AST 1002
Test 2, Fall 2003
QQ 1 Which type of telescope suffers from chromatic aberration?
AA S 1 (1) refractor (visible light) 
(2) reflector (visible light)
(3) radio telescope  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 2 The type of telescope that has a primary mirror that reflects 
light to a convex secondary mirror and from there through a hole 
in the primary is the 
AA S 1 (1) Cassegrain reflector 
(2) prime-focus reflector
(3) Newtonian reflector
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 3 The instrument attached to a telescope that spreads out the 
light from a source out according to its wavelength and 
photographs the resulting spectrum is the 
AA S 1 (1) spectrograph
(2) photometer
(3) micrograph
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 4 In which region of the electromagnetic spectrum is the Earth's 
atmosphere most transparent?
AA S 1 (1) radio
(2) gamma-ray  
(3) X-ray  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 5 As one goes from visible light to the radio region of the 
electromagnetic spectrum (increasing wavelength) the ideal resolution 
or resolving power of a telescope of given aperture (size) as 
determined by diffraction 
AA S 1 (1) decreases  
(2) increases  
(3) doesn't change  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 6 Which of the following is characteristic of terrestrial planets?
AA S 1 (1) high mean (average) density 
(2) rapid rotation rate (short period)
(3) large number of moons
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 7 The region of the Solar System slightly beyond Neptune's orbit 
(30-100 AU) where there seem to be a number of icy bodies is called 
the 
AA S 1 (1) Kuiper Belt  
(2) Oort Cloud  
(3) Asteroid Belt  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 8 According to the nebular theory, the planets formed from 
AA S 1 (1) a disk formed by the central concentration of a nebula 
that contracted and spun faster and faster until it became 
unstable  
(2) a blob or filament pulled out of the Sun by tidal forces from 
a star that passed very close  
(3) volcanic eruptions on the Sun that ejected them  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 9 Which of the following is considered a volatile substance in 
the context of the condensation sequence?
AA S 1 (1) water (a hydrogen compound)  
(2) iron  
(3) silicate rock  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 10 The Moon is believed to have formed 
AA S 1 (1) from material blasted out of Earth by the impact of 
a Mars-sized planetesimal  
(2) in a different part of the Solar System from the Earth and 
then was captured  
(3) from material spun off from Earth when it spun faster and 
became unstable  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 11 The process by which metals were concentrated in the Earth's 
core and rock in the mantle is known as 
AA S 1 (1) differentiation  
(2) convection  
(3) thermal escape  
(4) NVA  
(5) NVA

QQ 12 Which of the following is not a good way to search 
for other planetary systems at present?
AA S 1 (1) look for a faint spot of light near a star
(2) look for an orbital Doppler shift in a star's spectrum  
(3) look for a dip in the brightness of a star caused by a 
planet transiting  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 13 Which of the following gases is the most likely one to 
find in the atmosphere of a hot planet (if there is one), 
assuming thermal escape is occurring?
AA S 1 (1) carbon dioxide, molecular mass 44
(2) helium, atomic mass 4
(3) methane, molecular mass 16
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 14 Which planet has the strongest greenhouse effect?
AA S 1 (1) Venus
(2) Earth  
(3) Mars  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 15 The interior of Jupiter is believed to consist of 
AA S 1 (1) a rock and metal core, then a liquid metallic 
hydrogen zone, a liquid molecular hydrogen zone, and an 
outer gaseous zone, mainly hydrogen  
(2) a metal core, then a rock zone, a liquid molecular 
hydrogen zone, and an outer gasous zone, mainly hydrogen 
and hydrogen compounds  
(3) an ice inner core, a metal outer core, then a rock 
mantle and a gaseous atmosphere  
(4) NVA 
(5) NVA

QQ 16 The heat that drives Io's volcanic activity is 
AA S 1 (1) supplied by tidal heating  
(2) left over from when it formed  
(3) produced by radioactivity in its interior  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 17 Which of the Solar System's large moons has an 
atmosphere?
AA S 1 (1) Titan, large moon of Saturn  
(2) Ganymede, largest moon of Jupiter  
(3) Triton, largest moon of Neptune  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 18 The large gaps in Saturn's rings, such as the Cassini 
Division, are produced by 
AA S 1 (1) resonances with Mimas, one of Saturn's moons  
(2) small shepherd satellites
(3) resonances with Jupiter  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 19 The trail of hot gases left behind as an object 
enters the Earth's atmosphere is termed a 
AA S 1 (1) meteor  
(2) meteorite  
(3) meteoroid  
(4) meteorwrong  
(5) NVA

