Deck 1: A Modern View of the Universe

Question 1

What do we mean when we say that the universe is expanding?

A)Average distances are increasing between star systems within galaxies.
B)Everything in the universe is gradually growing in size.
C)All galaxies are increasingly moving away from one another.
D)The statement is not meant to be literal;rather,it means that our knowledge of the universe is growing.
E)Individual galaxies are gradually growing in size.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following has your "address" in the correct order?

A)you,Earth,solar system,Local Group,Local Supercluster,Milky Way
B)you,Earth,solar system,Milky Way,Local Supercluster,Local Group
C)you,Earth,solar system,Local Group,Milky Way,Local Supercluster
D)you,Earth,Local Group,Local Supercluster,solar system,Milky Way
E)you,Earth,solar system,Milky Way,Local Group,Local Supercluster

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Which of the following is largest?

A)size of a typical galaxy
B)size of Pluto's orbit
C)distance to the nearest star (other than our Sun)
D)1 light-year

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following statements does not use the term light-year in an appropriate way?

A)It's about 4 light-years from here to Alpha Centauri.
B)It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment.
C)A light-year is about 10 trillion kilometers.
D)It will take the Voyager spacecraft about 20,000 years to travel just 1 light-year.
E)The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.

Question 5

One light-hour is the distance that light travels in an hour.How far is this,in kilometers? (Recall that the speed of light is 300,000 km/s. )

A)300,000 km
B)18 million km
C)100 million km
D)1.08 billion km
E)9.46 trillion km

Question 6

What is the Sun mainly made of?

A)hydrogen and oxygen
B)hydrogen and helium
C)carbon and nitrogen
D)oxygen and carbon
E)nearly equal portions of all the elements

Question 7

Suppose we look at a photograph of many galaxies.Assuming that all galaxies formed at about the same time,which galaxy in the picture is the youngest?

A)the one that is farthest away
B)the one that is reddest in color
C)the one that is bluest in color
D)the one that is closest to us
E)the one that appears smallest in size

Question 8

Modern telescopes are capable of seeing bright galaxies up to about

A)1 million light-years away.
B)10 million light-years away.
C)1 billion light-years away.
D)10 billion light-years away.
E)1 trillion light-years away.

Question 9

What do we mean by the observable universe?

A)the part of the universe that we can see with the naked eye
B)the part of the universe that we can see through telescopes
C)the part of the universe that could be observed in principle,including things that may require future technologies
D)the compendium of all objects that we have observed to date
E)the entire universe,since it is inconceivable that there could be parts of the universe that we cannot observe

Question 10

How are galaxies important to our existence?

A)Without galaxies,there could not have been a Big Bang.
B)Without galaxies,the universe could not be expanding.
C)Galaxies prevent planets from leaving their orbits around stars;e.g. ,our galaxy prevents Earth from leaving its orbit of the Sun.
D)Galaxies recycle heavy elements produced in stars into future generations of stars.
E)Galaxies provide the gravity that prevents us from falling off Earth.

Question 11

The age of the universe is

A)between 10 million and 16 million years.
B)between 100 million and 160 million years.
C)between 1 billion and 1.6 billion years.
D)between 10 billion and 16 billion years.
E)between 100 billion and 160 billion years.

Question 12

About where is our solar system located within the Milky Way Galaxy?

A)at the center of the galaxy
B)about 10 percent of the way from the center of the galaxy to the outskirts of the galactic disk
C)about half way from the center of the galaxy to the outskirts of the galactic disk
D)near the far outskirts of the galactic disk
E)in the halo of the galaxy above the galactic disk

Question 13

Why did Carl Sagan say that we are star stuff?

A)The composition of most stars (mostly hydrogen and helium)is about the same as the composition of our bodies.
B)Cosmic rays reaching Earth from distant astronomical sources may be one source of mutations that help evolution along.
C)Nearly every atom from which we are made once (before the solar system formed)was inside of a star.
D)Nearly every atom from which we are made was once inside our star,the Sun.
E)Sagan thought that all of us have the potential to be movie (or TV)stars like he was.

Question 14

Which of the following is smallest?

A)size of a typical planet
B)1 light-second
C)1 AU
D)size of a typical star

Question 15

What is nuclear fusion?

A)an explosion caused by putting together two volatile chemicals
B)the process of splitting nuclei to produce energy
C)the process of turning matter into pure energy
D)the process of combining lightweight nuclei to make heavier nuclei
E)a process that only occurs in bombs

Question 16

Earth is made mostly of metals and rocks.Where did this material come from?

A)It was produced in the Big Bang.
B)It was created by chemical reactions in interstellar space.
C)It was produced by the nuclear fusion in stars that made the heavy elements.
D)It was made by our Sun.
E)It was made by nuclear fission of uranium and other radioactive materials.

