Test your basic knowledge |

Subject : science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The particle horizon is the farthest we can see. It exists because the universe had a beginning and thus a definite age. Light from distances farther away from the particle horizon have not had time to reach us yet.






2. A two-filter measure of the color - and hence temperature - of a star.






3. The location in an H-are diagram of a star cluster - where stars have just left the main sequence. Used to estimate the cluster age.






4. Centered on the sun.






5. The movement of the Earth's crustal plates riding on top of the mantle.






6. An evolved star - past the helium flash that is burning helium to carbon in it's cores






7. Flattened spherical distribution of old stars with some young stars too. 'hub' of Milky way - stars orbit with solid body speeds. Elongated into bar shape






8. A spherical shell of comets that orbit the sun at a great distance (roughly two light years from the sun)






9. The shadow behind the Earth or Moon where the Sun is partially obscured.






10. Old - pock marked - icy surface - interior is not differentiated - geologically dead - NOT ACTIVE SURFACE






11. Collections of young - hot stars






12. The part of the Milky way that has on-going star formation






13. A subatomic particle with a negative charge. It creates light.






14. The cosmological principle is the assumption that the universe is isotropic and homogeneous.The Big Bang assumes it to be a correct principle so that what we observe is exactly like What is too far away to be observed.






15. In a FLAT UNIVERSE(our universe) - the curvature of space-time is ________. Parallel beams will converge/diverge/remain parallel (circle one). The density parameter - Ω0 - is _____.






16. The final end state of an intermediate to high mass star. An entity in which all the electrons have been pushed into the protons.






17. The Greek philosopher responsible for making the stellar magnitude scale.






18. The mass of an object divided by its volume






19. Elliptical orbits that come inside orbit of the Earth.






20. Earth






21. Either Io -Europa - Ganymede - or Callisto






22. Light scattered through the atmosphere that degrades astronomical images






23. A particle of light






24. A telescope that uses mirrors to focus light






25. We can infer the absolute magnitude of pulsating variable stars by measuring their pulsation periods. The longer the pulsations - the greater their luminosities. We then again measure their apparent magnitudes - compare it with their absolute magnitu






26. When a planet lines up with the sun inthe sky






27. The rotation of a star or planet at different speeds at its equator and poles






28. Cold aggregates of gas - large and contain a huge amount of matter - so cold that molecules stick together to form molecules.






29. Why do Galaxies move very rapidly in the interiors of the dense clusters?






30. Mercury






31. A spread of light with an uninterrupted wavelength distribution of energy.






32. The fate of the universe if it is closed. The universe expanding as much as possible and then retracting






33. The trapping of heat by carbon dioxide or other gases in the Earth's atmosphere.






34. Jupiter






35. In Ptolemy's geocentric solar system - the large circle on which a planet's epicycle moved around the Earth.






36. An empirical scheme for predictin ghe orbital distances of planets






37. Is there water on the moon?






38. A change in the wavelength of light caused by a motion between the observer and light (or wave) source (blue shift if getting closer - red shift if moving away)






39. The point directly overhead.






40. The layer of the sun just above the photosphere






41. A star that has become a red giant for the second and final time. It is burning helium to carbon in a shell surrounding the core






42. A nearby galaxy with a quasar-like nucleus. closer but less bright than quasars-weaker






43. The seasonal shifting of a nearby star's position relative to more distant objects.






44. A change in the wavelength of light caused by a motion between the observer and light (or wave) source (blue shift if getting closer - red shift if moving away)






45. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun (=1.5 x10^8km)






46. A younger cluster of stars - found in the galaxy disk






47. If stars have diff orbital periods - than any arms formed by stars will wind into a tight spiral pattern (billion yrs or so)






48. The seasonal shifting of a nearby star's position relative to more distant objects.






49. The time when the universe cooled sufficiently for atoms to exist. radiation dominated= first 300000 years - THEN era of recombination turns into matter dominated for next.






50. IO