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1) The most important advantage of CCDs over film is that
they can cover larger areas of the sky than film can.
they record much more light in a given exposure time.
they record colors better than film can.
their images do not have to be developed as film does.
their images never fade, as film can.
they record much more light in a given exposure time.
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The Kuiper Belt is found where in the solar system
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
between the orbits of Jupiter and Uranus
beyond the orbit of Neptune
sixty degrees ahead or behind Jupiter
among the orbits of the terrestrial planets
beyond the orbit of Neptune
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The tail of a comet always points
A) away from the Sun and becomes longest and brightest at perihelion.
B) away from the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
C) toward the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
D) toward Earth and never varies.
E) in the direction of the comet's motion
away from the Sun and becomes longest and brightest at perihelion
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The critical part of the atmosphere for protecting life on the ground from excessive ultraviolet radiation is the
A) stratosphere.
B) ozone layer.
C) ionosphere.
D) hydrosphere.
E) troposphere.
ozone layer
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In what part of our atmosphere do we live?
A) exosphere
B) stratosphere
C) mesosphere
D) troposphere
E) ionosphere
troposphere
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Our most detailed knowledge of Uranus and Neptune comes from
A) the Hubble Space telescope.
B) manned missions.
C) ground-based radio telescopes.
D) spacecraft exploration.
E) ground-based visual telescopes
spacecraft exploration
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Essentially, the Great Red Spot is
A) composed primarily of iron oxide.
B) traveling north and south across Jupiter's face.
C) Neptune's largest atmospheric feature.
D) a large cyclonic storm (hurricane).
E) always located within 10 degrees of Jupiter's north pole.
a large cyclonic storm (hurricane)
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What problem does adaptive optics correct?
A) the light pollution of urban areas
B) the opacity of the Earth's atmosphere to some wavelengths of light
C) turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere that creates twinkling
D) defects in the optics of the telescope, such as the original Hubble mirror
E) chromatic aberration due to use of only a single lens objective
turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere that creates twinkling
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What is true about solar system densities?
A) Saturn has the same density as water.
B) Planetary density increases with increasing distance from the Sun.
C) In differentiated bodies, the denser materials lie near their surfaces.
D) The denser planets lie closer to the Sun.
E) The asteroids all have about the same density
The denser planets lie closer to the Sun
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The most distant objects in our solar system are
A) short period comets.
B) in the Kuiper Belt.
C) the jovians.
D) the Trojan asteroids.
E) in the Oort Cloud.
in the Oort Cloud
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Meteorites are important because
A) some come from the Moon and Mars, as well as the asteroid belt.
B) large ones may cause mass extinctions.
C) they contain pristine material from the solar nebula.
D) All of the above are true.
E) None of the above are true.
All of the above are true.
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As the solar nebula contracts, it
A) loses angular momentum.
B) cools due to condensation.
C) spins faster due to conservation of angular momentum.
D) reverses its direction of rotation.
E) flattens out into the ecliptic plane around the Sun's poles.
spins faster due to conservation of angular momentum.
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Earth's magnetic field
A) is a remnant of the solar nebula's magnetic field.
B) lines intersect the atmosphere at the equator.
C) prevents charged particles in the solar wind from reaching the surface.
D) is the force behind plate tectonics.
E) is weakening the Van Allen radiation belts.
prevents charged particles in the solar wind from reaching the surface
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The major presence of water detected on the Moon is in
A) the mare.
B) faint clouds of ice in the thin lunar atmosphere.
C) the flows of mud seen on the walls of some craters.
D) the puffs of steam seen coming from some still active lunar volcanoes.
E) the floors of deep craters in the polar regions, as ice deposits that never thaw
the floors of deep craters in the polar regions, as ice deposits that never thaw
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Planetary transits of exoplanets are rare because
A) most stars are too bright for us to detect a planetary transit.
B) most extrasolar systems are not seen edge-on.
C) our telescopes are not powerful enough to detect them.
D) the Earth's atmosphere interferes with our observations of transits.
E) most exoplanets are smaller than Pluto.
most extrasolar systems are not seen edge-on
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Mercury's surface most resembles which of these?
A) Mars' deserts
B) the lunar mare
C) Venus' polar regions
D) the Earth's deserts
E) the lunar far side
the lunar far side
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The surface of Venus can be observed with
A) the Mt. Wilson 100" telescope.
B) the Hubble Space Telescope.
C) radar observations.
D) most amateur telescopes.
E) All of these have provided detailed observations about the surface of our sister planet.
radar observation
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What is thought to lie at the center of Jupiter?
A) a solid core of crystalline helium
B) a hot sea of liquid metallic hydrogen
C) gaseous hydrogen and helium, for Jupiter is not differentiated like Earth
D) a fusion core like the Sun's, with hydrogen being turned into helium
E) a massive core of rocky materials with some iron mixed in
a massive core of rocky materials with some iron mixed in
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Which planet had the Great Dark Spot in 1989, but had lost it by 1995?
A) Jupiter
B) Neptune
C) Mars
D) Uranus
E) Saturn
Neptune
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Adams and Leverrier both predicted the position of Neptune, based on its effects on
A) Uranus.
B) Pluto.
C) the Sun.
D) Saturn.
E) Jupiter.
Uranus.
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Small deviations in a planet's orbital motion
A) show we don't fully understand gravitational forces yet.
B) show the planet's orbit isn't stable.
C) indicate the presence of an extensive atmosphere.
D) imply the nearby presence of a massive body.
E) indicate the presence of a powerful magnetic field
imply the nearby presence of a massive body.
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What is true of Mars?
A) A pool of water was discovered by the Mars Rover.
B) Its atmosphere is mostly water vapor.
C) Iron oxide on the surface is responsible for its reddish color.
D) Its magnetic field is stronger than Earth's
E) Definite microfossils have been found.
Iron oxide on the surface is responsible for its reddish color
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A telescope design that uses a lens and no mirrors is a refractor.
True
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Stars do not twinkle; the instability of the atmosphere causes this effect
True
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One characteristic of the terrestrial planets is their extensive moon systems.
False
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As a rotating gas cloud contracts, it spins faster.
True
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Mars has larger volcanoes than Earth's Hawaii.
True
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Saturn is less dense than water.
True
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Differential rotation is when a planet's equatorial and polar regions rotate at different rates
True
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All jovian planets have rings around their equators and at least eight moons
True
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In the solar nebular theory, the dusty disk condensing around the Sun's equator became the ecliptic plane in which the planets then formed.
True
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The Moon and the crustal rocks of Earth are similar in density.
True
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The Earth's hotter, inner core is liquid and its cooler, outer core is solid.
False
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The Earth and Moon always keep the same side towards each other
False
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The surface temperature of Venus is 730K, even hotter than Mercury
TRUE
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Winds on Mars give rise to planet-wide dust storms.
TRUE
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Uranus' rotation axis is tipped over 98 degrees, so its magnetosphere is tipped over the same amount.
False
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Methane absorbs red light readily, so we would expect a planet with a mostly methane atmosphere to appear blue.
True
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The ________ focus reflector needs only a single optical surface to form images
prime
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A lens must be ________ in shape to focus the transmitted light
convex
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________ are great wrinkle marks on Mercury's crust, due to its core contracting.
Scarps
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The planet ________ has the least variation in temperatures on the surface between day and night
Venus
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