astronomy mid term chapter 2

1) How many stars can you see with your naked eye on a clear, moonless night from a dark
location?

B) a few thousand

2) Which of the following best describes the modern definition of a constellation?

A) a region of the celestial sphere

3) Which of the following statements about the celestial sphere is not true?

D) The "celestial sphere" is just another name for our universe.

4) Which of the following statements about the celestial equator is true at all latitudes?

B) It represents an extension of Earth’s equator onto the celestial sphere.

5) What is the ecliptic?

E) the Sun’s apparent path along the celestial sphere

6) When we look into the band of light in our sky that we call the Milky Way, can we see distant
galaxies? Why or why not?

C) No, because the stars, gas, and dust of the Milky Way block us from seeing them.

7) Which of the following correctly describes the meridian in your sky?

B) a half-circle extending from your horizon due north, through your zenith, to your horizon due south

8) If it is midnight in New York, it is

A) daytime in Sydney, Australia.

9) How many arcseconds are in 1°?

C) 3,600

10) Which of the following statements does not use the term angular size or angular distance
correctly?

C) The angular distance between those two bright stars in the sky is about 2 meters.

11) What is a circumpolar star?

C) a star that always remains above your horizon

12) Which of the following statements about circumpolar stars is true at all latitudes?

B) They always remain above your horizon.

13) We describe a position on Earth’s surface by stating its

D) latitude and longitude.

14) What makes the North Star, Polaris, special?

C) It appears very near the north celestial pole.

15) You are standing on Earth’s equator. Which way is Polaris, the North star?

B) on the northern horizon

16) By locating the north celestial pole (NCP) in the sky, how can you determine your latitude?

A) The altitude of the NCP is the same as your latitude.

17) Orion is visible on winter evenings but not summer evenings because of

C) the location of Earth in its orbit.

18) Why do we have seasons on Earth?

A) As Earth goes around the Sun and Earth’s axis remains pointed toward Polaris, the Northern

19) Why is it summer in the Northern Hemisphere when it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere?

C) The Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and receives more direct sunlight.

20) Which of the following statements is true?

E) Both A and C are true.

21) Which of the following statements about constellations is false?

E) Most constellations will be unrecognizable hundreds of years from now.

22) Which of the following statements about lunar phases is true?

D) It is possible to have two full Moons during January, but not during February.

23) Which of the following is not a phase of the Moon?

C) half Moon

24) When someone on Earth observes the Moon in the first-quarter phase, someone on the Moon
facing Earth observes Earth in the

D) third-quarter Earth phase.

25) If the Moon is setting at 6 A.M., the phase of the Moon must be

C) full.

26) If the Moon is setting at noon, the phase of the Moon must be

C) third quarter.

27) If the Moon is rising at midnight, the phase of the Moon must be

C) third quarter.

28) At approximately what time would a full Moon be on your meridian?

E) midnight

29) At approximately what time would a first quarter Moon rise?

C) noon

30) If the Moon rises around 3 A.M., its phase must be

D) waning crescent.

31) In which direction does a quarter Moon rise?

C) east

32) Why do we see essentially the same face of the Moon at all times?

C) because the Moon’s rotational and orbital periods are equal

33) Which of the following statements about the Moon is true?

C) The Moon’s distance from Earth varies during its orbit.

34) Suppose you live on the Moon. How long is a day (i.e., from sunrise to sunrise)?

C) a lunar month

35) Ashen light (or earthshine) is

A) sunlight reflected by Earth that illuminates the "dark" portion of the Moon.

36) All of the following statements are true. Which one explains the reason why there is not a
solar eclipse at every new Moon?

B) The orbital plane of the Moon is tilted by about 5° to the ecliptic plane.

37) What effect or effects would be most significant if the Moon’s orbital plane were exactly the
same as the ecliptic plane?

B) Solar eclipses would be much more frequent.

38) What conditions are required for a solar eclipse?

…

39) What conditions are required for a lunar eclipse?

A) The phase of the Moon must be new, and the nodes of the Moon’s orbit must be nearly aligned with Earth and the Sun.

0) In addition to the conditions required for any solar eclipse, what must also be true in order
for you to observe a total solar eclipse?

D) The Moon’s umbra must touch the area where you are located.

41) If part of the full Moon passes through Earth’s umbra, we will see a(n)

C) partial lunar eclipse.

If the Moon is relatively far from Earth, so that the umbra does not reach Earth, someone
directly behind the umbra will see

D) an annular eclipse.

43) When are eclipse seasons?

C) when the nodes of the Moon’s orbit are nearly aligned with the Sun

44) The precession of the Moon’s nodes means that

C) the eclipse seasons occur less than 6 months apart.

45) What is the Saros cycle?

B) the 18-year cycle over which the pattern of eclipses repeats

46) Ancient people who knew the Saros cycle could

E) predict when an eclipse would happen, but not necessarily what type and where it would be

47) What happens during the apparent retrograde motion of a planet?

B) The planet appears to move westward with respect to the stars over a period of many nights.

48) Why are lunar eclipses more commonly seen than solar eclipses?

C) The Earth casts a bigger shadow than the Moon.

49) What causes the apparent retrograde motion of the planets?

D) As Earth passes another planet, the other planet appears to move backward with respect to the background stars, but the planet’s motion does not really change

50) Which of the following never goes in retrograde motion?

A) the Sun

51) Which of the following statements about parallax is not true?

D) The technique of stellar parallax was used by Hubble to determine that the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31) is about 2 million light-years away

52) Which of the following statements about stellar parallax is true?

E) The closer a star is to us, the more parallax it exhibits.