Version B

Write your name at the top of this quiz as well as on your answer sheet. WRITE YOUR VERSION ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET. Feel free to write or draw on the quiz. Please put away all electronic devices. Calculators are not needed for this quiz.

PICK THE BEST ANSWER FOR EACH PROBLEM.

1. Which of the following is true about comets?
a) They mostly orbit the Sun between the orbit of Mars and the orbit of Jupiter.
b) They mostly orbit the Sun between the orbit of the Earth and the orbit of Mars.
c) They are made up of nearly all rock.
d) They are made up of nearly all metal, with some rock.
e) They tend to have elliptical orbits.

e) They tend to have elliptical orbits.

2. Jupiter:
a) Has four moons larger than Pluto.
b) is tipped over on its side, relative to the spin axes of the other planets (i.e., it has a very large tilt to its spin axis compared to the other planets).
c) Has a density greater than the density of rock, thus it contains mostly rock and metal.
d) Orbits the Sun in a direction opposite that of the rest of the planets.
e) Has only one known moon.

a) Has four moons larger than Pluto.

3. Approximately how big is the diameter of Mars, compared to Earth?

a) About 20 times bigger than Earth.
b) About 10 times bigger than Earth.
c) About the same as Earth.
d) About half the diameter of Earth.
e) About 1/100th the diameter of Earth.

d) About half the diameter of Earth.

4. Which of the following objects has the highest density?
a) Mercury.
b) Jupiter.
c) Saturn.
d) Uranus.
e) A lake of water.

a) Mercury.

5. During class, a student did a demonstration during which he sat on a spinning stool with his arms out. When he pulled in his arms, what happened to his spin rate?
a) he spun faster.
b) he stopped spinning.
c) he spun more slowly.
d) he kept spinning at the same rate.
e) it depends upon his mass.

a) he spun faster.

6. Which planet(s) has the shortest sidereal day?
a) Venus.
b) Mercury.
c) Jupiter and Saturn.
d) Earth and Mars.
e) Pluto.

c) Jupiter and Saturn.

7. Which kind of Astronomy can be done from the surface of the Earth?
a) Optical, UV, and parts of the radio.
b) Optical, radio, and parts of the UV.
c) Optical, UV, and parts of the IR.
d) Optical, radio, and parts of the IR.
e) Optical, infrared, and parts of the UV.

d) Optical, radio, and parts of the IR.

8. How many known moons does Pluto have?
a) Zero.
b) One.
c) Two.
d) Five.
e) 169.

d) Five.

9. The resolution of a telescope is:
a) the amount of photons, per second, captured by the telescope.
b) the minimum separation between two objects on the sky, which can be distinguished by the telescope as separate objects.
c) the ability of a telescope to see astronomical objects through the atmosphere of the Earth.
d) the number of mirrors in a telescope.
e) the diameter of the mirror of a telescope.

b) the minimum separation between two objects on the sky, which can be distinguished by the telescope as separate objects.

10. The innermost of the Galilean moons of Jupiter is:
a) Ganymede.
b) Triton.
c) Phobos.
d) Titan.
e) Io.

e) Io.

11. Voyager 1 and 2:
a) were the first landers on Mars.
b) were the first landers on Venus.
c) have passed the heliopause.
d) were the first two rovers on Mars.
e) were the first two spacecraft to visit Pluto.

c) have passed the heliopause.

12. In addition to Pluto, which of the following is/are classified as a dwarf planet?
a) Eris.
b) All of the asteroids in the Asteroid Belt.
c) All seven moons larger than Pluto.
d) Ganymede and Titan.
e) Mercury.

a) Eris.

13. Mercury is:
a) tidally locked to the Sun.
b) bigger than Ganymede.
c) classified as a dwarf planet.
d) bigger than the Earth's moon.
e) half ice, half rock.

d) bigger than the Earth's moon.

14. In a Cassegrain focus telescope, the focus is:
a) in back of the primary mirror, behind a hole in the mirror through which the light is reflected by a secondary mirror.
b) off the side of the primary mirror, where the light has been reflected by a flat secondary mirror.
c) in a permanent location which does not move, where the light is directed using the primary mirror, a secondary mirror, and a tertiary mirror.
d) right in front of the primary mirror at the focus; there is no secondary mirror.
e) behind a primary lens.

a) in back of the primary mirror, behind a hole in the mirror through which the light is reflected by a secondary mirror.

15. How many spacecraft have visited Pluto so far?
a) Forty-three.
b) 23.
c) One.
d) Two.
e) Zero.

c) One.

16. Which of the following moons belongs to Saturn?
a) Triton.
b) Callisto.
c) Ganymede.
d) Titan.
e) Deimos.

d) Titan.

17. Titan is:
a) A dwarf planet.
b) A moon of Saturn.
c) The closest moon to Jupiter.
d) About half the diameter of Pluto.
e) The largest moon in the solar system.

b) A moon of Saturn.

18. Which of the following is true about Triton?
a) It has a diameter larger than both Pluto and Mercury.
b) It has a diameter about half that of Pluto.
c) It is the largest moon of Pluto.
d) It is the largest moon of Uranus.
e) Of the seven largest moons in the solar system, it is the farthest from the Sun.

e) Of the seven largest moons in the solar system, it is the farthest from the Sun.

19. Diffraction of light is:
a) the bending of light rays when they travel from one substance into another.
b) the bending of light waves around corners.
c) the reflection of light from a mirror.
d) when light gets absorbed by an atom, causing an electron in the atom to jump to a higher energy level.
e) when light is emitted from a solid object, obeying Wien's Law.

b) the bending of light waves around corners.

20. Mercury's largest moon is named:
a) Phobos.
b) Eris.
c) Deimos.
d) Styx.
e) Mercury does not have a moon.

e) Mercury does not have a moon.