-PY 101 STARS AND GALAXIES

Practice Final 1
MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Light from the Sun comes from which layer

A) corona
B) chromosphere
C) photosphere
D) ionosphere
2. The crossover point from radiation to matter domination occurred:
A) when the strong force separated from the other two forces.
B) with the emission of the cosmic background radiation.
C) about 40,000 years after the Big Bang, at a temperature of about 16,000 K.
D) with the creation of neutrons and protons, at about 10 13 K.
E) with the creation of electrons and positrons at about 6 10 9 K.
3. What inevitably forces a star like the Sun to evolve away from the main sequence?
A) Iron fusion begins in the core.
B) The star uses up all of its hydrogen.
C) Carbon detonation occurs.
D) Helium builds up in the core as the hydrogen-burning shell expands.
4. What is the meaning of isotropic?
A) the same density everywhere
B) the same in all directions
C) the same at all times
D) the same temperature everywhere
E) the same in every way throughout space
5. When
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)

quarks grouped together in the early Universe, they created:

all known matter.
everything in normal atoms.
only dark energy.
protons and neutrons that still survive.
the rapid inflation of the cosmos.

6. How many Earths could fit inside the Sun?

a) 100
b) 10 6
c) 10 9
d) 10 4
e) 1000
7. The location of the center of the Galaxy was determined by Shapley to be ________ from us
via observations of:
A) 15 kpc; cepheids in open clusters.
B) 15 kpc; RR Lyrae variables in globular clusters.
C) 8 kpc; cepheids in open clusters.
D) 8 kpc; RR Lyrae variables in globular clusters.
8. The redshift of galaxies in the universe is correctly interpreted as:
A) a Doppler shift due to the motions of the galaxies through space.
B) an "aging" of the light.
C) the effect of intergalactic dust.
D) space itself is expanding with time; the wavelengths of photon are stretched while

they travel through space.

E) the difference in temperatures of distant and nearby galaxies.
9. What key event took place when the cosmic background radiation formed?
A) The universe expanded and cooled enough to allow the first particles to appear.
B) The universe expanded and cooled enough for stable atoms to form.
C) The neutrinos were created.
D) Atoms in the universe collected to form stars and galaxies.
E) The universe underwent a brief period of rapid expansion
10.Which of the following were created during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis?
A) only protons and neutrons.
B) dark energy.
C) deuterium and helium.
D) all elements up to iron.
E) all known elements.
11.The redshift of the universe when the CMB formed was about:
A) Z = 1,000,000
B) Z = 400,000
C) Z = 1,100
D) Z = 10
E) Z = 4
12.What is the net result of the proton-proton chain?
A) 2 protons become a deuterium + a neutrino + energy
B) 4 protons become a helium + 2 neutrinos + energy
C) 3 heliums form carbon + energy
D) 4 protons fuse into a helium + energy
13.The helium flash occurs at what stage of stellar evolution?
A) the T Tauri phase
B) the middle of the main sequence
C) the red giant branch
D) the horizontal branch
14.The approximate age of the Universe is:
A) 4.5 billion years.
B) 11 billion years.
C) 14 billion years.
D) 17.6 billion years.
E) 21.4 billion years
15.Which of the following systems is the Sun most likely to become in the distant future?
A) supernova
B) nova
C) planetary nebula
D) pulsar
16.The critical evidence for cosmic acceleration in 1998 came from two teams of
astronomers, both observing:
A) hypernovae.
B) gamma ray bursts.
C) type I supernovae.
D) type II supernovae.
E) ages of globular clusters.

17.Galaxy rotation curves reveal that:

A) there is more mass beyond our orbit than inside it in our Galaxy.
B) the luminosity distribution drops off less sharply than does the mass distribution.
C) there is a dark halo that is about the same size as the faintly visible stellar halo.
D) none of the above are correct.
18.How does solar energy flow to the photosphere from the layer beneath it?
A) convection
B) ionization
C) conduction
D) radiation
19.What physical property of a star does the spectral type inform us about?
A) mass
B) luminosity
C) temperature
D) composition
20.On the H-R diagram, red supergiants like Betelguese lie at the
a) bottom left
b) top right
c) top left
d) bottom right
21.In the stellar halo, we DO find:
A) a mix of young and old stars
B) globular clusters.
C) hydrogen gas
D) spiral arms.
22.In the critical density Universe evidenced by present observations, the ratio of
matter/energy is about:
A) 50:50.
B) 27:73.
C) 75:25.
D) 10:90.
E) 95:5.
23.A high mass star dies more violently than a low mass star because
A) it always ends up as a black hole
B) it generates more heat and its core eventually collapses very suddenly
C) it fuses elements heavier than helium
D) it is more often a member of a binary system
24.The cosmic microwave background is important mostly because:
A) its detection lead to the discovery of dark energy.
B) its detection opened a new form of radiation to observation.
C) it confirmed the existence of relic radiation from the hot Big Bang i.e., one of the
major predictions of Big Bang Cosmology.
D) it showed that the universe is open.
E) it showed that the universe is closed.
25.The H-R diagram is a plot of
A) luminosity vs. mass
B) luminosity vs. spectral type

