ASTRO 101 FINAL EXAM. QUESTIONS WITH 100% CORRECT ANSWERS

From center outward, which of the following lists the "layers" of the Sun in the correct order? A) core, corona, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere B) core, radiation zone, convection zone, corona, chromosphere, photosphere C) core, convection zone, radiation zone, corona, chromosphere, photosphere D) core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, corona Compared to spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies have are A) redder and flatter B) bluer and more round C) bluer and flatter D) redder and more round E) always much smaller Energy balance in the Sun refers to a balance between _________. A) the force of gravity pulling inward and the force due to pressure pushing outward B) the rate which fusion generates energy in the sun's core and the rate at which the sun's surface radiates energy into space C) the mass the sun loses each second and the amount of mass converted into energy each second D) the amount of energy the sun radiated into space and the amount of energy that reaches earth the rate which fusion generates energy in the sun's core and the rate at which the sun's surface radiates energy into space Which of the following is the best answer to the question, "why does the sun shine?" A) as the sun was forming, nuclear fusion reactions in the shrinking clouds of gas slowly became stronger and stronger, until the sun reached its current luminosity B) as the sun was forming, gravitational contraction increased the sun's temperature unit the core became hot enough for nuclear fusion, which ever since has generated the energy that makes the sun shine C) the sun initially began making energy through chemical reactions. these heated the interior enough to allow gravitational contraction and nuclear fusion to occur D) the sun initially began generating energy through nuclear fusion as it formed, but today it generated energy primarily through the sunspot cycle The intricate patterns visible in an X-ray image of the Sun generally show A) structure within sunspots B) helioseismological fluctuations C) extremely hot plasma flowing along magnetic field lines D) a bubbling pattern on the photosphere The star Alpha Centauri A is the same type of star as the Sun, but its luminosity is about 1.6 times of the Sun. What can we conclude? A) Alpha Centauri A must have a vastly different interior structure than the sun B) Alpha Centauri A has a surface temperature about 1.6 times hotter than the sun C) Alpha Centauri A fuses hydrogen into helium in its core at a higher rate than our sun D) Alpha Centauri A is much farther from earth than the sun The larger the value of Hubble's constant, the more rapid the expansions of the universe and the smaller (hence younger) our estimate for the age of the universe A) true B) false The sun rotates more quickly at the equator than at the poles A) true B) false Elliptical galaxies are more likely to have ongoing star formation than spiral galaxies A) true B) false The Sun generates energy primarily by nuclear fission A) true B) false The proton-proton chain converts four hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus plus energy A) true B) false All spiral galaxies have both a disk and spheroidal component to their stellar populations A) true B) false