Name: Mylarizza Dalman Date: October 30, 2020

Course/Year/Section: BSED 1A Score:

MIDTERM EXAMINATION IN ASTRONOMY

TEST I- TRUE OR FALSE

1. False because solar system gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects
that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of the objects that orbit the Sun directly.

2. False because our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense
cloud of interstellar gas and dust.

3. False because of refracting telescope, reflecting telescope and catadioptic telescope.

4. True because the resolving power of an optical instrument is its ability to separate the
images of two objects which are close together.

5. True because radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to
receive radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky.

6. True in the sense if we go deep enough, as you descend into your gas giant of
choice, you will notice it getting hotter, and also that the gases you are descending into
are starting to feel a bit… liquidly. We should assume you’re immortal for this
experiment. As you descend further into these liquidly pressurized gases you will notice
a point where the gases start to feel solid-y.

7. False because surface of Mercury, the Sun would appear more than three times as
large as it does when viewed from Earth.

8. False because Venus has a dense atmosphere, about 90 time the atmospheric
pressure that we have on Earth. The atmosphere consists mostly of Carbon Dioxide,
giving the planet a severe case of global warming.

9. True because Venus sometimes appears as an evening star above the western
horizon shortly after sunset and sometimes appears as a morning star above the
eastern horizon shortly before sunrise.

10. False because Mercury crust indicated silicates probably silicon and oxygen.
TEST II- ESSAY
1. The telescope is very essential specially in viewing distant object; it produces
images that can be seen in our eyes. The telescope gather far more light than the
eye, allowing dim objects to be observed with greater magnification and better
resolution some telescope can be made with two lenses. They are used for viewing
objects at large distances and utilize the entire range of electron-magnetic spectrum.
2. Placing the telescope in high place or elevated area has the advantages of being
above the blurring effects of the Earth’s atmosphere. While ground-based
observatories are usually located in highly elevated areas with minimal light
pollution, they must contend with atmospheric turbulence, which limits the sharpness
of images taken from this vantage point. In space, telescopes are able to get a
clearer hot of everything from exploding stars to other galaxies. Having the
observatory in the top of a mountain means that there is less air to see through, so it
is easier to see there’s even less air above you on a mountain top to trap light from
the stars.
3. The resolving power is another important feature of a telescope. This is the ability
of the instrument to distinguish clearly between two points whose angular separation
is less than the smallest angle that the observer’s eye can resolve. A telescopes
resolution is its ability to distinguish two point sources unto individual images. The
resolution capacity is restricted by diffraction effects under ideal conditions, such as
above the atmosphere where there is no turbulence (seeing).
4. Our solar system was formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of
interstellar gas and dust. The cloud exploded likely due to shock wave of a
supernova called a nearby burning star. As this dust cloud collapsed, it produced a
spinning solar nebula, a swirling material disk.
5. The distance between planet, and between a planet and the sun, are enormous,
compared to the size of the planet and of the sun. In between, there is empty space-
a vacuum more perfect than what can be achieved in the laboratories.
6. Mercury is the smallest. It is also the smallest planet in the solar system, Venus
is the only planet in the solar system to be named after a female figure, the earth I
the densest planet in the solar system, Mars has the largest dust storm in the solar
system. Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in the solar system, you cannot stand
on Saturn. Uranus was the first planet found using the telescope. Neptune is the
smallest of the gas giant planets; Pluto is the largest dwarf planet.
7. Since Venus has an atmosphere that is mostly carbon dioxide. I needed to buy
oxygen in my spaceship to be able to breathe. Carbon dioxide also happen to be “a
greenhouse gas” meaning that is absorbs the sun warm and heats up the
atmosphere.
8. The two factors which determine whether a planet or a satellite will have an
atmosphere are the (a) size and distance from the sun; (B) gravity helps planet and
moons to hold on to their atmosphere, small planets/moons such as mars have thin
atmosphere.
9. When then planet rotation has a electric current and this current requires for their
production complete melting over a large region of the planet.
10. The difference of Earth to the other planet is that Earth is a little more than 12000
km in a diameter; it has liquid water on its surface main life, and has active plate
movement. The similarities of other planet and Earth are that each of the planet in
our solar system experiences its own unique weather.
 11. Because the mercury’s core has more iron than any other planet on the solar
system.
12. Because Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth system
planet because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the sun, and on position. Its
radically different form earth in other planet.
13. Scientists have been puzzling over the differences between the two sides of
Mars for decades. The northern hemisphere of the planet is smooth and low — it is
among the flattest, smoothest places in the solar system, potentially created by
water that once flowed across the Martian surface. Meanwhile, the southern half of
the Martian surface is rough and heavily cratered, and about 2.5 miles to 5 miles (4
km to 8 km) higher in elevation than the northern basin. Recent evidence suggests
the vast disparity seen between the northern and southern halves of the planet was
caused by a giant space rock smacking into Mars long ago. Although large amounts
of evidence suggest that liquid water once ran on the surface of Mars, it remains an
open question as to whether or not it occasionally flows on the face of the Red
Planet now. The planet's atmospheric pressure is too low, at about 1/100th of
Earth's, for liquid water to last on the surface. However, dark, narrow lines seen on
Martian slopes hint that saltwater could be running down them every spring. One
major question concerns the longevity of Mars’ liquid water. Nobody knows how
much time is required for life to emerge on a planet, including on Earth. But the odds
of life forming get better the longer that stable bodies of water persist.
14. The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of different levels of temperatures and densities. In
addition to the temperature and density differences, there is a lot of wind in the atmosphere.
When the star’s light enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it must pass through these layers of
temperature differences, density differences, and wind. Moving air in the atmosphere can be
called turbulence. The star’s light must enter our atmosphere, but the star’s light does not
necessarily move in a straight line through the atmosphere. Instead, the starlight is refracted or
is spread around in different directions in the atmosphere. The starlight becomes bent as it
moves towards the Earth. As the light disperses or spreads, the star’s brightness changes,
causing us to see the star “twinkle.” Additionally, as the bent starlight reaches us, the star also
twinkles. The two effects of the atmosphere on the light cause us to see a twinkle. However,
you should remember that the star itself is not twinkling. The bending and spreading of light
only makes you think it is twinkling.
15. There are 4 stages of planet development

