Science Olympiad Astronomy Test

Form A

SCHOOL (Include color if your school has more than one team):
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TEAM NUMBER
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TEAM MEMBER NAMES
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TEST SUPERVISOR ONLY

Raw Score

____________ / 50

Tie Breaker #1 7:

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Tie Breaker #2 19:

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Tie Breaker #3 40:

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Time to Complete:

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Rank: ________ / 36

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64.

Science Olympiad Astronomy Test

Form A

1. ______ A given star has a luminosity that is 100 times that of the sun, and its
surface temperature is estimated to be about 3500 degrees kelvin. Which class of
stars does it belong to?
a. Main sequence
b. White dwarfs

c. Giants
d. Supergiants

2. ______ You discover a new star and make subsequent observations for several days.
You find that its luminosity is about the same as the sun, and you calculate that its
surface temperature is about 30,000 degrees kelvin. Which of the following is the
best conclusion from these observations?
a. You have discovered a white dwarf.
b. You have made a mistake; no such stars are known to exist.
c. You have discovered a hot giant.
d. You have discovered a star in the main sequence.
3. ______ You observe that a particular star has a surface temperature of about 7,000
degrees kelvin. Which is the only class of stars that it can belong to?
a. Main sequence
b. White dwarfs

c. Giants
d. Supergiants

e. For the next three questions, refer to the diagram below. It shows the data
gathered from a celestial object.

f.
4. ______ The diagram above would be best classified as what?
a. Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
b. Blackbody radiation curve
c. Stellar parallax
d. Light curve
5. ______ The graph shown is most likely that of what type of celestial object?
a. An eclipsing binary star
b. A pulsar
c. A quasar
d. A spinning neutron star
6. ______ What term describes the time between dips from days 2 and 12?
a. The spectrographic pulse of this object
b. The orbital period of this object
c. The revolutionary period of this object
d. The gravitational lensing of this object

e.
f.
g. For the next two questions, refer to the diagram below. The circle in the
center represents the sun.
h.

i.
7. ______ Consider the object with the highly eccentric orbit. It is indicated by the
small black circle in the lower right portion of the diagram. The semimajor axis is a
distance of 1.38 AU. What is the orbital period of the object?
a. 2.63 years
c. 1.90 years
b. 2.76 years
d. 1.62 years
8. ______ Suppose that the object was then perturbed by the orbit of Mars and
obtained a new orbit with different parameters. The new orbit has an orbital
period of only 1.19 years. What is the value of the semimajor axis for this new
orbit?
a. 1.09 AU
c. 0.98 AU
b. 1.06 AU
d. 1.19 AU
e. For the next two questions, refer to the diagram below.

f.
9. ______ What event most likely is represented by the graph above?

a. An Ia type supernova
b. An SNII-P supernova

c. An SNII-L supernova
d. A Non-standard supernova

10.
______ Which celestial object could have resulted from the type of event
analyzed in the graph?
a. Crab Nebula
b. Helix Nubula

c. Orions Nebula
d. Cats Eye Nubula

e. For the next two questions, refer to the diagram below. Area A and Area B
are equal.

f.
11.
______ Which of the following accurately states the relationship between the
intervals of Times 1-2 and Times 3-4?
a. These intervals are approximately equal.
b. Time 1-2 is greater than Time 3-4.
c. Time 3-4 is greater than Time 1-2.
d. The relationship between these intervals cannot be known at this time.
12.
______ Which correctly describes the speed of the planet between Time 1 and
Time 2?
a. The planet is speeding up as it approaches Time 2.
b. The planet is slowing down as it approaches Time 2.
c. The planets speed remains constant.
d. The planets change of speed cannot be known at this time.
a. For the next two questions, refer to the graphs of exoplanet transits below.

b.

