their descriptions:
None of these answers are correct.
An event that does not fit any of the given descriptions.
Solar eclipse
An event where the sun's light is obscured as the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun.
Full moon
The phase of the moon when it is fully illuminated as seen from Earth.
Lunar eclipse
An event where the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, causing the Earth's shadow to fall on the moon.
First quarter moon
The phase of the moon when it is half illuminated and increasing.
The darkest portion of Earth's shadow, or its total shadow is the (a)
During a total lunar eclipse, during totality, you'd expect:
To see a bluish moon
To see an orange/copper red moon
To see no stars
To see a full moon, bright as usual
To see no moon at all, it will be completely invisible
The point at which the moon is closest to the Earth is known as the (a)
This is the time when the sun is in its southernmost point:
When it's summer in the northern hemisphere
During the summer solstice
When it's winter in the northern hemisphere
During fall in the northern hemisphere
When it's winter in the southern hemisphere
The point in Earth's orbit where it's closest to the sun is called the:
Aphelion
Fall equinox
Spring solstice
Spring equinox
Perihelion
Precession causes:
The Earth to revolve around the sun clockwise
Nothing to happen
The coordinates of stars to change with time
The Earth to change its rotation to a clockwise fashion
None of these answers are correct
The northern lights are the:
Aurora Europalis
Aurora Borealis
Aurora Americalis
None of these answers are correct
Aurora Australis
Which of these is true of areas located near the equator?
Their location to the equator does not affect their temperature.
They have cold winters and cold summers
They have very cold winters.
They have hot summers and cold winters.
They have little variation in temperature.
Which of these is true?
The far side of the moon is always in total darkness
We never get to see the far side of the moon
The moon doesn't rotate
The side of the moon we see is always illuminated by the sun
The moon doesn't orbit the Earth
The first phase of the moon is:
First quarter
Waxing crescent
The full moon
Last quarter
The new moon
The phase of the moon directly opposite the sun is the (a)
Following the new moon, the moon enters the (a) phase.
This is the phase of the moon that follows the waxing crescent:
Waning crescent
Full moon
Waxing quarter
First quarter
Waning gibbous
Match the following moon phases with their descriptions:
Waning gibbous
The phase after the full moon and before the last quarter
Waning crescent
The phase right before the new moon
Waxing gibbous
The phase after the first quarter and before the full moon
Full moon
The phase when the entire face of the moon is illuminated
Waxing crescent
The phase after the new moon and before the first quarter
Which of these statements is incorrect?
The moon is unable to hold on to much of its atmosphere
The solar wind contributes to and also removes molecules and atoms of gas away from the moon
The moon's temperature varies greatly because of its thin atmosphere
The sky is black during daylight hours on the moon
The sky is red during daylight hours on the moon.
The Giant Impact theory states that ____.
the Earth was hit by something huge and a piece of the Earth was ejected into space
when the Earth was young, it spun so fast that a piece of it broke off and was flung into space where it became the Moon
the Moon was formed elsewhere in the universe and was captured by the Earth's gravitational field when it came too close
the Earth and Moon formed at the same time from a nebula
The new moon would be expected to rise at:
Midnight
Sunrise
None of these answers are correct
Sunset
Noon
You'd expect the first quarter moon to rise at:
Midnight
Noon
None of these answers are correct
Sunrise
Sunset
The synodic month is sometimes known as the:
Sidereal month
Lunar month
Lunar sidereal
Lunar synodic
Lunar week
This is the phase of the moon we normally don't see:
Waning Gibbous
Waxing crescent
Full moon
Waning crescent
New moon
This is an extension of the solar corona expanding into space, composed of a stream of atoms, ions, protons, and electrons flowing away from the sun at upwards of 1000 km/s:
The solar wind
The magnetic carpet
The photosphere
The chromosphere
The solar ocean
Which of these is not correct regarding a prominence?
It is a bright, relatively dense gas formation.
It is located in the photosphere
It is located in the chromosphere and corona.
Its makeup is of ionized gas.
It's a relatively cool arch of gas.
Sunspots occur because (choose the best answer):
Magnetic fields disrupt the normal process of convection
Magnetic fields disrupt the normal process of radiation
The lack of magnetic fields stops the process of convection
The sun has too much melanin accumulating from years of U.V. damage from exposure to itself
Magnetic fields disrupt the normal process of conduction
The visible glowing surface of the sun is called the/a:
Sunspot
Chromosphere
Supergranule
Photosphere
The solar corona is:
The innermost layer of the sun's atmosphere
The outermost layer of the solar atmosphere
Is a very dense layer of gas
Is colder than the photosphere
The middle layer of the sun's atmosphere
What is happening in the sun's core?
Nuclear fission
Nothing
Nuclear fusion
The star is collapsing inward
Carbon is burning
This is a sudden, brief (typically lasting only a few minutes), and explosive release of solar magnetic energy:
Filament
Corona
Coronal mass ejection
Solar flare
Prominence
The planets all revolve in the same direction because they all:
Formed in a rotating disk of gas
Evolved from a different cloud of gas
Formed in a stationary disk of gas
Got hit by some giant object that sent them miraculously spinning the same way
None of these answers are correct
Venus rotates:
The same way as Uranus
In the same direction as all the other planets
Clockwise
On its side
Counterclockwise
This is a small icy body that orbits in the solar system and develops a tail of gas as it approaches the sun:
Iceberg! Straight Ahead!
