From: kutchScience
To: kutchastronomersclub ; kutchsciencefoundation ; scienceclubofindia ;
venustransit2004 ; astronomyclubindia
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 9:37 AM
Sub:- Test your Astronomical knowledge - University of Toronto - Faculty of
Science - Final Examination paper

Page 1 of 18 (Full paper is as pdf form - attached for you)

University of Toronto

Faculty of Arts and Science

AST201H1F

Final Examination

Duration: 2 hours

Instructions:

· This exam is 2 hours long. Answer all 50 multiple-choice questions and

choose 5 of the 6 short-answer questions. There are a total of 18 pages.

The test has a total of 100 marks.

· Answer all questions on the exam sheet. Indicate answers to multiplechoice

questions clearly. For short-answer questions, indicate which

questions are to be marked by circling the question number. If all 6

questions are answered, and if the choices are not indicated clearly, then

only the FIRST 5 questions will be marked.



Page 2 of 18

Part A (50%). Answer the following 50 multiple-choice questions. For each

one, circle the one alphabet next to the answer that BEST completes the

statement or answers the question. (1 mark each)

1) In order for a theory to become a law, it must

A. be tested by many experiments.

B. be agreed-upon by many competent scientists.

C. be found in a science book.

D. be stated by renowned scientists.

E. Nonsense! Theories never become laws!

2) Venus has a larger angle at maximum elongation than does Mercury. In the

Copernican model, this fact is used to infer

A. that Venus is closer to the sun than Mercury.

B. that Venus is farther from the sun than Mercury.

C. the orbital period of Venus is shorter than the orbital period of Mercury.

D. the orbital period of Venus.

E. the period of retrograde motion of Venus.

3) Newton’s great synthesis in physical ideas about the cosmos was that he
viewed

A. natural motion as related to forced motion.

B. constant motion requires constant force.

C. the same physical laws in the sky and on the Earth.

D. gravity as an unknown force between masses.

E. the universe as infinite in extent.

4) An interstellar dust grain is very cold, about 100 ºK (-173 ºC). At what
wavelengths

does it emit most of its light?

A. X-ray

B. ultraviolet

C. gamma ray

D. infrared

E. optical

Page 17 of 18

4. Observation of the different components of the Milky Way Galaxy indicates
that the

spiral arms contain very different populations of stars and other material to
those in

the Galactic halo.

(a) State explicitly in what ways are they different? (6 marks)

(b) How are the spatial distributions of objects in the spiral arms and in the
Galactic

halo different? (2 marks)

(c) How are the motions of objects in the spiral arms and in the Galactic halo

different? (2 marks)

Page 18 of 18

5. (a) What are the advantages of a reflecting telescope over a refracting
telescope? (6

marks)

(b) What are the limitations of a Cassegrain reflecting telescope and how are
they

overcome? (4 marks)

6. Explain how (a) rotation curves of spiral galaxies (5 marks) and (b) galaxies
in

clusters (5 marks) reveal the missing mass problem.

(a)

(b)

March 2004 Calendar of Events:
Mar 20 - Vernal Equinox, 06:49 UT - SPRING BEGINS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE,
just after midnight CST
Mar 25 - Moon Occults Mars - See IOTA on ASO "Links" Page
Mar 26 - Venus Occults PPM 92330 (8.3 Magnitude Star) - see IOTA on ASO "Links"
page
Mar 26 - Asteroid 2023 Asaph Closest Approach To Earth (2.675 AU)
Mar 27 - Comet P/2003 S1 (NEAT) Perihelion (2.596 AU)
Mar 27 - Asteroid 2002 GQ Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)
Mar 27 - Asteroid 4342 Freud Closest Approach To Earth (1.923 AU)
Mar 27 - 35th Anniversary (1969), Mariner 7 Launch (USA Mars Flyby)
Mar 27- 3rd Astrobiology Science Conference, Mountain View, California
MARCH 28 - FIRST QUARTER MOON - 5:48pm CST, In GEMINI
Mar 28 - Triple-Shadow Transit of Three Galilean Moons on Jupiter
Mar 29 - Mercury Greatest Eastern Elongation (19 Degrees)
Mar 29 - Venus Greatest Eastern Elongation (46 Degrees)
Mar 29 - Mercury Occults HIP 7621 (9.5 Magnitude Star) - See IOTA on ASO "Links"
Page
Mar 29 - Kuiper Belt Object 38083 Rhadamanthus At Opposition (38.057 AU)
Mar 29 - 30th Anniversary (1974), Mariner 10, 1st Mercury Flyby
Mar 29-Apr 02 - The Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting 2004,
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Mar 30-Apr 02 - 5th Internatinal Conference on Space Optics (ICSO 2004),
Toulouse, France
Mar 31 - Mars Occults TYC 1276-01294-1 (11.9 Magnitude Star) - see IOTA on ASO
"Links" page
Mar 31-Apr 03 - International Conference: Zdenek Kopal's Binary Star Legacy,
Litomysl, Czech Republic

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