I’m stuck on a Astronomy question and need an explanation.

Please answer these questions:

1. The North Celestial Pole:

a.) Is located on Earth

b.) is located at the zenith for all observers

c.) is location in the sky directly above the Earth’s North Pole

d.) has been visited recently by a NASA spacecraft

2. Which process could be responsible for an absorption line at visible wavelength?

a.) a proton jumping to a lower energy level

b.) a neutron jumping to a higher energy level

c.) an electron jumping to a higher energy level

d.) an electron jumping to a lower energy level

3. A star has a measured parallax angle of 0.05 arc seconds. Using the parallax formula: D = 1/P we can compute the distance to the star to be:

a.) 0.05 parsecs

b.) 0.02 parsecs

c.) 50 parsecs

d.) 20 parsecs

4. All of the energy of the Sun is generated in the

a.) photosphere

b.) chromosphere

c.) core

d.) corona

5. The Sun’s photosphere:

a.) an only be seen with a space telescope

b.) is the visible surface of the Sun

c.) is its primary source of the Sun’s energy

d.) can only be seen during an eclipse

6. A star has a peak wavelength of 600 nm (nanometers). Use Wien’s law to compute the temperature of the star. Wien’s law can be expressed as: T(K) = 3,000,000 nm /?max

a.) 1,800,000,000 K

b.) 60,000 K

c.) 5,000 K

d.) 500 K

7. 10 meter telescope can gather more light than a 5 meter telescope. How many times more? (Note: C = 2 * ?* r and A = ?* r^2)

a.) 10 times more

b.) 4 times more

c.) 2 times more

d.) 25 times more

8. A star with a very large parallax angle must be:

a.) very close to us

b.) very far away

c.) very faint

d.) very bright

9. The Sunspot Cycle:

a.) is caused by dramatic changes in the Sun’s nuclear reactions

b.) causes the Sun to be brighter and dimmer every 365 days

c.) is an 11 year variation in activity on the surface of the Sun

d.) is responsible for Solar Eclipses

10. The cause of aurorae (eg. Northern Lights) is

a.) Kepler’s first Law

b.) particles from the Sun, deflected by Earth’s magnetic field

c.) light from the Moon

d.) excess heat on the North Pole during summer solstice

11. The source of energy in the Sun is

a.) Nuclear fission of Uranium

b.) The chemical combustion of Hydrogen

c.) Nuclear fission of Carbon

d.) The nuclear fusion of Hydrogen into Helium

12. What would be the best way to determine if a star contains the element Calcium?

a.) determine the color of the star

b.) determine the magnitude of the star

c.) determine the distance to the star

d.) obtain its spectrum and compare it to a known spectrum of Calcium

13. A time of year when the night and day are of equal length is known as:

a.) an equinox

b.) a solstice

c.) the equator

d.) the ecliptic

14. Which is true of Galileo?

a.) He used the theory of gravity to explain planetary motions.

b.) His discoveries disproved the Geocentric Theory

c.) He discovered that planets orbit the Sun following ellipses

d.) He was first to observe retrograde motion

15. How are all of the stars in a constellation (e.g. Orion) related?

a.) they are not related; they are simply in the same part of the sky

b.) they are all the same distance

c.) they are all the same spectral type

d.) they are all the same temperature

16. Which observation of the Moon helped Newton develop his Law of Gravity?

a.) it does not move in a straight line, but curves under some force

b.) it rises at sunset

c.) has phases that repeat every 29.5 days

d.) it is large enough to eclipse the Sun

17. Which of the following people is given credit for the idea that the Sun at the center of the solar system?

a.) Ptolemy

b.) Copernicus

c.) Tycho

d.) Kepler

18. Kepler’s Third Law involved which two properties of a planet?

a.) its mass and its size

b.) its composition and its color

c.) its mass and its energy

d.) its period and its semi-major axis

19. Kepler’s First Law says:

a.) For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

b.) Planets orbit the Sun in a circle

c.) the tilt of Earth’s orbit causes the seasons

d.) Planets orbit in ellipses, with the Sun at one Focus

20. Does an eclipse occur every New Moon?

a.) Yes, and it is always a lunar eclipse

b.) Yes, but it could be partial solar eclipse

c.) No, because the New Moon is too small to cause an eclipse.

