Progress Exam
April 2002 Number
of Pages: 15
Course:
ASTR 1F00 Number
of Students: 479
Date of Examination:
Time of Examination:
Answers for
Planetary Section have been added.
Please note that the Jan/Feb section was not taught by a Dr. Bose, hence
no answers.
No examination aids other than those
specified on this examination script are permitted (FHB III: 9.1.2.B). Use or
possession of unauthorized materials will automatically result in the award of
a zero grade for this examination.
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PLEASE RECORD YOUR STUDENT NAME AND
NUMBER ON THE SCANTRON SHEET BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING; USE AN HB PENCIL ON THE
SCANTRON SHEET. THERE ARE 100 QUESTIONS.
1.
A protostar is a
a)
newly forming star.
b)
main sequence star.
c)
star nearing the red giant stage.
d)
black dwarf.
2.
The
new stars are formed in
a)
Cepheid
variables.
b)
giant molecular clouds.
c)
areas around white dwarfs.
d)
the Oort cloud.
3.
Which
of the following sequences describes the evolution of the Sun from young to
old?
a)
white
dwarf, red giant, main-sequence, protostar
b)
protostar,
main-sequence, red giant, white dwarf
c)
protostar,
main-sequence, white dwarf, red giant
d)
red
giant, main sequence, white dwarf, protostar
4.
When
a star uses up its core hydrogen, the core
a)
expands and cools.
b)
shrinks and cools.
c)
shrinks and heats.
d)
expands and heats.
5.
The main-sequence
stage of the Sun is estimated to be _________ long.
a)
10
thousand years
b)
10
million years
c)
10
billion years
d)
10
trillion years
6.
It
is predicted that when the Sun swells into a red giant that it will
"swallow" the Earth.
a)
True
b)
False.
7.
What
is the Chandrasekhar limit?
a)
The
size of a black hole.
b)
The
maximum possible mass of a white dwarf.
c)
The
distance from the centre of the galaxy at which Population I stars turn into
Population II stars.
d)
The
smallest mass a star can have and still burn hydrogen.
8.
What
would you expect the Sun to become eventually?
a)
An M
star.
b)
A
white dwarf.
c)
A
supernova.
d)
A
neutron star.
9.
The
size of a white dwarf is comparable to the size of
a)
the Sun.
b)
the Earth.
c)
the Earth's orbit.
d)
the Province of Ontario.
10.
The
largest mass a white dwarf can have is about
a)
0.5
solar masses
b)
1.4
solar masses.
c)
3
solar masses.
d)
There
is no limit to the mass of a white dwarf.
11.
A
planetary nebula is
a)
dust and gas orbiting a planet far from its
surface.
b)
dust and gas orbiting close to a planet's
surface.
c)
gas blown off a dying star.
d)
dust and gas inside a planet's Roche limit.
12.
Type
I supernovae are produced
a)
when a high-mass star gets into the iron
fusion limit.
b)
when a star reaches its Roche limit.
c)
when sufficient material is transferred to a
white dwarf from its companion star.
d)
by the helium flash in a 4 to 5 solar mass
star.
13.
Prominent
hydrogen spectral lines are observed in
a)
Type
I supernova.
b)
Type
II supernova.
c)
the spectrum of a white dwarf.
d)
the light emitted by the Moon.
14.
Which
of the following sequences describes the evolution of a high-mass star from
young to old?
a)
neutron
star, red giant, main-sequence, protostar
b)
protostar,
main-sequence, red giant, neutron star or a black hole
c)
protostar,
main-sequence, neutron star, red giant
d)
protostar,
red giant, main-sequence, neutron star or a black hole
15.
High-mass
stars live longer than the low-mass stars.
a)
True.
b)
False.
16.
Many
things that we use today, such as automobiles are made from iron. What was the
original source of the iron mined from the Earth?
a)
The
Sun.
b)
The
core of an exploding Type II supernova.
c)
The
nucleus of our own galaxy.
d)
The
original Big Bang creation event.
17.
Carbon
is much more abundant than gold (note the relative prices of coal and gold per
kilogram). The reason is that
a)
Carbon
is the principal energy source of the stars.
b)
Gold
is not a stable chemical element.
c)
Carbon
is needed for life, but gold is not.
d)
Gold
is formed only during a supernova explosion.
18.
