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AST104 Sp04: WELCOME TO EXAM 2 e. a and d

Multiple Choice Questions: Circle the 4. As a black body is heated, the frequency at
best answer choice. Read all answer which its brightness is the maximum will
choices before making selection. (No
a. decrease
credit given when multiple answers are
circled.) b. increase

c. stay the same but the wavelength will

1. Which dominates the atmosphere of Venus? increase
a. nitrogen d. stay the same but the wavelength will
b. carbon dioxide decrease

c. oxygen e. none of the above

d. ozone 5. Compared to a similar star at rest, the light

received from a star moving away from us is
e. benzene
a. ionized
2. Which best characterizes the correct
chronological order of stages of planet b. shifted to shorter wavelengths
development? c. collisionally broadened
a. differentiation, cratering, flooding, slow d. shifted to longer wavelengths
surface evolution
e. undetectable
b. cratering, differentiation, slow surface
6. What is true about nuclear fusion?
evolution, flooding
a. it occurs inside stars and inside planets
c. cratering, differentiation, flooding, slow
surface evolution b. it occurs inside the sun but not in other
stars
d. flooding, differentiation, cratering, slow
surface evolution c. it occurs in planets but not in stars.
e. the stages occur in different orders for d. it occurs in the sun and stars but not in
every planet planets
3. The flooding stage of planet formation for e. involves the splitting of atomic nuclei
Earth is associated with into smaller nuclei
a. ocean formation 7. Atoms with an unequal number of protons
and electrons are called
b. plate tectonics
a. isotopes
c. cratering
b. isobars
d. filling of basins with lava
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c. ions b. a cloud containing only fully ionized

hydrogen
d. isocharges
c. a low density cloud of gas illuminated by
e. excited atoms
a nearby star with both the star and cloud in
8. For which of the following would the Doppler her line of sight
effect NOT be useful?
d. she is looking at the moon
a. determining the speed at which a star is
e. a cloud containing only electrons
moving toward us
11. What is true of sunspots?
b. determining the speed at which a galaxy
is moving away from us a. they are hotter than the surrounding
solar surface
c. determining internal properties of the
Sun using helioseismology b. they are the same as spicules in the
chromosphere
d. determining how fast a star is moving
across the sky c. they are regions of strong magnetic fields

e. understanding the broadening of of a d. they represent shock waves in the solar

spectral line corona

9. Consider a star embedded at the center e. a and c

of a large low density spherical gas cloud.
12. What is true about the Zeeman effect?
From which view would we see an absorption
spectrum? a. it describes the shift of a spectral line
due the motion of the emitting source toward
a. looking through the cloud with the light
the observer
bulb along our sight line
b. it describes the splitting of a single
b. looking through the edge of the cloud
spectral line into multiple lines when the
with the light bulb not along our sight line
emission source is magnetized
c. along all lines of sight through the cloud
c. the weaker the magnetic field the
d. both a and b stronger the Zeeman effect

e. none of the above d. it drives the solar wind

10. An astronomer looks at a the spectrum of a e. b and c

distant source. She sees only very bright lines.
13. The solar photosphere is
What is most likely the cause of what she sees?
a. cooler than the solar corona
a. a low density cloud of gas illuminated by
a nearby star with the cloud, but not the star b. less dense than the solar corona
in her line of sight
c. hotter than the solar corona
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d. the main source location of solar X-ray a. large planetessimals move faster in their
emission orbits

