Unit 6--Astronomy
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. The formation of the solar system from a huge cloud of dust and gases is called the ____.
a. / protoplanet theory / c. / planetesimal theoryb. / nebular theory / d. / solar theory
2. Which color has the longest wavelength?
a. / red / c. / greenb. / blue / d. / orange
3. Gamma rays, X-rays, visible light, and radio waves are all types of ____.
a. / nuclear energy / c. / ultraviolet radiationb. / chromatic aberration / d. / electromagnetic radiation
4. Which of the following refers to the change in wavelength that occurs when an object moves toward or away from a source?
a. / Doppler effect / c. / spectroscopyb. / chromatic aberration / d. / wave theory of light
5. What will happen to an object’s wavelength as the object moves toward you?
a. / The wavelength will be shortened. / c. / The wavelength will not change.b. / The wavelength will be lengthened. / d. / The wavelength will vary.
6. Large Doppler shifts indicate ____.
a. / low speeds / c. / low temperaturesb. / high speeds / d. / high temperatures
7. Using the Doppler effect, astronomers can determine a star’s ____.
a. / temperature / c. / movement toward or away from Earthb. / chemical composition / d. / age
8. The outermost layer of the sun is called the ____.
a. / ionosphere / c. / coronab. / photosphere / d. / chromosphere
9. The sun’s surface has a grainy texture produced by numerous bright markings called ____.
a. / granules / c. / sunspotsb. / umbras / d. / solar flares
10. The sun’s surface is made up mostly of ____.
a. / helium / c. / hydrogenb. / ammonia / d. / oxygen
11. Streams of electrons and protons that shoot out from the sun’s corona make up the solar ____.
a. / atmosphere / c. / raysb. / wind / d. / granules
12. What are the most explosive events that occur on the sun?
a. / umbras / c. / solar flaresb. / prominences / d. / solar winds
13. In Figure 24-1, what feature is labeled A?
a. / corona / c. / chromosphereb. / photosphere / d. / prominence
14. Using Figure 24-1, what solar features are labeled C?
a. / prominences / c. / solar flaresb. / solar winds / d. / sunspots
15. By observing sunspots, Galileo concluded that the sun ____.
a. / was dying / c. / rotated on its axisb. / was solid / d. / dimmed and brightened
16. Sunspots appear dark because they are ____.
a. / relatively cool / c. / deep holesb. / relatively hot / d. / solid areas
17. What effect do solar flares have on Earth?
a. / auroras / c. / magnetic pole reversalb. / global warming / d. / tides
18. The product of nuclear fusion is ____.
a. / hydrogen / c. / heliumb. / oxygen / d. / nitrogen
19. The source of the sun’s energy is ____.
a. / chemical burning / c. / nuclear fusionb. / nuclear fission / d. / photosynthesis
20. The sun can continue to exist in its present stable state for about another ____.
a. / 5.5 billion years / c. / 15.5 billion yearsb. / 10 billion years / d. / 100 billion years
21. Stars of which color have the highest surface temperature?
a. / red / c. / yellowb. / orange / d. / blue
22. The mass of a star can be determined by studying ____.
a. / the wavelength of light emitted by the starb. / the color of the star
c. / the distance between the star and Earth
d. / binary star systems
23. Stars of which color have the coolest surface temperature?
a. / red / c. / yellowb. / orange / d. / blue
24. Stellar distances are usually expressed in what units?
a. / miles / c. / light-yearsb. / kilometers / d. / none of the above
25. If star A is farther from Earth than star B, but both stars have the same absolute magnitude, what is true about their apparent magnitude?
a. / Both stars have the same apparent magnitude.b. / Star A has the greater apparent magnitude.
c. / Star B has the greater apparent magnitude.
d. / Apparent magnitude is not related to distance.
26. The difference in the brightness of two stars with the same surface temperature is attributable to their____.
a. / densities / c. / agesb. / colors / d. / sizes
27. A Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram shows the relationship between ____.
a. / absolute magnitude and apparent magnitudeb. / temperature and absolute magnitude
