Practice Test DeAnza College Astronomy 04 Test 1 Spring Quarter 2009 Multiple Choice Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. Mark answer on Scantron. 1. A galaxy like the Milky Way galaxy contains a. only planets. c. a single star and nine planets. b. billions of stars and lots of gas and dust. d. lots of gas and dust but few stars. 2. A(n) is a small circle whose center is located on the circumference of another circle. a. equant b. deferent c. retrograde loop d. ellipse e. epicycle 3. Ptolemy used which of the following devices to construct his geocentric (Earth-centered) model of the universe? a. epicycle c. equant b. deferent d. all of the above 4. Which of the following people did NOT accept a heliocentric (sun-centered) model for the universe? a. Kepler b. Copernicus c. Ptolemy d. Galileo e. Newton 5. The Moon is directly opposite the Sun in the sky at the time of the a. New Moon. c. Full Moon. b. First Quarter Moon. d. Last Quarter Moon. 6. The Copernican system was no more accurate than the Ptolemaic system in predicting the positions of the planets because a. the Copernican system used the old value for the radius of Earth. b. Copernicus had been unable to detect parallax. c. the Copernican system included uniform circular motion. d. in the Copernican system only Mercury and Venus orbit the sun, all other planets orbited Earth. e. Copernicus used inaccurate data from Ptolemy's system. 7. The Local Group is another name for a. our galaxy and about 3 dozen nearby c. our Solar System. galaxies. b. a cluster of stars outside our galaxy. d. our Milky Way galaxy. 8. Kepler's second law implies that a. a planet should move at its greatest speed when it is closest to the Sun and slowest when farthest from the Sun.. b. the most massive planets will have the greatest speed in their orbits. c. the speed of a planet in its orbit depends on the size of the epicycle. d. the mass of the planet determines how far the planet is from the sun. e. the deferent and the epicycle have to be attached to the Sun and not Earth. 1
9. The point in Earth's orbit when Earth is closest to the sun is known as a. aphelion. b. perihelion. c. precession. d. the winter solstice e. a and d 10. The planet(s) of our solar system that are not visible to the naked eye are a. Jupiter. b. Mercury and Neptune. c. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. d. Uranus and Neptune. e. Mercury and Venus. 11. Earth is nearest the Sun in its orbit in a. January c. July b. March d. September 12. The synodic period of the moon a. is about 27.32 days long. b. is the period of time for the moon to orbit Earth once with respect to the stars. c. is the period of time between successive eclipses at a given location on Earth. d. is the period of time from when the moon rises until the moon rises again the next night. e. is the period between similar phases of the moon. 13. The diagram below illustrates a portion of the model for the universe described by a. Kepler b. Tycho c. Ptolemy d. Copernicus e. Galileo 14. Tycho Brahe's greatest contribution to astronomy was a. his model of the universe. b. his telescopic observations. c. his discovery of three laws of motion. d. his 20 years of careful observations of the planets. e. a and b above 15. The average distance from Earth to the Sun is a. one light-year c. one billion kilometers b. one million miles d. one Astronomical Unit (AU) 2
16. Which star in the table below would not be visible to the unaided eye of an observer on Earth? Star Name Apparent Visual Magnitude Dra 3.07 Cet 2.53 Per 3.98 Nim 8.07 CMa -1.46 a. Cet b. CMa c. Nim d. Per e. Dra 17. At which phase(s) is the Moon at a right (90 degree) angle to a line connceting the Earth and Sun? a. First Quarter d. a and c b. Full Moon e. a and b c. Last Quarter 18. Earth is farthest from the Sun in its orbit in a. January c. July b. March d. September 19. Total lunar eclipses always occur at the time a. of new moon. b. of full moon. c. either equinox. d. either solstice. e. that the sun is directly overhead. 20. A light-year is a. the distance light travels in one year. c. the diameter of the Solar System b. the time is takes light to travel to the d. any year that is not a leap year. nearest star. 21. The revolution of Earth around the Sun causes a. the constellations visible at night to change from season to season. d. the Sun to trace out a path against the background os stars - the ecliptic. b. day and night e. a and d c. a and b 22. The rotation of Earth on its axis causes a. the seasonal constellations to change. d. a and b b. day and night. e. a and c c. the Sun to trace out a pathway through the stars called the ecliptic. 23. A solar or lunar eclipse will occur a. when the sun is near the line of nodes of the moon and the moon is new or full. b. any time the moon is new or full. c. when the sun is near the solstice and the moon is new or full. d. half way through an eclipse year. e. when the sun is near the equinox and the moon is new or full. 3
