Varsity Science Questions

Astronomy

Q: What is the term for the apparent change in direction of an object, caused by a change in
observational position that provides a new line of sight?

A: Parallax

Q: What technique is often used to determine the chemical composition of stars and other
celestial objects?

A: Spectroscopy

Q: What is the general group name for telescopes with lenses as opposed to mirrors? The
name refers to the bending of light as it passes through the lenses to form a sharper
image.

A: Refracting

Q: What term refers to the planets that orbit the sun inside of Earth’s orbit?

A: Inferior

Q: What phenomenon is caused by the collision of charged particles, mostly electrons, from
the Solar wind with atoms in the upper atmosphere?

A: Aurora (aurorae)

Q: What is the term for the nearest point of approach to the Earth by an orbiting body?

A: Perigee

Q: What element builds up in the core of a star immediately prior to a supernova

explosion?
Any elements heavier than this are formed by the supernova, rather than by regular
fusion
in the star. Though the origin is much different, this element, along with nickel
forms
much of the Earth’s core.

A: Iron

Q: What is the more common term for a galactic cluster, a loose collection of stars such as
the Pleiades?
A: open cluster

Q: What is the term for the process by which planets form by the gradual accumulation of
matter due to gravity?

A: Accretion

Q: What is the term for the point at which a body is nearest the sun in its orbit?

A: Perihelion

Q: The Maunder minimum is a phase of activity of what solar phenomenon? These

objects
appear as dark regions on the sun’s surface due to their relatively low temperatures.

A: sunspots

Q: The stars Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka make up what well known asterism?
Presumably this asterism serves to keep it’s constellation’s pants up.

A: Orion’s Belt

Q: What type of stars were named for their regular “flashes” of radiation?

A: Pulsars

Q: Two new moons were recently found orbiting what solar system object? In ten years, the
New Horizons probe will investigate these satellites more closely.

A: Pluto

Q: What is the term for the fraction of incident light reflected by the surface of a celestial
body?

A: Albedo

Q: What celestial event occurs in two distinct types, both of which briefly produce extremely
bright shells of plasma? Stars far more massive than the sun will undergo Type II of this
process, and form either a neutron star or a black hole, depending on mass.

A: Supernova

Q: What type of object can undergo “core burning”?

A: Stars
Q: What events, among the brightest ever seen, forge elements heavier than iron?

A: Supernovas
Q: What common word may be defined as “any self-luminous sphere of gas”?

A: star

Q: What is the most common galaxy shape?

A: elliptical

Q: What unit of measure equals 0.3066 parsecs or about six trillion miles?

A: light year

Q: What geometry of space corresponds to a universe that will eventually collapse? If this is
the case, the scope of the universe could be described in an equation of form x squared +
y squared = r squared.

A: Spherical

Q: Within 1 light year, how far is from Earth to Proxima Centauri?

A: 4.2 light years ( 3.2-5.2 light years)

Q: What violent process formed the Crab Nebula?

A: a supernova

Q: What body orbits the sun at a distance of roughly 0.7 astronomical units?

A: Venus

Q: The Encke Division is a feature in which planetary system? This feature is a 270
kilometer wide gap in the planet’s A ring.

A: Saturn (Saturnian)

Q: What Jovian satellite is the solar system’s most massive moon?

A: Ganymede

Q: What Jovian storm, the largest in the Solar System, was first observed in 1665?

A: (The Great) Red Spot

Q: Almathea is one of which planet’s 63 satellites?

A: Jupiter
Q: Which planet has the highest number of meteor craters related to surface area?

A: Mars

Q: Minor planet 2003 UB313 was assigned what permanent name by the International
Astronomical Union in August 2006? Previously this dwarf planet had been referred to
as “Xena”.

A: Eris

Q: What was the first object generally considered to be a planet to be demoted to non-
planetary status? This object is the largest of the asteroids between the orbits of Jupiter
and Mars.

A: Ceres

Q: What is the fourth largest satellite in our solar system? This body orbits its host planet
every 29.5 days, and is in tidal lock with its host.

A: The moon (Luna)

Q: What object, the first asteroid discovered, was commonly thought of as a planet for much
of the 19th century?

A: Ceres

Q: Which Galilean moon is believed to have an enormous subsurface liquid salt water
ocean?

A: Europa

Q: What planet has a dense atmosphere and clouds of condensed sulfuric acid? The surface
pressure is more than 1300 pounds per square inch.

A: Venus

Q: Which planet has the most natural satellites? Prior to the space age, fifteen were known;
currently there are 63 known.

A: Jupiter

Q: The Oceanus Borealis, Austral Ice Sheet, and Valles Marineris are features on what
 planet?

A: Mars

Q: Unexplained aspects of the orbit of what planet proved to be a test of Einstein’s theory of
relativity?