The first stage of planetary development is called differentiation, the settling of dense
material, like iron-rich minerals into the center of the planet and the rising of the less dense
materials, such as silicon rich minerals to the surface Differentiation can be demonstrated at
home by plopping some dirt into a cup of water.

The second stage of planetary development is known as cratering, the bombardment of

the early Earth by celestial objects, like asteroids. In the early solar system, there were plenty of
rocky bodies floating about that cratered the heck out of the terrestrial planets and the moon.
Once the solar system cleared itself of these objects, the rate of impacts obviously decreased.

The third stage of planetary development is known as Flooding While cratering is still
occurring and partly as the result of it the crust of a planet fractures, and lava bursts through
and flows over the land, smoothing the craters and filling them. In the case of Earth, water vapor
also flowed through the fissures during this stage of planetary formation. It rose into the
atmosphere and fell to the ground as rain, forming the oceans and other bodies of water. Water
flooding didn't accompany lava flooding on other planets in the solar system. On these planets,
the effects of lava flooding are more apparent.
 The last stage of planetary formation, surface evolution, lasts for billions of years. The
face of the planet is slowly altered by the movement of tectonic plates and the effects of
atmospheric movements and water. The collision of tectonic plates pushes up mountains and
shifts continents, while rain and wind slowly wear away the surface and remove all traces of
chaotic early stages of planetary formation. In the case of Earth, radioactivity in the core
actually makes it hotter than it was when it formed, which may be one of many reasons why the
conditions to support life evolved.
16. It can be easy to get carried away of some Bruno’s most prescient used- for instance
championing the heliocentric astronomy of Copernicus before Galileo did, then going much
farther to suggest that the twinkling stars in our night sky are actually sun’s shinning on distant
planets possibly harboring other forms of life.
17. Mars today as we know it is a cold and dry desert with a thin atmosphere not capable of
stabilizing liquid water on its surface. However, there is ample evidence that Mars had flowing
liquid water on its surface about 4 to 3.7 billion years ago (named as the Noachian Period).
The evidence gathered by Mars orbiters, rovers, and landers is geomorphological; (valley
networks, crater lakes, purported Northern ocean, glacial landforms, etc.); mineralogical (iron-
and magnesium-rich clay minerals, sulfates, chlorides, iron oxides, and oxyhydroxides, etc.);
and isotopic (noble gases, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen and carbon). Gullies and slope lineae
along cliffs and crater walls suggest that flowing water continues to shape the surface of Mars,
although to a far lesser degree than in the ancient past.
18. Earth has nitrogen and oxygen are by far the most common; dry air is composed of
about 78% nitrogen (N2) and about 21% oxygen (O2). Argon, carbon dioxide (CO2), and
many other gases are also present in much lower amounts; each makes up less than 1% of
the atmosphere's mixture of gases. The atmosphere also includes water vapor. Mars is the
Red Planet's atmosphere contains more than 95% carbon dioxide and much less than 1%
oxygen. By far the predominant gas is carbon dioxide, making up 95.9 percent of the
atmosphere's volume. The next four most abundant gases are argon, nitrogen, oxygen and
carbon monoxide. Jupiter by far the predominant gas is carbon dioxide, making up 95.9
percent of the atmosphere's volume. The next four most abundant gases are argon, nitrogen,
oxygen and carbon monoxide. Is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with a
few traces of other gases comprising a tiny percentage of its air. Saturn is made up
predominantly of hydrogen, which it captured in the early stages of its formation. Most of the
remaining composition is helium. Other elements, such as methane and ammonia, are found
in small doses. Nitrogen and oxygen also mix within the atmosphere. The atmosphere of
Uranus is composed of three gases. Hydrogen is the most common substance, making up
about 85 percent of the atmosphere. Helium and methane account for the remaining
atmospheric material.
19.
 Pluto still hasn't cleared its neighborhood despite living billions of years.
 Pluto does not dominate its region of space as a true planet does
20. Like a human body, robots cannot function well under excessive temperature, pressure, etc.
Landing sites were high on the ground, the temperature and atmosphere is just slightly
different from earth. At the landing sites, an expected daytime high on the ground might be
around 22°C (71°F) An expected night time low might be -99°C (-146°F). Atmospheric
temperatures, by contrast, can vary up to 83°C (181°F). An atmospheric daytime high might
be -3°C(26°F), whole a nighttime low might be -96°C (-140°F).