24. Galileo's telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and moon a. were the same kind of object. b. were not perfect. c. were inhabited. d. orbited each other. e. did not orbit Earth. 25. Ptolemy's model of the universe a. was heliocentric. b. included elliptical orbits. c. contained epicycles. d. all of the above e. none of the above 26. Scientific notation is used in astronomy because a. it makes it easy to write very big or small c. it makes conversions between units easy. numbers. b. all astronomical distances are expressed in d. all of the above. metric units. 27. Who invented the telescope? a. Copernicus c. Tycho Brahe b. Kepler d. Galileo 28. At which phase is the Moon not visible in the sky? a. Full Moon c. New Moon b. Last Quarter d. First Quarter 29. Who first proposed the Heliocentric (sun-centered) Theory for the Universe? a. Copernicus d. Tycho Brahe b. Kepler e. Isaac Newton c. Galileo 30. Which of the following motions of Earth causes the star we call the North Star to change over time? a. Precession of Earth s axis c. Rotation of Earth on its axis. b. Revolution of Earth around the Sun. d. All of the Above 31. Kepler's first law of planetary motion implies that a. a planet moves at a constant speed at all points in its orbit. b. a planet orbits the Sun in an elliptical orbit with the Sun at one focus. c. uniform circular motion is adequate to describe the motion of all planets. d. the farther a planet is from the Sun the faster it travels. e. planets closer to the sun than Earth will show retrograde motion. 32. Which of the following is NOT visible during totality of a total solar eclipse? a. the corona of the sun. b. the chromosphere of the sun. c. prominences. d. the photosphere of the sun. e. all of the above 33. Galileo's observations of the phases of Venus proved a. that Venus orbited the sun. b. that Venus orbited the Earth. c. that Venus was the brightest of all planets.. d. that the moon orbited Earth. e. that Venus had an atmosphere. 4
34. Isaac Newton s Law of Universal Gravitation relates which of the following quantities? a. Force of gravity, mass and size. c. Mass, distance and size. b. Force of gravity, mass and distance d. Distance, mass and brightness. True/False Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false. Mark your choice on Scantron. 35. During a total eclipse of the Moon, the Moon usually disappears from view. 36. Classical Greek astronomers believed the motions of the heavens could be described by uniform circular motion. 37. The North Star (Polaris) is the brightest star in the sky. 38. In the Northern Hemisphere, the North Star (Polaris) is always located a distance above the horizon equal to that location s latitude. 39. At the time of the Vernal (Spring) and Autumn Equinox, the lengths of day and night are approximately equal here at DeAnza College. 40. The heliocentric theory of Copernicus placed the known planets in their correct order of distance from the Sun. 41. During a partial lunar eclipse the moon usually completely disappears from view. 42. Total lunar eclipses last much longer than total solar eclipses. 43. Many classical Greek astronomers believed Earth could not move because they detected no parallax. 44. The Moon always keeps one side facing Earth as it revolves around Earth. 45. Total solar eclipses were used by the some ancient Greeks as an arguement for the sphericity (roundness) of Earth. 46. According to Kepler s Third Law, the farther a planet is from the Sun the longer it takes to go around the Sun. 47. The Sun is highest in the sky at Noon for the year here at DeAnza College at the time of the Winter Solstice. 48. Galileo used a telescope to observe the phases of Jupiter. 49. The Summer Solstice marks the time of the longest day and shortest night here at DeAnza College. 50. The sidereal period of the Moon is the time between similar phases of the Moon. Extra Credit Questions: Mark your answer on Scantron. 51. Who invented the telescope, discovered the Moon had mountains. Jupiter had satellites and the Milky Way was composed of countless stars? a) Sir Isaac Newton b) Einstein c) Galileo d) Copernicus e) Hypathi 5
52) What lies 15 billion light-years from Venice? a) the nearest star b) the Big Dipper c) the Andromeda Galaxy d) the boundaries of the visible Universe 53) The term Big Bang refers to a) How our Sun produces its energy b) the sound a Supernova makes as it explodes c) an explosion that started the Universe. d) the moment a comet collided with Earth and killed the dinosaurs 54) Collapsed cores of very massive stars with gravity so strong that not even light escapes are called a) atoms b) pulsars c) white dwarfs d) black holes 55) What makes up most of the Universe? a) stars b) galaxies c) planets d) empty space 6