2. The distance between the Sun and the next closest star, Proxima Centuari, is MOST accurately measured in

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1 Name: Date: 1. Some scientists study the revolution of the Moon very closely and have recently suggested that the Moon is gradually moving away from Earth. Which statement below would be a prediction of how this motion might affect Earth in the distant future? A. The moon would collide with Earth. B. The ocean tides would get weaker. C. This motion would not affect Earth. D. The Moon phases would change at a faster rate. 2. The distance between the Sun and the next closest star, Proxima Centuari, is MOST accurately measured in A. Magnitudes. B. Light years. C. Redshifts. D. Perigees. 3. Astronomers measure distances using very large units called light years. Which distance between celestial objects would MOST LIKELY be measured in light years? A. Distance between the Sun and Moon. B. Distance between the Moon and Earth. C. Distance between two stars in the same galaxy. D. Distance between two planets in the same solar system. 4. In which structure is the Sun located? A. Milky Way galaxy B. Andromeda galaxy C. Cat s Eye nebula D. Horseshoe nebula 5. Emily is preparing a model of the solar system for her science class. She gathers four objects to represent Mercury, Jupiter, Earth and the Sun. The objects are represented in the table below. Which of the objects would BEST represent Earth in Emily s model? A. Grain of sand B. Small pebble C. Marble D. Basketball

2 2 6. What does light year refer to? A. The distance light travels in one Earth year. B. The distance between the Sun and the center of the galaxy. C. The amount of time it takes light to travel from the Sun to Earth. D. The amount of light required for photosynthesis on Earth in one year. 7. The arrows in the diagram below show how the Sun s rays hit Earth. Each part of the dashed line on Earth shows an area lit by an equal amount of sunlight. Which statement accurately describes the strength of the sunlight? A. The light is strongest at Z and weakest at Y. B. The light is strongest at Z and weakest at X. C. The light is strongest at X and weakest at Z. D. The light is strongest at X and weakest at Y. 8. Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun. Information about Mercury is found in the table below. Based on the information presented in the table, about how long would one day be on Mercury? A. 29 hours B. 147 hours C hours D hours 9. A student learns that one year on Mercury is about 88 Earth days. This means that it takes Mercury 88 Earth days to A. Travel in orbit around its moon. B. Complete one rotation on its axis. C. Switch orbits with the nearest planet. D. Make one complete orbit around the Sun. 10. Which statement accurately describes asteroids and comets? A. Asteroids are gaseous, and comets are solid. B. Asteroids are solid, and comets are gaseous. C. Both asteroids and comets are gaseous. D. Both asteroids and comets are solids. 11. In which way is the orbit of a comet different from the orbit of Earth? A. The orbit of Earth is less circular than the orbit of a comet. B. The orbit of comet is more elliptical that the orbit of Earth. C. The orbital period of Earth is much longer than the orbital period of a comet. D. The orbital period of a comet is more predictable than the orbital period of Earth.

3 3 12. A meteoroid becomes a meteorite when it A. Impacts the surface of a planet B. Encounters the atmosphere of a planet C. Makes a compete orbit around a planet. D. Starts to burn up in the atmosphere of a planet. 13. Mars is an inner planet and Jupiter is an outer planet. Which BEST describes the relationship between the two planets? A. They are made of the same materials. B. They orbit the Sun in opposite directions. C. They have the same orbital period around the Sun. D. They are located on opposite sides of the asteroid belt. 14. The picture to the right shows a solar eclipse. What is the visible part of the Sun called? A. Photosphere B. Solar winds C. Corona D. Aurora 15. Saturn has 53 known moons. Which statement would be a valid inference about the eclipse patterns on Saturn? A. An eclipse on Saturn occurs more frequently than on Earth. B. An eclipse on Saturn occurs less frequently than on Earth. C. There is no way to infer the eclipse patterns on Saturn. D. An eclipse will not ever occur on Saturn. Students want to build a model of the solar system. They find the table below in a textbook. 16. Which column of the table provides the BEST information to help the students properly space the planets from each other in their model? A. Length of days (in Earth days) B. Distance from the Sun (km) C. Length of Year (in Earth years) D. Diameter (km)

4 4 17. The table provides data about the length of day for different planets in our solar system. The day length of each planet corresponds to the amount of time it takes to complete which type of motion? A. One rotation of the planet on its axis. B. One orbit of the largest moon of the planet. C. One revolution of the planet around the Sun. D. One reversal of magnetic poles of the planet. Planet Length of day (in Earth days) Earth 1.00 Jupiter 0.41 Mars 1.03 Mercury Neptune 0.67 Saturn 0.44 Uranus 0.72 Venus Phobos is one of two large objects that orbit the planet Mars. Because Phobos orbits Mars, it should be classified as which type of body? A. Asteroid B. Meteor C. Comet D. Moon 19. Which characteristic is shared by all planets in the solar system? A. Seasons created by the planet s rotation. B. An orbit created by the force of gravity. C. An atmosphere that contains oxygen. D. Flowing water. 20. The gravitational force of the Sun is powerful enough to hold Earth in orbit even though Earth is an average 150 million kilometers away from the Sun. Which statement BEST describes why objects with much less mass than Earth are NOT pulled off of the surface of Earth and pulled toward the Sun? A. Objects on Earth have too little mass for the Sun to pull on. B. Objects on Earth are orbiting the Sun too quickly. C. Objects on Earth are held by the Moon s gravity. D. Objects on Earth are most influenced by Earth. 21. If Earth began to revolve at a faster rate, which of the following would MOST likely occur? A. Annual rainfall would increase. B. Daylight hours would increase. C. Seasons would be shorter. D. Annual temperatures would increase.