C) luminosity vs. surface temperature

D) both b) and c)
26.Star formation remains most prominent in the:
A) nucleus.
B) spiral arms.
C) bulge.
D) halo.
27.What event marks the birth of a star?
A) condensation of the primordial cloud
B) fusion of hydrogen into helium
C) reaching a temperature of 1 million degrees
D) none of the above
28.The object located at
A) a black hole of
B) a black hole of
C) a black hole of
D) a black hole of

the center of the Galaxy is believed to be:

just under 5 million solar masses
over 5 million solar masses.
over 3 million solar masses.
just under 3 million solar masses.

29.Based on galactic rotation curves and cluster dynamics, we think dark matter:
A) does not exist.
B) is a very minor component on the total mass of the universe.
C) is, on average, about 24% of the total energy content of the Universe.
D) is, on average, about 90% of the total energy content of the Universe.
30.The brightest novae have luminosities equal to that of
A) 1000 Suns
B) 100,000 Suns
C) 1,000,000 Suns
D) 10,000,000 Suns
31.Which statement about active galaxies is FALSE?
A) In visible wavelengths, they generally resemble normal galaxies.
B) The peak of their energy is in the visible range.
C) Their radiation is primarily non-stellar in origin.
D) None of the above are false.
32.How long does it take a stellar iron core to collapse?
A) a day
B) an hour
C) a minute
D) a second
33.A typical supernova has a luminosity equal to that of
A) a thousand Suns
B) a million Suns
C) a billion Suns
D) a trillion Suns

TRUE/FALSE
1. Galaxies in clusters are much less likely to become "active" than ones alone in space.
TRUE

2. A low-density universe is an open one, with expansion continuing forever. TRUE

3. Deuterium was made only during primordial nucleosynthesis, since subsequent
generations of stars only destroy it. TRUE
4. While the volume of the Sun is over a million times that of the Earth, the density of the
Sun is only slightly larger than that of the earth. FALSE
5. Having formed first, the galactic halo contains only old stars. TRUE
6. The preservation of hydrostatic equilibrium is essential to the existence of stars. TRUE
7. Solar neutrinos travel from the core of the Sun to the Earth in less than ten minutes.
TRUE (8.5)
8. Photodisintegration breaks up complex nuclei into protons and neutrons.
9. Because iron nuclei are the most tightly bound, their production leads to type II
supernovae.
10.The main sequence runs from the top left to the bottom right of the H-R
diagram.
11.A star spends more time forming than it does on the main-sequence.
12.Collisions between galaxies have little effect on the molecular gas clouds.
13.It takes less and less time to fuse heavier and heavier elements inside a high mass star.
14.A one hundred million year old star cluster will contain no type O stars.
15.Every star in a ten billion year old globular cluster will be a giant; there will be no main
sequence stars left.
16.Novae are more closely related to type II than to type I supernovae.
17.Most of the energy of a type I supernova is carried away by photons, and no remnant is
left after the explosion.
18.The escape speed from the event horizon of a black hole is the speed of light.
19.Distant galaxies appear to be smaller than those nearby.

FILL IN THE BLANK

1. Most of the stars we observe lie along the Main Sequence because it is the longest stage
of stellar evolution.
2. The relationship between the recession velocity of galaxies and their distance from us is
known as: hubble constant.
3. Over time, fusion will cause the amount of helium in the sun to collapse.
4. A stars luminosity is related to what power of its mass? (Write the equation).
5. A stars lifetime is related to what power of its mass? (Write the equation).

6. According to the mass-luminosity relationship, a main-sequence, two solar mass star will
be about ______ times more luminous than the sun and live about ________ times _______
than the sun.
7. A star like the Sun will most commonly go through the following evolutionary phases:
main sequence, giant, planetary nebula, and finally _________ __________.
8. During their main sequence lifetimes, massive stars primarily produce energy via the
carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle, while energy in lower mass stars comes mostly from the
________ ________ cycle.
9. Cepheids stars also pulsate, but with ________ periods and _______ luminosities than do
___________, the other main type of variable star. (**FILL IN ALL 3 BLANKS**).
10. Of all the elements, _________ is most common in the Sun.
11. When helium capture occurs with a carbon atom, _____________ is formed.
12. The spectra of type I supernovae are deficient in the element: _________.
13. The radius of a 30 solar mass black hole is _________.
14.
The Galactic Year is about ________ million of our years, as the Sun orbits the
center of the Milky Way.
15. If a neutron star reaches a mass that is _________ times that of our sun, it will become a
black hole.

