Astronomy college course/Unit 1 study guide
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AstroTest1_Study-v1s1
1. When did astronomy split between theoretical and observational branches?
- ___ a) In the 19th century
- ___ b) In the 18th century
- ___ c) After Galileo
- ___ d) In the 20th century
- ___ e) In the last decade
2. What does the Wikipedia 'Astronomy' call astrology?
- ___ a) the study of comets and asteroids
- ___ b) the study of planetary atmospheres
- ___ c) the belief system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects.
- ___ d) the belief that all people should learn astronomy
- ___ e) the study of planetary cores
3. Cosmology is the study of
- ___ a) the birth and death of stars
- ___ b) the formation of the solar system
- ___ c) planetary atmospheres
- ___ d) the universe as a whole
- ___ e) the oceans
4. What does the Wikipedia 'Astronomy' article say about astronomy and astrophysics
- ___ a) They often yield different results
- ___ b) They are often considered to be opposites
- ___ c) They must be in agreement or the result cannot be trusted
- ___ d) They are often considered to be synonymous
- ___ e) They are often in conflict
5. The goecentric theory put the Sun
- ___ a) at the center of the universe
- ___ b) orbiting around the Moon
- ___ c) at the center of the solar system
- ___ d) in orbit around Earth
- ___ e) none of the above or below are true
6. In the 3rd century BC, Aristarchus of Samos estimated the size of
- ___ a) Earth and the Moon
- ___ b) Earth and the Sun
- ___ c) the Moon and Sun
- ___ d) the Sun
- ___ e) the Moon
7. In the 19th century Fraunhoffer and Kirchoff studied light from the Sun and found
- ___ a) Mercury's shadow
- ___ b) a wobble that led to the discovery of new planets
- ___ c) a golden ring
- ___ d) sunspots and the sunspot cycle
- ___ e) spectral lines and concluded that they were caused by the elements
8. The ancient Greeks discovered (named) most of the constellations
- ___ a) in the eastern hemisphere
- ___ b) in both all hemispheres
- ___ c) in the western hemisphere
- ___ d) in the southern hemisphere
- ___ e) in the northern hemisphere
9. When did astronmers establish that the Milky way is only one of many billions of galaxies in the universe?
- ___ a) 18th century
- ___ b) 14th century
- ___ c) 20th century
- ___ d) 16th century
10. According to the Wikipedia Astronomy article, the first known efforts in the mathematical and scientific study of Astronomy began