How
do pulsars form?
a)
A
massive star becomes a supernova and leaves behind a spinning neutron star
core.
b)
A
star like the Sun collapses as it tries to ignite helium in its core. The core
picks up speed from burning material falling on to it which then flashes as the
star spins.
c)
A white
dwarf in a binary star system exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit.
d)
A
black hole exceeds the Schwarzschild limit and collapses.
19.
The
core of a mature supergiant is
a)
layered, with heavier elements in the centre.
b)
layered, with lighter elements in the centre.
c)
uniformly composed of hydrogen and helium.
d)
uniformly composed of helium.
20.
If
the Sun could magically and suddenly become a black hole (of the same mass) the
Earth would
a)
continue in its same orbit.
b)
be pulled closer, but not necessarily into
the black hole.
c)
be pulled into the black hole.
d)
fly off into space.
21.
A
black hole is "black" because
a) the escape velocity from its
"surface" is the speed of light.
b) it is spinning so fast that its surface is
moving faster than light.
c) it has such a low mass that there is nothing
there to generate light.
d) it contains the iron from the core of its
parent star, and iron is so dense it prevents any light from escaping.
22.
The
pulses seen from a pulsar are caused by
a)
the star's radius expanding and contracting
as it burns iron in its core.
b)
the star's rapid rotation sweeping beams of
radiation across the viewer's line of sight.
c)
gobs of hot gas from an accretion disk
falling rhythmically onto the star's surface.
d)
a dark companion periodically eclipsing
the bright "pulsar" itself.
23.
The
prediction that a massive object bends spacetime was
confirmed by observing the bending of starlight during a solar eclipse.
a)
True.
b)
False.
24.
Astronomers
believe they have detected black holes from
a)
their silhouettes seen against bright
background stars.
b)
intense x-ray radiation coming from very massive
"dark" companions of normal stars.
c)
observations of stars and their planets falling into
a black hole.
d)
the gaps in the Cassini
division.
25.
Supernovae
have never been observed.
a)
True.
b)
False.
26.
One
way astronomers deduce that the Milky Way has a disk is that they
a)
see many more stars along the band of the
Milky Way than in other directions.
b)
see the same number of stars in all
directions in the sky.
c)
found it to be inside the Sun's Roche limit.
d)
found it to be within the Oort
cloud.
27.
The
diameter of the Milky Way's disk is about
a)
100
light years.
b)
100
astronomical units (AU).
c)
100,000
light years.
d)
100,000
astronomical units.
28.
Elliptical
galaxies contain mostly Population II stars.
a) True.
b) False.
29.
Open
clusters are found
a) primarily within the galactic disk of the Milky
Way.
b) primarily in the halo of the Milky Way.
c) about equally in the disk and in the halo of
the Milky Way.
d) [There are no open clusters in the Milky
Way.]
30.
Globular
clusters are found
a) primarily within the galactic disk of the Milky
Way.
b) primarily in the halo of the Milky Way.
c) about equally in the disk and in the halo of
the Milky Way.
d) [There are no globular clusters in the
Milky Way.]
31.
Astronomers
think the Milky Way has spiral arms because
a)
x-ray photographs show that red giants are
bunched into a spiral pattern.
b)
of the way the rotation velocity of the
stars changes with distance from the centre.
c)
globular clusters outline the spiral arms.
d)
radio observations of interstellar clouds show
they lie in the spiral arms and young, hot star clusters and associates outline
the spiral arms.
32.
Population
I stars are
a) metal rich.
b) metal poor.
c) more than 10 billion years old.
d) dim and cool.
33.
Density
wave theory tries to explain
a)
the spiral arms of a galaxy.
b)
plate tectonics.
c)
the Cassini
division.
d)
the asteroid belt.
34.
Stars
in the halo of the Milky Way move
a)
parallel to the galactic plane in nearly circular
orbits.
b)
in a random direction relative to the
galactic plane along elliptical orbits.
c)
within the spiral arms of the galaxy.
d)
within the galactic bulge.
35.
To
determine the mass of a galaxy, astronomers rely on
a)
the Stefan-Boltzmann
Law.
b)
Wien's
Law.
c)
Kepler's
third law as formulated by Newton.
d)
chromatic aberration.
36.
What
is the approximate distance from the Sun to the centre of the galaxy?
a)
30
light years.
b)
30
astronomical units.
c)
30,000
light years.
d)
30,000
astronomical units.
37.
Which
of the following statements is not true about the nucleus of the Milky
Way?
a)
It
is a source of radio waves.
b)
It
is a source of infrared radiation, x-rays and gamma rays.
c)
It
is less than 4 astronomical units in diameter and contains about 3 million
solar masses.
d)
It
is visible by naked eye on a clear night.
