Astro1 UCSB Actual Exam Latest

Astro1 UCSB Actual Exam Latest Update Astro 1 UCSB Final Exam Question and Correct Answers Rated A+

When the Moon is a thin crescent, what is the phase of Earth as seen from the Moon? -ANSWER-A Gibbous (mostly full) Earth - C.

Saturn moves in an orbit around the Sun with a period of 30 years.How many degrees does it move on the Celestial Sphere in one year?-ANSWER-12 Degrees - B. - 360/30=12degreeperyear

You are on the equator. Where in the sky is Polaris? -ANSWER-Due north on the horizon - B.

Io and Europa are big Jovian moons. Io's orbit about Jupiter has a semi major axis of 422,000 km, and a period of 1.77 days. Europa's orbit size about Jupiter is 671,000 km. What is the period? -ANSWER- 3.54 days - B.

How long does night last on the moon? -ANSWER-2 weeks - B.

It is warmer in summer than winter because -ANSWER-The Sun is higher in the sky and the days are longer - D.

The Earth's shadow falling on the Moon is the reason we see - ANSWER-Lunar Eclipses - C.

The gravity on Mars is weaker than that on Earth. Which is true? - ANSWER-An astronaut would have the same mass on Mars, but would weigh less - C.

A theory is like a law of physics that is speculative. T or F -ANSWER- False - C.

The gravitational acceleration on the Earth's surface is 32 feet/second/second. What would it be on the surface of a planet with the same size, but twice the mass? -ANSWER-64 feet/second/second

• - 32*2=64 ft./sec^2

The average distance to the Sun is 93 million miles, and the Sun subtends an angle of ½ degree. Calculate its approximate diameter. - ANSWER-800,000 miles. - E. - .5*3600=1800arcseconds.1800*93mil/200000=837000

What is the "Observable Universe"? -ANSWER-Everything within the "cosmic horizon" - C.

In Newton's law of universal gravitation, F = G M m / r2 , which defines the force between Earth with mass M and an orbiting satellite of mass m at a distance r from Earth, G... -ANSWER-is a constant, throughout all observable space and time. - C.

How strong is the gravitational force that acts on an astronaut in the Space Shuttle in a circular orbit 300 km above Earth's surface? - ANSWER-Almost (but not quite) as strong as when the astronaut is standing on the surface of Earth - C.

An astronaut is floating freely in space. If they were to push on a nearby spaceship, what would happen? -ANSWER-Both the astronaut and the spaceship would move, but in opposite directions. - A.

Venus shows changes in angular size, and also shows phases similar to those of the Moon. When Galileo first saw these changes, he concluded that -ANSWER-Venus orbits the Sun. - B.

We learned that light energy is quantized; that is, for a given frequency, the energy in light must be an integral multiple of a particular number of Joules of energy given by E = hν. Here ν is the frequency of light. How many Joules of energy are contained in a green unit of light (a photon) ? Green light has a wavelength of around 500 nm -ANSWER-3. 97 × 10 Joules - B. - 500/10^9=wavelength in meters. E=(6.26*1-^-34)*(2.98*10^8/5.96*10^14)=3.97*10^-19.

The vernal equinox in the Northern hemisphere is that time of the year when the -ANSWER-Sun crosses the equatorial plane, or celestial equator, moving northward.

Suppose that at the same time on the same night we see one supernova (a star exploding) in the Andromeda galaxy, 2 million light- years away from us, and another in the galaxy M82, 6 million light- years away from us. Which of the following statements is correct? - ANSWER-The supernova in the Andromeda galaxy actually occurred after the one in M82. - C.

The "block and feather" demonstration showed that in the absence of

air friction: -ANSWER-The force of gravity must be proportional to the

mass - D.

The intersection of the plane of the Earth's orbit with the celestial sphere is known as -ANSWER-the ecliptic - D.

You will see that when the Sun dies, it will leave behind its very compact core, an Earth-sized "White Dwarf" star which retains 60% of

the Sun's mass (The rest blows off into space). What would you weigh on such a white dwarf, if on Earth you weigh 600 N (about 135 lbs) ? -

ANSWER-COMEBACK

What do scientists mean by the word Theory? -ANSWER-An idea which allows you to try to predict future events - C.

Which is NOT one of Newton's Laws, and is in fact false? -ANSWER- Any planet orbiting the Sun does so at constant velocity. - C.

In the simplified version of Kepler's Third Law as applied to planets orbiting the Sun, P2 = a3 , the units of orbital period P and semi-major

axis of the ellipse a must be respectively: -ANSWER-years and AU- A.

You are enjoying the Santa Barbara Solstice Parade at noon (1pm Daylight Savings Time) on June 21. The Sun is beating down on you.How far is it from the zenith? (Santa Barbara's latitude is about 34 degrees north, and Earth's axial tilt is about 23 degrees.) -ANSWER- 11 degrees - C. - 45-34=11.

Describe day and night at the north (or south) pole -ANSWER- Daylight and nighttime each last 6 months.

Suppose the universe is 14 billion years old. If we observe a galaxy 10 billion light years away, how old was the universe at the time the light we see left that galaxy? -ANSWER-4 billion years - D.

A spaceship travels through the empty space. The Captain wants to change course. -ANSWER-It's possible only using the rocket effect - A.