ASTR 1514: FINAL EXAM
129 Cards in this Set
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The turning of a body on its axis
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Rotation
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The motion of a body around a point outside the body (i.e. Earth around Sun)
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Revolution
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The seasons are caused by _____
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The tilt of the earth on its axis
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The theory that states that Earth's ice ages are caused by small changes in Earth's orbit, precession, and inclination
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Milankovitch hypothesis
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This phase of the moon rises at sunrise and sets at sunset
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New moon
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This phase of the moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise
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Full moon
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This phase of the moon rises at noon and sets at midnight
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First quarter
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This phase of the moon rises at midnight and sets at noon
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Third quarter
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This is the phase of the moon between new moon and first quarter
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Waxing crescent
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This is the phase of the moon between first quarter and full moon
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Waxing gibbous
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This is the phase of the moon between full moon and third quarter
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Waning gibbous
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This is the phase of the moon between third quarter and new moon
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Waning crescent
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This is how long it takes the moon to circle the sky once and return to the same position among the stars.
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Sidereal period
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This is the complete cycle of lunar phases, from new moon all the way back to new moon again. It's 29.53 days long.
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Synodic period
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This theory supposes that planets form in the rotating disk of gas and dust around young stars.
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Solar nebula theory.
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The Earth is at least this old.
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4.3 billion years.
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The four stages of terrestrial planetary development, in chronological order:
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-Differentiation
-Cratering -Flooding -Slow surface evolution
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These travel like sound waves and can penetrate a liquid
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P(rimary) waves
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These travel like side-to-side vibrations and cannot penetrate a liquid.
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S(econdary) waves
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This was the first atmosphere. It was probably rich in carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor, from both outgassing and planetesimal impacts.
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Primary atmosphere.
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The atmosphere that we breathe today. Produced partly by further outgassing, but mostly by green plants that produce oxygen.
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Secondary atmosphere.
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Why does the Earth not have large areas of ancient rocks and craters?
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Because the Earth has very active weather cycles which cause rapid erosion and also b/c of plate tectonics, which which show us that the crust is constantly consuming and reforming itself.
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This theory suggests that the Earth and its moon were formed around the same time from the same cloud of matter in the solar nebula.
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Condensation hypothesis.
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This theory proposes that the moon broke from a rapidly spinning young Earth
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Fission hypothesis
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This theory supposes that the moon formed elsewhere in the solar nebula and was later obtained by Earth.
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Capture hypothesis.
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This theory, the most commonly held today, states that the moon formed when a very massive planetesimal smashed into Earth when it was a protoplanet.
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Large-impact hypothesis.
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These are the oldest surface features of the moon
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The highlands
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The atmosphere of this planet is very hot due to runaway greenhouse effect. The surface temperature is hot enough to melt lead.
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Venus
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There are two common types of volcanoes on Earth, shield and composite. Which is the only type found on Mars and Venus?
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Shield volcanoes, b/c Mars & Venus do not have plate tectonics, so composite volcanoes (formed by the shifting of crustal plates) cannot form. The very large volcanoes on the surfaces of Venus and Mars have grown b/c of repeated eruptions in the same place in the crust. This is evidence t…
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On Venus' surface, these are large circular bulges that are produced by rising currents of molten magma that push up underneath the crust.
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Coronae (not to be confused with the corona of the sun, which is the sun's outermost layer).
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The Martian air is 95% ______
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Carbon dioxide (as is Venus' air).
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The density of Venus' atmosphere is ____ ______ than Earth's
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Far greater
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Under very high pressure, hydrogen becomes this material (most of Jupiter's interior is composed of this very good conductor of electricity).
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Liquid metallic hydrogen
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The magnetosphere around Jupiter is 100 times ______ than that around Earth.
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Larger.
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The pattern of colored (belt) cloud bands and which (zone) cloud bands circling the planet like stripes on a child's ball is called ______
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Belt-zone circulation
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These are the four Galilean moons of Jupiter:
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-Ganymede (largest moon in the solar system)
-Callisto -Europa (an active moon w/ a subterranean water world) -Io (has > 100 volcanic vents. Due to gravitational influence, it is differentiated much like Earth).
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Io's volcanism seems to be driven by _____ heating.
