P16 Space

1. How many planets are there in our solar system (as far as we know)?

a) six
b) seven
c) nine
d) ten
e) eight

2. How many stars in our solar system?

a) 100 million
b) zero
c) between 200 and 400
d) two
e) one

3. What are small planets that have not cleared their orbits of other objects called?

a) minor planets
b) asteroids
c) comets
d) dwarf planets
e) moons

4. What structure, made up of hundreds of millions of stars, is our solar system just a small part of?

a) local cluster
b) milky way galaxy
c) globular cluster
d) open cluster
e) constellation

5. What was our Sun formed from?

a) gas and dust (nebula)
b) old planets
c) nuclear material
d) dark energy
e) dark matter

6. What force is responsible for the formation of stars?

a) gravity
b) electromagnetism
c) electrostatic
d) friction
e) strong

7. What process powers stars and makes new chemical elements inside them?

a) fission
b) fusion
c) radioactive decay
d) combustion
e) burning

8. In a main sequence star what force tries to make the star collapse?

a) gravity
b) electromagnetism
c) electrostatic
d) friction
e) strong

9. In a main sequence star, what tries to make the star expand?

a) dark matter
b) dark energy
c) photons
d) fusion energy
e) neutrinos

10. What term is used to describe balance between the answers from Q8 and Q9?

a) composition
b) equilibrium
c) density
d) equalise
e) steadiness

11. What is the first stage in the formation of a star from a nebula?

a) foetal star
b) immerging star
c) initial star
d) protostar
e) starlet

12. What term is used to describe the longest and stable part of a star’s life cycle?

a) long sequence
b) main sequence
c) yellow giant
d) red giant
e) quasar

13. What do stars with the Sun’s mass become after the main sequence?

a) white dwarf
b) white giant
c) red dwarf
d) red giant
e) black dwarf

14. What is the final state of a solar mass star?

a) white dwarf
b) white giant
c) red dwarf
d) red giant
e) black dwarf

15. What do main sequence stars much more massive than the Sun become?

a) white giant
b) red supergiant
c) red dwarf
d) red giant
e) black dwarf

16. What name is given to an exploding massive star?

a) nebula
b) cluster
c) big bang
d) supernova
e) superstar

17. What do exploding massive stars distribute throughout the universe?

a) planets
b) elements
c) moons
d) red dwarfs
e) gravity

18. In addition to a black hole, what can a massive star end up as?

a) white hole
b) neutron star
c) worm hole
d) red dwarf
e) black dwarf

19. What type of elements are mainly produced in a supernova?

a) hydrogen and helium
b) heavier than iron
c) carbon and nitrogen
d) lighter than iron
e) iron

20. What term is used to describe satellites that are man-made?

a) fake
b) mock
c) synthetic
d) artificial
e) FALSE

21. What type of satellite is a moon?

a) regular
b) physical
c) normal
d) native
e) natural

22. What force provides the acceleration needed for circular orbits?

a) electromagnetism
b) electrostatic
c) friction
d) gravity
e) strong

23. How does a satellite change its velocity (accelerate) but not its speed?

a) moves to a higher orbit
b) gets faster
c) gets slower
d) moves to a lower orbit
e) goes in a circle

24. What large spherical solar system objects orbit the parent star?

a) moons
b) comets
c) asteroids
d) planets
e) meteoroids

25. What solar system objects orbit planets?

a) moons
b) planets
c) comets
d) stars
e) meteoroids

26. If a planet in an elliptical orbit moves closer to its star what will happen to its speed?

a) decrease
b) stay the same
c) fall to zero
d) approach the speed of light
e) increase

27. When is the speed of an object in an elliptical orbit at its slowest?

a) when its furthest away
b) when it is closest
c) it always has the same speed
d) it depends on its mass
e) at the start of the orbit

28. If the radius of an orbit changes, which of the following does not change.

a) speed
b) orbital period
c) total energy
d) kinetic energy
e) gravitational potential energy

29. What feature of light from a distant galaxy is increased compared to a nearby one?

a) speed
b) intensity
c) brightness
d) wavelength
e) energy

30. What term is used to describe the increase in Q29 ?

a) red line
b) blue shift
c) red shift
d) blue line
e) acceleration

31. What does the increase in Q29 tell us about a galaxy?

a) it is very old
b) it is rotating
c) it is made of gas
d) it has exploded
e) it’s moving away / receding

32. The further away a galaxy is the …

a) the slower it moves away.
b) the faster it moves away.
c) the faster it moves towards us.
d) the slower it moves towards us.
e) brighter it is in the sky.

33. What is the explanation for the observation in Q31 ?

a) the universe is shrinking
b) the universe is expanding
c) dark energy
d) dark matter
e) alien technology

34. What theory is supported by the explanation in Q32 ?

a) gravitational lensing
b) big crunch
c) heat death
d) big bang
e) worm holes

35. What is the starting size of the universe in the theory from Q33 ?

a) the size of the solar system
b) the size of the galaxy
c) very very small
d) the size of the Sun
e) the size of the Earth

36. What are the two starting states of the universe in the theory from Q33 ?

a) cold and dense
b) hot and steamy
c) hot and dense
d) dense and flexible
e) fiery and thick

37. Observation of which events tell us the universes expansion is increasing?

a) eclipses
b) occultations
c) meteors
d) supernovae
e) solar flares

38. What two things make up most of the universe?

a) hydrogen and helium
b) stars and planets
c) gas and dust
d) moons and comets
e) dark matter and dark energy

39. What do scientists and astronomers know about the stuff in Q38 ?

a) very little
b) they are made of protons and neutrons
c) they are made of protons and electrons
d) they are made of neutrons
e) they are made of neutrinos

40. What do scientists and astronomers know about the ultimate fate of the universe?

a) it will end in heat death
b) it will end in a big rip
c) very little
d) it will end in a big crunch
e) it will never end

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