Name: 
 

Astronomy Sample Test



Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 

1. 

Although electromagnetic waves differ in their wavelengths, they all travel at the speed of light, which is ____.
a.
300,000 km/s
c.
100 km/s
b.
6,000 km/h
d.
10,000 km/s
 

2. 

In a ____ telescope, light passes through convex lenses.
a.
reflecting
c.
refracting
b.
Hubble
d.
shuttle
 

3. 

Space stations are ____.
a.
satellites
c.
either a or b
b.
space probes
d.
neither a nor b
 

4. 

Optical telescopes include ____.
a.
reflecting telescopes and refracting telescopes
b.
reflecting telescopes only
c.
refracting telescopes only
d.
radio telescopes only
 

5. 

The arrangement of ____ by wavelength is called the electromagnetic spectrum.
a.
physical energy
c.
mechanical energy
b.
electromagnetic radiation
d.
electronic energy
 

6. 

____ telescopes collect and record radio waves given off by some objects in space.
a.
Radio
c.
Refracting
b.
Optical
d.
Reflecting
 

7. 

The phase of the Moon that immediately precedes the new Moon is the ____.
a.
waxing crescent
c.
waning crescent
b.
first quarter
d.
third quarter
 

8. 

A ____ occurs when the Moon moves directly between the Sun and Earth and throws a shadow on Earth.
a.
solar eclipse
c.
waning gibbous
b.
lunar eclipse
d.
waxing gibbous
 

9. 

The Sun's rays strike Earth at their northernmost and southernmost positions during ____.
a.
winter and summer solstices
c.
lunar eclipses
b.
spring and fall equinoxes
d.
solar eclipses
 

10. 

The yearly orbit of Earth around the Sun is called its ____.
a.
rotation
c.
revolution
b.
ellipse
d.
tilt
 

11. 

Summer occurs on the hemisphere of Earth that is ____.
a.
turned away from the Sun
c.
tilted away from the Sun
b.
tilted toward the Sun
d.
turned toward the Sun
 

12. 

Methane absorbs the red and yellow light on ____, while the clouds of these planets reflect the green and blue light.
a.
Venus and Earth
c.
Saturn and Jupiter
b.
Uranus and Neptune
d.
Neptune and Venus
 

13. 

Pluto's orbit sometimes causes this planet to be the ninth, and not the eighth, planet from the Sun.
a.
Uranus
c.
Neptune
b.
Saturn
d.
Jupiter
 

14. 

____ has colorful clouds in bands of white, red, tan, and brown.
a.
Saturn
c.
Jupiter
b.
Uranus
d.
Neptune
 

15. 

One of ____ moons is larger than the planets Pluto and Mercury.
a.
Neptune's
c.
Uranus's
b.
Pluto's
d.
Saturn's
 

16. 

In 1543, ____ published his views of Earth and other planets revolving around the Sun.