Deck 1: Why Learn Astronomy

Question 1

The word astronomy

A) means "patterns among the stars."
B) means "to study the stars."
C) means "discovering the universe."
D) has nothing to do with stars.

Answer 1

means "patterns among the stars."

Question 2

The heavy elements that make up most of Earth were formed via nuclear fusion in the center of our Sun.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The cosmological principle states that there is nothing special about our local region of the universe.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The number of classical planets in the Solar System is

A) eight.
B) nine.
C) twelve.
D) six.

Question 5

Observed patterns are usually due to some underlying scientific explanation.

Question 6

If a scientific theory cannot be tested,it is assumed to be true.

Question 7

Once a scientific theory is declared to be "true," progress in that area stops.

Question 8

Nuclear fusion is the process through which new elements are created in stellar interiors.

Question 9

Pluto is the only dwarf planet in our Solar System.

Question 10

There are nearly 100 times more galaxies in the universe as there are stars in the Milky Way.

Question 11

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.

Question 12

Our Sun is the most massive and luminous star in the Milky Way.

Question 13

If you were to specify your address in the universe,listing your membership from the smallest to largest physical structures,it would be

A) Earth,Local Group,Solar System,Andromeda,the universe.
B) Earth,Solar System,Local Group,Milky Way,the universe.
C) Earth,Solar System,Milky Way,Local Group,Virgo Supercluster,the universe.
D) Earth,Solar System,Milky Way,Fornax Supercluster,the universe.

Question 14

A crucial component of a scientific theory is that it is able to be tested by observations and thus proven true or false.

Question 15

In 2006,Pluto's status was changed from a classical planet to a dwarf planet primarily because of its

A) lack of an atmosphere.
B) small size.
C) large distance.
D) ice-covered surface.

Question 16

Human beings are composed almost entirely of the same elements that were created in the Big Bang.

Question 17

The scientific method is a way of proving ideas to be true.

Question 18

Computers are an important technological advance used in astronomy in the 21st century.

Question 19

We are located approximately

A) at the center of the Milky Way.
B) near the center of the Milky Way.
C) halfway out from the center of the Milky Way.
D) at the farthest outskirts of the Milky Way.

Question 20

The Local Group is a member of the Virgo Supercluster.

Question 21

After the Sun,the next nearest star to us is approximately __________ away.

A) 4 light-seconds
B) 4 light-minutes
C) 4 light-hours
D) 4 light-years

Question 22

Which of the following most closely approximates the number of stars in the Milky Way?

A) 10 million
B) 100 million
C) 10 billion
D) 100 billion

Question 23

A light-year is measured in units of

A) time.
B) speed.
C) mass.
D) distance.

Question 24

The most massive elements (such as those that make up rocky planets like Earth)were formed

A) in the early universe.
B) inside stars and supernovae.
C) through meteor collisions.
D) in the core of Earth.

Question 25

The scientific method is a process by which scientists

A) prove theories to be known facts.
B) gain confidence in theories by failing to prove them wrong.
C) show all theories to be wrong.
D) test the ideas of Aristotle.

Question 26

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 ? __________,which is the length of time between now and when __________.

A) 3 million years;man's ancestors first began to walk upright
B) 30,000 years;humans first arrived in the Americas
C) 400 years;Galileo used a telescope to demonstrate that Jupiter had moons that revolved around it
D) 4 billion years;the Solar System was born

Question 27

Light from the Sun takes about __________ to reach Earth.

A) 8 seconds
B) 8 minutes
C) 8 hours
D) 8 years

Question 28

Measuring distances in the amount of time it takes light to travel,if the circumference of Earth is a snap of your fingers,the diameter of the Solar System is approximately equal to

A) the length of a quick lunch.
B) the time to turn a page in a book.
C) the time between sunrise and sunset.
D) the time you spent in high school.

Question 29

What are the advantage(s)of placing telescopes in space?

A) Better access to high energy radiation such as ultraviolet light and X-rays
B) Better access to low energy radiation such as infrared and microwave radiation
C) Avoids the blurring of images caused by the Earth's atmosphere
D) All of the above

Question 30

If the diameter of our galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years,our galaxy is __________ times larger than our Solar System.

A) 100
B) 10⁴
C) 10⁶
D) 10⁸

Question 31

The early universe was composed mainly of which two elements?

A) Hydrogen and helium
B) Carbon and oxygen
C) Hydrogen and oxygen
D) Carbon and Iron

Question 32

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) The Local Group is a member of the Virgo Supercluster,which contains thousands of galaxies.
B) The Local Group contains two large spiral galaxies and a few dozen dwarf galaxies.
C) Our Solar System has eight classical planets.
D) The Milky Way galaxy contains approximately 100 million stars.

Question 33

The Local Group is the environment around

A) the Sun that contains about a dozen stars.
B) the Milky Way that contains a few dozen galaxies.
C) the Sun that contains over a billion stars.
D) the Milky Way that contains a few thousand galaxies.