13.
______ In this case, what explains the small change in flux observed during a
transit of Kepler 4b?
a. The star is much larger than the others.
b. The planets atmosphere obscures much of the light.
c. The planet is much smaller than the others.
d. The planet transits much more slowly than the others.
14.
______ Which of the following exoplanets appears to be orbiting the largest
star?
a. Kepler 6b
b. Kepler 7b

c. Kepler 8b
d. This cannot be known from the
data.

e. For the next question, refer to the image of the object T Tauri, seen below.

f.
15.

______ What is the pale object seen just to the right of the star?
a. A reflection nebula
b. A planetary nebula

c. A stellar nursery
d. A protoplanetary disc

16.
17.
For the next two questions, refer to the image of AB Aurigae, seen below.
The primary star is hidden behind the black disc at the center of the image. A
large blurred object surrounds the star.

18.
19.

______ Which of the following most accurately classifies the blurred object?
a. Planetary nebula
b. Reflection nebula

c. Protoplanetary disc
d. Pulsating disc

20.
______ What is the approximate diameter of the object surrounding the star of
AB Aurigae?
a. 144 AU
b. 720 AU

c. 288 AU
d. 1008 AU

e.
f.
g. For the next two questions, refer to the diagram below. Areas A, B, C, and D
represent different sweeps of the planets orbit about the host star.

h.

21.
______ The amount of time that took the planet to traverse the arc of C is
equal to the amount of time to traverse the arc of D. Which of the following is
true?
a. The area of C is equal to the area of D.
b. The area of C is smaller than the area of D.
c. The speed of the planet at C was greater than the speed of the planet at D.
d. The length of arc C is equal to the length of arc D.
22.
______ The total orbital area is 3.05 AU2. Assume it took the planet 0.0395
years to travel the whole length of arc D, and arc D represents 4.0% of the planets
orbital period. What is the area of D?
a. 0.988 AU2
b. 0.0123 AU2

c. 0.122 AU2
d. 0.329 AU2

e. For the next three questions, refer to the diagram concerning 51 Pegasi b,
seen below.

f.
23.

______ What is the approximate orbital period of 51 Pegasi b?

a. 33 days
b. 4 days

24.

______ At which point on the graph is this exoplanet closest to Earth?

a. Day 5
b. Day 6

25.

c. 8 days
d. 29 days

c. Day 2
d. Day 3

______ How many revolutions of its host star does 51 Pegasi b make?
a. About 66 revolutions
b. About 34 revolutions

c. About 8 revolutions
d. About 15 revolutions

e. For the next question, refer to the graph below.

f.
26.
a.
b.
c.
d.

______ Consider the trend. The trend indicates that

Heavier planets have a higher degree of metallicity.
Heavier planets have a lower degree of metallicity.
The metallicity of Jupiter is more precisely known than that of Saturn.
WASP-43b is less massive than Jupiter.

g. For the next two questions, consider the diagram below. The ellipse is the
orbit of a given planet. The semimajor axis has a length of 0.717 AU. The
black hazy circle represents a host star.

h.
27.

______ Look at Time 1. If r1 is 0.418 AU, what is the value of r2?

a. 0.667 AU
b. 1.02 AU

28.

c. 0.836 AU
d. 2.86 AU

______ Consider Time 2, in which r1 is 0.901 AU. What is the value of r1 + r2?
a. 1.30
b. 0.533

c. 0.717
d. 1.43

29.
30.
31.
32.

For the next question, refer to the diagram below. It is not to scale.

33.

