[Solved] An Astronomer Who Is Observing Visible Light from a Glowing

When an astronomer involved in a research project says he is going to look at the observatory's plate collection, what will he be looking at? A) a collection of souvenir plates, with painting of other observatories from around the world (astronomers collect these as a hobby) B) a series of metal disks used for changing the aperture of reflecting telescopes C) a series of glass plates, with light-sensitive chemicals on them, on which the appearance of the sky was recorded D) a series of insulated plastic shields, which are used to prevent stray infra-red radiation from the observatory from interfering with observations E) what the special-of-the-day is in the observatory cafeteria

Which of the following is NOT a detector of radiation from space that astronomers have used? A) eyes in the head of the astronomer B) a piece of photographic film C) a photographic plate D) a charge-coupled device (CCD) E) a refracting telescope

You are an astronomer who wants to study a faint star in the process of being born, which gives off most of its faint radiation in the infra-red. Which of the following would NOT be a step you would want to take? A) heat your telescope, so its delicate optics are not cold B) try to have your telescope as high above the layers of water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere as possible C) shield your telescope from the radiation given off by your graduate students D) isolate your telescope in very cold surroundings E) make sure your telescope optics are kept as free of dust as possible

To break up light into the component colors that it contains, astronomers use a device called: A) a telescope B) a CCD C) a spectrometer D) Cassegrain splitter E) interferometer array

Why is an image recorded with a CCD better for astronomers than an image recorded on photographic film or plates? A) CCD's are more efficient; more of the light is recorded and not wasted B) CCD's allow more accurate measurements of the brightness of each part of the image C) CCD's have digital output that can go directly to a computer D) all of the above E) none of the above

The two regions of the electromagnetic spectrum where the Earth's atmosphere is transparent (radiation can get in) are visible light and: A) ultraviolet B) x-rays C) some radio waves D) gamma-rays E) you can't fool me, the atmosphere is transparent ONLY for visible light

What type of telescope can be used routinely on the surface of the Earth during the DAY? A) a visible-light telescope B) a radio telescope C) an x-ray telescope D) a gamma-ray telescope E) you can't fool me, there is no telescope that can be used during the DAY

The first radio telescope was built in the 1930's by A) Karl Jansky B) George Ellery Hale C) Edwin Hubble D) a group of Italian astronomers working with Galileo E) Heinrich Hertz

Radio telescopes of modest size can't make out as much detail (have a lower resolution) than visible light telescopes. How do astronomers overcome this limitation? A) they have built a radio telescope in the desert that completely covers 1000 square miles B) this problem can't be solved; radio telescopes will always show poor detail C) we can connect several radio telescopes some distance apart together electronically to give us the resolution of a larger telescope D) we have launched a small radio telescope satellite into orbit, which (being above the atmosphere) can make out much more detail than any visible light telescope E) the same engineers responsible for the shape of the mirror for the Hubble Space Telescope are working on this problem; stay tuned

In a radio telescope, the role that the mirror plays in visible-light telescopes is played by: A) a spectrometer B) an interferometer C) computer software D) a special kind of lens E) a large metal dish (antenna)