38.
It
takes about _________ for the Sun to go once around the centre of the galaxy.
a)
24
thousand years
b)
24
million years
c)
240
million years
d)
[The
Sun does not revolve around the galactic centre.]
39.
Which
of the following does not represent one of the major classes of
galaxies?
a)
Elliptical.
b)
Parabolic.
c)
Spiral.
d)
Irregular.
40.
Distances
to nearby galaxies are obtained using
a)
Cepheid
variables and luminosity-period relation that holds for them.
b)
the parallax method.
c)
Bode's
rule.
d)
Kepler's
second law as formulated by Newton.
41.
What
is the Hubble Law?
a)
A
relation between a galaxy's mass and radius.
b)
A
rule that gives the spacing of the planets from the Sun.
c)
A
relation between a galaxy's shape and gas content.
d)
A
relation between a galaxy's distance and recession velocity.
42.
The
Doppler effect is
a)
the tendency of silly ideas to seem smarter
when they come at one rapidly.
b)
the increase in the observed wavelength of
light when the light source is moving away from the observer.
c)
the reddening of starlight as it passes
through interstellar material.
d)
the reddening of sunlight as it passes
through the atmosphere.
43.
The
measured masses of galaxies are much larger than the mass in them that we can
see (so-called luminous mass).
a)
True.
b)
False.
44.
Some
of the proposed candidates for dark matter in the Universe are
a)
Machos
and Wimps
b)
Bloods
and Crips
c)
Mods
and Rockers.
d)
Raiders
and Chefs.
45.
We
can estimate the age of the universe from Hubble's constant.
a)
True.
b)
False.
46.
Quasars
are not
a)
moving very fast.
b)
moving toward us.
c)
very distant.
d)
energetic sources of radiation.
47.
Collision
of galaxies is much more likely than collision of stars.
a)
True.
b)
False.
48.
The
local group is a rich galaxy cluster.
a)
True.
b)
False.
49.
The
evidence for the small size of quasars comes from
a)
the amount of energy released by them, their
distance from us.
b)
the rapidity of their luminosity change.
c)
comparison with Cepheid variables.
d)
the magnitude of their blue-shift.
50.
If
the average density of the universe was less than the critical density, the universe
would
a)
eventually stop expanding and begin contraction.
b)
continue to expand forever.
c)
eventually stop contracting and begin expansion.
d)
continue to contract forever.
e)
Answers in Bold
51. One effect of large impacts on Earth is:
a) the formation of ocean basins and island arcs.
b) massive volcanic eruptions.
c) changes in Earth's orbit.
d) to create ring systems.
e) mass extinctions,
such as the one that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
52. The terrestrial planet with the most Earth-like conditions is
a) Mercury.
b) Venus.
c) Mars.
53. The coldest temperatures can be found on this terrestrial planet.
a) Mercury.
b) Venus.
c) Earth.
d) Mars.
54. The overall constantly hottest temperatures can be found on this planet.
a) Mercury.
b) Venus.
c) Earth.
d) Mars.
55. The unusual aspect of Mercury is
a) a retrograde rotation.
b) a nitrogen atmosphere.
c)
a large iron
core.
d) a decaying orbit.
56. The unusual aspect of Venus is
a) a retrograde rotation.
b) a nitrogen atmosphere.
c) a large iron core.
d) a decaying orbit.
57. The latest data on water on Mars indicate
a) there is far less than previously thought.
b) there is far more than previously thought.
c) water appears to
have been seeping out on the surface very recently.
d) water appears never to have been at the surface.
e) there is no recent data about water on Mars.
58. The Moon probably formed when
a) it was captured from Venus early in the system's history.
b) it condensed from ices in the Earth's early atmosphere.
c) matter was blasted
out of the Earth by a huge impacting planetesimal.
d) its matter was ejected in a huge series of volcanic eruptions.
e) None of the above makes any sense.
59. Which
of the following objects is not a moon of Jupiter?
a) Mimas.
b) Io.
c) Ganymede.
d) Europa.
e) Callisto.
60. Which of the following statements about comets is incorrect?
a) Their source region extends to 50,000 AU from the Sun.
b) They have dust and gas tails.
c) Matter is evaporated from them as they pass close to the Sun.
d) They are appropriately described as dirty snow balls.
e) None of these statements is incorrect.
