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 distance a moon can be from a planet before shattering from tidal forces






2. The final end state of a high mass star. .An entity for which gravity has completely overwhelmed all other forces of nature.






3. The slow wobble of the Earth on its rotation axis.






4. 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.






5. 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






6. When one side of a body always faces the planet it revolves around






7. An object that may remain after a star explodes






8. The lens in a telescope used to determine the magnification






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






10. Disk dust grains are made of all the elements that are not in gaseous form in space which blocks starlight and causes interstellar extinction






11. All possible types of energy that can be emitted and absorbed by atoms.






12. An important quality of telescopes that increases as the square of the primary mirror or objective lens






13. Either Io -Europa - Ganymede - or Callisto






14. A massive variable star used to find distances to the galaxies or clusters that contain them.






15. The mirror that gathers the light in a reflector






16. Poitns of gravitational stability in the orbit of a planet






17. 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)






18. The universe is isotropic - homogeneous - and without beginning or end in time and space. If the universe is truly homogeneous then every line of sight will eventually end on a galaxy. If it has existed forever then there has been enough time for lig

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19. A prominence seen against the disk of the sun






20. Why does the earth have few craters while the moon has many?






21. Infinitely long -> 10 cm






22. Matter that reveals itself only through its gravitational attraction.






23. The ratio of the actual density of the universe to the critical density. (actual density divided by the critical density






24. Light scattered through the atmosphere that degrades astronomical images






25. Large nebula consisting of very cold gas and dust






26. The displacement of spectral lines to redder colors caused by the expansion of the universe.






27. Ancient stream channels - flood planes - and sedimentary-type rock. Frozen water is found in the polar ice caps and in the soil.






28. The state of having a balance between inward and outard pressures in a gas--the inward force from gravity is balanced by the outward force from heat.






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






30. The point in its orbit where a planet is nearest the sun






31. Atmosphere blocks high energy wavelengths - atmosphere blurs optical radiation - atmosphere absorbs some radiation at all wavelengths even when it gets through.






32. A logarithmically scaled value for the measured brightness of a star.






33. A cloud of ionized hydrogen. Formed when young stars heat the surrounding gas






34. Long - meandering cliff formed when a planet surface cools and shrinks






35. Consists of old red stars in slow orbits that plunge through disk and bulge. about 1% are old - round globular clusters.






36. Distribution of dust (tells us disk is thin) - find distances to O&B stars and H2 regions (arms are sights of star formation and OB stars live and die at location of birth) -Milky way has four arms. Sun is in spur apart from arms.






37. Either Io -Europa - Ganymede - or Callisto






38. The oldest grouping of stars - found in the galaxy halo






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






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






41. The source of the force that is accelerating the expansion rate of the universe.






42. Mercury and venus






43. A very distant - star-like object with huge - broad emission lines. Probably the nucleus of a distant active galaxy.






44. The science of measuring the apparent magnitudes of stars by imaging them through different filters.






45. Latin for 'cloud'. A word used to describe the collections of gas and dust in the Milky Way and other galaxies






46. The opaque universe that existed for 300000 years after the Big Bang. (photons outnumbered nuclei by 1 billion to one - so less light)






47. The shadow area behind the Earth or Moon where the Sun is completely obscured.






48. Largest moon in solar system - two differenet types of terrain - darker terrain is older - NOT ACTIVE SURFACE






49. A word meaning 'the same everywhere throughout.'






50. The mirror that gathers the light in a reflector