Brock University Test 1, September 2014 Number of pages: 9 Course: ASTR 1P01 Number of Students: 500 Date of Examination: September 29, 2014 Number of hours: 50 min Time of Examination: 18:00 18:50 Instructor: B.Mitrović 1. The Astronomical Unit (AU) is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. How long does it take sunlight to travel this distance? The speed of light in vacuum is 300,000 km/s (3 10 5 km/s). (a) One year. (b) 500 seconds. (c) One hour. (d) 5,000 seconds. (e) One minute. 2. Which planet is closest to the Sun? (a) Mars. (b) Earth. (c) Mercury. (d) Venus. (e) Jupiter. 3. The Kuiper belt is located (a) inside the orbit of Mercury. (b) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. (c) beyond the orbit of Neptune. (d) inside the Earth s orbit. (e) around galactic center. 4. The diameter of the Milky Way is about (a) 1,000 light-years. (b) 10,000 light-years. (c) 100,000 light-years. (d) 1,000,000 light-years. (e) [None of the above.] 1
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 2 of 9 pages 5. How do we know that we live in a disk of stars? (a) We see less stars in the direction of the Milky Way than in other directions because the gas and the dust in the disk block our view. (b) We see more stars in the direction of the Milky Way than in other directions. 6. Which one of these is the largest? (a) Local Group. (b) Solar System. (c) Milky Way. (d) Local Supercluster. 7. The very center of our galaxy is a source of radio waves which, like any other electromagnetic wave, propagate through space at the speed of light (300,000 km/s). How long does it take these radio waves to travel the distance from the galactic center to Earth? (a) About 8 minutes. (b) Just over one second. (c) About 30,000 years. (d) About 14 billion years. 8. What is the angular displacement of a star in the night sky after two hours? (a) 15. (b) 30. (c) 45. (d) 60. 9. In the southern hemisphere the stars rise in the East and set in the West. (a) True. (b) False. 10. The distance to the brightest star in the nigh sky (Sirius) is 8.6 light-years. When we observe it we see it (a) how it looked 8.6 years ago. (b) how it looks now. 11. The stars in the Southern Cross revolve around the South Celestial Pole (a) clockwise. (b) counterclockwise. 2
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 3 of 9 pages 12. Suppose you are driving at night before the dawn. After taking a wrong exit off the highway you find yourself driving along an unfamiliar straight road. At dawn you observe the Sun rising on your right. From this you conclude that you are traveling (a) North. (b) South. 13. As a result of their daily motion the stars move parallel to (a) celestial horizon. (b) ecliptic. (c) celestial equator. (d) local meridian. 14. The angular displacement of stars caused by revolution of the Earth around the Sun is about (a) 1 per day. (b) 15 per hour. (c) 1 per hour. (d) 15 per day. (e) [None of the above.] 15. If you observe the North Celestial Pole on the horizon you are located on the (a) North Pole. (b) equator. (c) South Pole. 16. At present the star which is closest to the North Celestial Pole is (a) Vega. (b) Deneb. (c) Polaris. (d) Thuban. 17. If all stars move parallel to your horizon you are located (a) on the equator. (b) at one of the two poles. 3
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 4 of 9 pages 18. Which of the following observations was used by Aristotle to deduce that the Earth must be a sphere? (a) Eastward motion of the Sun relative to the stars. (b) Precession of equinoxes. (c) Observation of circumpolar stars. (d) New stars become visible when one travels South. 19. The ecliptic is an imaginary line on the celestial sphere which (a) is directly above the Earth s equator. (b) gives the Sun s path during a year. (c) joins the celestial poles. (d) joins the zenith and the nadir of an observer at the equator. 20. The Big Dipper is (a) an asterism. (b) a constellation. 21. If a star rises tonight at 9:15 pm, tomorrow it will rise at about (a) 9:11 pm. (b) 9:15 pm. (c) 9:19 pm. 22. The seasons on Earth are caused by (a) varying distance between the Earth and the Sun. (b) the tilt of the Earth s rotational axis. (c) varying energy output of the Sun during a year. 23. Relative to the constellations of the zodiac the Sun moves (a) westward (from East to West). (b) eastward (from West to East). 24. As seen from Ontario on the first day of Fall, the Sun rises (a) North of East. (b) directly East. (c) South of East. 4