61. The
age of the surface of these planets, in order from oldest to youngest would be
a) Mercury,
Mars, Earth, Venus.
b) Mars,
Venus, Mercury, Earth.
c) Venus, Mars, Mercury, Earth.
d) Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth.
e) Mars,
Mercury, Venus, Earth.
62. The
fact that some meteors are rocky while others are metallic (iron-rich) is
explained by
a) their
forming near Jupiter, whose immense gravity drew the iron outward.
b) the
differences in their magnetic field; ones with strong fields attracted lots of
iron atoms.
c) their being
fragments of larger objects that had melted and formed iron cores.
d) the
Sun heating their surfaces and vaporizing the rock from some of them.
e) the
statement is false; asteroids are essentially all alike in their composition.
63. Mercury
has been visited by how many different space probes?
a) 1.
b) 2.
c) 3.
d) 4.
e) 5.
64. A
distinctive feature that sets Triton apart from other large moons is
a) its retrograde orbital motion.
b) its size.
c) the composition of
its interior.
d) its density.
e) none of the above.
65. On
the surface of Mars we observe
a) giant volcanoes.
b) polar caps.
c) vast canyons.
d) dry riverbeds.
e) all of the above.
66. The
atmosphere of Mars and Venus are similar in that they
a) both have about the
same temperature.
b) both have about the
same density.
c) are both mainly composed of carbon dioxide.
d) all of the above.
e) none of the above.
67. If
we list the terrestrial planets in the order of increasing amount of
atmosphere, the list should read
a) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.
b) Mercury,
Mars, Earth, Venus.
c) Mercury, Earth, Mars, Venus.
d) Mars, Mercury, Earth, Venus.
e) Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth.
68. The most efficient method of transferring heat to the
surface of a planet is
a) conduction.
b) convection.
c) radiation.
69. The
lunar highlands are
a) lighter colored than the dark mare basins.
b) more heavily
cratered than the maria.
c) composed of less
dense rock than the maria.
d) older than the mare.
e) all of the above.
70. The
names of the planets in order of their usual distance from the Sun are
a) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Mars,
Neptune, Uranus, Pluto.
b) Venus, Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
c) Venus, Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Neptune, Uranus, Pluto.
d) Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth, Saturn, Jupiter,
Neptune, Uranus, Pluto.
e) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune,
Pluto.
71. Craters
are about the only surface features seen on this body.
a) Venus.
b) Mars.
c) Mercury.
d) Earth.
e) Not applicable to any listed planet.
72. The
length of time a terrestrial planet can remain active depends primarily on
a) its size.
b) its proximity to the
sun.
c) the density of its
atmosphere.
d) the presence of
moons around the planet.
73. The
planetary heat sources that are primarily responsible for heating the Earth at
present is
a) tidal heating.
b) core formation.
c) accretionary
heating.
d) radioactive decay.
e) tidal heating.
74. The
planetary heat sources that are primarily responsible for heating the Io at
present is
a) tidal heating.
b) core formation.
c) accretionary
heating.
d) radioactive decay.
e) tidal heating.
75. The
surface of Mercury is most similar to that of
a) the Moon.
b) the Earth.
c) Mars.
d) Venus.
e) Jupiter.
76. The
high temperature on the surface of Venus is caused by
a) its intense volcanic
activity.
b) tidal forces
generated by its small but dense moon.
c) the extreme
radioactivity of its atmosphere.
d) trapping of solar energy by the carbon dioxide in its
atmosphere.
e) none of the
above. Venus isn't so
hot as all that.
77. The collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter was of special interest to planetary astronomers because such a collision
a) produced really neat fireworks that caused radio black-outs on Earth.
b) dredged up
deep-lying material which helped astronomers to understand Jupiter's atmosphere.
c) destroyed several of Jupiter's moons.
d) changed Jupiter's orbit.
e) none of the above.
78. On the surface of Mars we observe
a) giant volcanoes.
b) polar caps.
c) vast canyons.
d) dry riverbeds.
e) all of the above.
79. Which
of the following features is not found on Mars?
a) deserts.
b) oceans.
c) volcanoes.
d) polar caps.
e) an atmosphere.
80. The
planet with a single, relatively large moon is
a) Venus.
b) Mars.
c) Mercury.
d) Pluto.
e)
not applicable
to any planet listed.
81. Most
massive terrestrial planet is
a) Venus.
b) Mars.
c) Mercury.
d) Earth.
e) not applicable to
any planet listed.
82. The
planet with a dense hydrogen/methane atmosphere is
a) Venus.
b) Mars.
c) Mercury.
d) Earth.
e) not applicable to any planet listed.
