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- 1. Multiple Choice
How do scientists use a spectroscope to determine a star's composition?
They study patterns in light bands that are separated from starlight by the spectroscope.
They use the spectroscope to study sound waves that are traveling from the star.
They run tests on gas samples that the spectroscope collects from the star's core.
They use the spectroscope to create a man-made star that they study in a lab.
- 2. Multiple Choice
Which of the following statements about comets is true?
Most comets have a circular orbit that keeps them in the space between Mars and Jupiter.
Comets have very elliptical orbits that usually take them far beyond the orbit of Pluto, but also take them closer to the Sun than Earth.
Comets rarely fall into an orbit around the Sun. They usually enter the inner solar system only once and then are gone forever.
Comets have very elliptical orbits that usually take them closer to the Sun than Earth, but rarely do they get further away than Pluto.
- 3. Multiple Choice
The diagram below is of a reflecting telescope.
Which of the diagrams below correctly shows the path that light takes in a reflecting telescope?
- 4. Multiple Choice
According to the law of universal gravitation, any two objects are attracted to each other. The strength of the gravitational force depends on the masses of the objects and their distance from each other.
Many stars have planets around them. If there were no gravity attracting a planet to its star, the planet's motion would carry it away from the star. However, when this motion is balanced by the gravitational attraction to the star, the planet orbits the star.
Two solar systems each have a planet the same distance from the star. The planets have the same mass, but Planet A orbits a more massive star than Planet B.Which of the following statements is true about the planets?
Planet A has a longer year than Planet B.
Planet A orbits its star faster than Planet B.
Planet B is more attracted to its star than Planet A.
Planet B will keep orbiting its star longer than Planet A.
- 5. Multiple Choice
The graph above plots gravitational force versus distance for two asteroids of equal mass (10 billion kg). When the distance between the asteroids is 9,000 km, the gravitational force between them is about 82 N.
Based on the trend shown in the graph, predict the force between the asteroids when the distance between them increases to 9,500 km.
about 90 N
about 9,200 N
1,700 N
about 74 N
- 6. Multiple Choice
Which of the following types of technologies has best helped scientists to study very high-energy objects in outer space, such as exploding supernovae, black holes, and pulsars?
X-ray telescopes
space stations
lunar modules
lunar modules
- 7. Multiple Choice
The following images show the same galaxy, the Sombrero galaxy, in visible light (on the left) and in X-ray frequencies (on the right).
Dust that blocks X-ray radiation is transparent to light.
Dust that blocks X-ray radiation is transparent to light.
Bright X-ray sources are also bright visible light sources.
Bright X-ray sources do not radiate in the visible range.
- 8. Multiple Choice
Light travels at a constant speed of about 300,000 km/s. This speed is referred to as the speed of light.
A light year is the distance that light travels in one year. One light year is equal to 9.46 trillion kilometers. The closest star to Earth, other than the Sun, is Proxima Centauri. It takes light from this star about 4.2 years to reach Earth.
How far from Earth is the star Proxima Centauri?
300,000 km
4.2 light years
300,000 light years
9.46 trillion km
- 9. Multiple Choice
The diagram below indicates the positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon at a specific point in time.High tide is occurring on the sides of the Earth that are
experiencing sunrise and sunset.
closest to and farthest from the Sun.
closest to and farthest from the Moon.
halfway between the Sun and the Moon.
- 10. Multiple Choice
Other galaxies observed by astronomers are almost all redshifted. This means that most galaxies are moving away from our galaxy. Since this is true in every direction, the galaxies are all moving away from each other.
Imagine that the universe is a solid ball with galaxies scattered all through it from the center to the edge. Suppose the galaxies stay the same size, but the ball gets bigger. What will happen to the distance between the galaxies?
The distances between all the galaxies will increase throughout the ball.
The distances between the galaxies near the center of the ball will decrease.
The distances between only the galaxies on the surface of the ball will increase.
The distances between the galaxies will change randomly depending on the galaxies' motion.
- 11. Multiple Choice
Sheila lives in the seashore community of Beachview. At 6:00 a.m. one morning, she noticed that the local ocean water was at high tide. At approximately noon that same day, she noticed the water was at low tide.
Which of the following describes what caused the change in tides between 6:00 a.m. and noon that day?
The Earth revolved approximately 90° around the Sun, and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and Sun increased.
The Earth completed one full rotation (360°), and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and the Beachview area increased.
The Earth completed one full revolution around the Sun (360°), and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and Sun decreased.
The Earth rotated approximately 90°, and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and the Beachview area decreased.
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