- ___ a) in south America
- ___ b) in ancient Greece
- ___ c) among the Chinese
- ___ d) among the Babylonians
- ___ e) in central America
11. How many years did it take before Europe made a device as sophisticated as Antikythera?
- ___ a) 3000 years
- ___ b) 15,000 years
- ___ c) 300 years
- ___ d) 1500 years
- ___ e) 30 years
12. The saro cycle was about repeating cycles of
- ___ a) eclipses
- ___ b) planets
- ___ c) seasons
- ___ a) Ptolemy
- ___ b) Aristotle
- ___ c) Kepler
- ___ d) Galileo
- ___ e) Copernicus
14. In what century was parallax first used to measure the distance to a Star (other than our Sun)?
- ___ a) 17th century
- ___ b) 18th century
- ___ c) 20th century
- ___ d) 16th century
- ___ e) 19th century
15. The largest galaxy in the local group is
- ___ a) M-31
- ___ b) M52
- ___ c) Milky way
- ___ d) Andromeda
- ___ e) ant-galexy
16. What two names are associated with the first new planet found (after those known by the ancients using the naked eye)
- ___ a) Mars and the Candy Bar
- ___ b) Pluto and Goofy
- ___ c) Mercury and Friendship
- ___ d) Uranus and George's Star
- ___ e) Neptune and the Alabama Streaker
17. The historical record shows that in 1066 AD a supernovae was discovered by astronomers in _____ and _____
- ___ a) Greece and China
- ___ b) Egypt and China
- ___ c) Greece and North America
- ___ d) China and South America
- ___ e) Greece and Central America
- ___ a) a supernovae remnant
- ___ b) the magnetic field of Venus
- ___ c) the magnetic field of Saturn
- ___ d) colliding galaxies
- ___ e) a dying star
19. Wihlem Conrad Rontgen, a pioneer in X-rays is famous for his photo of
- ___ a) a supernovae
- ___ b) his wife
- ___ c) Barnard's star
- ___ d) a double star
- ___ e) The Sun
20. Earth based infrared observatories tend to be located in
- ___ a) near the north and south poles
- ___ b) where the air is dry
- ___ c) where the air is cold
- ___ d) near the equator
- ___ e) underground
21. The shortest wavelength of electromagnetic radiation is associated with
- ___ a) ultra violet
- ___ b) gamma rays
- ___ c) infrared
- ___ d) blue light
- ___ e) X-rays
- ___ a) a globular cluster
- ___ b) one galaxy
- ___ c) a cluster of galaxy
- ___ d) none of these is correct
- ___ e) an open cluster of stars
23. Most of the ______ that astronomers observe from Earth is seen in the form of synchrotron radiation, which is produced when electrons oscillate around magnetic fields.
- ___ a) energy
- ___ b) meteors
- ___ c) radio waves
- ___ d) meteorites
- ___ e) photons
24. Most gamma rays are
- ___ a) the Andromeda galaxy
- ___ b) in bursts
- ___ c) from hot stars
- ___ d) from cold stars
- ___ e) from the Sun
25. Studies in the infrared are useful for objects that are
- ___ a) in other galaxies
- ___ b) associated with supernovae
- ___ c) cold
- ___ d) in our own galaxy
- ___ e) inside the solar system
26. The best place to observe neutrinos is
- ___ a) near the equator
- ___ b) where the air is dry
- ___ c) near the north and south poles
- ___ d) underground
- ___ e) where the air is cold
27. An active galaxy is emitting a significant amount of its energy from _____
- ___ a) nuclear fission
- ___ b) exploding stars
- ___ c) magnetism
- ___ d) gravity
- ___ e) nuclear fusion
28. The Wikipedia article Sidereus Nuncius suggests that the inventor of the telescope was likely to be
- ___ a) Galileo
- ___ b) none of these
- ___ c) a Chinese scientist
- ___ d) A Greek scholar
- ___ e) a lensmaker
29. Galileo called his telescope
- ___ a) a mistake
- ___ b) the liberator
- ___ c) a double magnifying glass
- ___ d) an optical cannon
- ___ e) the magic eye
30. The "terminator" for Galileo was
- ___ a) the most distant star he could see
- ___ b) sunrise or sunset
- ___ c) the division between east and west
- ___ d) his trial for heresy
- ___ e) the equator
31. Galileo used the terminator to
- ___ a) deduce the color beneath the dust layer
- ___ b) observe the wobble of the Moon's orbit
- ___ c) compensate for stellar parallax
- ___ d) none of these
- ___ e) correlate color with whether the region had mountains
32. Galileo used the terminator to
- ___ a) publicize his ideas
- ___ b) correlate dark and light regions with terrain
- ___ c) measure the height of mountains
- ___ d) two of these
- ___ e) compensate for stellar parallax
33. What statement is FALSE about Galileo and the Median Stars
- ___ a) Galileo named them after a famous and wealthy family
- ___ b) they were lined up
- ___ c) they are actually moons
- ___ d) they were described by Aristotle
- ___ e) motion could be observed after observing a moon for just one hour
34. The title of Galileo's book, Sidereus Nuncius, is often translated as ____, but it is probably more proper to translate it as _______
- ___ a) the motion of the stars - - the location of the stars
- ___ b) Starry messenger - - Starry message
- ___ c) the Moon close up - - the Moon through a telescope
- ___ d) the motion of the earth - - the location of the earth
- ___ e) the moons of Jupiter
35. The Wikipedia article, Sidereus Nuncius, points out that what the ancient Greek scientist thought was a cloudy star was really
- ___ a) a planetary nebula
- ___ b) a supernovae remnant
- ___ c) a comet
- ___ d) many faint stars
- ___ e) the rings of Saturn
36. Galileo's naming of the "Medicean Stars"
- ___ a) two of these are true
- ___ b) was controversial because stars were supposed to be named after Roman gods
- ___ c) broke an agreement he made with the Pope to stop writing about astronomy
- ___ d) caused his house arrest
- ___ e) might have earned him a promotion
37. When the German astronomy Marius provided evidence that he (Marius) had first seen the moons of Jupiter, Galileo
- ___ a) used his political contacts to ensure that he (Galileo) would get credit
- ___ b) appealed to the Pope
- ___ c) pointed out that the telescope Marius was using could not have seen the Moons
- ___ d) won the argument using his knowledge of calendars
- ___ e) didn't care; he was a true scientist
38. Prior to the publication of Sidereus Nuncius, the Church
- ___ a) had outlawed all discussion of the Copernican heliocentric system
- ___ b) had given Galileo a commission to look into the Copernican heliocentric system
- ___ c) none of these are true (according to the Wikipedia permalink to Sidereus Nuncius.)