5 22. Blanca wants to show her class the importance of the tilt of Earth in seasonal changes. She drew four diagrams on the board. Which diagram correctly shows when its winter at point X? 5 A C B D 23. Which of the following would result from a change in Earth s tilt on its axis? A. The Earth seasons would change. B. The Earth month would increase or decrease. C. The Earth year would increase or decrease. D. The Earth tides would increase or decrease. 24. Which diagram shows the position of the Moon, Earth, and Sun, when the Moon appears full from Earth? A C B D 25. Kailey and LeAnn are preparing a report on ocean tides. Which of the following information should they include in their report concerning the greatest influence on the strength of a high tide in a particular area? A. The position of the Moon around Earth. B. The position of Earth around the Sun. C. The rotation of the Moon. D. The rotation of Earth.

6 26. According to scientist the Sun has an 11 year cycle of activity was a peak of that cycle. What type of activity did scientists most likely observe during that year? 6 A. Increased solar prominences and flares. B. Increased temperatures on Earth. C. Decreased solar eclipses. D. Increased rotation of the Sun. Two observations of the Moon are made 15 days apart. The observations are illustrated below. Use the illustration to answer question #37. Day 1 Day Which observation below would MOST likely be made in the time between the two observations above? A B C D 28. If Earth rotated in the opposite direction, what would most likely occur? A. The Sun would rise in the West. B. The seasons would be opposite. C. There would be more days in a year. D. The phases of the Moon would last longer. A student made sketches of a solar eclipse every 10 minutes as shown in the illustration below. Use the illustration to answer question # Which of the following is MOST likely the next sketch in the sequence? A B C D

7 7 30. The diagram shows the Moon at various positions around Earth Which position would result in Spring Tides on Earth? A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D In Astronomy class students are looking at various alignments of the Sun, Earth and the Moon. Which effect does the right angle alignment shown have on Earth? A. There will be a solar eclipse on Earth B. A full Moon will be observed from Earth. C. The high tides will be lower than normal on Earth. D. An increased gravitational force will be exerted on Earth. 32. The diagram shows different positions of the Moon in its orbit around Earth. Based on the diagram, which position of the Moon would MOST likely result in people on Earth being able to view a total solar eclipse? A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D Approximately how many times will Earth rotate during one revolution around the Sun? A. 1 B. 28 C. 365 D. 1440

8 8 34. A teacher asks four students to go up to the chalk board. She asks them to draw the orbit of Earth as it revolves around the Sun. The teacher also asks students to draw the diagram as if they are looking down on the North Pole of Earth. Which student drew the MOST accurate diagram according to the teacher s directions? A. Student 1 B. Student 2 C. Student 3 D. Student In this diagram of the Sun and Earth, possible positions of the Moon are identified by numbered points. At which location would a lunar eclipse MOST likely occur? A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D Approximately how many times does the Moon revolve around Earth during one revolution of Earth around the Sun? A. 1 B. 12 C. 28 D The diagram below illustrates an early model that explained observations about the solar system. Based on the current understanding of the solar system, what is a fundamental error in the early model shown? A. Venus has a larger orbit than Mercury. B. The Moon is shown too close to Earth. C. Earth is shown as the center of the solar system. D. The orbit of Mars is located inside the orbit of Jupiter.

9 9 38. The diagram represents Earth, showing two cities and the axis of rotation. The current temperature in City X is higher than the temperature in City Y. Based on the diagram, which of the following BEST explains this temperature difference? A. It is winter in City Y. B. It is nighttime in City Y. C. City X is closer to the Sun. D. City X is in the Northern Hemisphere. 39. The Hubble Space Telescope is a telescope that NASA launched into space in Scientists MOST likely prefer to use the Hubble Space Telescope instead of a land-based telescope because it provides better accuracy at A. Predicting solar eclipses. B. Investigating far away galaxies. C. Investigating the size of Venus. D. Predicting the phases of the Moon. 40. In 1976, the Viking I Lander was sent to Mars to analyze atmospheric gases and soil samples. The Viking I Lander is MOST likely classified as which of the following? A. Space shuttle B. Spectroscope C. Space probe D. Satellite 41. What advantage is gained by using a radio telescope as opposed to an optical telescope? A. Operation is less complex. B. Viewed images are clearer. C. Ability to take up less space. D. Ability to see through clouds and dust. 42. What information about stars can be learned by using a spectroscope? A. Chemical composition B. Distance from Earth C. Speed D. Size 43. Which do most astronomers believe to be true about the universe? A. It is contracting. B. It is expanding. C. It is staying the same size. D. It is expanding and contracting regularly.

10 Sunspots are cooler areas of the Sun s surface. They usually appear over particularly active portions of the Sun s interior. This internal activity can generate x-rays and ultraviolet emissions that travel to Earth. The graph below shows the number of sunspots observed since One year, solar activity was high enough to cause the failure of electrical transformers in Canada. Which year would this MOST likely have occurred? A B C D Based on the Doppler Effect, the electromagnetic waves reaching Earth from a galaxy that is moving away from Earth would be expected to A. Experience a decrease in frequency. B. Experience a decrease in compressions. C. Experience an increase in their amplitude. D. Experience a decrease from transverse waves to longitudinal waves. 46. A student finds a picture of the Milky Way galaxy as shown in the diagram. What will be the position of the Sun on the galaxy? A. at the center of the galaxy B. at the spiral edge of the galaxy C. in a spiral arm about one-third of the way from the center of the galaxy D. in a spiral arm about two-thirds of the way from the center of the galaxy 47. Which of the following best describes the shape of the Milky Way galaxy? A. spherical B. Irregular C. Elliptical D. Spiral