Questions
Match the columns
| A | B |
|---|---|
| (1) Speed of light | (a) 4.3 light years away from earth |
| (2) Light year | (b) 300,000 km/s |
| (3) Sun | (c) Nearest star |
| (4) Alpha Centauri | (d) distance travelled by light in one year |
| (e) 18 light minutes away from the Earth |
- 1-d 2-d, 3-a, 4-e
- 1-a, 2-b, 3-c, 4-e
- 1-d, 2-b, 3-e, 4-c
- 1-b, 2-d, 3-c, 4-a
$1$ parsec equals to:
- $3.26$ light years
- $3.1 \times 10^{13}\ km$
- $1.92 \times 10^{13}\ miles$
- all of the above
The evidence for the rotation of stars comes mainly from the.
- Stark effect
- Photoelectric effect
- Doppler effect
- Zeeman effect
Which of the following statements about degeneracy pressure is not true?
- Degeneracy pressure varies with the temperature of the star.
- Degeneracy pressure can halt gravitational contraction of a star even when no fusion is occurring in the core.
- Degeneracy pressure keeps any protostar less than 0.08 solar mass from becoming a true, hydrogen-fusing star.
- Degeneracy pressure supports white dwarfs against gravity.
Which of the following stars will live longest?
- a 5-solar-mass star
- a 1-solar-mass star
- a 2-solar-mass star
- a 4-solar-mass star
What is happening inside a star while it expands into a subgiant?
- It is fusing hydrogen into helium in the core.
- It is fusing hydrogen into helium in a shell outside the core.
- It is fusing helium into carbon in the core.
- It is fusing helium into carbon in a shell outside the core.
Which two energy sources can help a star maintain its internal thermal pressure?
- nuclear fusion and gravitational contraction
- nuclear fission and gravitational contraction
- chemical reactions and gravitational contraction
- nuclear fusion and chemical reactions
What happens when a star exhausts its core hydrogen supply?
- Its core contracts, but its outer layers expand and the star becomes bigger and brighter.
- It contracts, becoming smaller and dimmer.
- It contracts, becoming hotter and brighter.
- It expands, becoming bigger but dimmer.
At approximately what temperature can helium fusion occur?
- 100,000 K
- 1 million K
- 100 million K
- None of these
Which of the following properties make flare stars so active?
- fast rotation rates
- deep convection zones
- convecting cores
- both A and B
Compared to the star it evolved from, a red giant is
- hotter and brighter.
- hotter and dimmer.
- cooler and brighter.
- cooler and dimmer.
Which of the following sequences correctly describes the stages of life for a low-mass star?
- red giant, protostar, main-sequence, white dwarf
- protostar, main-sequence, red giant, white dwarf
- protostar, red giant, main-sequence, white dwarf
- protostar, main-sequence, white dwarf, red giant
Why is iron significant to understanding how a supernova occurs?
- Iron is the heaviest of all atomic nuclei, and thus no heavier elements can be made.
- Supernovae often leave behind neutron stars, which are made mostly of iron.
- The fusion of iron into uranium is the reaction that drives a supernova explosion.
- Iron cannot release energy either by fission or fusion.
What happens after a helium flash?
- The core quickly heats up and expands.
- The star breaks apart in a violent explosion.
- The core suddenly contracts.
- The core stops fusing helium.
How many helium nuclei fuse together when making carbon?
- 2
- 3
- 4
- None of the above
Which of the following stars will certainly end its life in a supernova?
- the Sun
- a red giant star
- a 10-solar-mass star
- a neutron star
What is a carbon star?
- a red giant star whose atmosphere becomes carbon-rich through convection from the core
- a star that fuses carbon in its core
- another name for a white dwarf, a remnant of a star made mainly of carbon
- a star that is made at least 50 percent of carbon
What is a planetary nebula
- a disk of gas surrounding a protostar that may form into planets
- what is left of the planets around a star after a low-mass star has ended its life
- the expanding shell of gas that is no longer gravitationally held to the remnant of a low-mass star
- the molecular cloud from which protostars form
Why does a star grow larger after it exhausts its core hydrogen?
- The outer layers of the star are no longer gravitationally attracted to the core.
- Hydrogen fusion in a shell outside the core generates enough thermal pressure to push the upper layers outward.
- Helium fusion in the core generates enough thermal pressure to push the upper layers outward.
- Helium fusion in a shell outside the core generates enough thermal pressure to push the upper layers outward.
Compared to the star it evolved from, a white dwarf is
- hotter and brighter.
- hotter and dimmer.
- cooler and brighter.
- cooler and dimmer.
What happens to the core of a star after a planetary nebula occurs?
- It contracts from a protostar to a main-sequence star.
- It breaks apart in a violent explosion.
- It becomes a white dwarf.
- It becomes a neutron star.
During which of the following phases does the core of a massive star have so much gravity that even light can't escape?
- Neutron Star
- Supernova
- White Dwarf
- Black Hole
Why do massive stars have shorter lifespans than average stars?
- They are excited to get through their lifecycles faster
- They have less steps in their lifecycles
- They burn their fuel faster
- They have less fuel to burn
In which of the following stages will our Sun form heavy elements?
- Red giant
- Stellar Nebula
- Blackhole
- Main sequence
After a supernova explosion, the remains of the stellar core
- will always be a neutron star.
- will be either a neutron star or a black hole.
- will always be a black hole.
- may be either a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole
Analyzing the spectra of stars, the hottest stars are
- red
- orange
- bluish white
- there is no correlation between color and temperature
White dwarfs
- are believed to be very small, perhaps about the size of the earth.
- contain atoms that have collapsed in the center, yet retain the standard distances between nuclei and electrons.
- are totally hypothetical stars, based on the best theories, but have never been observed directly.
- are found only on the far edge of the universe.
Most stars give off energy
- By nuclear fission or elements heavier than carbon.
- By the proton cycle or the carbon cycle.
- Drawing it from the virtual vacuum through a black hole.
- By burning hydrogen and giving off water vapor.
As the age of star increases
- Helium quantity increases
- Helium quantity decreases
- Helium quantity does not
change - Helium, Hydrogen both
quantities increases
What can we learn about a star from a life track on an H-R diagram?
- how long ago it was born
- when it will die
- where it is located
- what surface temperature and luminosity it will have at each stage of its life
______________are the result of exploding stars that initially are more than about eight times the sun's mass.
- stars
- black hole
- supernova
- none of these