- ___ d) was unaware of any controversy concerning the Copernican heliocentric system
- ___ e) accepted the Copernican heliocentric system as strictly mathematical and hypothetical
39. The Ptolemaic system was geocentric.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
40. The Ptolemaic system was heliocentric.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
41. Most ancient Roman and most medieval scholars thought the Earth was flat.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
42. Evidence for the Copernican system is that the Earth does not seem to move.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
43. The ancient Greeks believed in circular orbits, causing them to devise the epicycle and the deferent.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
44. Copernicus was a university-trained Catholic priest dedicated to astronomy.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
45. In the late 16th century, Tycho Brahe invented his system to resolve philosophical and what he called “physical" problems with the geocentric theory.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
46. Copernicus shared his heliocentric theory with colleagues decades before he died.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
47. In the late 16th century, Tycho Brahe invented his system to resolve philosophical and what he called “physical" problems with the heliocentric theory.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
48. An argument used to support the geocentric model held that heavenly bodies, while perhaps large, were able to move quickly.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
49. Tycho tended to favor religious arguments over scientific arguments when justifying his opinions about the geocentric/heliocentric controversy.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
50. Tycho was the first to propose an earth-orbiting sun had planets in orbit around the Sun.
- ___ a) TRUE
- ___ b) FALSE
51. At 6am a new moon would be
- ___ a) below the horizon
- ___ b) western horizon
- ___ c) overhead
- ___ d) eastern horizon
52. At midnight a third quarter moon would be
- ___ a) western horizon
- ___ b) overhead
- ___ c) below the horizon
- ___ d) eastern horizon
53. At noon a third quarter moon would be
- ___ a) western horizon
- ___ b) below the horizon
- ___ c) eastern horizon
- ___ d) overhead
54. At midnight a 1st quarter moon would be
- ___ a) eastern horizon
- ___ b) below the horizon
- ___ c) overhead
- ___ d) western horizon
55. At 6pm a new moon would be
- ___ a) eastern horizon
- ___ b) below the horizon
- ___ c) western horizon
- ___ d) overhead
56. At noon a 1st quarter moon would be
- ___ a) western horizon
- ___ b) overhead
- ___ c) below the horizon
- ___ d) eastern horizon
57. At 6pm a third quarter moon would be
- ___ a) western horizon
- ___ b) overhead
- ___ c) eastern horizon
- ___ d) below the horizon
58. At noon a new moon would be
- ___ a) eastern horizon
- ___ b) overhead
- ___ c) western horizon
- ___ d) below the horizon
59. At midnight a full moon would be
- ___ a) western horizon
- ___ b) eastern horizon
- ___ c) below the horizon
- ___ d) overhead
60. At 6pm a full moon would be
- ___ a) overhead
- ___ b) below the horizon
- ___ c) eastern horizon
- ___ d) western horizon
Key to AstroTest1_Study-v1s1
1. When did astronomy split between theoretical and observational branches?
- - a) In the 19th century
- - b) In the 18th century
- - c) After Galileo
- + d) In the 20th century
- - e) In the last decade
2. What does the Wikipedia 'Astronomy' call astrology?
- - a) the study of comets and asteroids
- - b) the study of planetary atmospheres
- + c) the belief system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects.