Meteoroid
Asteroid
Moon
Comet
This is the hypothesis that states that our solar system formed thanks to a sudden and improbable event such as the collision of two stars:
Catastrophic hypothesis
Alvarez hypothesis
Solar nebula theory
The big solar bang
Evolutionary hypothesis
What is the name for the cloud of interstellar gas and dust that condensed to form the entire solar system, including the sun and planets?
Catastrophic nebula
Planetary nebula
Interstellar nebula
Condensing nebula
The hottest planet in our solar system is (a) .
The largest planet by mass in our solar system is (a) .
What is the IAU's definition of a dwarf planet?
Any object that isn't big enough to be rounded by its own gravity.
A celestial body that orbits another celestial body.
A celestial body in direct orbit of the sun that is massive enough to form an ellipsoid shape from its gravitational force, but has not cleared its neighborhood from other objects.
A celestial body that is larger than a planet.
What are small rocky objects with gravity known as?
Planets
Stars
Asteroids
Galaxies
Which region of space, filled with small, icy bodies, is found starting about 30 AU (just beyond the orbit of Neptune) from the sun?
Pluto belt
Kuiper belt
Martian belt
Asteroid belt
A comet is a(n)
a class of small inner solar system bodies that orbit around the sun.
a planet that has yet to be named.
a natural object from small to ginormous that originates in space and survives impact with the Earth's surface.
icy ball of rock that displays a coma, a fuzzy temporary atmosphere, or a tail when it travels close to the sun.
An asteroid is a(n)
area between Mars and Jupiter where rocks are born.
a cloud called the Oort cloud in the outer reaches of the solar system.
a class of small inner solar system bodies that orbit around the sun.
icy ball of rock that displays a coma, a fuzzy temporary atmosphere, or a tail when it travels close to the sun.
Comets come from
the Oort Cloud or the Kuiper Belt.
the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
an area of small inner solar system bodies that orbit around the sun.
anywhere in the Milky Way but not in our solar system.
Asteroids originate mostly in the
Area between Neptune and Pluto
Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
Oort cloud
Kuiper belt
A meteorite is a(n)
icy ball of rock that displays a coma, a fuzzy temporary atmosphere, or a tail when it travels close to the sun.
asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
natural object from small to ginormous that originates in space and survives impact with the Earth's surface.
a class of small inner solar system bodies that orbit around the sun.
The Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram:
Plots a star's color vs. surface temperature
Plots a star's luminosity vs. surface temperature
Plots a star's size vs. surface temperature
Plots a star's density vs. surface temperature
Where would you find a red giant on the H-R diagram?
In the upper left
In the upper right
In the lower right
On the main sequence
Where would you find a blue giant on the H-R diagram?
In the upper left
On the main sequence
In the lower right
In the upper right
Using your knowledge of how distance, apparent brightness, and luminosity relate to one another, then if an imaginary star were to move farther away from us, yet maintain its apparent brightness at the same time, then:
Its luminosity must decrease
It has to radiate less energy per second
Its luminosity has to increase
It must become smaller
If you triple the distance to a light source, then the apparent brightness will:
Increase by 9
Decrease by 3
Decrease by 9
Increase by 6
What spectral classification is our sun?
m
G
F
B
What spectral classification of stars is the hottest?
K
M
O
F
What is the spectral order of stars from hottest to coolest?
OFAMKGB
MKGFABO
OBAFGKM
MAOBKGF
Using the magnitude scale, a star with magnitude 6 is ______ than a star with magnitude 1.
Fainter
Brighter
Larger
Closer
Apparent Visual Magnitude takes ______ into account.
None of these answers are correct
All forms of light
Only UV and Infrared light
Only visible light
The brightness of a star as seen from Earth is known as:
Luminosity
Apparent visual magnitude
Absolute visual magnitude
Partial visual magnitude
The total energy a star radiates in one second is:
None of these answers are correct
Apparent luminosity
Luminosity
Apparent visual magnitude
Luminosity is sometimes called:
Absolute visual brightness
Apparent visual magnitude
Intrinsic brightness
Apparent brightness
There is:
No evidence of prior liquid water on Mars
No water at all on Mars
No liquid water on Mars, only water ice
All of these answers are correct
The closest planet to the sun and the planet that revolves fastest around the sun is:
Mercury
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
The process that helped increase the levels of oxygen on Earth is known as:
Global warming
Greenhouse effect
Photosynthesis
Nitrogen cycle
Which phases of the moon are associated with weak ocean tides?
New Moon
First Quarter
Full Moon
Third Quarter
Which planet is the smallest in the solar system?
Mercury
Both Mercury and Venus
Venus
Earth
The atmosphere on Venus:
None of these answers is correct
Is very thin
Is mainly composed of water vapor
Contributes to a significant greenhouse effect
Technically, the absolute visual magnitude of a star is what its apparent visual magnitude would be if the star was only ____ away:
10 m
10 km
10 pc
10 seconds
10 light years
Unlike luminosity, apparent brightness depends on:
Distance
Light
Energy
Radiation