A: Mercury

Q: Which of Saturn’s satellites was the first to be discovered? Not surprisingly, it is by far
the largest.

A: Titan

Q: What celestial object has a maximum elongation of 47.8 degrees? This object is also
notable as the second brightest object in the night sky, and as the planet with an orbital
period nearest that of Earth.

A: Venus
Q: Identify the following terms related to the sun or stars:

1. The apparent edge of the sun

2. System of two stars revolving about each other.
3. The small, brilliant, markings in the photosphere of the sun.
4. The largest grouping of stars on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. It extends
from the upper left to the lower right of the standard diagram.

1. limb
2. binary
3. granule
4. main sequence

Q: Answer the following about Neptune:

1. Within two, how many satellites does it have?

2. What is the principle component of its atmosphere?
3. In what century was it discovered?
4. What large storm raged in its atmosphere from 1989 to 1994?

1. 13 (accept 11-15)
2. Hydrogen
3. 19th
4. The Great Dark Spot

Q: Answer the following about Venus:

1. How many satellites does it have?

2. How many layers does its atmosphere have?
3. What is the primary component of the atmosphere?
4. How long is its year? Your answer must be accurate within 20 earth days.

1. 0
2. 2
3. Carbon dioxide
4. 243 (accept 223 to 263)

Q: Given a planet, identify its largest natural satellite:

1. Mars 1. Phobos
2. Jupiter 2. Ganymede
3. Saturn 3. Titan
4. Pluto 4. Charon
Q: Answer the following about Neptune. All numeric answers should be rounded to the
nearest whole number.

1. Within 1, how long is its day in terms of earth days?

2. Within 10, how long is its year in terms of earth years?
3. What element is most abundant in its atmosphere?
4. What is its largest satellite?

1. 1 (accept 0, 1, or 2)
2. 165 (accept anything from 155-175)
3. hydrogen
4. Triton

Q: Identify these gas giants.

1. Planet believed to have the largest liquid metallic hydrogen core.

2. First planet whose discovery was predicted by Newtonian mechanics.
3. Planet with the greatest inclination of its equator to its orbital path
4. Planet with a number of shepherd satellites that act to confine icy particles into
narrow bands.

1. Jupiter
2. Neptune
3. Uranus
4. Saturn

Q: What type of objects are or were the following celestial bodies?

1. Sirius 1. Star
2. Andromeda 2. galaxy
3. Triton 3. moon or satellite
4. Hale-Bopp 4. comet

Q: Identify these “C” terms:

1. The layer of the solar atmosphere between the photosphere and the corona.
2. The largest asteroid, and the first discovered.
3. The only of the Galilean moons that fit this clue.
4. The average density throughout the universe at which space is flat.

1. chromosphere
2. Ceres
3. Callisto
4. critical denisty
Q: Identify the following “A” terms:

1. The range of magnitudes exhibited by a variable star.

2. The point in the lunar orbit where the moon is furthest from Earth.
3. Lights in the upper atmosphere caused by the interaction between the solar wind
and Earth’s magnetic field.
4. Disk of gas revolving around a star into which matter flows to form a companion,
such as a planet.
5. The apparent magnitude a star would have at a distance of 10 parsecs
6. The diameter of the primary lens or mirror in a telescope
7. The point along an orbit where an object crosses a reference plane, usually the
ecliptic, from south to north

1. Amplitude
2. Apogee
3. Aurora (Aurora Borealis or Aurora Australis acceptable)
4. Accretion disk
5. Absolute magnitude
6. Aperture
7. Ascending node

Q: Identify these “I” terms:

1. Dust, gas, and other material in vast regions not dominated by the gravity of a
star.
2. Period of time shortly after the Big Bang where the volume of the universe
increased exponentially.
3. Portion of a comet that grows as it approaches the sun.
4. The only Galilean satellite that fits the criterion for the question..

1. Interstellar medium
2. Inflation
3. Ion Tail
4. Io
Earth Science

Q: What is the term for a large angular pyroclast? The same word can also be used for a
solid piece on which a butcher makes cuts or the primary function of the fullback and
offensive line in American football.

A: Block

Q: What is the term for rock that is sufficiently porous and permeable to store and transmit
petroleum? The same word can refer to a pond or lake used for the storage and
regulation of water.

A: Reservoir

Q: What is the term for natural asphalt-cemented sand or sandstone deposits?

A: oil sands

Q: Berms and drift lines are features of what geological formations containing loose rock
and sand?

A: Beaches

Q: What is the term for all fuels formed from ancient organic matter? Examples include
coal, crude oil, and natural gas.

A: Fossil Fuels

Q: What is the weakest type of tropical cyclones? These are the immediate precursors to
tropical storms, but are not assigned names until they strengthen into tropical storms.