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 5 of 9 pages 25. As seen from Ontario on the first day of Winter, the Sun sets (a) South of West. (b) directly West. (c) North of West. 26. As seen from Ontario on the first day of Summer, the Sun rises (a) South of East. (b) directly East. (c) North of East. 27. When does the Sun cross celestial equator? (a) On the first day of Summer. (b) On the first day of Winter. (c) On the first day of Spring or Fall. 28. On the day of summer solstice the number of hours of daylight at the latitude 70 North is (a) 0. (b) 12. (c) 24. 29. On the day of winter solstice the number of hours of daylight at the latitude 70 North is (a) 0. (b) 12. (c) 24. 30. Which of the following is one of the reasons for periodic changes in global climate according to Milanković theory. (a) Periodic changes in the total energy output of the Sun. (b) Periodic changes in the tilt of the Earth s rotational axis. (c) The revolution of the Solar System around the galaxy once every 230 million years. 31. The Earth s rotational axis precesses once every (a) 260,000 years. (b) 26,000 years. (c) 2,600 years. 5
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 6 of 9 pages For Questions 32-38 refer to Figure 1. Figure 1 32. The full moon rises at (a) sunrise. (b) noon. (c) sunset. (d) midnight. 33. The first quarter moon sets at (a) sunrise. (b) noon. (c) sunset. (d) midnight. 34. The third quarter moon rises at (a) sunrise. (b) noon. (c) sunset. (d) midnight. 6
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 7 of 9 pages 35. When the Moon is at 4) it is (a) waxing crescent. (b) waxing gibbous. (c) waning crescent. (d) waning gibbous. 36. When the Moon is at 8) it is (a) waxing crescent. (b) waxing gibbous. (c) waning crescent. (d) waning gibbous. 37. The waning crescent moon rises (a) between the noon and the sunset. (b) between the sunset and the midnight. (c) between the midnight and the sunrise. (d) between the sunrise and the noon. 38. The waxing crescent moon rises (a) between the noon and the sunset. (b) between the sunset and the midnight. (c) between the midnight and the sunrise. (d) between the sunrise and the noon. 39. The interval of time between the new moon and the full moon is about (a) one week. (b) two weeks. (c) three weeks. (d) one month. 40. If you observe a total solar eclipse you are located in the Moon s (a) umbra. (b) penumbra. (c) antumbra. 7
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 8 of 9 pages 41. If you observe an annular solar eclipse you are located in the Moon s (a) umbra. (b) penumbra. (c) antumbra. 42. The interval of time between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse is about (a) one week. (b) two weeks. (c) three weeks. (d) one month. 43. A 20 day shift in the dates of the eclipses from one year to the next is caused by (a) the precession of the Earth s rotational axis. (b) the precession of the equinoxes. (c) the precession of the Moon s orbit. (d) [None of the above.] 44. Aristarchus determined the relative sizes (diameters) of the Earth and the Moon by (a) comparing the intervals of time between two quarter phases of the Moon. (b) timing the duration of the total lunar eclipse. (c) timing the duration of the total solar eclipse. (d) measuring the angular sizes of the Sun and the Moon. 45. As observed from the Earth the planets beyond the Earth (e.g. Mars) move (a) always eastward (from West to East). (b) always westward (from East to West). (c) generally eastward but every now and then they reverse direction of motion. (d) generally westward but every now and then they reverse direction of motion. 46. The main argument against the heliocentric(sun-centered) model at the time of Aristarchus, and later at the time of Copernicus, was that (a) stellar parallax was observed. (b) stellar parallax was not observed. (c) gibbous and quarter phases of Venus were observed. (d) a periodic retrograde motion of Mars was observed. 8
Course: ASTR1P01 Date: September 29, 2014 page 9 of 9 pages 47. Which of these planets has the highest orbital speed? (a) Mercury. (b) Venus. (c) Earth. (d) Mars. 48. The Earth s orbital speed is greatest when it is closest to the Sun. (a) True. (b) False. 49. Who was the first to observe that the Milky Way consists of many faint distant stars? (a) Aristotle. (b) Brahe. (c) Kepler. (d) Galileo. 50. Who collected the accurate orbital data on planetary motions? (a) Aristotle. (b) Brahe. (c) Kepler. (d) Galileo. 9