QUESTION 1: Judging from their Doppler shift, all quasars
a. are moving fast relative to us (compared to speeds of most galaxies).
b. are moving away from us.
c. are very distant.
d. [All of the above.]
e. [None of the above.]
QUESTION 2: The Hubble Law is a relationship between
a. the distance to a galaxy and its recessional velocity
b. the period and average absolute luminosity of Cepheid variables
c. the distance to a galaxy and its apparent luminosity
d. the distance to a galaxy and its size
QUESTION 3: Masses of galaxies can be determined by calculations based on
a. galaxies' rotations
b. their revolution around companion galaxies
c. their motions within a cluster
d. [All of the above.]
e. [None of the above; there is no way to determine masses of galaxies.]
QUESTION 4: Dark matter
a. cannot be detected by its gravitational interactions
b. is normal matter that appears dark because it emits very little light
c. is everywhere in the universe but we do not know what it is
d. [Only A and C.]
e. [All of the above.]
QUESTION 5: Which of the following is true?
a. Only 20% of the normal matter in the early universe converged to form the stars and galaxies we see today
b. The bar systems in spiral galaxies provide a mechanism for fueling star births at the galaxies' centers
c. Data on Type Ia supernovae provide a confirmation of the Hubble law
d. The rotation curve of a galaxy can provide evidence for the distribution of dark matter in the galaxy
e. [All of the above.]
QUESTION 6: The Hubble constant
a. never changes as time goes by
b. changed while the universe was young, but is not changing now
c. is changing as time goes by
d. is a constant number
QUESTION 7: The cosmological redshift of the light from a very distant galaxy is caused by
a. the Doppler blueshift of light due to the galaxy's motion through space, while the photon is being emitted
b. the Doppler redshift, in which the photon's wavelength is stretched by the galaxy's motion through space, away from us, while the photon is being emitted
c. the rotation of the universe around its center (faster at greater distances from us).
d. the absorption of blue light by interstellar dust between us and the galaxy.
e. the expansion of space, stretching the photon's wavelength while it is traveling toward us.
QUESTION 8: The approximate age of the universe is
a. 14 trillion years
b. 140 billion years
c. 14 billion years
d. 1.4 billion years
QUESTION 9: The discovery of the cosmic background radiation
a. provided support for the big bang theory
b. conflicted with the big bang theory, but not enough to destroy the theory
c. conflicted very seriously with the big bang theory
d. had no impact on the big bang theory
QUESTION 10: What evidence convinces astronomers that the universe is expanding?
a. The redshift from distant galaxies
b. The big bang theory
c. Einstein's theory of general relativity
d. Henrietta Leavitt's work with Cepheid variables
e. Clyde Tombaugh's discovery of Pluto
QUESTION 11: Which of the following factors in the Drake equation is least well-known?
a. The rate at which Sun-like stars are forming
b. The fraction of Sun-like stars with planets
c. The fraction of planets where life evolves
d. The fraction of planets where intelligence evolves
QUESTION 12: An astronomer who asks the question "Where is everybody?" is likely to believe that
a. SETI research is a complete waste of time
b. there are few, if any, extraterrestrial civilizations in the Galaxy
c. there are many extraterrestrial civilizations in the Galaxy
d. extraterrestrial civilizations are deliberately hiding from us
QUESTION 13: Which of the following were included on the Voyager records?
a. Johnny B. Goode
b. The Magic Flute
c. Songs of humpback whales
d. Pictures of Earth from space
e. [All of the above.]
QUESTION 14: If extraterrestrial civilizations are common in our Galaxy, the probability that one of them will recover the Pioneer or Voyager messages is
a. certain
b. likely, but not for at least 1,000 years
c. zero
d. uncertain, but not for at least several tens of thousands of years
QUESTION 15: A formula for estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our Galaxy was developed by
a. Carl Sagan
b. Frank Drake
c. Harold Urey
d. J B S Haldane