21. Pluto did not meet all the characteristics to be called a planet/star since it still shares its orbit
to Kuiper belt objects. A star should clear its neighborhood and be gravitationally dominant.
Before Pluto was discovered, it was predicted. Astronomers had observed that massive
objects can affect the orbits of its neighbors, and, after seeing deviations in the orbits of
Uranus and Neptune, assumed something substantial existed beyond their orbits. When
Pluto was spotted, it was thought to be the predicted object and was identified as a ninth
planet. A few decades later, astronomers started discovering more and more objects around
 other stars and didn’t know whether to call them planets or not. There appeared to be a need
to define what a planet means, and that led to what some people consider Pluto’s demotion to
a dwarf planet. The International Astronomical Union decided that full-sized planets must orbit
the sun, have a round shape, and have cleared their orbits of other objects. Pluto fulfills the
first two criteria, but not the third. It still goes around the sun, it’s round enough, it’s got moons,
and behaves like a planet, but the idea is that Pluto did not form the same way as the rest of
the planets. Pluto’s orbit is both eccentric and inclined more than the rest of the planets by
about 17 degrees. That’s suggests something is different about this object.

22. The discovery of Neptune resulted from the need to develop a theory explaining the motion of
the solar system’s seventh planet, Uranus, the movements of which could not be completely
accounted for by the gravitational effects of Jupiter and Saturn.

23. Until now, only theories are given on why Uranus is tipped on its axis. The most popular
theory about that suggests that a giant celestial body knocked Uranus and affected its spin
.the moons of Uranus orbit at the same tilt as the planet’s axis. This means that something
smashed into Uranus while it was still surrounded by the disk of gas and dust that its moons
formed from. When the massive collision happened, the planet flipped over, wrenching this
disk with it.

24. Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is intriguing to astronomers and scientists because it represents
a partial snapshot of what conditions on the early Earth might have been like, albeit at
dramatically lower temperatures. With its thick atmosphere, Titan has a methane cycle instead
of a water cycle, with liquid hydrocarbon lakes on its surface.

25. The reason behind why the center of Saturn is solid is that the lower levels of its air is made
out of gets packed so much that it gets metallic. Moreover, Saturn has a few moons. One of
the most remarkable ones is Titan. Titan is around a similar size of Earth, and it is the most
brilliant of Saturn's moons when seen through a telescope.

26. Four events are possible involving Jupiter and its four large moons. An eclipse occurs when a
satellite moves through Jupiter’s shadow. An occultation occurs when the satellite disappears
behind the Jovian disk. A transit occurs when a moon moves in front of Jupiter. Best views
come when the satellites appear against the gas giant’s dark belts. A shadow transit occurs
when a moon’s shade crosses Jupiter’s disk. Shadows appear as small black dots through
any telescope.
27. Gullies and slope lineae along cliffs and crater walls suggest that flowing water continues to
shape the surface of Mars, although to a far lesser degree than in the ancient past.
28. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, with surface features reminiscent of the
impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth. Its surface is
rocky, with canyons, volcanoes, dry lake beds and craters all over it. Red dust covers most of
its surface. Mars has clouds and wind just like Earth. Sometimes the wind blows the red dust
into a dust storm.
29. It’s because Mars is the most habitable planet in our solar system due to several reasons: Its
soil contains water to extract; It isn’t too cold or too hot. There is enough sunlight to use solar
panels. Gravity on Mars is 38% that of our Earth's, which is believed by many to be sufficient
for the human body to adapt to. It has an atmosphere (albeit a thin one) that offers protection
from cosmic and the Sun's radiation. The day/night rhythm is very similar to ours here on
Earth: a Mars day is 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds.
30. Most astronomers feel that it would be impossible for life to exist on Venus. Today, Venus is a
very hostile place. It is a very dry planet with no evidence of water, its surface temperature is
hot enough to melt lead, and its atmosphere is so thick that the air pressure on its surface is
over 90 times that on Earth. The planet's active volcanoes and runaway greenhouse effect
would make it a difficult place to survive. Between its desiccated, red-orange landscape and
surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead, Venus is our solar system's analog to hell. No
human has visited Venus, but the spacecraft that have been sent to the surface of Venus do
not last very long there. Venus' high surface temperatures overheat electronics in spacecraft
in a short time, so it seems unlikely that a person could survive for long on the Venusian
surface.