- - d) the belief that all people should learn astronomy
- - e) the study of planetary cores
3. Cosmology is the study of
- - a) the birth and death of stars
- - b) the formation of the solar system
- - c) planetary atmospheres
- + d) the universe as a whole
- - e) the oceans
4. What does the Wikipedia 'Astronomy' article say about astronomy and astrophysics
- - a) They often yield different results
- - b) They are often considered to be opposites
- - c) They must be in agreement or the result cannot be trusted
- + d) They are often considered to be synonymous
- - e) They are often in conflict
5. The goecentric theory put the Sun
- - a) at the center of the universe
- - b) orbiting around the Moon
- - c) at the center of the solar system
- + d) in orbit around Earth
- - e) none of the above or below are true
6. In the 3rd century BC, Aristarchus of Samos estimated the size of
- - a) Earth and the Moon
- - b) Earth and the Sun
- + c) the Moon and Sun
- - d) the Sun
- - e) the Moon
7. In the 19th century Fraunhoffer and Kirchoff studied light from the Sun and found
- - a) Mercury's shadow
- - b) a wobble that led to the discovery of new planets
- - c) a golden ring
- - d) sunspots and the sunspot cycle
- + e) spectral lines and concluded that they were caused by the elements
8. The ancient Greeks discovered (named) most of the constellations
- - a) in the eastern hemisphere
- - b) in both all hemispheres
- - c) in the western hemisphere
- - d) in the southern hemisphere
- + e) in the northern hemisphere
9. When did astronmers establish that the Milky way is only one of many billions of galaxies in the universe?
- - a) 18th century
- - b) 14th century
- + c) 20th century
- - d) 16th century
10. According to the Wikipedia Astronomy article, the first known efforts in the mathematical and scientific study of Astronomy began
- - a) in south America
- - b) in ancient Greece
- - c) among the Chinese
- + d) among the Babylonians
- - e) in central America
11. How many years did it take before Europe made a device as sophisticated as Antikythera?
- - a) 3000 years
- - b) 15,000 years
- - c) 300 years
- + d) 1500 years
- - e) 30 years
12. The saro cycle was about repeating cycles of
- + a) eclipses
- - b) planets
- - c) seasons
- - a) Ptolemy
- - b) Aristotle
- - c) Kepler
- + d) Galileo
- - e) Copernicus
14. In what century was parallax first used to measure the distance to a Star (other than our Sun)?
- - a) 17th century
- - b) 18th century
- - c) 20th century
- - d) 16th century
- + e) 19th century
15. The largest galaxy in the local group is
- - a) M-31
- - b) M52
- - c) Milky way
- + d) Andromeda
- - e) ant-galexy
16. What two names are associated with the first new planet found (after those known by the ancients using the naked eye)
- - a) Mars and the Candy Bar
- - b) Pluto and Goofy
- - c) Mercury and Friendship
- + d) Uranus and George's Star
- - e) Neptune and the Alabama Streaker
17. The historical record shows that in 1066 AD a supernovae was discovered by astronomers in _____ and _____
- - a) Greece and China
- + b) Egypt and China
- - c) Greece and North America
- - d) China and South America
- - e) Greece and Central America
- - a) a supernovae remnant
- - b) the magnetic field of Venus
- - c) the magnetic field of Saturn
- - d) colliding galaxies
- + e) a dying star
19. Wihlem Conrad Rontgen, a pioneer in X-rays is famous for his photo of
- - a) a supernovae
- + b) his wife
- - c) Barnard's star
- - d) a double star
- - e) The Sun
20. Earth based infrared observatories tend to be located in
- - a) near the north and south poles
- + b) where the air is dry
- - c) where the air is cold
- - d) near the equator
- - e) underground
21. The shortest wavelength of electromagnetic radiation is associated with
- - a) ultra violet
- + b) gamma rays
- - c) infrared
- - d) blue light
- - e) X-rays
- - a) a globular cluster
- + b) one galaxy
- - c) a cluster of galaxy
- - d) none of these is correct
- - e) an open cluster of stars
23. Most of the ______ that astronomers observe from Earth is seen in the form of synchrotron radiation, which is produced when electrons oscillate around magnetic fields.