34.
______ Star 1 and Star 2 are just on either side of Earths line of sight, as
indicated by the dashed arrow. The absolute magnitude of Star 1 is 6.8, but its
apparent magnitude is 7.9. The absolute magnitude of Star 2 is 10.7, but the
apparent magnitude is 12.0. What is the distance in parsecs between the two
stars?
a. 1.6
b. 3.2

c. 1.1
d. 2.8

e. For the next two questions, refer to the diagram below. The lines represent
rays of light, and S represents a light source, such as a star.

f.
35.
______ What commonly used astronomical law is illustrated by the diagram
above?
a. Law of universal gravitation
b. The inverse square law

c. Law of vanishing perspective

d. Law of optical parallax

36.
______ Assume that at a distance of r the star has an apparent magnitude of
2.9. What is its apparent magnitude at a distance of 3r?
a. 3.8
b. 5.6
e.
f.

c. 5.3
d. 4.4

g.
h.
i.
j. For the next two questions, consider the diagram below.

k.
37.
______ Which star is most likely to disturb the objects of the Oort Cloud in
about 47,000 years?
a. Ross 248
b. Alpha Centauri

c. Proxima Centauri
d. Gliese 445

38.
______ How many stars will be within 2.5 parsecs of Earths location in 20,000
years?
a. 4
b. 5

c. 6
d. 7

e. For the next three questions, consider the 55 Cancri system. The diagram
below shows the calculated orbits of Cancri e (innermost, unlabeled), Canri b,
Cancri c, and Cancri f (Cancri d is not shown). The orbits of our solar system
are shown for comparison.

f.
39.

______ Which planet is just within the habitable zone of 55 Cancri?

a. 55 Cancri e
b. 55 Cancri b

c. 55 Cancri c
d. 55 Cancri f

40.______ What is the most significant aspect of the discovery of the exoplanets around 55
Cancri?
a. They included the first exoplanets ever discovered.
b. 55 Cancri is the first known system with five exoplanets.
c. This system includes the first super-Earth type exoplanets to be discovered.
d. They were the first exoplanets discovered that could harbor life.
41.______ Which planet is known to transit the host star (55 Cancri), as viewed from Earth?
a. 55 Cancri e
b. 55 Cancri b

c. 55 Cancri c
d. 55 Cancri f

e. For the next two questions, refer to the image below. It is an inverted-color image
of the HD 95086 system. HD 95086 is seen in the lower left. The star has been
hidden for better resolution, but its position is marked with a black symbol in the
center.

f.
42.______ HD 95086 b was directly imaged by observations from the Very Large Telescope in
Chile. Which of the following correctly describes the qualities of this exoplanet?
a. It is very massive and orbits close to its host star.
b. It is about the same size as Earth and orbits at a large distance from its host star.
c. It is very massive and orbits at a large distance from its host star.
d. It is smaller than Earth and orbits close to its host star.
43.______ Which of the following describes the most likely origin of this exoplanet?
a. It was a rogue planet, later captured by HD 95086.

b. It formed close to its host star, then gradually expanded its orbit.
c. It formed far away from its host star, then restricted its orbit.
d. It is a white dwarf formed from an extinct main sequence star.

g. For the next question, consider the photograph below. It is a photograph of

the object Barnard 68.

h.
44.
______ The object in the photograph can be described as a dark nebula, and it
is so close to Earth that there are no stars between it and our solar system. It is
about twice the mass of the sun. What is the most likely immediate future of
Barnard 68?
a. It will spin into a protoplanetary disc, but without a star.
b. It will collapse and create a new star.
c. It will continue to expand and diffuse.
d. It will form a stellar nursery and generate hundreds of stars.
i. For the next two questions, refer to the graph below.

Hubble (1.25
m)

Spitzer (4
m)

j.
45.
______ Consider the object 2MASSJ22282889-431026. See the above graphs.
The Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have observed this object at the same
time. Which of the following explains the discrepancy between the images of
Hubble and those of Spitzer?
a. Hubble and Spitzer take measurements at different times of the day.
b. Hubbles data has greater precision than those of Spitzer.
c. Hubble and Spitzer are observing different exoplanets in the same system.

d. Hubble and Spitzer are measuring different wavelengths of infrared light.

