Astro 1010 Planetary Astronomy Sample Questions for Exam 3 Chapter 6 1. Which of the following statements is false? a) Refraction is the bending of light when it passes from one medium to another. b) Mirrors experience chromatic aberration. c) Reflection is the bouncing of light off a surface. d) Spherical mirrors experience spherical aberration. 2. The two basic types of optical telescopes are a) Galilean telescopes and Newtonian telescopes. b) reflecting telescopes and a refracting telescopes. c) Cassegrain telescopes and Copernican telescopes. d) long telescopes and short telescopes. 3. The main function of a telescope is a) to magnify a stars image. b) to separate the light into its different colors. c) to clear up the distortions caused by the earth s atmosphere. d) to gather a large amount of light and concentrate it at a focus. e) None of the above. 4. In a Newtonian telescope a) the eyepiece comes straight out the back of the telescope. b) two lenses are used to focus the light. c) the eyepiece comes out the side near the front of the telescope. d) dozens of hexagonal mirrors are used to focus the light. 5. The angular resolution of a telescope does not depend on a) the aperture size of the telescope. b) the wavelength of the light the telescope looks in. c) the brightness of the object being observed. 6. Adaptive optics systems a) correct for the chromatic aberration caused by the use of lenses. b) improve the diffraction limit of a telescope. c) correct for atmospheric distortions. d) have been available for telescopes since the late 1800 s 7. Today, the most precise astronomical observations are done using a) an eye placed to the eyepiece of a telescope. b) a CCD camera placed at the focal point of a telescope. c) a photographic plate placed at the focal point of a telescope. d) ordinary photographic film placed at the focal point of a telescope.
8. A spectrograph is a) a device that combines the various colors together into white light. b) a device that separates the various intensities of light. c) a device that separates light into its constituent wavelengths. d) a device that filters out unwanted light in a telescopic image. 9. Radio telescopes are a) usually very small so that they can be pointed accurately. b) always located in outer space to since radio waves do not penetrate the atmosphere. c) can only see at night. d) are very large because the resolution of radio waves is so poor. 10. Due to their poor resolution, the best radio observatories a) use huge radio dishes several miles across. b) use multiple radio dishes linked together in an interferometer. c) are orbiting spacecraft which are above Earth s atmosphere. 11. The LIGO observatory observes a) in microwave wavelengths. b) gravity waves. c) neutrinos. d) visible light from orbit 12. Many types of astronomy can only be performed in space because a) objects in space are closer to the stars and can thus see more. b) gravity causes the telescopes to sag and in space the sag is eliminated because of weightlessness. c) the earth s atmosphere blocks many of the wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. d) clouds interfere with the observing and there are no clouds in space. e) All of the above. 13. Which of the following statements is false? a) The Hubble Telescope is a 2.4 m reflecting telescope in orbit that sees in wavelengths from near infrared to near ultraviolet. b) The Spitzer Space Telescope is a space based telescope that observes infrared wavelengths. c) The Chandra telescope is an orbiting X-ray telescope that was launched in the 1999. d) The FUSE telescope an orbiting telescope that observe in the gamma ray wavelengths.
14. Which of the following spacecraft was not a fly-by planetary probe? a) Voyager 1 and 2. b) Pioneer 11 c) Luna 3 d) Apollo 12 Short Answer Questions 1. Use words and a diagram to describe a refracting telescope. 2. Briefly describe a Newtonian telescope. Include a drawing. 3. Use words and a diagram to describe a Cassegrain telescope. 4. Describe one of the major space-based telescopes and the wavelengths it observes in. 5. Briefly describe a prism spectrometer. Include a diagram. 6. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a planetary mission that is a lander versus one that is a fly-by. Chapter 7 1. A protostar is formed by a) the rapid expansion of gas from an exploding star. b) the gravitational collapse of a rotating interstellar cloud. c) the ignition of thermonuclear fusion in an expanding nebula. d) the remnants of a red giant star. 2. The angular momentum of an object does not depends on a) the mass of the object. b) how fast the object is rotating. c) how the mass of the object is distributed. d) the temperature of the object. 3. In the nebular model for the formation of the solar system a) the rocky planets form close to the Sun. b) the solar system forms from a giant cloud made almost entirely of dust. c) the Sun was formed much later than the planets and is thus younger. d) the inner planets formed much earlier than the outer planets. e) All of the above are part of the nebular theory. 4. Which of the following statements is false? a) As the solar nebula began to collapse under its own gravity it began to spinup due to the conservation of angular momentum. b) As the solar nebula began to collapse under its own gravity it began to flatten out into a disk shape with a central bulge. c) Protoplanetary disks (proplyds) are infant solar systems in the process of forming. d) The protosun produced energy by fusing hydrogen in its core.
5. Accretion is a) the sticking of small particles to form larger particles. b) the growth of particles by condensation of gas. c) the flattening out of a rotating disc of material as it shrinks. d) the spinning up of a rotating disk as it shrinks in size. 6. Planetesimals form by a) accretion first then condensation. b) condensation first then accretion. c) only by condensation. d) only by accretion. 7. In the nebular model of planetary formation a) the highest density planets form closest to the Sun and the lower density planets form farther out. b) the planets condense from a gas and dust nebula long before the Sun is formed. c) the lowest density planets form closest to the Sun and the higher density planets form farther out. d) the Sun forms billions of years before the planets begin to form. 8. The two types of leftovers planetesimals in the solar system are a) terrestrial and Jovian. b) comets and asteroids. c) meteorites and meteoroids. d) moons and stars. 9. During the earliest times of the solar system a) there were 4 terrestrial planets and four gas giants. b) there were as many as 100 moon to Mars sized protoplanets in the inner part of the solar system. c) there were as many as 100 Uranus to Saturn sized protoplanets in the outer solar system. d) the solar system was dominated by two objects much larger in size than Jupiter which collided, shattered and formed all the other planets. e) None of the above, we have no idea what it was like at that time. 10. In the search for extra-solar planets the technique that has found the most planets uses a) the Doppler shift of the star to detect the wobble in the stars motion caused by the presents of a planet. b) direct observations of the side-to-side motion of the star caused by the presence of a planet. c) direct observations of the planets. d) changes in the emission spectrum of the star due to the additional emission lines from the planet.
11. Of the extra-solar planets found around sun-like stars so far a) almost all are Earth-like planets. b) almost all are large planets like Jupiter. c) there is an even mix of Earth-like and Jupiter-like planets. d) all have been found in highly eccentric orbits that range from almost skimming the surface of the star to over 100AU. Short Answer Questions 1. Briefly describe the nebular model for the formation of the solar system. 2. Describe the formation of a planet beginning with the solar nebula and going up to the formation of a protoplanets. 3. Describe some of the evidence we have for how we think solar systems like ours form. Where do they form? What types of objects have been observed? How do the observations compare to the nebular model of solar system formation? 4. Describe the hunt for extra-solar planets. What kinds of techniques are used, what kinds of planets have been found, how many planets have been found, what kind of orbits do the planets have?