Question 34

Our universe is approximately __________ years old.

A) 14 million
B) 14 billion
C) 14 trillion
D) 14 thousand

Question 35

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) A scientific theory is an undisputed fact.
B) If continual testing of a hypothesis shows it to be valid,it may become an accepted theory.
C) A hypothesis must always have one or more testable predictions.
D) A scientific theory may eventually be proven wrong when scientists acquire new data.

Question 36

A __________ becomes a __________ when repeated testing of its predictions does not disprove it.

A) hypothesis;scientific method
B) theory;scientific revolution
C) phenomenon;theory
D) hypothesis;theory

Question 37

One of the nearest stars is Alpha Centauri,whose distance is .The time it takes light to travel from Alpha Centauri to us is

A) 1.25 seconds.
B) 8.3 minutes.
C) 4.4 years.
D) 600 years.

Question 38

The speed of light is about

A) 20 km/s.
B) 30,000 km/s.
C) 300,000 km/s.
D) 5 million km/s.

Question 39

If an event were to take place on the Sun,how long would it take for the light to reach us?

A) 8 minutes
B) 11 hours
C) 1 second
D) 1 day

Question 40

The distance to the nearest large spiral galaxy,Andromeda,is .How long does it take light to travel from us to Andromeda?

A) 360 years
B) 1.2 thousand years
C) 4.5 billion years
D) 2.5 million years

Question 41

Describe briefly why the phrase "we are stardust" is literally true.

Question 42

Describe two important technological developments that have greatly increased our ability to study the universe.

Question 43

Using the method of comparing times to get a handle on the large distances in astronomy,compare the size of Earth to the size of the visible universe.Start by making the size of the Earth comparable to a snap of your fingers,which lasts about 1/7 seconds.Show your computation.

Question 44

A scientific theory can be proven wrong if

A) cultural beliefs evolve to contradict it.
B) scientists gather new data that disprove its predictions.
C) it cannot explain all phenomenon.
D) it is based only on conjecture.

Question 45

Describe how talking about time can give us a feeling for distance.

Question 46

The language of science is

A) Greek.
B) mathematics.
C) calculus.
D) Java.

Question 47

Describe the main steps involved in the scientific method.

Question 48

The cosmological principle states that

A) the universe is expanding in all directions at the same rate.
B) a unique center of the universe exists.
C) the universe looks the same everywhere as long as you look on large enough spatial scales.
D) physical laws may change from place to place in the universe.

Question 49

What two pre-Renaissance beliefs were proven completely false by the cosmological principle?

Question 50

Using the method of comparing times to get a handle on the large distances in astronomy,compare the diameter of our Solar System,which is ,to the diameter of the Galaxy,which is by calculating the time it would take for light to travel these diameters.For reference,the speed of light is .

Question 51

If the speed of light is and miles,what is the speed of light in miles per hour?

A) 670 million miles/hr
B) 670 thousand miles/hr
C) 186 miles/hr
D) 186 thousand miles/hr

Question 52

The kind of mathematics that deals with change is called

A) algebra.
B) calculus.
C) arithmetic.
D) geometry.

Question 53

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? (Hint: Your cosmic address should begin with "Earth" and end with "the universe.")

Question 54

What is the only thing that makes the Sun an exceptional star?

Question 55

One of the central assumptions in astronomy is that the physical laws of nature

A) change when objects move at high speed.
B) stay the same throughout the age of the universe.
C) depend on the mass of the objects involved.
D) are the same everywhere in the universe.

Question 56

Albert Einstein is best known for his revolutionary theory of

A) relativity.
B) quantum mechanics.
C) cosmology.
D) economics.

Question 57

Scientific notation allows us to

A) write very large and very small numbers in a convenient way.
B) talk about science in an easy way.
C) change easy calculations into hard calculations.
D) explain science to engineers.

Question 58

__________ is the idea that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is usually the correct one.

A) Newton's hypothesis
B) Occam's razor
C) Aristotle's test
D) Einstein's excuse

Question 59

When you see a pattern in nature,it is usually evidence of

A) a theory being displayed.
B) quantum mechanics in action.
C) a breakdown of random clustering.
D) an underlying physical law.

Question 60

Describe two important reasons why the ability to put telescopes in space dramatically affected the science of astronomy.

Question 61

There are many different areas of science,but a common factor in each is the evaluation and analysis of patterns.What patterns does astronomy deal with? (Describe in general and give at least one concrete example. )

Question 62

Describe the two main aspects of the cosmological principle.

Question 63

Describe two ways in which Einstein's new theories changed commonly accepted scientific views of that time.

Question 64

It is often said that "mathematics is the language of science." Explain why this is true.

Question 65

An observed pattern in nature is usually a sign of some underlying scientific reason.Give an example of this in astronomy,citing the pattern and the reason behind it.