Question 17

Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit.Which of the following describes the size and distance of Earth on the same scale?

A)Earth is the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen about 1 meter away from the Sun.
B)Earth is the size of a golf ball about 1 meter away from the Sun.
C)Earth is the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen about 15 meters away from the Sun.
D)Earth is the size of a golf ball about 15 meters away from the Sun.
E)Earth is the size of a marble about 25 miles away from the Sun.

Question 18

Roughly how many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?

A)1 billion
B)100 billion
C)10 billion
D)100 million
E)100 trillion

Question 19

Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit.How big an area would the orbits of the eight planets of the solar system cover?

A)the size of a typical dorm room
B)the size of a typical campus building
C)the size of a typical campus
D)the size of a small city
E)the size of a western state (e.g. ,Colorado)

Question 20

On the 1-to-10-billion scale,about how far is it to the nearest stars besides the Sun?

A)4 kilometers
B)400 kilometers
C)1,000 kilometers
D)4,400 kilometers
E)10,000 kilometers

Question 21

Which of the following correctly lists speeds from slowest to fastest?

A)Earth's orbital speed about the Sun,typical speeds of stars in the local solar neighborhood relative to us,Earth's speed of rotation on its axis,the speed of our solar system orbiting the center of the Milky Way Galaxy,the speeds of very distant galaxies relative to us
B)Earth's speed of rotation on its axis,Earth's orbital speed about the Sun,typical speeds of stars in the local solar neighborhood relative to us,the speed of our solar system orbiting the center of the Milky Way Galaxy,the speeds of very distant galaxies relative to us
C)the speeds of very distant galaxies relative to us,typical speeds of stars in the local solar neighborhood relative to us,Earth's speed of rotation on its axis,Earth's orbital speed about the Sun,the speed of our solar system orbiting the center of the Milky Way Galaxy
D)the speed of our solar system orbiting the center of the Milky Way Galaxy,Earth's orbital speed about the Sun,Earth's speed of rotation on its axis,the speeds of very distant galaxies relative to us,typical speeds of stars in the local solar neighborhood relative to us
E)Earth's orbital speed about the Sun,Earth's speed of rotation on its axis,the speed of our solar system orbiting the center of the Milky Way Galaxy,typical speeds of stars in the local solar neighborhood relative to us,the speeds of very distant galaxies relative to us

Question 22

From the fact that virtually every galaxy is moving away from us and more distant galaxies are moving away from us at a faster rate than closer ones,we conclude that

A)the Milky Way Galaxy is expanding.
B)we are located at the center of the universe.
C)the farthest galaxies will eventually be moving faster than the speed of light.
D)the universe is expanding.
E)the universe is shrinking.

Question 23

How long would it take to count all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy at a rate of one star per second?

A)several days
B)several weeks
C)several years
D)several thousand years
E)hundreds of thousands of years

Question 24

If you represented each star by a grain of sand,how much sand would it take to represent all the stars in the universe?

A)all the sand in a typical playground sandlot
B)all the sand on Miami Beach
C)all the sand on the beaches of California
D)all the sand on the beaches in the United States
E)more than all the sand on all the beaches on Earth

Question 25

On a cosmic calendar,in which the history of the universe is compressed into 1 year,when did Kepler and Galileo first discover that we live on a planet in a solar system?

A)1 second ago
B)1 day ago
C)1 week ago
D)December 25
E)December 30

Question 26

On a cosmic calendar,in which the history of the universe is compressed into 1 year,when did the dinosaurs become extinct?

A)in late December
B)in late November
C)in late October
D)in late September
E)in late August

Question 27

On a cosmic calendar,in which the history of the universe is compressed into one year,how long is the average human life span?

A)0.2 millisecond
B)0.2 second
C)2 seconds
D)2 minutes
E)2 hours

Question 28

Most of the mass in the Milky Way Galaxy is located

A)in the halo (above/below the disk).
B)within the disk.
C)in the stars in the spiral arms.
D)in the gas and dust.
E)in the central bulge of the galaxy.

Question 29

If we use 1 millimeter to represent 1 light-year,how large in diameter is the Milky Way Galaxy?

A)100 millimeters
B)100 meters
C)1 kilometer
D)100 kilometers
E)1 million millimeters

Question 30

What is an astronomical unit?

A)the average speed of Earth around the Sun
B)the length of time it takes Earth to revolve around the Sun
C)the average distance from Earth to the Sun
D)the diameter of Earth's orbit around the Sun
E)any basic unit used in astronomy

Question 31

Which of the following statements about the Milky Way Galaxy is not true?

A)It contains between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars.
B)Our solar system is located very close to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
C)Our view of distant objects is obscured by gas and dust when we look into the galactic plane.
D)The galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.
E)One rotation of the galaxy takes more than 200 million years.