c. / parallax and temperature
d. / apparent magnitude and parallax
28. About 90 percent of stars on the H-R diagram are ____.
a. / supergiants / c. / white dwarfsb. / main-sequence stars / d. / black holes
29. According to Figure 25-1, which main-sequence stars are brightest?
a. / the smallest / c. / the hottestb. / the coolest / d. / none of the above
30. According to Figure 25-1, the sun has an absolute magnitude of ____.
a. / –5 / c. / 5b. / 0 / d. / 5000
31. Another name for the interstellar matter that will eventually form a star is ____.
a. / supernova / c. / black holeb. / red giant / d. / nebula
32. Which force is most responsible for the formation of a star?
a. / gravity / c. / interstellar forceb. / nuclear force / d. / electromagnetic force
33. Massive stars terminate in a brilliant explosion called a ____.
a. / red giant / c. / neutron starb. / protostar / d. / supernova
34. All stars, regardless of size, eventually ____.
a. / turn into black dwarfs / c. / run out of fuel and collapseb. / explode / d. / become black holes
35. In the cores of extremely hot red giants, nuclear reactions convert helium to ____.
a. / carbon / c. / leadb. / hydrogen / d. / argon
36. When a main-sequence star has exhausted the fuel in its core, it becomes a ____.
a. / black hole / c. / neutron starb. / black dwarf / d. / red giant
37. What is the next stage in the sun’s life cycle?
a. / white dwarf / c. / planetary nebulab. / red giant / d. / black dwarf
38. What will be the final stage in the sun’s life cycle?
a. / white dwarf / c. / planetary nebulab. / red giant / d. / black dwarf
39. Our galaxy is called the ____.
a. / Local Group / c. / Andromedab. / Orion / d. / Milky Way
40. Where is our sun located in the Milky Way?
a. / within one of the spiral armsb. / at the exact center of the galactic nucleus
c. / in the galactic halo
d. / at the tip of one of the spiral arms
41. According to Hubble’s law, galaxies are retreating at a speed that is proportional to their ____.
a. / orientation / c. / galactic positionb. / distance / d. / mass
42. Which of the following indicates that the universe is expanding?
a. / red shift of distant galaxiesb. / red shift of the galaxies in the Local Group
c. / blue shift of distant galaxies
d. / blue shift of the Milky Way
43. Based on the observed red shifts in the spectral lines of distant galaxies, astronomers conclude that____.
a. / Earth is in the center of the universeb. / the universe is contracting
c. / the universe is expanding
d. / the universe is smaller than once believed
44. According to the big bang theory, the universe began about ____.
a. / 4.5 billion years ago / c. / 49.6 billion years agob. / 13.7 billion years ago / d. / 130 billion years ago
45. Which of the following supports the big bang theory?
a. / pulsars / c. / galactic clustersb. / cosmic background radiation / d. / irregular galaxies
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46. Cosmic background radiation provides evidence for the
a. Solar theory c. Nebular theory
b. Big Bang theory d. H-R theory
47. The age of the universe is determined by
a. blue-shift c. the amount of fusion in a star
b. cosmic background radiation d. the H-R theory
48. Cosmic background radiation s used to determine:
a. the temperature of the sun c. the life-span of our sun
b. the age of the solar system d. when the Big Bang occurred
49. The equilibrium (balance) of a star is determined by:
a. fusion and gravity c. inertia and fission
b. gravity and inertia d. fission and fusion
Completion
Complete each sentence or statement.
Big Bang chromosphere redder mass
Bluer nebula energy Big Crunch
Core solar flares sunspots shortened
Lengthened prominences two-thirds one-third
Molecular cloud light corona interstellar medium
50. A cloud of dust and gas in space is called a(n) ______.
51. The light from a source that is moving away from an observer appears ______than it actually is because its waves are ______.
52. During periods of high solar activity, huge cloudlike structures called ______appear as great arches that extend from the sun.
53. During nuclear fusion, energy is released because some matter is actually converted to ______.
54. Nuclear fusion takes place in the sun’s ______.
55. The sun is positioned about ______of the way from the center of the galaxy.
56. The ______, which occurred in an instant, marks the beginning of the universe.
Short Answer
57. How does solar wind affect humans? (Provide 2 answers.)
58. The number of sunspots varies in a cycle that lasts how many years?
59. Describe the process of nuclear fusion in terms of hydrogen nuclei and helium nuclei.
60. Describe what is happening to the star shown in Figure 25-2.
61. What type of star is shown in Figure 25-2?
62. What happens to a low-mass star when it depletes its hydrogen fuel?
63. Why do massive stars age faster than stars that are less massive?
28.
25.
2.
Essay
64. According to the nebular theory, how did the solar system form?
65. How did the process of nuclear fusion create other elements throughout the universe?
66. According to the big bang theory, how did the universe begin? What had to happen before atoms could form?