Unit 1 Practice Test: Space

1. The sun is much larger than the moon.

However, as viewed from Earth, the sun
and moon appear to be the same size.
Why do the sun and moon appear to be
the same size when viewed from Earth?
A. The moon is much hotter than the
sun.
B. The moon is much denser than the
sun.

C. 9.5 trillion km
D. 1 million ly

5. A galaxy contains stars, gas, and dust. This

matter must be held together or the
galaxy will break apart. What is
responsible for holding the stars, gas,
and dust together in a galaxy?

C. The moon is much brighter than the

sun.

A. heat

D. The moon is much closer to Earth

than the sun.

C. gravity

B. light
D. friction

2. Space exploration has advanced our

knowledge of the universe. Which space
journey would take the longest?
A. a journey from Earth to the sun
B. a journey from Earth to the moon
C. a journey from Earth to a star in the
constellation Centaurus
D. a journey from Earth to the farthest
planet in our solar system, Neptune
3. A light-year (ly) is the distance that light
travels in one year. If a star is 3 ly from
Earth, how long does it take light from that
star to reach Earth?
A. 3 min
B. 3 h
C. 3 y
D. 3 ly
4. Distances between objects in space can be
enormous. Which of the following
distances is the longest?

6. One way to compare the objects of space is

by their relative sizes. Which of the
following is larger than a galaxy?
A. a star
universe

C. the

B. a planet
system

D. a solar

7. Our solar system consists of eight planets.

Each planet is classified as either a
terrestrial planet or a gas giant planet.
Which is a difference between these two
types of planets?
A. Terrestrial planets are larger than
gas giant planets.
B. Gas giant planets are denser than
terrestrial planets.
C. Terrestrial planets have thinner
atmospheres than gas giant planets.
D. Gas giant planets have rockier crusts
than terrestrial planets.

A. 2.1 ly
B. 950,000 km

8. The diameter of Saturn is nearly ten times

that of Earth. However, the density of

Saturn is much less than that of Earth.
What is the reason for this?
A. Earth is farther from the sun than
Saturn.

a newly discovered star through a

powerful telescope. She wants to find
out how bright the star actually is. What
information does she need to calculate
the absolute magnitude of a star?

B. Saturn has a ring system.

A. color and temperature of the star

C. Earth is hotter than Saturn.

B. color and composition of the star

D. Saturn is a gaseous planet.

C. apparent magnitude and distance

from Earth of the star

9. Which of the following correctly lists the

objects of space in order from largest to
smallest?
A. universe, galaxy, star, planet
B. universe, galaxy, planet, star
C. galaxy, universe, star, planet
D. galaxy, universe, planet, star

D. color and distance from Earth of the

star
12. Ashni is a member of the astronomy club.
During a trip to an observatory, the
members of the astronomy club observe
several different stars. Ashni records
information about some of the stars in
her journal. Of the following four stars,
which star should Ashni label as the
hottest?
A. Wolf, red

10. An astronomer uses a telescope to observe

a star. She observes that the color of this
star is similar to the color of the sun.
Therefore, she infers that the star and
the sun have similar sizes and surface
temperatures. Using this information,
what can the astronomer conclude about
the star?
A. The star is a white dwarf.
B. The star is medium sized.
C. The star is hotter than most other
stars in our galaxy.
D. The star is brighter than most other
stars in our galaxy.

11. Gloria is at the observatory and is examining

B. Ceti, yellow
C. Cygni B, orange
D. Vega, blue-white
13. The following chart shows the apparent
magnitude of various celestial bodies.

Based on the graph above, what

conclusion can be drawn about the
relationship between temperature and
absolute magnitude?
A. Absolute magnitude is not related to
the temperature of a star.
B. A hotter star has a greater absolute
magnitude than a cooler star.
C. There is an inverse relationship
between temperature and absolute
magnitude.
D. Hotter stars will have a more positive
value for absolute magnitude, which
measures absolute brightness
(luminosity).

Which of the following can be concluded

from the information in the chart?
A. The sun has the greatest absolute
magnitude of the objects listed.
B. Sirius apparent magnitude is greater
than Betelgeuses but dimmer than
Alpha Centauris.
C. Bernards Star is brighter than Venus.
D. Venus is brighter than Sirius
14. The graph below summarizes the
relationship between absolute magnitude
and color in stars.

15. What characteristic of stars is measured by

absolute brightness (luminosity)?
A. brightness

C.
temperature

B. size
from Earth

D. distance

Planet

16. In 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope

photographed a tiny spot in the sky for a
period of ten days; 342 exposures were
placed together to create an image
known as the Hubble Deep Field.
Although the sample is tiny, it is
representative of the universe, which
looks similar in all directions. The image
below shows a collection of billions of
stars. The Hubble Deep Field shows at
least 3,000 groups of these stars.