- - a) energy
- - b) meteors
- + c) radio waves
- - d) meteorites
- - e) photons
24. Most gamma rays are
- - a) the Andromeda galaxy
- + b) in bursts
- - c) from hot stars
- - d) from cold stars
- - e) from the Sun
25. Studies in the infrared are useful for objects that are
- - a) in other galaxies
- - b) associated with supernovae
- + c) cold
- - d) in our own galaxy
- - e) inside the solar system
26. The best place to observe neutrinos is
- - a) near the equator
- - b) where the air is dry
- - c) near the north and south poles
- + d) underground
- - e) where the air is cold
27. An active galaxy is emitting a significant amount of its energy from _____
- - a) nuclear fission
- - b) exploding stars
- - c) magnetism
- + d) gravity
- - e) nuclear fusion
28. The Wikipedia article Sidereus Nuncius suggests that the inventor of the telescope was likely to be
- - a) Galileo
- - b) none of these
- - c) a Chinese scientist
- - d) A Greek scholar
- + e) a lensmaker
29. Galileo called his telescope
- - a) a mistake
- - b) the liberator
- - c) a double magnifying glass
- + d) an optical cannon
- - e) the magic eye
30. The "terminator" for Galileo was
- - a) the most distant star he could see
- + b) sunrise or sunset
- - c) the division between east and west
- - d) his trial for heresy
- - e) the equator
31. Galileo used the terminator to
- - a) deduce the color beneath the dust layer
- - b) observe the wobble of the Moon's orbit
- - c) compensate for stellar parallax
- - d) none of these
- + e) correlate color with whether the region had mountains
32. Galileo used the terminator to
- - a) publicize his ideas
- - b) correlate dark and light regions with terrain
- - c) measure the height of mountains
- + d) two of these
- - e) compensate for stellar parallax
33. What statement is FALSE about Galileo and the Median Stars
- - a) Galileo named them after a famous and wealthy family
- - b) they were lined up
- - c) they are actually moons
- + d) they were described by Aristotle
- - e) motion could be observed after observing a moon for just one hour
34. The title of Galileo's book, Sidereus Nuncius, is often translated as ____, but it is probably more proper to translate it as _______
- - a) the motion of the stars - - the location of the stars
- + b) Starry messenger - - Starry message
- - c) the Moon close up - - the Moon through a telescope
- - d) the motion of the earth - - the location of the earth
- - e) the moons of Jupiter
35. The Wikipedia article, Sidereus Nuncius, points out that what the ancient Greek scientist thought was a cloudy star was really
- - a) a planetary nebula
- - b) a supernovae remnant
- - c) a comet
- + d) many faint stars
- - e) the rings of Saturn
36. Galileo's naming of the "Medicean Stars"
- + a) two of these are true
- - b) was controversial because stars were supposed to be named after Roman gods
- - c) broke an agreement he made with the Pope to stop writing about astronomy
- - d) caused his house arrest
- - e) might have earned him a promotion
37. When the German astronomy Marius provided evidence that he (Marius) had first seen the moons of Jupiter, Galileo
- - a) used his political contacts to ensure that he (Galileo) would get credit
- - b) appealed to the Pope
- - c) pointed out that the telescope Marius was using could not have seen the Moons
- + d) won the argument using his knowledge of calendars
- - e) didn't care; he was a true scientist
38. Prior to the publication of Sidereus Nuncius, the Church
- - a) had outlawed all discussion of the Copernican heliocentric system
- - b) had given Galileo a commission to look into the Copernican heliocentric system
- - c) none of these are true (according to the Wikipedia permalink to Sidereus Nuncius.)