Question 32

Which of the following best describes the Milky Way Galaxy?

A)a barred spiral galaxy with a disk about 100,000 light-years in diameter and containing between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars
B)a barred spiral galaxy with a disk about 1 billion kilometers in diameter and containing between 100 million and 1 billion stars
C)a barred spiral galaxy with a disk about 100,000 light-years in diameter and containing about 100,000 stars
D)a spherically shaped collection of stars including our solar system and about a dozen other solar systems,stretching about 4 light-years in diameter
E)a spherically shaped collection of about 1 million stars that is about 100 light-years in diameter

Question 33

On the scale of the cosmic calendar,in which the history of the universe is compressed to 1 year,how long has human civilization (i.e. ,since ancient Egypt)existed?

A)about half the year
B)about a month
C)a few hours
D)a few seconds
E)less than a millionth of a second

Question 34

The distribution of the mass of the Milky Way Galaxy is determined by

A)counting the number of stars.
B)determining the amount of gas and dust.
C)studying how stars are distributed in the Milky Way.
D)studying the rotation of the galaxy.
E)weighing various parts of the Milky Way.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about the ecliptic plane is not true?

A)It is the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun.
B)It is the plane of the Moon's orbit around Earth.
C)During a solar eclipse,the Moon lies in the ecliptic plane.
D)During a lunar eclipse,the Moon lies in the ecliptic plane.
E)The nodes of the Moon's orbit lie in the ecliptic plane.

Question 36

How long does it take our solar system to complete one orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy?

A)10 thousand years
B)230 thousand years
C)1 million years
D)100 million years
E)230 million years

Question 37

Patterns of stars in constellations hardly change in appearance over times of even a few thousand years.Why?

A)Stars are fixed and never move.
B)Stars move,but they move very slowly-only a few kilometers in a thousand years.
C)Although most stars move through the sky,the brightest stars do not,and these are the ones that trace the patterns we see in the constellations.
D)The stars in our sky actually move rapidly relative to us-thousands of kilometers per hour-but are so far away that it takes a long time for this motion to make a noticeable change in the patterns in the sky.
E)Stars within a constellation move together as a group,which tends to hide their actual motion and prevent the pattern from changing.

Question 38

How many galaxies are there in the observable universe?

A)roughly (within a factor of 10)the same as the number of stars in our galaxy
B)roughly a thousand times more than the number of stars in our galaxy
C)about as many as the number of stars we see in the sky with our naked eyes
D)about as many as the number of grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth
E)an infinite number

Question 39

Approximately how fast are you moving with the rotation of Earth?

A)13,000 km/hr
B)1,300 km/hr
C)130 km/hr
D)13 km/hr
E)not moving at all

Question 40

Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit.How far away are the nearest stars (the three stars of Alpha Centauri)?

A)the length of a football field (100 meters)
B)across town
C)across the state
D)across the United States
E)25,000 miles

Question 41

A typical supercluster contains no more than about 10,000 stars.

Question 42

By studying distant galaxies in the 1920s,Hubble made which of the following important discoveries that led us to conclude that the universe is expanding?

A)All galaxies contain billions of stars,and all galaxies have spiral shapes.
B)All galaxies were born at the same time,and all will die at the same time.
C)All galaxies outside the Local Group are moving away from us,and the farther away they are,the faster they're going.
D)All galaxies outside the Local Group are orbiting the Local Group.
E)All galaxies outside the Local Group are moving away from us,and all are moving away at nearly the same speed.

Question 43

No galaxies existed before the Big Bang.

Question 44

One light-year is about 10 trillion kilometers.

Question 45

The solar system contains about 100 billion stars.

Question 46

How big is Earth on the 1-to-10 billion scale described in Section 1.2?

Question 47

Briefly explain what we mean by the statement "The farther away we look in distance,the further back we look in time."

Question 48

Starting from the Big Bang,briefly explain how our solar system came to contain the chemical elements necessary to make Earth and living organisms.

Question 49

Our solar system is located in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Question 50

Which scientists played a major role in overturning the ancient idea of an Earth-centered universe,and about when?

A)Copernicus,Kepler,and Galileo;about 400 years ago
B)Aristotle and Copernicus;about 400 years ago
C)Newton and Einstein;about 100 years ago
D)Huygens and Newton;about 300 years ago
E)Aristotle and Plato;about 2,000 years ago

Question 51

Earth is always precisely 1 AU from the Sun.

Question 52

The observable universe is the same size today as it was a few billion years ago.

Question 53

Imagine that we put a raisin cake into the oven,with each raisin separated from the others by 1 cm.An hour later,we take it out and the distances between raisins are 3 cm.If you lived in one of the raisins and watched the other raisins as the cake expanded,which of the following would you conclude?