QQ 20 Carbonaceous chondrites are 
AA S 1 (1) primitive meteorites associated with asteroids of 
low albedo in the outer part of the Asteroid Belt 
(2) processed meteorites associated with asteroids of high 
albedo in the inner part of the Asteroid Belt  
(3) meteorites that originated on Mars and have evidence 
of life  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 21 Groups of asteroids that have very similar orbital 
elements and seem to be fragments from larger bodies 
broken up in collisions are called 
AA S 1 (1) Hirayama families  
(2) Kirkwood groups  
(3) Trojan asteroids
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 22 The type of comet tail that stretches straight away 
from the Sun and has an emission-line spectrum is caused 
by the force of 
AA S 1 (1) the solar wind  
(2) solar radiation pressure  
(3) the Sun's magnetic field  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 23 Which of the following classes of objects typically 
has the most eccentric orbits?
AA S 1 (1) long-period ("new") comets of the Oort Cloud   
(2) Kuiper Belt objects (KBO's)  
(3) short-period ("periodic") comets  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 24 Who actually discovered Neptune?
AA S 1 (1) Galle and d'Arrest  
(2) Leverrier and Adams  
(3) Clyde Tombaugh  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 25 Meteor showers are produced when the Earth passes 
through a tream of debris left by a/an  
AA S 1 (1) comet  
(2) asteroid  
(3) meteoroid  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 26 The Sun's energy is produced at the present time 
mainly by 
AA S 1 (1) fusion of hydrogen into helium by the 
proton-proton chain  
(2) fusion of hydrogen into helium by the carbon cycle 
(also known as the CNO cycle)  
(3) conversion of gravitational potential energy  
(4) chemical "burning" of hydrogen to form helium with 
carbon erving as a catalyst (carbon cycle or CNO cycle)  
(5) NVA

QQ 27 Energy is transported through the Sun's interior by 
AA S 1 (1) radiation in the inner part and convection in 
the outer part  
(2) convection in the inner part and radiation in the 
outer part
(3) conduction in the inner part and radiation in the 
outer part  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 28 Sunspots are darker than the surrounding part of the 
photosphere because 
AA S 1 (1) they are cooler and therefore give off less 
thermal radiation per unit area per unit time  
(2) they are plumes of warmer gases swirling up from 
deeper inside the Sun  
(3) they are solid objects that have condensed out of the 
photosphere and are opaque  
(4) NVA  
(5) NVA

QQ 29 Magnetic fields on the Sun can be measured using the 
AA S 1 (1) Zeeman effect  
(2) Doppler effect  
(3) Jupiter effect  
(4) NVA  
(5) NVA

QQ 30 Plages are bright spots found in the Sun's 
AA S 1 (1) chromosphere  
(2) photosphere  
(3) corona  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA 

QQ 31 In each solar cycle, the first spots appear (according 
to the "butterfly" diagram) 
AA S 1 (1) at medium latitudes (around 40 degrees)  
(2) near the Sun's poles (90 degrees latitude)  
(3) near the Sun's equator (a few degrees latitude)  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 32 The crystalline structure of iron meteorites (called 
Widmanstaetten figures) are evidence that they cooled 
AA S 1 (1) slowly inside some relatively large body  
(parent meteorite body)  
(2) rapidly inside some relatively small body (such as 
a very small asteroid)    
(3) essentially instantaneously in interplanetary space  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 33 Which object is the least geologically active 
at the present time?
AA S 1 (1) Mercury  
(2) Io, the innermost Galilean satellite  
(3) the Earth  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

QQ 34 Hydrostatic equilibrium (called "gravitational 
equlibrium" in the text) is the balance between 
AA S 1 (1) the inward pull of gravity and the outward 
push of the pressure difference  
(2) the inward pull of gravity and the outward pull 
of centrifugal "force"  
(3) the inward pull of the pressure difference and 
the outward pull of centrifugal "force"  
(4) NVA 
(5) NVA

QQ 35 The Earth's and Jupiter's magnetic fields are 
compressed on the side facing the Sun by 
AA S 1 (1) the solar wind  
(2) solar radiation pressure  
(3) the solar magnetic field  
(4) NVA
(5) NVA