83. In
addition to the Earth, liquid water presently exists on the surface of
a) the Moon.
b) Mercury.
c) Venus.
d) Mars.
e) no other terrestrial planet.
84. The
rings of Saturn are probably made of
a) hot gas bound to the
planet by gravity and inside Roche's limit.
b) chunks of rock many
miles in diameter captured from the asteroid belt.
c) an immense solid
disk of ice partially melted at Cassini's division by
heat generated by
Saturn.
d) numerous small icy pieces, yards to
inches in diameter, each moving in its own orbit.
e) none of the above.
85. Its
orbit crosses Neptune's
a) Jupiter.
b) Saturn.
c) Uranus.
d) Pluto.
e) applicable to more
than one planet.
86. ___________ has a rocky/iron
core similar in size to the Earth:
a) Jupiter.
b) Saturn.
c) Uranus.
d) Pluto.
e) applicable to more than one planet listed.
87. The
reason planetary rings are always so close to the body of the planet is
a) matter in them is
boiled out of the planet's atmosphere.
b) the planet's gravity
is stronger there and can help hold them together.
c) the planet's gravity
is weakest there and prevents them from clotting up.
d) the planet's gravity is large enough
there to disrupt medium size bodies and keep the pieces
spread out.
e) none of the above.
88. The
lunar highlands are
a) lighter colored than the dark mare basins.
b) more heavily
cratered than the maria.
c) composed of less
dense rock than the maria.
d) older than the mare.
e) all of the above.
89. The
first planet to be discovered by a mathematical prediction was
a) Jupiter.
b) Saturn.
c) Uranus.
d)
e) Pluto.
90. Which
of the following statements does not describe Jupiter?
a) It is the largest planet in the solar system.
b) It has a stormy atmosphere.
c) It emits more energy than it receives from
the sun.
d) Jupiter and its Galilean satellites resemble
a miniature solar system.
e) All
of them correctly describe Jupiter.
91. Which
of the following statements does not apply to Saturn?
a) It is noticeably bigger at its equator.
b) Its magnetic field is stronger than the
Earth's.
c) Its internal structure is similar to that of
Jupiter.
d) Its atmosphere consists primarily of
molecular hydrogen and helium.
e) Correction: all of the above apply to Saturn.
92. The
two objects that orbit each other with the same face toward each other are
a) Pluto
and Charon.
b) Neptune and Triton.
c) Saturn and Titan.
d) Jupiter and Io.
e) Earth and Moon.
93. Which
of the following statements about Saturn is incorrect?
a) It is composed primarily of molecular
hydrogen and helium.
b) Its magnetic field is stronger than the
Earth's.
c) Its rings consist of thousands of ringlets.
d) Its satellite, Titan, has a thin atmosphere of CO2.
e) None of the above.
94. The
energy released by a collision such as Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter is
a) comparable to a
large firecracker.
b) as great as a
volcanic eruption.
c) equivalent to a million kilotons of TNT.
d) greater than any
known event in the Universe.
e) none of the above.
95. The
glow of a meteor is caused by
a) reflected sunlight.
b) trapping of dust by
the Earth's magnetic field.
c) radioactive decay in
the meteoritic matter.
d) frictional heating as it moves through the atmosphere.
e) none of the above.
96. The
asteroids are probably
a) the remnants of a
huge terrestrial planet broken up by an explosion.
b) fragments and a few survivors of the planetesimals from which the Solar System formed.
c) escaped satellites
of the inner planets, especially Mercury and Venus.
d) material captured
from a passing star.
e) none of the above is
likely.
97. Which
of the following statements about comets is incorrect?
a) Their
orbits are confined to the orbital plane of the planets.
b) They have dust and gas tails.
c) Matter is evaporated from them as they pass
close to the Sun.
d) They are appropriately described as dirty
snow balls.
e) They are located in a region that extends to
50,000 AU from the Sun.
98. Ring systems have been discovered around
a) Saturn only.
b) Jupiter and Saturn.
c) Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
e) all of the Jovian
planets.
99. The planet nearest to the sun not known to ancient humans is
a) Jupiter.
b) Saturn.
c) Uranus.
d)
e) Pluto.
100. One
of the problems with our solar nebula hypothesis is
a) the asteroid belt
should not exist.
b) it can't account for
the presence of Jupiter.
c) planets found orbiting other suns are not what we would
expect.
d) the mass of the Sun
is too great to account for all planets.
e) there is too much
Iron inside terrestrial planets.