A)All raisins would be moving away from you at the same speed.
B)More distant raisins would be moving away from you faster.
C)More distant raisins would be moving away from you more slowly.
D)It depends: If you lived in a raisin near the edge of the cake,you'd see other raisins moving away from you,but they'd be coming toward you if you lived in a raisin near the center of the cake.
E)The raisins would be expanding too,so everything would look identical to the original situation.

Question 54

The speed of light is 300,000 km/s.How far is a light-year? Be sure to show all work clearly on your calculations.

Question 55

All galaxies beyond those local to the Milky Way appear to be receding from us.

Question 56

Is the actual size of the universe larger than 14 billion light years?

A)The observable universe is 14 billion light years in each direction,so the actual universe is greater than 14 billion light years across.
B)We do not have enough information to know this.
C)The universe must be exactly equal in size to its age,so it must not be larger than 14 billion light years across in size.
D)It is only 14 billion light years across to us;to an observer 10 billion light years away,it is smaller.

Question 57

Briefly explain why an expanding universe implies a beginning (called a Big Bang).

Question 58

Voyager 2 should reach the nearest stars (besides the Sun)in about 500 years.

Question 59

In the grapefruit model of the solar system,it would take a few minutes to walk from the Sun to the inner edge of the Kuiper Belt (Pluto).

Question 60

Consider the following statement,and explain whether or not it is sensible: NASA hopes to build a new telescope that will allow us to see 100 million light-years into the past.

Question 61

Which of the following best describes what we mean by the universe?

A)the sum total of all matter and energy everywhere
B)a vast collection of stars that number as many as the grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth
C)all the galaxies in all the superclusters
D)The universe is another name for our Milky Way Galaxy.

Question 62

Based on the idea of "spaceship Earth," write one or two paragraphs explaining why it is not the case that we are "just sitting here."

Question 63

Process of Science: Devise an experiment that would produce evidence (not necessarily proof)that Earth is round.You may use any technology you like,but you may not leave Earth (i.e. ,no satellite photos and no space travel).Be as creative as you like there are many right answers.

Question 64

Process of Science: Think of some ways in which you can demonstrate the following by simply looking at the sky:
a)the Sun and stars lie beyond the Earth's atmosphere
b)the stars are further away than the Moon

Question 65

A typical galaxy is a

A)collection of a few hundred million to a trillion or more stars,bound together by gravity.
B)large,glowing ball of gas powered by nuclear energy.
C)nearby object orbiting a planet.
D)relatively small,icy object orbiting a star.

Question 66

Consider the following statement,and explain whether or not it is sensible: NASA hopes to build a new telescope that will allow us to see some galaxies as they appeared 8 billion years ago.

Question 67

Consider the following statement,and explain whether or not it is sensible: Someday we may build spaceships capable of traveling at a speed of 1 light-second per hour.

Question 68

Consider the following statement,and explain whether or not it is sensible: The universe is between 10 and 16 billion light-years old.

Question 69

Consider the following statement,and explain whether or not it is sensible: It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment.

Question 70

Imagine that you could drive your car in space.Assume that you can drive at a constant speed of 100 kilometers per hour.Suppose you started driving from the Sun.How long would it take,in years,to reach Earth?

Question 71

Consider the following statement,and explain whether or not it is sensible: Earth is always precisely 1 AU from the Sun.

Question 72

How fast is the Moon orbiting Earth?

Question 73

What do we mean when we say that the universe is expanding?

A)Everything in the universe is gradually growing in size.
B)Within galaxies,average distances between star systems are increasing with time.
C)The statement is not meant to be literal;rather,it means that our knowledge of the universe is growing.
D)Average distances between galaxies are increasing with time.

Question 74

Briefly explain how the Sun generates energy.

Question 75

Our solar system consists of

A)the Sun and all the objects that orbit it.
B)the Sun and the planets,and nothing else.
C)a few hundred billion stars,bound together by gravity.
D)the Sun and several nearby stars,as well as the planets and other objects that orbit these stars.

Question 76

Explain why Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

Question 77

What do astronomers mean by the Big Bang?

A)the event that marked the beginning of the expansion of the universe
B)a gigantic explosion that blew all the galaxies in the universe to smithereens
C)the explosion of a massive star at the end of its life
D)the event that marked the birth of our solar system

Question 78

Which of the following is not a general difference between a planet and a star?

A)Planets are smaller than stars.
B)Planets are dimmer than stars.
C)All planets are made of rock and all stars are made of gas.
D)Planets orbit stars,while stars orbit the center of the galaxy.

Question 79

Explain why it is so difficult to see planets around other stars.

Question 80

Process of Science: Think about some ways in which we might figure out how old things are that last for much longer than a human lifetime.What about for things that last longer than humans have existed?