How many centimeters are there in one kilometer?

1. 100

2. 1,000

3. 10,000

4. 100,000

5. 1106

QUESTION

Scientific notation is used in science because

1. it makes it easy to write big or small numbers.

2. all astronomical distances are expressed in metric units.

3. it makes conversions between units easy.

4. all of the above.

QUESTION

The average distance from Earth to the Sun is

1. 1 ly

2. 1 million km

3. 1 million miles

4. 1 billion km

5. 150 million km

QUESTION

The sun is

1. a star which generates its own energy.

2. 1 AU from Earth.

3. visible by its own light emission.

4. all of the above.

QUESTION

2.9 107 is the same as

1. 2.9 thousand

2. 29 thousand

3. 290 thousand

4. 2.9 million

5. 29 million

QUESTION

Arrange the following distances in order from smallest to largest.

I. kilometerII. light-yearIII. yardIV. Astronomical unit

1. I, II, III, IV

2. IV, III, II, I

3. III, I, IV, II

4. II, I, IV, III

5. III, I, II, IV

QUESTION

If 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?

1. 5 AU

2. 30 AU

3. 30 ly

4. 5 ly

5. 0.6 ly

QUESTION

In the diagram below, what is the diameter of Jupiter?

1. About 7.0 104 km.

2. About 7.0 105 km.

3. About 1.4 104 km.

4. About 1.4 105 km.

5. About 3.5 106 km.

QUESTION

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

1. 390,000 km

2. 230,000 km

3. 3.9 km

4. 2.3 km

5. 4.3 105 km

QUESTION

A typical galaxy like our Milky Way galaxy contains

1. primarily planets.

2. gas only.

3. stars (some with planets), gas and dust.

4. a single star and planets.

5. thousands of superclusters.

QUESTION

The Milky Way Galaxy

1. contains about 100 billion stars.

2. is about 200 light-years in diameter.

3. is the largest known object in the universe.

4. all of the above.

5. 1 and 3.

QUESTION

The Milky Way Galaxy is

1. a spiral galaxy.

2. part of a cluster of galaxies that contains a few dozen galaxies.

3. about 80,000 light years in diameter.

4. all of the above.

QUESTION

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

1. 10 ft

2. 100 ft

3. 1000 ft

4. 10000 ft

QUESTION

Which sequence is correct when ordered by increasing size?

1. Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, clusters of galaxies

2. Solar System, Earth, galaxy clusters, Milky Way Galaxy

3. Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System, galaxy clusters

4. Galaxy clusters, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth

QUESTION

How is a planet different from a star?

1. Planets are larger than stars.

2. Planets reflect light while stars produce their own light.

3. Stars move faster in the sky than planets.

4. Planets are brighter than stars.

QUESTION

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

1. about 30 meters.

2. about 10 meters.

3. about 1 meter.

4. small than your hand.

QUESTION

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

1. About the distance between New York and Boston (330 km).

2. 100 meters away.

3. About the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles (4300 km).

4. About the distance across 50 football fields (50 x 100 m).

QUESTION

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

1. the star is 4.2 million AU away.

2. the light we see left the star 4.2 years ago.

3. the star must have formed 4.2 billion years ago.

4. the star must be very young.

5. the star must be very old.

QUESTION

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.”

1. the 50 yard line

2. the 5 yard line

3. the one yard line

4. the one inch line

QUESTION

Which of these is NOT a common misconception?

1. A light year is a unit of time.

2. Stars look like disks when seen through a telescope.

3. A galaxy is a star plus its planets.

4. All of the above are misconceptions.

QUESTION

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

1. True

2. False

QUESTION

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

1. True

2. False

QUESTION

A kilometer contains 1 million meters.

1. True

2. False

QUESTION

The Sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy.

1. True

2. False

QUESTION

The metric system is a decimal system.

1. True

2. False

QUESTION

3.42 107 km is the same as 3.42 104 m.

1. True

2. False

QUESTION

The numbers 9.81 105 and 981,000 are equivalent.

1. True

2. False

QUESTION

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

1. True

2. False

QUESTION