- - d) was unaware of any controversy concerning the Copernican heliocentric system
- + e) accepted the Copernican heliocentric system as strictly mathematical and hypothetical
39. The Ptolemaic system was geocentric.
- + a) TRUE
- - b) FALSE
40. The Ptolemaic system was heliocentric.
- - a) TRUE
- + b) FALSE
41. Most ancient Roman and most medieval scholars thought the Earth was flat.
- - a) TRUE
- + b) FALSE
42. Evidence for the Copernican system is that the Earth does not seem to move.
- - a) TRUE
- + b) FALSE
43. The ancient Greeks believed in circular orbits, causing them to devise the epicycle and the deferent.
- + a) TRUE
- - b) FALSE
44. Copernicus was a university-trained Catholic priest dedicated to astronomy.
- + a) TRUE
- - b) FALSE
45. In the late 16th century, Tycho Brahe invented his system to resolve philosophical and what he called “physical" problems with the geocentric theory.
- - a) TRUE
- + b) FALSE
46. Copernicus shared his heliocentric theory with colleagues decades before he died.
- + a) TRUE
- - b) FALSE
47. In the late 16th century, Tycho Brahe invented his system to resolve philosophical and what he called “physical" problems with the heliocentric theory.
- + a) TRUE
- - b) FALSE
48. An argument used to support the geocentric model held that heavenly bodies, while perhaps large, were able to move quickly.
- + a) TRUE
- - b) FALSE
49. Tycho tended to favor religious arguments over scientific arguments when justifying his opinions about the geocentric/heliocentric controversy.
- - a) TRUE
- + b) FALSE
50. Tycho was the first to propose an earth-orbiting sun had planets in orbit around the Sun.
- - a) TRUE
- + b) FALSE
51. At 6am a new moon would be
- - a) below the horizon
- - b) western horizon
- - c) overhead
- + d) eastern horizon
52. At midnight a third quarter moon would be
- - a) western horizon
- - b) overhead
- - c) below the horizon
- + d) eastern horizon
53. At noon a third quarter moon would be
- + a) western horizon
- - b) below the horizon
- - c) eastern horizon
- - d) overhead
54. At midnight a 1st quarter moon would be
- - a) eastern horizon
- - b) below the horizon
- - c) overhead
- + d) western horizon
55. At 6pm a new moon would be
- - a) eastern horizon
- - b) below the horizon
- + c) western horizon
- - d) overhead
56. At noon a 1st quarter moon would be
- - a) western horizon
- - b) overhead
- - c) below the horizon
- + d) eastern horizon
57. At 6pm a third quarter moon would be
- - a) western horizon
- - b) overhead
- - c) eastern horizon
- + d) below the horizon
58. At noon a new moon would be
- - a) eastern horizon
- + b) overhead
- - c) western horizon
- - d) below the horizon
59. At midnight a full moon would be
- - a) western horizon
- - b) eastern horizon
- - c) below the horizon
- + d) overhead
60. At 6pm a full moon would be
- - a) overhead
- - b) below the horizon
- + c) eastern horizon
- - d) western horizon
- Attribution (for quiz questions) under CC-by-SA license
- http://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Astronomy_college_course/Astronomy_(wikipedia)/Quiz01&oldid=1387156
- https://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Astronomy_college_course/Astronomy_(wikipedia)/Quiz02&oldid=1387715
- https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Astronomy_college_course/Wikipedia_Sidereus_Nuncius/Quiz01
- http://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Astronomy_college_course/Ptolemy,_Copernicus_and_Tycho_systems/Quiz01&oldid=1388143
- http://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Astronomy_college_course/Lunar_Phases/Quiz(simple)&oldid=1388138
- Study guide
- http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Astronomy&oldid=586057527
- http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sidereus_Nuncius&oldid=587554840
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_vandegrift/Astronomy_college_course/Ptolemy,_Copernicus_and_Tycho_systems
- http://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Astronomy_college_course/Lunar_Phases&oldid=1190185