Deck 1: Here and Now

Question 1

Arrange the following distances in order from smallest to largest.
I) kilometer
II) light-year
III) yard
IV) astronomical unit

A) I, II, III, IV
B) IV, III, II, I
C) III, I, IV, II
D) II, I, IV, III
E) III, I, II, IV

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Choose the best answer. The Milky Way Galaxy

A) is part of a cluster of a few dozen galaxies.
B) is about 200 light-years in diameter.
C) is the largest known object in the universe.
D) is part of a cluser of a few dozen galaxies,  is about 200 ly in diameter, and is the largest known object in the universe
E) is part of a cluster of a few dozen galaxies and is the largest known object in the universe

Answer 2

A

Question 3

If distance is speed × time and light takes 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth and over 4 hours to travel from the Sun to the planet Neptune, what is the distance from the Sun to Neptune?

A) 5 AU
B) 30 AU
C) 30 ly
D) 5 ly
E) 0.6 ly

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The diameter of a typical star (the Sun) is approximately ____ times larger than the diameter of a typical planet (the Earth).

A) 10
B) 100
C) 1000
D) 10,000
E) 100,000

Question 5

1.65 billion is the same as

A) 1.65 × 10¹².
B) 1.65 × 10⁹.
C) 1.65 × 10⁶.
D) 1.65 × 10⁵.
E) 1.65 × 10³.

Question 6

Using the scale in the diagram below, what is the diameter of Jupiter?

A) about 7.0 × 10⁴ km
B) about 7.0 × 10⁵ km
C) about 1.4 × 10⁴ km
D) about 1.4 × 10⁵ km
E) about 3.5 × 10⁶ km

Question 7

If distance is speed × time and light takes 1.3 seconds to travel from the Moon to Earth and 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth, which of the following statements is true?

A) The Sun is 6.2 times further from Earth than the Moon.
B) The Sun is 10 times further from Earth than the Moon.
C) The Sun is 0.16 times further Earth than the Moon
D) The Sun is 0.10 times further from Earth that the Moon.
E) The Sun is 370 times further from Earth than the Moon.

Question 8

The Sun is

A) a star which generates its own energy.
B) 1 AU from Earth.
C) visible by its own light emission.
D) All of the other choices are correct.

Question 9

A typical galaxy like our Milky Way galaxy contains

A) primarily planets.
B) gas only.
C) stars (some with planets), gas, and dust.
D) a single star and planets.
E) thousands of superclusters.

Question 10

If the distance to the nearest star is 4.2 light-years, then

A) the star is 4.2 million AU away.
B) the light we see left the star 4.2 years ago.
C) the star must have formed 4.2 billion years ago.
D) the star must be very young.
E) the star must be very old.

Question 11

The Milky Way Galaxy is

A) a spiral galaxy.
B) part of a cluster of galaxies that contains a few dozen galaxies.
C) about 80,000 light years in diameter.
D) All of the other choices are correct.

Question 12

2)9 × 10⁷ is the same as

A) 2.9 thousand.
B) 29 thousand.
C) 290 thousand.
D) 2.9 million.
E) 29 million.

Question 13

Scientific notation is used in science because

A) it makes it easy to write big or small numbers.
B) all astronomical distances are expressed in metric units.
C) it makes conversions between units easy.
D) All of the other choices are correct.

Question 14

How many centimeters are there in one kilometer?

A) 100
B) 1,000
C) 10,000
D) 100,000
E) 1 × 10⁶

Question 15

The radius of the Moon's orbit is about ____ times larger than the radius of Earth.

A) 0.6
B) 6
C) 60
D) 600
E) 6000

Question 16

Using the scale in the diagram below, what is the diameter of Mercury?

A) about 240 km
B) about 2400 km
C) about 24,000 km
D) about 240,000 km
E) about 2.4 × 10⁶ km

Question 17

The average distance from Earth to the Sun is

A) 1 ly.
B) 1 million km.
C) 1 million miles.
D) 1 billion km.
E) 1 AU.

Question 18

The speed of light is 3.0 × 10⁵ km/s, and it takes 1.3 s for light to travel from the Moon to Earth. From this information, what is the distance to the Moon?

A) 390,000 km
B) 230,000 km
C) 3.9 km
D) 2.3 km
E) 4.3 × 10⁵ km

Question 19

Earth has a radius of about 6400 km, the Sun has a radius of about 7.0 × 10⁵ km, and a rubber ball has a radius of 6.4 cm. If you were to construct a scale model of the solar system using the rubber ball to represent Earth, what is the radius of a ball needed to represent the Sun in your model?