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Tidal
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This is the distance within which a moon cannot hold itself together by its own gravity
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Roche limit. (If a moon were to come inside the Roche limit, tidal forces would overcome the moon's gravity and pull the moon apart. The Roche limit is ~2.4 times the planet's radius. All of the Jovian planets' rings lie w/i their respective Roche limits; hence, these rings are not moons)…
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This is Saturn's most massive moon
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Titan
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The sharp outer edge of Saturn's A ring and the narrow F ring are confined by these that gravitationally usher straying particles back into the rings
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Sheppard satellites
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The rings around the Jovian planets cannot be primordial. Rather, these rings are the result of _____
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Impacts of meteoroids, asteroids, and comets on their moons which eject icy particles and debris and replenish these particles over time.
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Many extrasolar planets were discovered when the planets passed in front of their stars and blocked out some of the sunlight, a process called _
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Occulation
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This is the only planet to rotate on its side
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Uranus
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This is the only planet to rotate clockwise.
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Venus. Remember, the desired motion in the solar system is counter-clockwise.
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The moons and features of this planet are named after Shakespearean characters (its moons are Ariel and Miranda)
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Uranus. (This should not be confused with Venus, who has its features named after females).
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Uranus and Neptune formed closer to the sun than their present locations. What could have gradually moved them outward?
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Interactions w/ massive Jupiter and Saturn.
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Since Neptune has a more ____ rich atmosphere, it looks bluer than Uranus
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Methane. (Methane absorbs red photons and scatters blue ones so that Neptune and Uranus appear very blue).
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Pluto was re-categorized as a dwarf planet in '06. Pluto is a very large object from what string of the outermost particles in the solar system?
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Kuiper belt.
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These are meteorites which have never been fully melted and contain bits of volatiles which are intact from the solar system's birth.
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Chondrites. (Chondrules are the rounded volatiles w/i these meteorites).
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Meteor showers are caused when the Earth passes through ____.
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The orbit of comets, which leave behind floating debris that burns in Earth's atmosphere.
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These asteroid are the larger one which travel in Jupiter's orbit ahead of and behind the planet. The largest objects that are NEOs.
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Trojan asteroids.
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Comets have two types of tails. Type __ follows the gravitational pull of the object being passed (the sun) & is made of ionized gas particles
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I
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Comets have two types of tails. Type __ follows the coma and is made of the dust which separates from the comet.
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II
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Comets are ___ compact than most of Earth's rocks and are ___ dense than water.
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Less, less. Comets would float if placed in water, and are made mostly of poorly compacted ice and rock.
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This is a spherical cloud about 10,000 to 100,000 AU from the sun that is left over from the formation of the solar system & never contracted into the solar disk.
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Oort cloud. (Long-range comets probably come from the Oort Could, which is why they enter the Earth's orbit from random directions, b/c the cloud is spherical & not a flat circle.)
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Some short-range comets probably originated in the Oort Cloud, but are now locked closer to the sun b/c of gravitational interactions w/ ___
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The larger Jovian planets (Jupiter & Saturn).
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Most short-range comets must have originated in the ___ and must have been perturbed into the inner solar system.
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Kuiper belt.
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This is the cloud of dust that surrounds the nucleus of a comet.
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Coma
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This experiment showed that lightening & other natural processes could produce important building blocks of biological life.
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Miller experiment.
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About 540 million years ago, life suddenly branched into a wide variety of complex forms like the trilobites in an event know as the ___.
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Cambrian explosion.
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Astronomers have defined this as the area around a star where planets have temperatures that permit the existence of liquid water.
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Habitable zones. The existence of living water = the ability of living things to evolve. The best starts for this are G type stars like our sun.
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This is the interval in the radio spectrum between the 21-cm hydrogen radiation & the 18-cm OH radiation that is likely to be used by ET.
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Water hole.
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This equation estimates the total number of communicative civilizations in our galaxy.
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Drake equation. The # of technological civilizations = the # of stars times the # of stars w/ planets times the # of planets on which life may begin times the # of planets where intelligent life emerges times the interval in a star's life in which an intelligent species is communicative.
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He was the first Greek to propose the heliocentric theory; however he could not explain parallax
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Aristarchus
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He was the first Greek to say that the universe could be understood and that humans should make efforts to understand it.
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Thales
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He was a Greek who proposed uniform circular motion and a geocentric theory in which the heavens never change.
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Aristotle
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He was the first Greek to accurately measure the Earth's diameter and mass.
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Eratosthenes.
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He cataloged the stars and developed the modern magnitude system.
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Hipparchus.
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He explained the retrograde motion of Mars using epicycles; first to do so.
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Ptolomey
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He accurately explained the reasoning behind Mars' retrograde motion. Best known for his heliocentric theory.