e. a region of volcanic activity on the sun b. small planetessimals move faster in their
orbits
14. What is true about craters?
c. small planetessimals have weaker gravity
a. the more craters on a moon’s surface,
and attract less material
the older the surface
d. small planetessimals cool more slowly
b. craters result from volcanoes
e. none of the above
c. the more craters on a planet’s surface
the younger its surface 18. The oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere primarily
comes from
d. planets do not have craters
a. plants
e. a and d
b. dissociation of water
15. One star has a temperature of 50,000K
another star has a temperature of 5000K. What c. dissociation of carbon dioxide
is the ratio of the energy emitted per unit time
d. fossil fuels
per unit area of the cooler star compared to
that of the hotter star? e. out-gassing of rocks during Earth’s
formation
a. 0.01
19. Which helps explain why Venus’
b. 10−4
atmospheric flow patterns are more ordered and
c. 10 less broken up into smaller cyclonic storms than
Earth’s ?
d. 1000
a. Venus is farther from the sun
e. 1/10
b. Venus has a cooler atmosphere than
16. Which play(s) a significant role in the
Earth
differentiation stage of planet formation?
c. Venus rotates more slowly
a. gravity
d. Venus has a stronger magnetic field than
b. radioactive decay
Earth
c. glaciation
e. a and b
d. plate tectonics
20. Which of the following is true of our solar
e. a and b system?
17. Small planetessimals grow more slowly than a. Not all known planets orbit in the same
large ones because direction around the sun.
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b. Not all planets spin in the same direction during Earth’s formation, and radioactive
as they orbit. element decay

c. It has an equal number of stars and b. the steady supply of solar radiation that
planets. heats the Earth’s surface from above

d. There is no evidence for liquid water c. tidal forces from the moon
having ever existed on any planet other than
d. human activity and burning fossil fuels
Earth.
e. the orbital energy of the Earth moving
e. It is less than 1 million years old.
around the sun
21. Which is NOT true in a comparison
24. Which of the following is NOT involved in
between Mars and Earth?
producing the aurorae on Earth?
a. Mars has larger isolated shield volcanoes
a. solar wind
than Earth.
b. Earth’s magnetic field
b. Mars likely cooled more slowly than
Earth c. quantum mechanics and exited atoms

c. Mars has less evidence for plate tectonic d. tidal gravity forces
motions, consistent with having a thicker crust.
e. Earth’s dynamo
d. Like Earth, there are ices on the polar
25. The lunar highlands
caps of Mars
a. are older than the lunar maria
e. Unlike Earth, liquid water has not yet
been detected on Mars. b. are covered with regolith

22. In the atmosphere, −−−− helps block c. are made primarily of iron oxide
harmful ultra-violet radiation from the sun that d. show few craters
can cause skin cancer.
e. a and b
a. oxygen (O2 )
26. The moon is no longer geologically active
b. nitrogen (N2 ) because
c. carbon dioxide (CO2 ) a. it rotates too slowly
d. ozone (O3 ) b. it is so small that it cooled quickly
e. ammonia (N H3 )
c. it is too large to be geologically active
23. The energy that drives crustal plate motion
d. it is does not have surface oceans
and forms mountain ranges on Earth comes
mainly from e. it never had enough radioactive elements

a. heat from gravitational energy release 27. Lobate scarps are

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a. sinuous rilles on the moon b. moon is poor in iron

b. large volcanoes on Venus c. moon composition is similar to Earth’s

mantle
c. a new British rock band from Liverpool
d. the moon lacks volatile elements
d. dark and light variations on the solar
surface e. all of the above

e. crust wrinkles on Mercury 31. The point on a planet most directly

illuminated by sun is called the
28. The remarkable fact that a Mercury day
lasts two Mercury years a. equator point

a. means that the spin period of Mercury b. perihelion point

must be longer than its orbit period
c. sub-solar point
b. is the result of tidal interactions between
d. node point
Mercury and its moons
e. zenith point
c. is a result of Mercury’s strong magnetic
field 32. Venus is most similar in mass and density
to which solar system object?
d. results because Mercury’s rotation
period is 2/3 of its orbit period a. Jupiter

e. requires general relativistic corrections b. Phobos

to Newton’ gravity theory to be explained
c. Mars
29. Tidal forces are the reason why
d. Deimos
a. smaller objects in the solar system tend
e. Earth
to be less geologically active
33. Earth’s crust −−−−−− Mars’ crust
b. most planets and the sun have magnetic
fields a. is younger than