d.) No, because Moon’s orbit is tilted

21. Why did Kepler reject Copernicus’ model of circular planetary orbits?

a.) it differed from an idea Kepler had previously proposed

b.) it disagreed with church doctrines

c.) it disagreed with observations made by Tycho

d.) Kepler didn’t like Copernicus

22. The Retrograde motion of a planet

a.) occurs when its course through the sky appears to reverse direction

b.) occurs at either of the two solstices

c.) causes electronics on Earth to malfunction

d.) causes it to temporarily fall out of its orbit

23. A light-year is defined as:

a.) distance light travels in one year

b.) the average distance from the Earth to the Sun.

c.) the speed at which light travels through space.

d.) the time it takes light to reach us from a star

24. The day of the year with the fewest hours of daylight is called

a.) Winter Solstice

b.) Perihelion

c.) Vernal Equinox

d.) Summer Solstice

25. What’s the difference between blue light and red light?

a.) red light is brighter

b.) blue light has shorter wavelengths

c.) blue light is brighter

d.) red light has shorter wavelengths

26. What is special about the constellations that make up the Zodiac?

a.) their stars are closer to us than the stars of other constellations

b.) they form a circle around the Earth from the North to South Celestial Poles

c.) they determine people’s destiny

d.) they are located on the ecliptic, so the Sun passes “through” them every year

27. Which of the following spectral types of star has the coolest surface temperature?

a.) Type O

b.) Type A

c.) Type B

d.) Type K

28. Of two stars, the star with a LOWER apparent magnitude:

a.) appears brighter

b.) appears dimmer

c.) must be closer to us

d.) must be farther from us

29. Most large research telescopes are ____________, which use _______________

a.) Reflectors; mirrors

b.) Reflectors; lenses

c.) Refractors; X-rays

d.) Refractors; mirrors

30. Why does Earth have seasons?

a.) because Earth’s axis is tilted with respect to the Ecliptic

b.) because Earth is gets closer to the Sun in summer, and farther in winter

c.) because the Sun’s energy output is constantly changing

d.) due to effects caused by the Moon

31. The International Space Station orbits Earth 16 times a day. How does it do this?

a.) It burns fuel to keep itself in motion.

b.) Its direct motion is compensated for by its retrograde direction.

c.) It falls under the force of gravity without expending energy.

d.) It has solar panels that provide the energy required to orbit.

32. The equation E = m c^2 is relevant to the energy production of a star. In this equation “M” represents:

a.) magnitude of the star

b.) mass of the star

c.) meters

d.) mass of matter converted into energy

33. On August 21st, 2017, over 200 million people in the US witnessed a total solar eclipse. What phase was the Moon in on this day?

a.) Crescent

b.) First quarter

c.) Full

d.) New

34. When the Moon is directly between the Sun and Earth, which phase is the Moon in? (Hint: make a drawing)

a.) New

b.) gibbous

c.) Full

d.) First Quarter

35. If a star’s spectrum just shows bright lines at specific wavelengths, it is called:

a.) an absorption spectrum

b.) an emission spectrum

c.) a continuum spectrum

d.) a solar spectrum

36. When Earth reaches perihelion (its closest point to the Sun)

a.) it will be winter

b.) Earth’s orbital speed will be largest

c.) Earth will begin to move in a straight line, according to Newton’s Laws

d.) it will be summer

37. Where do the Sun and Moon rise and set?

a.) the Sun rises in the east, but the Moon rises in the west

b.) the Sun rises in the west but the moon rises in the east

c.) both rise in the east and set in the west

d.) both rise in the west and set in the east

38. What is special about Geostationary (or Geosynchronous) satellites?

a.) they orbit the Moon rather than the Earth

b.) they remain above the same part of the Earth while orbiting

c.) they leave the solar system

d.) they orbit other planets, but not the Earth

39. The unit equal to the average distance from the Earth to the Sun is:

a.) the kilometer

b.) the Astronomical Unit (AU)

c.) the parsec

d.) the light year

40. Newton’s realization that the Moon orbited the Earth due to gravity ultimately allowed him to:

a.) Discover that planets orbited the Sun in circles

b.) Prove Kepler’s Laws of planetary motion

c.) Disprove the Heliocentric Theory

d.) Discover that planets orbited the Sun in ellipses

41. In Ptolemy’s model of the Solar System:

a.) The Sun was located at the center of the known universe

b.) Venus would go through the complete set of crescent and gibbous phases, as observed by Galileo.

c.) Planets moved on a small epicycle that orbited the Earth on a larger circle.

d.) Planets would orbit in an ellipse, not a circle.