A: Tropical Depressions

Q: What is the term for a lake formed when a river changes course and a meander is cut off
from the river?

A: ox-bow lake

Q: What is the term for the slow movement of water through small cracks, pores, or
interstices in rock?

A: Seepage

Q: What is the slowest type of mass wasting?

A: creep
Q: Earth’s cyrosphere consists of areas covered by what material?

A: Ice

Q: What branch of geology specifically studies earthquakes?

A: Seismology

Q: Which earth science studies the movement, distribution, and quality of water on the
Earth?

A: Hydrology

Q: What mineral is produce from bauxite?

A: Aluminum

Q: What is the term for rocks that form from crystals precipitating due to the evaporation of
water?

A: Evaporite

Q: What is the term for places where tectonic plates are moving apart?

A: Divergent (boundaries, plates, edges, etc.)

Q: What atmospheric layer lies directly above the mesosphere?

A: Thermospshere

Q: What geologic era’s name means “age of New Life”? This era began at the Cretaceous-
Tertiary extinction event and continues to the present day.

A: Cenozoic
Q: Answer the following about erosion by running water:

1. Type of flow in which water molecules travel in parallel layers.

2. Type of flow in which water molecules move in swirls and eddies.
3. Solid portion of a stream’s load that travels along the bottom.
4. Solid portion of a stream’s load that moves above the bottom.

1. Laminar
2. Turbulent
3. Bed load
4. Suspended load

Q: Identify the metals produced by the following ores:

1. Argentite
2. Hematite
3. Wolframite
4. Sphalerite

1. Silver
2. Iron
3. Tungsten
4. Zinc

Q: Identify these earth “spheres”:

1. Soft zone of the upper mantle

2. The solid outermost shell
3. Regions of Earth where life occurs
4. Composed of frozen water in the form of snow, permafrost, floating ice, and
glaciers.

1. Asthenosphere
2. Lithosphere
3. Biosphere
4. Cryosphere

Q: Identify geologic periods that followed these periods:

1. Jurassic 1. Creataceous
2. Permian 2. Triassic
3. Tertiary 3. Quaternary
4. Vendian 4. Cambrian
Q: Identify the Era of geologic time from these periods:

1. Triassic 1. Mesozoic
2. Neogene 2. Cenozoic
3. Devonian 3. Paleozoic
4. Tonian 4. Neo-proterozoic

Q: Identify these segments of geologic time

1. Era that began 65 million years ago

2. Period that lasted from 144 to 65 million years ago
3. Period that lasted from 443 to 417 million years ago
4. Epoch that began 10,000 years ago; sometimes called the “recent” epoch

1. Cenozoic
2. Cretaceous
3. Silurian
4. Holocene

Q: In order, identify the four periods of geologic time between the Ediacaran and the
Carboniferous.

1. Cambrian
2. Ordovician
3. Silurian
4. Devonian

Q: Identify these “P” terms:

1. An igneous body that crystallized deep underground.

2. The percentage of a rock’s volume that is taken up by openings.
3. Ground that remains permanently frozen for many years.
4. Original rock prior to metamorphosis.

1. Pluton
2. Porosity
3. Permafrost
4. Parent
Q: Identify these “E” terms:

1. Synonym for “outcrop”; a place where rock or sediment is on the Earth’s surface.
2. The stripping of concentric rock slabs from the outer surface of a rock mass.
3. The primary subdivision of Eons.
4. Ridgelike accumulation of drift deposited at the edge of a glacier.

1. Exposure
2. Exfoliation
3. Era
4. End Moraine

Q: Identify the following “C” terms:

1. A homogenous solid formed by a repeating, three-dimensional pattern of atoms,

ions, or molecules and having fixed distances between constituent parts
2. The temperature above which a ferromagnetic substance loses its ferromagnetism
3. A decrease in porosity and bulk of a body of sediment as additional sediment is
deposited above it
4. A large cave system of interconnected cave chambers

1. Crystal
2. Curie point (or Curie temperature)
3. Compaction
4. Cavern

Q: Identify these “V” terms:

1. Steep-sided mass of volcanic rock formed from viscous lava that solidifies in or
above a volcanic vent.
2. A cavity in volcanic rock caused by gas in lava
3. Two thin layers of sediment, one dark and the other light, that represent one
years’ deposition in a lake.
4. Synonym for glassy luster.
5. The opening in the earth’s surface through which a volcanic eruption takes place.
6. Any bedrock surface or stone that has been abraded by wind-blown sediment.
7. The internal property of a fluid that offers resistance to flow.

1. Volcanic dome
2. Vesicle
3. Varve
4. Vitreous
5. Vent
6. Ventifact
7. Viscosity