c. the same side of the Moon always faces
Earth
d. Mars is presently dry
e. solar flares erupt on the sun
30. Which of the following characteristic(s) of
the moon support(s) the large impact/ejected
ring model of the moon’s formation?
b. contains less liquid water than
c. is currently less geologically active than
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
34. The moons of Mars are
a. composed primarily of iron and nickel

a. the measured angular momentum of the b. composed primarily of frozen water and
Earth-moon system carbon dioxide
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c. are not spherical because their small size
provides too little gravity to make them so
d. orbiting Mars in retrograde motion
e. formed from material ejected from
volcanoes on Mars
35. Which is the best explanation for the
present scarcity of liquid water on Mars?
a. water vapor was released from the
impact that formed its moon Phobos
b. Mars formed in a part of the solar
nebula devoid of hydrogen
c. the needed hydrogen escaped after the
solar UV radiation broke down water molecules
d. thirsty Martians drank it all
e. Mars formed in a small part of the solar
nebula devoid of hydrogen
36. Which is NOT a characteristic of nuclear
fusion?
a. fusion of hydrogen produces Helium
b. fusion occurs at high temperatures
because energy is needed to overcome the
Coulomb barrier between atomic nuclei
c. Uranium 235 decays by nuclear fusion
d. fusion produces many elements heavier
than helium in stars
e. none of the above
37. Which one of the following is not directly
associated with magnetic fields?
a. the mechanism by which a navigation
compass works
b. sunspot cycle
c. solar flares
d. solar prominences
e. limb darkening
38. Unlike Venus, Mars has avoided a runaway
greenhouse effect primarily because
a. it is nearer to the sun
b. it has a weaker magnetic field
c. it has absolutely no carbon dioxide
d. its weaker gravity keeps its atmosphere
at a much lower density
e. it has more ozone
39. What is NOT true about a comet passing
near the sun?
a. the comet’s tail always points away from
the sun
b. the comet’s tail always points toward
the Earth
c. sometimes the comet’s tail points away
and sometimes toward the sun
d. comet transits by the sun only happen
during a solar or lunar eclipse
e. b, c, d
40. An astronomer measures the light from two
objects A and B and she finds that they are
both blackbodies. If the peak in the observed
emission of A is at wavelength 1000nm and the
peak of B is at 200nm, then what is the ratio of
their photospheric temperatures?
a. TA /TB = 5
b. TA /TB = 1/5
c. TA /TB = 25
d. TA /TB = 1/25
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e. TA /TB = 1/625

True or False:

41. Blue stars are hotter than red stars.

42. The solar nebula from which the planets

formed was primarily composed of nitrogen and
oxygen.

43. Mountain ranges on Earth are the result of

crustal plate motions.

44. Shield volcanoes on Earth are typically

larger than those on Mars.

45. The fractional abundance of various

ionizations states in stars (and thus the spectral
sequence) is determined mainly by the star’s
temperature.

46. The average density of the sun is smaller

than the average density of Earth even though
its mass is larger.

47. Convection helps transport heat from the

interior of the sun to its surface.

48. The present strength of the magnetic field

of Venus suggests the presence of a vigorous
dynamo.

49. The study of seismic waves that pass

through the Earth’s interior has revealed that
the Earth has an inner core of solid Iron and
Nickel

50. Being hotter, Venus has more liquid water

on its surface than Earth.
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Answers 28.D

1.B 29.C

2.A 30.E

3.E 31.C

4.B 32.E

5.D 33.A

6.D 34.C

7.C 35.C

8.D 36.C

9.A 37.E

10.A 38.D

11.C 39.E

12.B 40. B

13.A 41. T

14.A 42. F

15.B 43. T

16.E 44. F

17.C 45. T

18.A 46. T

19.C 47. T

20.B 48. F

21.B 49. T

22.D 50. F

23.A

24.D

25.E

26.B

27.E