ESSAY
(*I ENCOURAGE YOU TO USE GRAPHS & DRAWINGS TO AUGMENT YOUR ANSWERS*).
1.
What people were involved in the discovery of the cosmic microwave background, and
what role did each play? Who got the Nobel Prize?
Penzias and Wilson discovered the CMB with the Crawford Hill Antenna in 1964. In the same
year, Peebles, Dicke, and Wilkinson of Princeton University, who had made a theoretical
prediction that there should be relic microwave radiation leftover from the Universes hot,
dense past, began trying to build their own radio antenna (even though the Crawford Hill
Antenna was, literally, right down the street). Through a series of cocktail parties, each group
finally discovered the others existence Penzias and Wilson (P&W), who had found the CMB
but didnt know what it was, and Peebles, Dicke, and Wilkinson (PDW) who thought it should
be there but didnt know that someone else had already found it. Each group wrote a short
paper detailing, respectively, their predictions (PDW) and their findings (P&W). When the
theoretical prediction paper (PDW) appeared, a Russian theoretical physicist named George
Gamow sent PDW a copy of his 1948 paper that contained almost identical calculations and an
attached note that read, Whats new? Because of the infighting that resulted between the
theorists, none of them were awarded the Nobel Prize and P&W got to keep it all to themselves.
(This is just one in a long line of unfortunate instances where politics and the like have
disrupted the advancement of science. Because of the existence of the iron curtain, the
audience for Gamows paper was extremely limited. Otherwise, the CMB might have been
discovered a lot sooner, Gamow would have gotten his Noble Prize and there never would have
been any animosity between him and PDW).
2.
Describe the manner in which the Sun produces its energy. What is the fuel? What is
the end product? What are the specific interactions that occur? Where in the sun do these

interactions take place? Explain the roles of temperature, density, and gravity in these
processes.
The Sun produces energy by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core. What that
means is that, since there is a huge amount of hydrogen in the core, these atoms stick together
and fuse into a helium atom. This energy is then radiated out from the core and moves across
the solar system. Energy is produced by nuclear fusion during a series of steps called the
proton-proton(P-P) chain, converting hydrogen to helium. The core is the only part of the Sun
that produces an appreciable amount of heat through fusion(99%). At the surface of the Sun,
the temperature has dropped to 5,700 K.
3.
Why are variable stars so convenient for measuring distances to very remote objects?
Name the two types of variable stars that have been most useful to astronomers and compare
and contrast their properties. Name at least one other type of standard candle and how it
works.
Certain types of variable stars, such as Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars, pulsate with a precise
period that is easily determined by observing variations in the star's apparent magnitude. The
period of a Cepheid is directly related to the absolute magnitude of the Cepheid and RR Lyrae
stars have generally all the same absolute magnitude. When the apparent and absolute
magnitudes of a star are known, its distance can be immediately calculated. Because Cepheids,
in particular, are among the brightest stars known, they can be seen over large distances. Thus
Cepheids are excellent for determining distances to remote objects.
4.
How has the chemical composition of the core of the Sun changed in the last 4.5 billion
years? Are Earthlings (if any are present) likely to freeze during the next 4-5 billion years? Why
or why not?
The core of the Sun had an initial composition of 90% hydrogen and 9% helium. As hydrogen
fusion has continued over the past 4.5 billion years the amount of helium produced has steadily
increased. The center of the core now has about 85% helium and very little hydrogen. As a
main sequence star the Sun will continue to brighten slowly. In another 4-5 billion years the
Sun will have a core dominated by helium. This will force it to change into a red giant.
Therefore, the Sun will only continue to brighten over time and the Earth will only get hotter,
never colder.
5.
Draw an H-R diagram for 1 and 10 solar mass stars. Explain what the H-R diagram is
and each stage of the evolution in words and pictures.

6.
Which of the elements on Earth are primarily the products of low mass stars and which
are primarily the products of high mass stars? Under what conditions were they made?

7.
Describe the three main visible regions of spiral galaxies (i.e., disk, bulge, and stellar
halo). What types of objects does each contain. Also describe the dark matter halo and explain
what observations have been used to demonstrate its existence. How does the dark matter
mass compare to the mass of the visible part of the galaxy?

