Term
| The Solar System Contains... |
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Definition
| the sun and everything whose motion is controlled by the Sun |
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Term
| The purpose of the telescope's objective is to: |
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Definition
| collect light and form an image |
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Term
| Earth's yearly season are caused by |
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Definition
| the tilt of Earth's equator with respect to the eclliptic |
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Term
| Where must an observer be located on earth to view the entire sky over the course of a year |
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Definition
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Term
| If the Earth's period if revolution doubled, but the period of rotation stayed the same: |
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Definition
| the night would be half as long |
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Term
| The sun's red light seen at a sunset is light that has been: |
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Definition
| scattered only slightly, if at all, by particles in the Earth's atmosphere |
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Term
| Which of the following consists of electromagnetic waves with the shortest wavelength? |
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Definition
| the x-rays in your dentists office |
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Definition
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| As the wavelength of light increases |
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Definition
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| You escape from an underground prison with no idea what time it is. As you look around you see a third quarter moon rising in the east. What time is it? |
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Definition
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Term
| the electromagnetic spectrum is |
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Definition
| all of the different types of electromagnetic waves |
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Term
| The astronomical unit is defined as: |
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Definition
| the average distance between earth and the sun |
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Term
| How is a planet different than a star? |
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Definition
| Planets reflect light; stars produce their own light |
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Term
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Definition
| a mathematical way of describing the action of a charged particle on another charged particle |
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Term
| The observed changing positions of the stars during a night is the result of the |
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Definition
| rotation of the stars on their axes |
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Term
| According to Galileo, which car would be moving "naturally" |
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Definition
| A car driving at 150 mph down a perfectly straight highway |
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Term
| As seen from Earth, a lunar eclipse is caused by |
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Definition
| The moon passing into the shadow of the Earth |
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Term
| Reflecting telescopes differ from refracting telescopes in having: |
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Definition
| a mirror instead of an objective lens |
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Term
| What was one of the contributions made by Galileo to astronomy? |
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Definition
| He used the telescope to explore the heavens, adding validity to the heliocentric model of the universe |
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Term
| If the moon get exactly between the Earth and the Sun, then somewhere on Earth there would be: |
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Definition
| either an annular eclipse or a total solar eclipse |
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Term
| The moon will be third quarter phase on February 25, 2011. When will it next be a full phase |
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Definition
| March 20, a little more than three weeks later |
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Term
| If an observer on Earth walks southward from the North pole toward the equator, the number of circumpolar stars would: |
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Definition
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Term
| Which statement below most accurately describes modern constellations? |
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Definition
| They are 88 well defined regions on the celestial sphere |
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Term
| While on the moon, the Apollo astronauts demonstrated Galileo's experiment at the Leaning Tower of Pisa by dropping a feather and a hammer. They reached the ground at the same time because: |
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Definition
| the accelerations of each object is the same |
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Term
| As viewed from Earth, the phases of the moon are caused by: |
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Definition
| different amounts of the illuminated half of the moon being visible from Earth |
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Definition
| Science's most fundamental understanding of nature |
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Term
| The ability of a telescope to resolve fine detail is known as the telescope's |
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Definition
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Term
| As viewed from Denton does the appearance of the constellations follow a seasonal pattern? |
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Definition
| Yes, during a summer night many of the constellations you can see are different from those you can see on a winter night. However, there are some constellations that are visible all year long |
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Term
| Which of the following is an important aspect of a scientific hypothesis? |
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Definition
| It is testable by observations |
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Definition
| Point on the celestial sphere directly above an observer |
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Term
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Definition
| Path that the sun appears to follow on the celestial sphere as Earth orbits the Sun |
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Definition
| Time of the year when the sun reaches its most northernly or southernly location in the sky at local noon |
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Definition
| distance between crests of a wave |
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Term
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Definition
| intensity or height of the wave |
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Term
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Definition
| number of waves per second |
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Definition
| time between succesive wave crests |
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Definition
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Definition
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Term
| When an Earth scientist states that the Earth is differentiated this means |
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Definition
| the density increases moving inward toward the Earth's Center |
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Term
| The flow patterns found on the surface of Mars suggests that |
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Definition
| the climate on Mar was different in the past. |
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Term
| Suppose the rocks on the surface of a planet have densities that are much smaller than the average density for this planet. What can be said about the density of the core? |
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Definition
| The core has a greater density than that of the surface rocks |
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Term
| All terrestrial planets have |
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Definition
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Term
| What property does carbon dioxide have that makes it a greenhouse gas? |
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Definition
| It easily absorbs infrared radiation |
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Term
| Which planet has two moons, both of which look like captured asteroids. |
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Definition
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Term
| The energy that drives tectonic deformation of a planet's crust comes from |
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Definition
| Convection of heat from the hot interior |
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Term
| Condensation in the solar nebula probably led to formation of |
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Definition
Icy grains beyond the present orbit of Jupiter
metallic grains near the present orbit of Mercury
Silicate grains near the present orbit of Earth |
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Term
| Mercury is like the Earth in which respect |
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Definition
| Both have a dense, iron-rich core |
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Term
| What geologic process can alter the surface of a planet, but requires a significant atmosphere? |
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Definition
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Term
| If you lived on the side of the moon dominated by lowlands terrain, how often would you see earth? |
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Definition
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Term
| How do we know that the highlands of the moon are older than the Maria |
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Definition
| Due to radioactive decay measurements made on lunar rocks |
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Term
| Both the moon and mercury have very large temperature variations between day and night. Why? |
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Definition
| Because of the lack of a permanent atmosphere |
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Term
| The average rate of erosion on the Mercury is substantially less than that of Earth because... |
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Definition
| Mercury lacks wind and flowing water |
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Term
| As presented in class, which factor is the most important in determining the duration of geologic activity for a terrestrial planet |
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Definition
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Term
| Comparing the physical characteristics of the planets is a fundamental goal of the science of planetology. Although they are very different worlds, what are similarities between Mars and Earth |
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Definition
| rotation period, seasons, polar caps |
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Term
| What happened to the majority of the Carbon dioxide that was formerly in Earth's Atmosphere. |
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Definition
| Most of it dissolved into the oceans and now is in the form of limestones rocks of Earth's Crust. |
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Term
| circulation in Earth's atmosphere is driven by energy from Sun re-radited into the atmosphere by Earth's surface. The amount of heating varies with latitude because of Earth's spherical surface. The circulation patern is further complicated by... |
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Definition
| Rotation and the non-uniform heating rates of land and water |
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Term
| The current atmosphere of Venus is believed to be... |
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Definition
| composed of gases that were baked from the rocks sometime after the planet formed |
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Term
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Definition
| It is situated above a hot spot in the planet's mantle |
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Term
| The most likely formation mechanism for the solar system is that.. |
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Definition
| The sun and planets slowly condensed and accreted from a cloud of gas and dust |
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Term
| The northern lights (aurora borealis) are caused by... |
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Definition
| Charged particles falling into Earths atmosphere near the poles |
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Term
| The gas that is most responsible for greenhouse effect |
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Definition
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Term
| What is a true difference between Mercury and the moon? |
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Definition
| The craters on Mercury are less densely packed than on the moon |
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Term
| the terresrial planets are made of |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the hottest part of Venus |
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Definition
| The atmosphere and surface are unusually hot |
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Term
| In contrast to the Earth and Mercury, the fact that the Earth's moon has no magnetic field implies |
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Definition
| The moon's core contains little if any molten Iron |
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