Which term describes this group of

stars?
A. moon
B. galaxy
system

Density (g/cm3)

Mercury

5.427

Venus

5.204

Earth

5.515

Mars

3.934

Jupiter

1.326

Saturn

0.687

Uranus

1.290

Neptune

1.638

Based on its density, which kind of planet

is Uranus?
A. gas giant

C.
supergiant

B. terrestrial
dwarf

D. white

C.
universe
D. solar
18. The following table displays the average
distance from Earth for four objects.
Object

Average Distance from

Earth

Barnards Star

6 ly

Andromeda galaxy

2.4 million ly

Triangulum galaxy

2.6 million ly

Planet Neptune

4.3 billion km

Which object is closest to Earth?

A. Barnards Star

C.
Andromeda

galaxy
B. Planet Neptune
galaxy

17. The following table shows the densities of

the planets in our solar system.

D.
Triangulum

21. Newstarsforminacloudofgasanddust
19. During a class astronomy project, the
teacher displayed a table similar to the
one below that relates the color of a star
to its surface temperature.

calleda
A
B
C
D

Temperature and Color of Various Stars

Color

22. What

Surface Temperature (K)

Example

Above 25,000

10 Lacertae

te

G
H

10,00025,000

7,50010,000

white

6,0007,500
5,0006,000
3,5005,000
Below 3,500
The teacher gave Kwan a card with the
following description of a star:
Star A
6,750 K
Based on the table above, what color
should Kwan predict the star will be?

24. What

B. blue

C. orange

G
H

D. yellow-white

20. Natasia examined a table that lists the

characteristics of four stars.
Temperature (K)

Distance from Earth

(ly)
A

10,000

23

7,000

132

31,000

58

15,000

989

A. star A

C. star C

B. star B

D. star D

do Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,

and Neptune have in
common?
They all have rocky surfaces.
They all have gaseous surfaces.
They all appear to be similar to Earth.
They all appear to be made of rock and ice.

25. What

Which star would appear the dimmest from

Earths surface?

type of galaxy has a shape

somewhat like a football?
spiral galaxy
dwarf galaxy
elliptical galaxy
irregular galaxy

Canopus23. Why can people in the United

States see the constellation
Canis Major only in the
winter?
Aldebaran A
As the stars move around the Earth,
Betelgeuse
different constellations are visible.
B
As the Earth moves around the Sun,
different parts of the sky come into view.
C
As the Sun moves through the sky, it
makes different constellations visible.
D
As the Moon moves around the Earth, it
blocks different constellations in the sky.

A. red

Star

nebula.
supernova.
black hole.
white dwarf.

causes the temperatures at

the North and South Poles to
remain so cold throughout
the year?
the tilt of the Earth on its axis
the distance between the Earth and the
Sun
the speed at which the Earth moves
around the Sun
the length of time it takes for the Earth to
turn on its axis

26. Which

F
G
H

choice below gives the

correct order of planets from
the Sun?
Mars, Venus, Earth, Saturn
Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter
Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter

Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn

27. Look

at the illustration below.

Which part of the comet exists

both when the comet is close to
the Sun and when the comet is far
away from the Sun?

What season is the location the

arrow is pointing to on Earth
experiencing?
A
spring
B
winter
C
autumn
D
summer
28. A

F
G
H
I

student says that she saw a

shooting star in the sky last
night. What did she really
see?
a star
a meteor
an asteroid
a meteoroid

29. Why

do craters last for millions of

years on the surface of the Moon?
A
The wind on the Moon is high in the atmosphere.
B
The Moon has no water or wind to erode the craters.
C
The Moon's surface is so hard the craters do not change.
D
The Moon's surface is made of materials that are resistant to change.
30. During

F
G
H
I

which phase of the Moon is

the Moon passing between
Earth and the Sun?
full moon
new moon
first quarter
crescent moon

31. Why
A
B
C
D

is the tidal difference

much less during neap tides?
Only the Sun pulls on Earth at a straight angle.
Only the Moon pulls on Earth at a straight angle.
The Sun and Moon pull on Earth at the same angle.
The Sun pulls on Earth at a greatly different angle from the Moon.

32. Look

at the illustration below.

F
G
H
I

coma
ion tail
nucleus
dust tail

Questions for the Teacher

Write down the number of the questions that you are unsure about. For each question record the
topic (example: stars, absolute magnitude, moon phases) and what you are confused about. Rate
your level of confusion (1-Im pretty sure but I want to check, 2-I just need a little help, 3-I have no
idea!)
Question #

Topic

What are you confused about?

Level of
Confusion
(1-3)