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Copernicus
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He challenged Aristotle and carefully measured the stars.
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Tycho Brahe.
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He laid down three planetary laws of motion.
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Kepler.
His laws of motion were: 1. The orbits of the planets are ellipses. 2. Planets closer to the sun move faster than ones that are further away. 3. Period squared = distance cubed.
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Perhaps the greatest scientist to have ever lived and developed calculus. Understood and proved gravity.
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Newton.
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The North Star (Polaris) shows the observer's ____. The star changes due to Earth's precession.
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Latitude.
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This says that it gets dark b/c the universe had a beginning.
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Olber's paradox.
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Cosmology says that 5% of the universe is ____, 23% is _____, and 72% is ____.
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Ordinary/baryonic matter, dark matter, dark energy.
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One can know the mass, rotational velocity, electric charge of a black hole; however one cannot know ___.
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Of what it's made.
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He discovered the expansion of the universe using Cepheids as standard candles
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Hubble.
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He supported the heliocentric view and was the first to point the telescope toward the heavens.
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Galileo.
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This provides confirmation of general relativity.
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Gravitational lensint.
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This is the process by which the gravitational field of a massive object focuses light from a distant object to make the distant object look brighter.
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Gravitational lensing.
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During which season in Oklahoma is the Earth farthest from the sun?
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Summer
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If you seen the Moon just setting at 6am (or sunrise), what phase is the moon in?
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Full moon
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The terrestrial planets were formed, (a) under conditions of high temp. (b) near where the comets formed (c) in the same manner as the Jovians
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(a) under conditions of high temperature
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The solar system was formed (a) from the collision of the sun w/ another star (b) from the accretion of matter from a nearby star (c) none of the above
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(c) none of the above
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If radio telescopes from SETI detected signals from a planet w/ gravity 3X that of Earth's what kind of extra-terrestrials would you expect?
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Short and heavily-built non-humans
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Which kind of star has the widest habitable zone? (a) B star (b) A star (c) F star (d) G star
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(d) G star
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Communication w/ intelligent species can be accomplished by (a)sending out pictures (b)space colonies (c)radio waves in the 'water hole'
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(c) using radio waves in the "water hole"
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The stars whose planets have the greatest chance of harboring intelligent life are (a) O stars (b) red giants (c) protostars (d) G stars
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(d) G stars
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Why would neutrinos not be a good choice for communicating w/ other technical civilizations?
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They are hard to stop & collect
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Which of the following does not enter the Drake equation? (a) rate of star formation (b) average length of human life (c) fraction of stars w/ planets
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(a) rate of star formation
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The # civilizations in our galaxy that are capable of interstellar communication is (a) 0 (b) < or = 1 (c) 1-20 million (d) >100 billion
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(c) Anywhere from 1 to 20 million
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Life around other stars: (a) we have found thousands, some w/ life (b) we have found hundreds, no life known (c) present technology can't find any
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(b) we have found some (hundreds), but do not know if any contain life
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Who first proposed that the Earth was the center of the solar system? (a) Aristotle (b) Copernicus (c) Aristarchus (d) Kepler
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(c) Aristarchus
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Copernicus is remembered for his: (a) metal nose (b) heliocentric theory of the solar system (c) careful observations of Mars
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(b) Heliocentric theory of the solar system
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Tycho Brahe's greatest achievement was his (a) precise measurements of planetary positions (b) discovery of the telescope (c) model of the solar system
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(a) precise measurements of planetary positions
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According to Kepler's 3rd law, (a) the Earth moves around the sun faster than Venus (b) " " slower than Venus (c) Earth & Venus orbit at the same speed
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(b) The Earth moves around the sun at a slower speed than Venus
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Which of the following is not a property of the Jovian planets? (a) rings (b) low density (c) slow rotation (d) many satellites
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(c) slow rotation
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If the sun is @ one focus of planetary orbit, what is at the other? (a) the planet (b) a comet (c) a dead star (d) nothing
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(d) nothing
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Which was NOT an observation by Galileo? (a) mountains of Venus (b) satellites of Jupiter (c) craters of the moon (d) stars in the Milky Way
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(a) The mountains of Venus