8.
Name and describe the four observational pillars of standard cosmology. About what
property of the Universe does each one inform us?
The four observational pillars are 1) Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), 2) the Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB), 3) Galaxy Clustering, and 4) Type Ia Supernova observations.
1) BBN tells us about the normal matter content of the Universe. If more normal matter
were present, more helium and deuterium would have been produced in the first few
minutes of universal history and vice versa. The detected relic abundances of deuterium,
helium-3, helium-4, and lithium, all point to normal matter being 4% of the total matterenergy content of the Universe.
2) The temperature of the CMB allows us to determine the total energy density of radiation
(photons) and the largest anisotropies (irregularities) in the CMB temperature map help
us determine the total density of all the matter-energy in the Universe and the
corresponding spatial curvature. The data show that we live in a spatially flat Universe
(meaning that light rays travel in straight lines through empty space), and that the total
density is equal to the critical density to within 1% (in other words all the forms of matter
and energy add up to 100% (of the critical density) rather than something greater or less
than the critical density).
3) Measuring the clustering of galaxies enables us to determine the total matter content of
the Universe the sum of dark and normal matter. (If there were more dark and/or
normal matter, there would be more material out of which galaxies could form, the
galaxies themselves would be bigger and exert more gravitational influence on each
other, and would, therefore, tend to be more clustered together. The reverse is true as
well. Therefore, by examining the actual clustering of galaxies in a statistically welldefined way, it is possible to determine how much total matter there is). By subtracting
the normal matter content (based on BBN) from the total, we can determine that the
total dark matter content is about 23%.
4) The first three pillars tell us that about 73% of the Universal energy is missing, which
is indirect evidence for dark energy. Type Ia supernova, which look dimmer than they
would in a Universe composed only of matter, provide the first direct evidence for dark
energy. Type Ia observations are best fit by a Universe containing 73% dark energy and
27% matter, reinforcing the other three pillars, which are based on completely
independent data.
9. Describe the three puzzles that cosmic inflation solves as well as the one it introduces.
The three main puzzles of Standard Big Bang Cosmology are 1) the existence of density
perturbations, 2) the Horizon problem, and 3) the Flatness problems.
In slightly more detail:
1) Where did the density perturbations come from?
Why are there galaxies at all? Why, instead, isnt the Universe completely uniform and
homogeneous?
2) How can all the (65,000) 1 degree patches of the CMB sky have (nearly) the same
temperature when they were causally disconnected (shouldnt under normal circumstances
have been able to achieve thermal equilibrium with each other) at the time the CMB formed?!

3) Why is our Universe flat balanced on the knifes edge between spherical and saddle-like
spatial geometries? Why isnt it just a little bit positively curved (like a sphere) or a little bit
negatively curved (like a saddle)?
Cosmic Inflation, a hypothetical period of extremely rapid expansion that took place shortly
after the Big Bang, provides the following solutions to these puzzles:
1)
Rapid expansion would have frozen-in in energy density ripples (for instance due to
particle-anti-particle annihilation or creation) that were present in all regions of space. After
inflation, gravity would begin to amplify these tiny overdensities, giving us the observed
anisotropies in the CMB temperature map and, ultimately, galaxies.
2)
If a causally-connected patch of space, small enough to have reached thermal
equilibrium, were rapidly inflated to beyond the size of the currently observable Universe, it
would make sense that all parts of the sky would appear to have the same average temperature
(since they were all produced from the same, initially small, region).
3)
Even if the Universe did once possess some spatial curvature, a rapid period of
expansion would have reduced that curvature to an unobservable level just as it is impossible
to tell, for example, that the Earths surface is curved by looking down the hall. In both cases,
the radius of curvature is so much larger than the distance out to which we can see, that the
surface looks flat.
The one catch is that inflation would have turned the Universe cold. All observations (the four
pillars above, for instance) support the model that our Universe arose from a hot, dense state
and has been expanding and cooling ever since. The only way to restart the hot big bang
after inflation is to have some period of reheating. There is an obvious candidate for the source
of this reheating (the form of energy driving inflation), but the physical and mathematical
details of the process are still not well understood. If inflation occurred, we know that
whatever form of energy was driving the process, which has been dubbed the inflaton, must
have dissipated into other forms of energy. Otherwise, inflation would still be going on, and we
would not be here to discuss it. We therefore hypothesize that the inflaton must have decayed
into high energy particles of normal matter, dark matter, and radiation at the end of inflation
thereby restarting the standard big bang scenario.