ASTRONOMY 2 MIDTERM EXAM PART I FALL 2008

60 QUESTIONS – 50 POINTS: Part I of the midterm constitutes the “Take-Home” portion of the entire midterm exam. Additionally, this “Take-Home” portion is divided into two parts.

The first portion can be found in your MasteringAstronomy account and is labeled “Midterm – Online Portion”. The questions asked there are directed at the first chapter listed in your reading assignment for Week 9 of the course (see your General Schedule of Activities document) and is conducted in the same manner as done with your weekly homework exercises where each question is worth 0.5 point. Therefore, this portion of the midterm has 20 questions for a total possible of 10 points.

The second portion of the “Take-Home” midterm is given below with 40 questions for a total possible of 40 points (1 point per question). Clearly print the answers to these questions on the answer form provided. Return this answer form to the White Box by NOON, Friday, October 24. [Note: Spelling and units count on this exam!!!]

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Part II of the Midterm (worth 50 points) will be given in the week beginning October 20 in your scheduled 3^rd hour. Part II of the midterm will require a Scantron 882 form and #2 pencil. Midterm parts I and II are worth 100 points total!

1. See FIGURE ‘A’. What is the phase of the moon (be specific – two words needed)?

2. See FIGURE ‘B’. This person in the FIGURE discovered moons around which planet (name the planet)?

3. See FIGURE ‘C’. Back between early October and late December 2005, this object was undergoing what type of motion against the backdrop of stars?

4. See FIGURE ‘D’. In the Renaissance times, he proposed this model of the solar system (name this person).

5. See FIGURE ‘E’. Which solar system model, the heliocentric or the geocentric, did the person in the FIGURE support?

6. See FIGURE ‘F’. If an astronaut’s mass at the surface of the Earth is 60 kg, what would her mass be on the surface of the object pictured in the FIGURE?

7. See FIGURE ‘G’. About what time of day will the Moon shown in this diagram cross the local meridian (noon, sunset, midnight, or sunrise)?

8. See FIGURE ‘H’. Was this picture taken by a spacecraft far from Earth or something on (or orbiting) Earth?

9. See FIGURE ‘I’. In the FIGURE the planet goes around in a counterclockwise direction around the Sun. Which point is aphelion?

10. Of the FIGURES A, F, and G, which Moon or Moons pictured would be in the waning phase if they were seen by someone in Rocklin?

11. If it is 3:00 AM for some local observer, and the Moon is seen on the western horizon, what is its phase (be specific – two words needed)?

12. See FIGURE ‘J’ What is the magnification power of this telescope?

13. What is the light gathering power of this telescope (FIGURE ‘J’) compared to the human eye (diameter of eye lens = 5 mm)?

14. An observer in Dallas, Texas, would observe the North Star at what altitude (nearest degree)?

15. The Sun rises latest in the day at the onset of what season?

16. Which of the following constellations would you not expect Mars to occupy at sometime in the next decade: Capricornus, Cancer, Lyra, or Taurus?

17. For an observer in Lincoln, Nebraska, what constellation would the sun appear to occupy on April 10?

18. What constellation would the Full Moon occupy if the Full Moon occurred on February 1^st?

19. Suppose you have a quarter and a dime. Is the ratio of sizes between these coins larger or smaller than between Earth and Mercury?

20. The aphelion distance of a newly discovered celestial body is 88 AU. If it requires 512 years to complete one orbit around the sun, what is its perihelion distance (give answer in AU)?

For the following eight questions, match the descriptions on the left to the people on the right (put the letter corresponding to the person on the answer sheet; letters are not repeated):

21. Wrote the Almagest a) Isaac Newton

22. Discovered mountains on the Moon using a telescope b) Erastosthenes

23. Invented the first reflecting telescope c) Tycho

24. First to consider ellipses as orbits d) Hipparchus

25. Was the greatest naked-eye astronomer e) Galileo

26. First to measure the size of the Earth to good accuracy f) Aristarchus

27. Foremost ancient Greek philosopher g) Aristotle

28. Ancient Greek who believed in a heliocentric universe h) Nicolaus Copernicus

i) Ptolemy

j) Johannes Kepler

Answer the following three questions (29-31) using the solar system diagram below. The spot in the center is the Sun and A, B, C, D represent 4 planets which orbit it and all planets go counterclockwise around the Sun. The diagram is to scale and planet C is 1 AU from the Sun:

D

29. Which planet (A,B,C,D) goes slowest around the Sun?

30. From planet C, which planet or planets could be seen in opposition?

31. Given the current positions of the planets A, B, C & D, which of the planets will planet C see in conjunction next?

32. An object is observed from Earth to have its spectral lines blue -shifted. Is the object moving away from Earth or towards the Earth?

33. When Jupiter is closest to the Earth, is it nearly in what planetary alignment?

34. From Rocklin, a Third Quarter Moon may rise at midnight (True or False).

35. If the net force upon on object is zero, can it have a non-zero acceleration?

36. Which planet has the shortest rotation period?

37. Are the largest telescopes used by astronomers refractors or reflectors?

38. Of all the eclipses we can have (total, partial, penumbra lunar; total, annular, partial solar), which one would no longer be possible if the Moon’s current distance from Earth were ¾ as large (assume the eccentricity and inclination of the Moon’s orbit remains the same)?

39. Suppose Tom and Joe are observing the sky shortly after sunset. Joe spots a very bright object rising in the east and both he and Joe know it must be a planet. Joe claims it must be Venus but Tom insists that it’s Jupiter. Who must be wrong?

40. From Rocklin, when is the next day in which the Sun will set directly West?

FIGURES PAGE

A- B-

C- D-

E- F-
G- H-

I-