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Asteroids: (a) Often as large as the moon (b) tails always point away from the sun (c) they probably represent material that never became a planet
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(c) They probably represent material that never collected into a planet
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If you were sent to the moon to find 4.5 billion year old rocks, where would you land? (a) Sea of Tranquility (b) highland region (c) floor of a ray crater
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(b) A cratered highland region
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Which lunar surface feature best indicates past fluid flow on the lunar surface? (a) craters (b) rays (c) rilles (d) mountain ranges
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(c) rilles
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Arrange the following lunar features from oldest to youngest: ray craters, mare, mare basins, highlands
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(a) highlands (b) ray craters (c) mare basins (d) mare
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How was our moon formed? (a) broke off from the Earth (b) formed in orbit from material ejected by the earthly protoplanet (c) was captured
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(b) it formed in orbit from material ejected from the still forming Earth
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Of Jupiter's known satellites (a) 8 were discovered by Galileo (b) the largest, Titan, has an atmosphere (c) 4 can be seen w/ OU's telescope
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(c) 4 can be seen w/ OU's telescope
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Which of the following are arranged in order of increasing rotation period? (a) Earth, Venus, Uranus (b) Neptune, Earth, Mercury (c) Venus, Saturn, Jupiter
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(b) Neptune, Earth, Mercury
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The particles in Saturn's rings (a) rotate at a constant speed (b) extend beyond the orbit of Titan (c) obey Kepler's 3rd law
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(c) Obey Kepler's Third Law
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Saturn radiates more energy than it receives from the sun b/c (a) it's hotter than the sun (b) it's closer to the sun than we think (c) it's slowly contracting
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(c) it's slowing contracting
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Most meteorites come from (a) asteroids (b) comets (c) the moon (d) alien spaceships
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(a) asteroids
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Arrange in order of increasing density (a) Moon, Earth, Jupiter (b) Saturn, Moon, Earth (c) Earth, Mars, Venus (d) Mercury, Earth, Neptune
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(b) Saturn, the Moon, the Earth
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The chemical composition of the solar atmosphere is most like (a) Jupiter's atmosphere (b) Mars' atmosphere (c) the Moon's atmosphere
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(a) The atmosphere of Jupiter
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The weakest force in nature is
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gravitational force
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Absolute magnitude is a measure of a star's (a) apparent brightness (b) true brightness (c) mass (d) size
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(b) true brightness
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In order for an electron to make a transition from one orbit to a larger one (a) the atom must be supplied energy (b) the atom must lose energy
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(a) The atom must be supplied with a certain amount of energy
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A H atom emits red spectral lines when it changes from the 3rd to the 2nd energy level. 4th to 2nd, it emits (a) red lines (b) infared lines (c) blue lines
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(c) blue lines
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An H-R diagram is a plot of (a) luminosity vs. distance (b) mass vs temp. (c) luminosity vs. temp. (d) temp. vs. radius
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(c) luminosity vs. temperature
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For which type of e.m. radiation do the photons have the most energy? (a) radio (b) ultraviolet (c) gamma ray (d) visible
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(c) gamma ray
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Large telescopes like the Keck telescope work on the principle of (a) reflection (b) diffraction (c) scattering (d) refraction
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(a) reflection
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The source of energy in the sun & stars is mainly (a) nuclear energy (b) gravitational energy (c) e. magnetic energy (d) chemical energy
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(a) nuclear energy
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The sun is (a) hotter than an O-type main sequence star (b) larger than a white dwarf (c) more massive than a B-type main sequence star
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(b) larger than a white dwarf
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Red giants are brighter than white dwarfs b/c they (a) are hotter (b) are nearer (c) are bigger (d) are more massive
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(c) are bigger
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The stellar remnant of star w/ a mass = to the sun is a (a) white dwarf (b) neutron star (c) pulsar (d) black hole
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(a) white dwarf
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Protostars are primarily powered by (a) degenerate gas pressure (b) gravity (c) synchrotron radiation (d) nuclear reations
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(b) gravity
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Pulsars are formed during (a) supernova explosions (b) nova explosions (c) formation of main sequence stars (d) helium flash
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(a) supernova explosions
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Which of these indicates recent star formation? (a) red giants (b) main sequence M stars (c) main sequence O stars (d) white dwarfs
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(c) main sequence O stars
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Cepheids are useful in determining (a) masses of stars (b) temp. of stars (c) distances (d) ages
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(c) distances
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Arrange the following in terms of temp. lowest to highest: sunspots, chromosphere, center of sun, inner corona
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(a) sunspots (b) chromosphere (c) inner corona (d) center of sun
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The photosphere of the sun (a) appears red due to H spectral lines (b) is the region where sunspots occur (c) is the outermost part of the sun
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(b) is the region where sunspots occur
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ASTR 1514: CHAPTER 15 VOCABULARY