Radiation astronomy/History/Quiz

The Trundholm Sun chariot pulled by a horse is a sculpture believed to be illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. The sculpture is probably from around 1350 [Anno Domini] BC. It is displayed at the National Museum of Denmark. Credit: Malene Thyssen.

Radiation history is the history of radiation astronomy lecture and article for the course on the principles of radiation astronomy.

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Contents

Quiz

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1

True or False, The principal difference between ancient astronomical history and archeoastronomy is "cultural interpretations of phenomena in the sky."

	TRUE
	FALSE

2

Which of the following is not a studied characteristic of the early history of astronomy?

	the North Polar region
	the first celestial globe
	radiation
	constellations
	trained observers of today are different from the observers of antiquity

3

Name a Neolithic monument in England that may have functioned as a celestial observatory

4

Yes or No, Those parts of human interest in celestial phenomena which are amenable to mathematical treatment are called astronomy.

	Yes
	No

5

Ionization within the Earth's atmosphere from cosmic rays has what property?

	it's subject to solar eclipses
	it increases underwater
	cosmic rays do not penetrate the atmosphere
	is higher at the base of the Eiffel tower rather than the top
	is obscured by hot-air balloons
	the ionization rate rises at rising elevation

6

"[T]he study of objects and matter outside the Earth's atmosphere and of their physical and chemical properties" is called

7

True or False, The disparity between the atomic number of an atom and its atomic mass is explained by the existence of the neutrino.

	TRUE
	FALSE

8

The Larmor radius is not a limit in positron astronomy because of what characteristic of a positron?

	the positron has a half-life of about one year
	at the Larmor radius from the Sun the quarks inside a positron become unstable
	at relativistic speeds the charge on a positron approaches zero
	for very high speeds (almost relativistic) local or large scale magnetic fields produce little deflection
	solar positron events may have a significant impact on the Earth's atmosphere
	the positron annihilates after a short distance with a nearby electron

9

Which group of astronomers were the first to keep written records of what they learned about the heavens?

10

True or False, The fundamental unit was over 1000 times smaller than an atom, suggesting the subatomic particles called delta rays.

	TRUE
	FALSE

11

Which of the following is not in the history of neutrino astronomy?

	Enrico Fermi coined the term "neutrino"
	Wolfgang Pauli postulated the muon neutrino
	in the Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment, antineutrinos are created
	a hydrogen bubble chamber was used to detect neutrinos
	Niels Bohr was opposed to the neutrino interpretation of beta decay
	a neutrino hitting a proton is detectable

12

What is the name of the oldest recorded star catalog?

13

True or False, The Goddard rocket was the first sounding rocket to carry an X-ray detector above the Earth's atmosphere.

	TRUE
	FALSE

14

Which of the following is not a phenomenon associated with the history of optical astronomy?

	actuators may be a part of active optics
	the Vela satellites were the first devices in space ever to detect optical bursts
	Galileo made a telescope with about 3x magnification
	Galileo sold his telescopes to merchants
	Sidereus Nuncius
	a terrestrial telescope or a spyglass could also be used to observe the sky

15

The rising Sun illuminates the inner chamber of Newgrange, Ireland, only at which solstice.

16

True or False, Infrared astronomy began in the 1730s, a few decades after the discovery of infrared light by William Herschel

	TRUE
	FALSE

17

Which of the following is not a phenomenon associated with the history of violet astronomy?

	photographs of the planet Venus taken in 1927
	two nebulous bright streaks running approximately perpendicular to the terminator on Venus
	observations of Venus in 1959 with spectrographs show a wide continuous absorption
	the stellar abundance of aluminum
	the Galileo spacecraft observed Venus
	the helium beta line

18

Who first proposed the hypothesis that the Sun is at rest, while the Earth and the planets rotate about the Sun?

19

True or False, A new archaeological excavation has found a Babylonian telescope for the first time.

	TRUE
	FALSE

20

Observations of comets have benefited greatly from what phenomenon of cyan astronomy?

	Cherenkov radiation
	the electric blue glow of lightning
	gas-expansion velocity decreases with increasing heliocentric distance
	methane possesses prominent absorption bands in the visible
	adaptive optics
	the light of the neutral CN-radical

21

The history of astronomy, archaeoastronomy, and the application of historical records to modern astrophysical problems have been included in what astronomy?

22

True or False, The astronomer Clyde Tombaugh is the discoverer of Charon.

	TRUE
	FALSE

23

Which of the following is a phenomenon associated historically with yellow astronomy?

	Jupiter
	sodium line emission
	sunspots on the Sun
	an emission with a wavelength of 420 nm
	phosphorus
	TiO

24

A collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II at his then new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1733 is known as the

25

True or False, To ancient astronomers stars remain relatively fixed over the centuries while planets move an appreciable amount during a comparatively short time.