A) 7.0 × 10⁵ cm
B) 7.0 cm
C) 700 cm
D) 70 cm
E) 7000 cm

Question 20

If the Earth were represented as a basketball (˜10 in. in diameter) and the Moon as a baseball (˜3 in. in diameter) then, to order of magnitude, what size would best represent the diameter of the Sun?

A) 10 ft
B) 100 ft
C) 1000 ft
D) 10000 ft

Question 21

Assume a 100-yard football field represents the 14-billion-year history of the universe with one end as the origin and the other end representing the present. The existence of human beings will extend from ____ to the present "goal line."

A) the 50-yard line
B) the 5-yard line
C) the one-yard line
D) the one-inch line

Question 22

If the distance from the Sun to the Earth is represented by roughly 15 meters, then the distance from Earth to the Moon on the same scale would be

A) about 30 meters.
B) about 10 meters.
C) about 1 meter.
D) small than your hand.

Question 23

In units of yards, how far from the Big Bang is the Recombination period, when the gas becomes transparent to light?

A) much, much less than a yard
B) about a yard
C) about 5 yards
D) about 10 yards

Question 24

Which sequence is correct when ordered by increasing size?

A) Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, clusters of galaxies
B) Solar System, Earth, galaxy clusters, Milky Way Galaxy
C) Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System, galaxy clusters
D) Galaxy clusters, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth

Question 25

64,200,000,000 is equal to

A) 6.42 × 10⁷.
B) 6.42 × 10 ^{− 7}.
C) 6.42 × 10¹⁰.
D) 6.42 × 10 ^{− 10}.
E) 1.0 × 10^64.2.

Question 26

How long does light take to reach us from Proxima Centuri?

A) 4.2 ly
B) 4.2 years
C) 8.4 AU
D) 8.4 km

Question 27

Which unit best represents a field of view?

A) seconds
B) square centimeters
C) Celsius
D) km

Question 28

Assume the size of the Sun is represented by a baseball with the Earth is about 15 meters (150 million km or 8 light minutes) away. How far away, to scale, would the nearest stars to the Sun be? Choose the closest answer.

A) about the distance between New York and Boston (330 km)
B) 100 meters away
C) about the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles (4300 km)
D) about the distance across 50 football fields (50 × 100 m)

Question 29

Which of these is NOT a common misconception?

A) A light year is a unit of time.
B) Stars look like disks when seen through a telescope
C) A galaxy is a star plus its planets.
D) All of the other choices are misconceptions.

Question 30

A solar system contains

A) primarily planets.
B) large amounts of gas and dust but very few stars.
C) large amounts of gas, dust, and stars.
D) a single star and planets.
E) thousands of superclusters.

Question 31

Which color best represents space as drawn in this chapters' figures?

A) blue
B) white
C) black
D) red

Question 32

If the light takes 8 minutes to reach Earth from the Sun and the nearest star is 4.7 ly from the Sun, what is the distance from the Sun to the nearest star in astronomical units?

A) 37.6 AU
B) 1.7 AU
C) 214 AU
D) 310,000 AU
E) 1.5 × 10¹¹ AU

Question 33

The average distance from Earth to the Sun is

A) 1 ly.
B) 1 million km.
C) 1 million miles.
D) 1 billion km.
E) 150 million km.

Question 34

How is a planet different than a star?

A) Planets are larger than stars.
B) Planets reflect light while stars produce their own light.
C) Stars move faster in the sky than planets.
D) Planets are brighter than stars.

Question 35

3.0 × 10⁵ times 1.5 × 10⁹ is equal to

A) 4.5 × 10⁴⁵.
B) 4.5 × 10¹⁴.
C) 2.0 × 10⁴.
D) 2.0 × 10¹⁴.
E) 2.0 × 10⁴⁵.

Question 36

Which of the following is the largest?

A) the diameter of Earth
B) the diameter of the Moon
C) the diameter of the Sun
D) the diameter of Jupiter
E) the distance from Earth to the Sun

Question 37

4.4 × 10⁶ divided by 8.8 × 10¹⁰ is equal to

A) 5.0 × 10 ^{− 5}.
B) 5.0 × 10 ^{− 4}.
C) 5.0 × 10⁴.
D) 3.9 × 10¹⁷.
E) 3.9 × 10¹⁶.

Question 38

If light travels 63,000 AU in 1 year at 3 × 10⁸ m/s, which of these best represents the unit of a light-year?

A) 63,000 AU
B) 3 × 10⁸ m/s
C) 1 year
D) All of the other choices are correct.

