Term
| How many seconds are there in a year? |
|
Definition
| 31,536,000 seconds in a year |
|
|
Term
| How many kilometers does light travel in a year? |
|
Definition
Light travels
9.4608 x 10^12
kilometers per year
-or-
10 trillion kilometers per year |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Polaris Sirius
the Sun Regulus
Alpha Centauri 1
Alpha Centauri 2
Vega Bettleguese |
|
|
Term
| How many seconds of arc are in a circle? |
|
Definition
There are
1,296,000 seconds
of arc in a circle |
|
|
Term
| What effect does wavelength have on resolution? |
|
Definition
| Shorter wavelength gives more detailed pictures |
|
|
Term
| A spectral line is shifted from 600 to 602 nanometers. At what rate of speed is the object moving away? |
|
Definition
[(602-600)÷600] x 300,000=
1000 km/sec |
|
|
Term
| Why don't you see the same constellations at 9pm in July as at 9pm in December? |
|
Definition
You can't see the same constellations year round because the
earth orbits the sun |
|
|
Term
| How much more light does a telescope with a 200 inch diameter mirror collect than one with a 20 inch diameter mirror? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| How many days elapse between one full moon and the next full moon? |
|
Definition
| 30 days elapse between each full moon |
|
|
Term
| What is more massive, an electron or a proton? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Typically, how many times bigger is an atom than a nucleus? |
|
Definition
An atom is
100,000
times bigger than a nucleus |
|
|
Term
| Does a planet move most rapidly when it is nearest or farthest from the sun? |
|
Definition
A planet moves most rapidly when it is
nearest
to the sun |
|
|
Term
| Which two objects are one astronomical unit (A.U.) apart? |
|
Definition
The earth and the sun
are one A.U. apart |
|
|
Term
The semi-major axis of Saturn's orbit around the Sun is 9.6 A.U.
How long is Saturn's year in Earth years? |
|
Definition
orbital period squared (in years) = the cube of the size of the planet's orbit in A.U.
p^2 = o^3
30 years |
|
|
Term
| What direction do astronomers prefer streetlights to point? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is the longitude of Greenwich, England? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The Right Ascensions of two stars on the celestial equator differ by 3 hours. What is the angle in degrees between them? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is the Right Ascension of the Sun on March 21? |
|
Definition
Right Ascension of the Sun on March 21 is
0 hours |
|
|
Term
| How long does it take light to travel from the moon to the earth, a distance of 390,000 km? The speed of light is 300,000 km/s. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is the angular size of the sun in the sky in degrees? |
|
Definition
The angular size of the sun in the sky is
0.5º |
|
|
Term
| What is the latitude of Oxford, MS in degrees? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| According to Wien's Law, how many time hotter is an object whose blackbody emission spectrum peaks in the ultraviolet, at a wavelength of 200nm, than an object whose spectrum peaks in the orange, at 600nm? |
|
Definition
*The temperature of a black body is inversely proportional to the peak wavelength emitted*
3x hotter |
|
|
Term
| What color of light has the longest wavelength, red or blue? |
|
Definition
| Red has the longest wavelength |
|
|
Term
| Do radio waves travel at the same speed as visible light waves in a vacuum? |
|
Definition
YES
Radio waves travel at the speed of light in a vacuum |
|
|
Term
| Who was the first astronomer to use a telescope? |
|
Definition
Galileo
was the first to use a telescope |
|
|
Term
| What is the electrical charge of a neutron? |
|
Definition
A neutron has an electrical charge of
0 |
|
|
Term
| The distance to the moon is 384,000 kilometers. What is the circumference of the moon's orbit in kilometers? |
|
Definition
The circumference of the moon's orbit is
2,413,000 km
|
|
|
Term
| Heavy hydrogen (deuterium) has one proton and one neutron. What does deuterium become if one proton is added? |
|
Definition
Deuterium becomes
Helium-3
if one proton is added |
|
|
