Earth Science Hemisphere and Poles Quesionnaire

1. True
2. False

4 PointsYou see a crescent Moon setting after the Sun sets. Is it waning or waxing?

1. waning
2. can’t distinguish based on the information provided
3. waxing

4 PointsWhat is a circumpolar star?

1. a star that always remains above your horizon
2. a star that makes a daily circle around the celestial sphere
3. a star that is close to the south celestial pole
4. a star that is close to the north celestial pole
5. a star that is visible from the Arctic or Antarctic circles

4 PointsWhy were ancient peoples unable to detect stellar parallax?

1. They could not see distant stars.
2. They did not have the ability to measure very small angles.
3. They did not look for it.
4. They did not observe for long enough periods of time.
5. They did detect it, but they rejected the observations.

4 PointsHow many arcseconds are in one degree?

1. 100
2. 3,600
3. 360
4. 10,000
5. 60

4 PointsBy locating the north celestial pole (NCP) in the sky, how can you determine your latitude?

1. The altitude of the NCP is the same as your latitude.
2. The altitude of the NCP is your angular distance from the North Pole.
3. The direction of the NCP is the angular distance from the North Pole.
4. The altitude of the NCP is the same as your distance from the North Pole.
5. The direction of the NCP is the same as your latitude.

4 PointsWhat is the celestial sphere?

1. The celestial sphere is a model of how the stars are arranged in the sky relative to our Sun, which is in the middle of the sphere.
2. The celestial sphere is a representation of how the entire sky looks as seen from Earth.
3. It represents a belief in an Earth-centered universe, and hence is no longer considered to have any use.
4. The celestial sphere is a model that shows the true locations in space of the Sun and a few thousand of the nearest stars.

4 PointsIf you are located in the Northern Hemisphere, which of the following correctly describes a relationship between the sky and your location?

1. The altitude of the north celestial pole equals your longitude.
2. The altitude of the celestial equator equals your latitude.
3. The longitude of the north celestial pole is circumpolar, and therefore crosses your zenith at the meridian.
4. The altitude of the north celestial pole equals your latitude.

4 PointsWhy is it summer in the Northern Hemisphere when it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere?

1. The Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and receives more direct sunlight.
2. The Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun and receives more indirect sunlight.
3. The Northern Hemisphere is “on top” of Earth and therefore receives more sunlight.
4. The Northern Hemisphere is closer to the Sun than the Southern Hemisphere.
5. It isn’t; both hemispheres have the same seasons at the same time.

4 PointsThe point directly over your head is called ________.

1. the north celestial pole
2. the meridian
3. the North Star
4. the zenith

4 PointsA lunar eclipse occurs only when the Moon is new.

1. True
2. False

4 PointsIf you see Polaris directly overhead at midnight, you must be at

1. the equator.
2. the South Pole.
3. the Tropic of Cancer.
4. the North Pole.

4 PointsWhich of the following best describes why we have seasons on Earth?

1. The varying speed of Earth in its orbit around the Sun gives us summer when we are moving fastest and winter when we are moving slowest.
2. Earth’s elliptical orbit means we are closer to the Sun and therefore receive more intense sunlight at some times of year than at others.
3. The tilt of Earth’s axis causes the northern hemisphere to be closer to the Sun than the southern hemisphere in summer, and vice versa in winter.
4. The tilt of Earth’s axis causes different portions of the Earth to receive more or less direct sunlight at different times of year.

4 PointsWhich of the following is not a phase of the Moon?

1. third-quarter moon
2. new moon
3. half moon
4. first-quarter moon
5. full moon

4 PointsIn any particular place on Earth, certain constellations are visible in the evening only at certain times of the year because ________.

1. on any particular night, we can only see stars that are directly opposite (180 degrees away from) the Sun in the sky
2. some constellations are circumpolar
3. our evening view of space depends on where Earth is located in its orbit around the Sun
4. during some times of year, some constellations drop below the southern horizon

4 PointsThe term observable universe refers to ________.

1. the portion of the universe that can be seen by the naked eye
2. that portion of the universe that we can see in principle, given the current age of the universe
3. the portion of the universe that is not hidden from view by, for example, being below the horizon
4. that portion of the universe that we have so far photographed through telescopes

4 PointsHow long does it take the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun?

1. one year
2. one week
3. The time it takes Earth to orbit the Sun changes significantly from one orbit to the next.
4. one month
5. one day

4 PointsOne light year is about 10 trillion kilometers.

1. True
2. False

4 PointsWhich of the following correctly describes the concept of galactic recycling?

1. Life is continuously being spread from star to star in the Milky Way.
2. In the formation of a star, no matter is wasted as all excess material ends up recycled into planets.
3. New galaxies are continuously being formed out of gas ejected from a previous generation of galaxies.
4. Stars near the center of the Milky Way are continually recycled to the outskirts of the disk by their orbital motion.
5. New stars are continuously being formed in the Milky Way out of gas that has been ejected from a previous generation of stars.

4 PointsThe total number of stars in the observable universe is about ________.

1. 100 billion
2. the same as the number of grains of sand in a school sandbox
3. the same as the number of grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth
4. the same as the number of atoms that make up the Earth

4 PointsA typical galaxy is a ________.

1. large, glowing ball of gas powered by nuclear energy
2. system consisting of one or a few stars orbited by planets, moons, and smaller objects
3. relatively small, icy object orbiting a star
4. collection of a few hundred million to a trillion or more stars, bound together by gravity
5. nearby object orbiting a planet

4 PointsAstronomers infer that the universe is expanding because distant galaxies all appear to ________.

1. be growing in size
2. be moving away from us, with more distant ones moving faster
3. rotate rapidly
4. be made mostly of dark matter

4 PointsWhich of the following best describes what we mean by the universe?

1. a vast collection of stars that number as many as the grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth
2. The universe is another name for our Milky Way Galaxy.
3. all the galaxies in all the superclusters
4. the sum total of all matter and energy

4 PointsOne light-year is the distance light travels in one year. The speed of light is about 300,000 km/s . How far is 1 light-year?

1. 18 million km (18,000,000, or 1.8 × 107 km)
2. 9.46 trillion km (9,460,000,000,000, or 9.46 × 1012 km)
3. 300 thousand km (300,000, or 3 × 105 km)
4. 1.08 billion km (1,080,000,000, or 1.08 × 109 km)

4 PointsFrom the fact that virtually every galaxy is moving away from us and more distant galaxies are moving away from us at a faster rate than closer ones, we conclude that

1. the universe is expanding.
2. we are located at the center of the universe.
3. the Milky Way Galaxy is expanding.
4. the universe is shrinking.
5. the farthest galaxies will eventually be moving faster than the speed of light.