Question 39

Order the following from most recent to least.
I) Big Bang
II) Age of quasars
III) First humans
IV) Cambrian explosion
V) Formation of the solar system
VI) First life
VII) Recombination Period

A) I, II, VII, IV, V, VI, III
B) I, VI, VII, II, V, IV, III
C) I, VI, V, VII, III, II, IV
D) I, VII, II, V, VI, IV, III

Question 40

Which is the shorter time unit - a light-second, a light-minute, or a light-year?

A) light-second
B) light-minute
C) light-year
D) None of the other choices are correct.

Question 41

The scientific method is a ___________________ by which scientists form hypotheses and test them agains evidence gathered by observation or experiment.

Question 42

Figure 1-11 is an example of a/an __________________. Choose the best answer.

A) image
B) picture
C) artistic rendering
D) line drawing

Question 43

How fast does light travel from Proxima Centuri to Earth?

A) 4.2 ly
B) 4.2 years
C) 3 × 10⁸ m/s
D) None of the other choices are correct.

Question 44

Earth is located about ____________ of the way out from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

A) 1/2
B) 1/3
C) 2/3
D) 3/2

Question 45

If the field of view (FOV) in Figure 1-1 is 50 ft and the distance is widened by a factor of 100, how large is the FOV in Figure 1-2? Choose the best answer.

A) 1 mile
B) 5000 ft
C) 1 square mile
D) 5000 square feet

Question 46

________________ is the closest star to Earth.

Question 47

The name of the average distance from Earth to the Sun is one ____________________.

Question 48

According to the text, the Sun is a very _____________ star.

A) typical
B) atypical
C) unique
D) abnormal

Question 49

The number 52,600,000,000 would be written in scientific notation as ____________________.

Question 50

Which shape best describes how stars look when seen through a telescope?

A) five-point star
B) disk
C) point
D) seven-point star

Question 51

The ____________________ contains a large amount of gas and dust and a great number of stars, and our Sun is one of those stars.

Question 52

Which of the following is ordered correctly from largest to smallest planet?

A) Neptune, Saturn, Moon, Earth
B) Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn
C) Mars, Earth, Saturn, Jupiter
D) Uranus, Saturn, Venus, Earth

Question 53

Light takes about 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth and about 40 minutes to travel from the Sun to Jupiter. Jupiter is about ____________________ AU from the Sun.

Question 54

Which of the following order from largest to smallest is incorrect?

A) void, supercluster, star
B) filament, planet, asteroid
C) wall, star, planet
D) void, solar system, cluster

Question 55

A(n) ____________________ is the largest known structure in the universe.

Question 56

By how much is the FOV (field of view) enlarged from Figure 1 to Figure 3?

A) 100
B) 1 × 10⁵
C) 1,000
D) 10,000

Question 57

A(n) ____________________ is a collection of billions of stars.

Question 58

Which is the correct order for the following steps used in the scientific method?
I) Conclude
II) Analyze
III) Gather evidence
IV) Test
V) Hypothesize
VI) Establish laws

A) VI, V, III, II, IV, I
B) III, IV, II, V, VI, I
C) V, III, IV, II, I, VI
D) III, V, IV, II, I, VI

Question 59

A(n) ____________________ is the distance that light would travel in one year.

Question 60

Which of the following is an incorrect ordering of the planets' distances from the Sun, from nearest to furthest?

A) Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Neptune
B) Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
C) Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune
D) Earth, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus

Question 61

________ is the smallest planet in the solar system.

Question 62

Life and human life are the same thing.

Question 63

The Moon is a large moon compared to the size of its host planet.

Question 64

The nearest star is 1 ly from the solar system.

Question 65

The metric system is a decimal system.

Question 66

A light-year is the distance light travels in one year.

Question 67

The relative distance between the planets increase with distance from the Sun.

Question 68

Our Sun was born in a spiral arm.

Question 69

The scientific method is a simple, mechanical way of grinding facts into understanding.

Question 70

Life began on land.

Question 71

In the mnemonic, My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles , _________ refers to Mars.

Question 72

The numbers 9.81 × 10⁵ and 981,000 are equivalent.

Question 73

The average distance from Earth to the Sun is 1 AU.

Question 74

The Sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Question 75

An astronomical unit is larger than a light-year.

Question 76

____________ is the closest planet to the Sun.

Question 77

A kilometer contains 1 million meters.

Question 78

The Milky Way and the Milky Way Galaxy are the same thing.

Question 79

A supercluster refers to a large group of stars within the Milky Way.

Question 80

3.42 × 10⁷ km is the same as 3.42 × 10⁴ m.