Final Exam Fall 2002Multiple Choice Questions (2 pts. each)Choose the best answer to each of the following questions using what you have learned inASTR 101. Indicate your choice on the scantron.1. The largest galaxies areA. giant spirals found near the Great Attractor.B. giant spirals in clusters with quasars.C. giant ellipticals in the Local Group.D. giant ellipticals in the centers of the voids.E. giant ellipticals near the center of galaxy clusters.2. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot isA. a hole where Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 struck the planet.B. the gas plume of a super volcano.C. a long-lived storm in the jovian atmosphere.D. an enormous lake of unknown liquid red compounds.E. an optical illusion.3. The Sun set an hour ago. You look west and see the Moon. The phase must beA. full.B. waxing gibbous.C. waning gibbous.D. waxing crescent.E. waning crescent.4. We cannot photograph the central region of the Milky Way using optical telescopes (visible light). Why?A. The center of the Milky Way is billions of light years away, so no visible photons have had time to get here.B. There is dust blocking our view of the Milky Way’s center.C. There is dark matter blocking our view of the Milky Way’s center.D. The stars have all been sucked into the supermassive black hole that lies there.E. The Sun lies in that direction so the sky in this region is always too bright to see.5. Henrietta Leavitt’s discovery of a relationship between period and luminosity of Cepheid variable stars gave astronomers a new way toA. determine the masses of stars.B. find the ages of stars.C. find the age of the universe.D. measure the distances to these stars.E. determine the composition of these stars.6. The 65 million year old clay layer containing Iridium that is observed all over the Earthis cited as support forA. the formation of the Moon.B. continental drift.C. magnetic reversal.D. a large asteroid impact.E. the presence of an atmosphere rich in oxygen.7. An eclipse occurred in Australia. The phase of the moon observed in College Park that evening is full. What kind of eclipse occurred in Australia? A. a lunar eclipse B. an annular eclipse C. a solar eclipse D. an umbral eclipse E. a prenumbral eclipse8. If the mass of a supermassive black hole is 40 million solar masses, what is the radius of its event horizon?A. 40 million km.B. 120 million km.C. 400 million km.D. 1,200 million km.E. 1,600 million km.9. Shapley knew that the Sun couldn’t be located at the center of the Milky Way galaxy because he noticed thatA. globular star clusters were not evenly distributed around the sky.B. globular star clusters defined a flat disk-shaped region.C. there wasn’t a black hole nearby.D. pulsars had a uniform distribution around the sky.E. pulsars had a non-uniform distribution around the sky.10. The argument was made by Frank Drake that the stars most likely to have planets with extraterrestrial technical civilizations areA. F to M giants.B. B to A main sequence.C. G to K main sequence.D. M main sequence.E. white dwarfs.11. Which of the following best describes the Sun’s location in our galaxy?A. in a spiral arm about 28,000 light years from galactic center.B. in a globular star cluster above galactic center.C. near galactic center.D. in an open star cluster at the galaxy’s outer limit.E. in the galactic halo.12. When the Moon is a thin crescent, ________________ is easily visible.A. an auroraB. the ozone holeC. earthshineD. its atmosphereE. its far side13. From College Park, which of the following planets could NEVER be seen at midnight?A. MarsB. JupiterC. SaturnD. MercuryE. all of the above can be seen at midnight14. You have 5 identical lamps, but can vary the temperature of each filament by changing the resistance. The hottest lamp would be the one emitting the greatest number of _______ photons.A. redB. orangeC. yellowD. greenE. blue15. From Santa’s Workshop located at the North Pole, an observer would see which star very near the zenith?A. AlgolB. Alpha CentauriC. VegaD. PolarisE. Sirius16. In fusion reactions, energy is liberated asA. hydrogen heats up.B. some mass is converted to energy.C. radioactive helium is produced.D. fissionable products decay.E. chemical bonds are broken.17. The surface of Venus has been mapped extensively usingA. optical telescopes on Earth’s surface.B. optical telescopes in space.C. radar imaging from spacecraft.D. landing spacecraft.E. infrared sensors on Earth.18. Which of the following changes occurs immediately after the development of a hydrogen burning shell inside a star like the Sun?A. The star collapses to a neutron star and then it blows up.B. The star ejects a planetary nebula and planets form.C. The star emits strongly in the infrared and becomes a protostar.D. The star’s outer layers expand and it becomes a red giant.E. A black hole forms.19. The cause of a meteor shower like the Leonids in November is due toA. sunspot activity and geomagnetic disturbances.B. unstable weather conditions brought about by El Nino.C. Earth passing through a spiral arm in our galaxy.D. Earth crossing a comet’s orbit and particles that came off the comet vaporize.E. Earth moved through a nebula containing dust particles that vaporize.20. Today the Moon is midway between first quarter and full phases. When will the Moon rise?A. noonB. 3 PMC. 6 PMD. 9 PME. midnight21. Aristotle accepted the geocentric theory largely becauseA. he couldn’t detect any stellar parallax.B. he had not heard of Ptolemy’s epicycle theory.C. he was aware of precession and needed an explanation.D. only this theory accounted for both the Earth’s rotation and the seasons.E. he couldn’t observe the center of the galaxy.22. Compared to the Earth, Venus has an overabundance of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, becauseA. Venus has more volcanoes which expelled this gas into its atmosphere.B. Venus has a greenhouse effect while Earth does not.C. Venus never had large quantities of liquid water present on its surface.D. differentiation couldn’t happen on Venus so this gas remained in the atmosphere.E. more comets hit Venus and vaporized than hit Earth.23. Astronomers are convinced that liquid water existed on Mars in the past, becauseA. huge subsurface deposits of ice have been seen with X-ray telescopes.B. during each martian summer large lakes form as the polar cap melts.C. there is a huge amount of water vapor in martian clouds.D. the surface has water-cut channels on it.E. we observe dark