Assignment 1
1. The moon is about 240,000 mi away. What is this in scientific notation?
2. The planets shine because they [produce their own energy, reflect sunlight].
3. What is meant by the AU?
4. The light-year is a unit of [time, distance].
5. How many years does it take light from Proxima Centauri to reach us?
6. Our sun formed about how many years ago?
7. What is meant by a galaxy?
8. Our galaxy is about how many light-years in diameter?
9. Is Pluto always further from the sun than Neptune?
10.When we see a galaxy 8 billion light-years away we are looking how many years into the past?
11.The universe is thought to be about how many years old?
12.It is [likely, unlikely] that most stars have planets going around them.
13.There are how many official constellations?
14.The Big Dipper is an example of [a constellation, an asterism].
15.Which star usually appears brighter, one designated alpha or one designated beta?
16.Which star appears brighter, one of second magnitude or one of fifth magnitude?
17.If two stars differ in magnitude by 4, what is the ratio in their apparent brightness? [No calculation is required. See Pg. 15]
18.Approximately what is the apparent visual magnitude of the sun?
19.Where on Earth is the north celestial pole at the zenith?
20.The latitude of Seattle is 47 degrees north. How many degrees above the north point of the horizon is the north celestial pole as seen from Seattle?
21.What is meant by a circumpolar constellation?
22.If you travel south, Polaris would get [higher, lower] in the sky.
23.The Earth rotates from [west to east, east to west].
24.Circumpolar stars circle around the north celestial pole [clockwise, counterclockwise].
25.How many years does it take the Earth to complete one precession?
26.In about 12,000 years what bright star will be a few degrees from the north celestial pole?
27.Can people in Australia see the Big Dipper?
28.Where on Earth could you see all the constellations rise and set?
29.What is meant by a scientific model?
30.Who is believed to compile the first star catalog and discovered precession?
31.Give one reason why the study of astronomy can be useful.
32.What is the name of the brightest star in the sky? [Don’t say the sun!]
33.The pointer starts at the front of the big dipper point to what star?
34.Astronomers measure distances across the sky in [inches, meters, angles].
35.According to the Universe Bowl (See page 6), on the time scale civilization began about [1- yard, 1 foot, less than 1 inch] from the other goal line.
36.What are the largest known structures in the universe?