	TRUE
	FALSE

26

Which of the following is not associated with spherical trigonometry?

	the sum of the angles internal to a triangle is always 180°
	Menelaus of Alexandria
	Tycho Brahe
	the sum of the angles internal to a triangle may be greater than 180°
	chords
	it is not appropriate to extend its mysteries to everyone

27

What term was first used with reference to the transfer of momentum from the Sun to the planets in 1942

28

True or False, The Sun is a classical planet.

	TRUE
	FALSE

29

From a historical perspective which of the following is not characteristic of the solar corona

	the solar corona is electric
	it drives away the tails of comets
	a net charge on the Sun of approximately -0.3 x 1028 e.s.u.
	extrasolar planets
	the Reverend Lecturer referring to coronal holes
	"the coronoidal discharges in poor vacua obtained by Prof. Pupin about an insulated metal ball are exceedingly like the rays and streamers of the solar corona."

30

That which forms in space above a sunspot area and rains streamers upon it is called a

31

True or False, The observations of planetary motion agree with computed orbits to the accuracy of the observations.

	TRUE
	FALSE

32

Considering Spöerer's law which phenomenon is not associated with sunspots?

	the forerunners of the new cycle are beginning to appear in high latitudes
	in a minimum year the zone about 15° should be entirely barren
	the greatest group of the year
	the celebrated "eclipse group"
	a cause produces variation of rotation rate with latitude
	There is a slight acceleration of the rotation period from the first cycle to the second

33

Name a classical planet that was not apparently seen in the sky before 5102 b2k

34

True or False, Tally sticks, notched bones dating as far back as 20–30,000 years ago, are believed by some to mark the sunspot cycle.

	TRUE
	FALSE

35

Various radiation observatories occur at different altitudes and geographic locations due to what effect?

	the presence of oceans on the Earth
	locally available carving tools
	the atmosphere of the Earth
	most astronomical objects are observed at night
	currently dormant volcanoes seldom erupt
	human habitation increases near an astronomical observatory

36

To the Babylonians, this object represented their god Marduk.

37

True or False, The V 2 rocket was first used as a sounding rocket for X-ray astronomy before being converted to a weapon.

	TRUE
	FALSE

38

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is an astronomical document produced to help astronomers for what purpose?

	predict the end of the Earth
	determine the accuracy of local computers
	accurately predict the equinoxes
	demonstrate that Venus was once a comet
	predict when currently dormant volcanoes will erupt
	demonstrate that the local pyramids were built by aliens

39

On 19 May 1910, the Earth actually passed through the tail of what comet.

40

True or False, Demetrius lived at Abdère 300 years before the Christian era 2300 b2k. In a short fragment quoted by Plutarch, he declares that the Milky Way is an agglomeration of small stars too far away to be perceived singly.

	TRUE
	FALSE

41

Johannes Kepler is not known for which of the following?

	being an astrologer
	a key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution
	Euclidean geometry
	projective geometry
	if a straight line is extended to infinity it will meet itself at a single point at infinity, thus having the properties of a large circle
	Rudolphine Tables

42

What type of early calculator is capable of working out several kinds of spherical astronomy problems

43

True or False, Historically, observatories were as simple as having some alignments on astronomical phenomena.

	TRUE
	FALSE

44

Sputnik I was involved in which of the following astronomies?

	red astronomy
	stellar astronomy
	neutrino astronomy
	radio astronomy
	neutron astronomy
	X-ray astronomy

45

"El Caracol" is an observatory at Chichen Itza, Mexico, serving at the very least as an observation.

46

True or False, The first gamma-ray telescope was carried into orbit aboard OSO 3.

	TRUE
	FALSE

47

Historically, orange astronomy is not known for which of the following?

	Alpha Centauri B
	Epsilon Eridani
	Saturn
	K spectral type stars
	the Bayer designation for a star
	the Indian city of Pondicherry in December 1689

48

Soon after the invention of radar astronomy, what classical planet was detected

49

True or False, Analysis of tree rings has revealed a detailed picture of past solar cycles.

	TRUE
	FALSE

50

Cheomseongdae was involved in which of the following astronomies?

	cosmic-ray astronomy
	infrared astronomy
	neutrino astronomy
	visual astronomy
	ultraviolet astronomy
	radio astronomy

51

Before the current era and perhaps before 6,000 b2k which classical planet may have been green?

Hypotheses

Main article: Hypotheses

1. The history of radiation astronomy dates at least to 42,000 b2k.

See also

• Astronomy/Quiz
• First astronomical X-ray source/Quiz
• Planetary science/Quiz
• Radiation astronomy/Quiz
• Radiation chemistry/Quiz
• Radiation geography/Quiz

External links

• NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database - NED
• The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System
• SIMBAD Astronomical Database

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{{Radiation astronomy resources}}