AST1002 Professor Ng Spring 2014 Our Sun is the most massive and luminous star in the Milky Way False The invention of satellites advanced astronomy because telescopes on satellites can explore wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation such as X rays that cannot penetrate the Earth s atmosphere True Human beings are composed almost entirely of the same elements that were created in the Big Bang False The word astronomy means patterns among the stars If there are about 6000 stars in the entire sky that can be seen by the unaided human eye about how many stars would be seen at a particular instant on a given dark night from a single location with an uninterrupted distant horizon 3000 If an event were to take place on the Sun how long would it take for the light to reach us 8 minutes The distance to the nearest large spiral galaxy Andromeda is 2 5 million light years How long does it take light to travel from us to Andromeda 2 5 million years The early universe was composed mainly of which two elements Hydrogen and helium A light year is measured in units of distance If you compared the diameter of the Earth 13 000 km to 1 second what unit of time would be equivalent to the size of our Galaxy whose diameter is 1 5 1021 m which is the length of time between now and when 3 million years man s ancestors first began to walk upright The cosmological principle states that the universe looks the same everywhere as long as you look on large enough spatial scales Classify the following descriptions as either True or False False An hypothesis is the same as a scientific theory False Scientific theories are just guesses or hypotheses used to explain scientific subjects False A scientific theory which has been proven to be true and is no longer subject to testing is a fact Classify the following statements about units of measurement as True or False True A light year is a unit of distance in astronomy True A millimeter is one thousandth of a meter False There are a million nanoseconds in a second True A basic unit of mass in the metric system is a kilogram The number 6 41 X 108 is equal to 641000000 Suppose you were writing to a pen pal in another universe What address would you put on the envelope that included all the major structures in which we reside Select the order from the list below in which you would put on your address starting with your local location 3 The Milky Way 6 The Universe 2 The Solar System 5 Virgo Supercluster 4 The Local Group 1 Earth The nightly motion of objects across our sky is caused by the rotation of Earth on its axis Are the constellations seasonal Yes On a summer night many of the constellations you can see are different from the constellations you can see on a winter night But there are some constellations you can see all year long Which of the following statements best represents the overall rationale for scientific investigation Reality is comprehensible and a limited number of fundamental principles governs the nature and behavior of the universe HW2 The nightly motion of objects across our sky is caused by the rotation of Earth on its axis If the star Polaris has an altitude of 35 then we know that our latitude is 35 If you go out at exactly 9 P M each evening over the course of one month the position of a given star will move westward by tens of degrees What causes this motion The revolution of the Earth around the Sun A celestial equator B north celestial pole C ecliptic D south celestial pole Assume that the observer is in the continental United States Match each statement with one of the terms at the top Some letters may be used more than once and some may not be used at all A Summer Solstice B Vernal Equinox C Winter Solstice D Autumnal Equinox E None of the Above A The beginning of summer occurs on what date C The altitude of the sun at noon is least on what date C The longest period of darkness occurs near which solstice or equinox C The sun sets farthest south of west on what date In which month does Scorpius appears in the overhead position at midnight June When is the Earth closest to the Sun In the winter in the northern hemisphere The picture below shows the position of the Earth at four times of the year For each position identify the transition to the correct season When the Earth is in position C it is at the Winter solstice When the Earth is in position A it is at the Vernal equinox When the Earth is in position D it is at the Autumal equinox When the Earth is in position B it is at the Summer solstice Earth experiences seasons due to the tilt of its axis What are the consequences of this tilt that contribute to the seasons False Variation in the amount of Moonlight False Precession of the Earth over time True Variation in the directness of the Sun s rays True Variation in the length of day False Change in distance to the Sun If you were going to send a spacecraft to circle the Moon and photograph the entire far side the side not visible from Earth during which lunar phase as seen from Earth would you do the photography new Moon A total lunar eclipse is visible in principle assuming clear skies everywhere to everyone in one hemisphere of Earth When the Sun is at the midnight position identify the phase of the Moon if it is overhead Full Moon The figure below shows the different phases of the Moon Approximately what time would each of the phase rise above your horizon First identify each phase of the moon on the figure and note that the earth rotates counter clockwise The sun is to the left of the figure noon First quarter 9 am Waxing crescent sunrise New Moon 9 pm Waning gibbous 3 pm Waxing gibbous If a person on Earth currently views the Moon in a waxing crescent phase in what phase would the Earth appear to a person on the Moon Waning gibbous Why don t we have solar and lunar eclipses every month Because the Moon s orbit around Earth is tilted by about 5 out of the ecliptic Mercury has a semimajor axis of 0 387 AU How long does it take Mercury to orbit once around the Sun 0 241 years Which of the following is TRUE about a comet that is on an elliptical orbit around the Sun The comet s speed is greatest when it is nearest the Sun If you were going to send a spacecraft to circle the Moon and photograph the entire far side the side not visible from Earth during which lunar phase as seen from Earth would you do the photography new Moon Match each statement with the law Some …
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