Astronomy 110 section 5

Practice Exam questions

These multiple-choice questions are similar to those in the mid-term and final exams

Mark the best answer. All questions have the same mark; no penalty for wrong answer

  1. Roughly how far away is the Sun?
    1. about 150 km
    2. about 15,000 km
    3. about 1,500,000 km
    4. about 150,000,000 km
    5. about 15,000,000,000 km
  2. Which of the following numbers is largest?
    1. One million, six hundred thousand
    2. 2.6 x 106
    3. 3.2 x 10-6
    4. 12,000,000
    5. 1.1 x 107
  3. What was the greatest misconception held by Greek astronomers?
    1. The Earth is flat
    2. The Sun moves around the Earth
    3. Newton’s law of gravity
    4. The moon rotates once a month
    5. The year begins in March instead of January
  4. The angle between the zenith and the horizon is
    1. 0°
    2. 90°
    3. 23 ½°
    4. equal to your latitude
    5. equal to your longitude
  5. How do we measure the diameter of the Sun
    1. From its Doppler shift
    2. From its gravity
    3. From its distance and angular size
    4. From its spectrum
    5. From its temperature
  6. If the moon appears full over Hawaii on a certain night, what phase is seen by an observer in California on the same night?
    1. Full moon.
    2. New moon.
    3. First quarter.
    4. Last quarter.
    5. None
  7. If you were standing on the moon looking at the Earth during a total solar eclipse, would you see
    1. the Earth hidden behind the Sun?
    2. a dark patch moving across the Earth?
    3. the Earth in total darkness?
    4. sunspots?
    5. nothing unusual?
  8. Which of the following of Galileo's discoveries provides the strongest direct evidence in support of the heliocentric universe?
    1. Sunspots of the Sun.
    2. Friction.
    3. Phases of Venus.
    4. Moons of Jupiter.
    5. Craters on the Moon.

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