46.
______ What do the varying values found in the graphs mean? What is the
practical significance of these data?
a. They show that this object has a complex atmospheric structure.
b. They show that the object is a system of at least two exoplanets.
c. They show that the object is an FU Orionis variable star.
d. They show that a dwarf star is orbiting a primary star.
k. For the next three questions, refer to the transit light curve below.

l.
47.
______ What event is occurring at 7.5 hours, where the vertical line is
located?
a. The planets edge has just begun to cross the edge of the stars disc.
b. The planet has entirely eclipsed the stars disc.
c. The planet has eclipsed the star; its edge is just touching the inner side of
the stars disc.
d. The planet has passed entirely out of the stars disc.
48.
______ Which span of time gives the most data concerning the planets
radius?
a. 8.5 to 25.5 hours
b. 17 to 25.5 hours
49.
a.
b.
c.
d.
50.

c. 29 to 34 hours
d. 5 to 8.5 hours

______ Which datum gives the most data concerning the stars size?
The time span from 8.5 to 25.5 hours
The change in normalized flux during an eclipse.
The slope angle from 5 to 8.5 hours.
The number of points in the scatterplot.
For the next two questions, refer to the diagram below.

51.
52.
______ In late June a brown dwarf is observed by a terrestrial telescope. In
late December the same star is observed again. It is observed to have a parallax
() of 0.000 000 014 degrees, or 0.0000504 arcseconds. What is the distance to
the star in AU? (Note that in this example the parallax is given as the angle
difference from the Earth in June to the Earth in December, with the star at the
vertex.)
a. 4.1 x 109 AU
b. 1.1 x 106 AU

c. 8.2 x 109 AU
d. 2.3 x 106 AU

53.
______ If the distance between Earth and the star were doubled, how would
this influence the value of ?
a. The value would rise.
b. The value would stay the same.
c. The value would decrease.
d. It cannot be determined how the value of would change.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
For the next two questions, consider the photograph below. This is an image
of a small section of the Orion Nebula, with several protoplanetary discs shown.

61.

62.
______ The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered more than 150
protoplanetary discs in the Orion Nebula. What is this evidence for?
a. The Orion Nebula is a location of many mature exoplanets.
b. The creation of such discs is fairly common.
c. The Orion Nebula has high concentrations of silicon and iron.
d. Gravity waves are disturbing the Orion Nebula gas cloud.
63.
______ What is the most likely source of the materials that created these
protoplanetary discs?
a. Planetary collisions that spread materials through the nebula.
b. A black hole consumed several stars and spewed out gases that later
coalesced into discs.
c. The collapsing of hydrogen gas clouds.
d. Supernovae that exploded several million years ago.
64.
65.
______ The star EU 177 is observed to have an apparent magnitude of 9.587.
Observations from various space telescopes have determined that it has an
absolute magnitude of 4.332. Using the distance modulus, calculate the
approximate distance to EU 177.
a. 34.51 parsecs
b. 366.8 parsecs
c. 112.5 parsecs
d. 73.18 parsecs
66.
67.
For the next two questions, consider the graph shown below for the RR Lyrae
star called VX Her. This star is known to have an absolute magnitude of 0.5.

68.
69.
______ The average apparent magnitude is of VH Her is 10.7. Using the
distance modulus, what is the approximate distance to VH Her?
a. 1096 parsecs
b. 1259 parsecs
70.

c. 1000 parsecs
d. 1380 parsecs

______ What is the most likely identity of this object?

a. Pulsating radio star
b. Quasar

c. Pulsating variable star

d. Protostar

e. For the next two questions, refer to the diagram below. The diagram shows
the luminosities and temperatures of the stars in two different clusters, M67
and NGC 188.

f.
71.
______ Carefully consider each of the diagrams. Which cluster has a
relatively higher concentration of main sequence stars?
a. M67
b. NGC 188
c. They both have the same concentration of main sequence stars.
d. The relative concentrations of main sequence stars cannot be known.
72.
______ Based on these diagrams, which cluster is closer to Earth?
a. M67
b. NGC 188
c. They are the same distance from Earth.
d. Their relative distances from Earth cannot be determined from these graphs.