From the Southworth Planetarium
“Out of sorts”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
July 23, 2010
Quiz: SProsaic
Today’s quiz is quite prosaic, in that it is a straightforward
astronomy quiz. The shadow professor (SP), a real specimen of flesh,
blood, bone and brain, crafts these questions based on DA articles.
Being properly concerned about his reputation, he naturally insists on
anonymity, This decision to remain unknown is understandable. We’d
disavow ourselves, too, if we could figure out how to do it.
One could consider this quiz a little test about some material covered
this month. Mind you, our main focus is for you to have fun and enjoy
the DA. If you learn something, lovely! If not, still lovely!
So, grind those pencil leads into a point and prepare for this week’s
prosaic quiz:
1. Venus, Saturn and Mars are:
(a) Very likely to collide in the next month.
(b) Unlikely to collide in the next month.
(c) Going to miss colliding with each other by about 1000 miles.
(d) Going to miss colliding with each other by only about 10,000
miles.
(e) Different points of light visible only from the southern
hemisphere.
2. Venus, Saturn and Mars
(a) Take about the same time (one year) to orbit the sun.
(b) Take about the same time (20 years) to orbit the sun.
(c) Are closer to the sun than the earth.
(d) Appear to be close to each other this month.
(e) Appear to be close to each other this year.
3. Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel and Saiph are stars associated with
which constellation?
(a) Leo
(b) Castor.
(c) Orion.
(d) Nigel.
(e) Pollux.
4. Which of the following probably lead to the extinction of the
dinosaurs?
(a) The existence of humans.
(b) Global warming.
(c) A meteor.
(d) A meteorite.
(e) Blindness caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
5. The K-T boundary is between
(a) The Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.
(b) The Cambrian and Tertiary periods.
(c) The Cretaceous and Triassic periods.
(d) The Cambrian and Triassic periods.
(e) There is no such thing as a K-T boundary.
6. The power source of the sun is:
(a) Thermonuclear fission.
(b) Thermonuclear fusion.
(c) Coal.
(d) Petrochemicals generally.
(e) Hot air provided by years of professorial lectures.
7. The Pleiades should be considered a:
(a) Constellation.
(b) Star cluster or asterism.
(c) Gravitationally bound system.
(d) Part of the Oort cloud
(e) Magical part of the galaxy.
ANSWERS
1. (b) Unlikely to collide in the next month.
The night sky is a tricky place. Venus, Mars and Saturn
appear close together next month, but will actually be millions of miles
apart. The night sky does not reveal depth, which made the task of
determining celestial distances one hell of a chore.
2.
(d) Appear to be close to each other this month.
(e) Appear to be close to each other this year.
SP is a tricky fellow. The answers he writes are often ambiguous,
deliberately misleading, and thought-inducing. He is one of these
types who thinks that the brain is best experienced if used. (yeah,
right) Therefore, he chose two answers to # 2 that I think are both
correct. Since I am in charge of the DA’s magnificent universe, I get
to grade the quizzes. Venus, Mars and Saturn will be close together
this month, but closer next month.
3. (c) Orion.
Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel and Saiph are the stars marking
Orion’s rectangular outline.
4. (d) A meteorite.
The Alvarez hypothesis asserts that a small asteroid impact led
to the Cretaceous Period extinction that killed the dinosaurs.
Scientists have not proven this theory. Instead, the theory is
consistent with information that we’ve gleaned about this epoch and
therefore is still considered as a valid explanation for what might have
killed the dinosaurs. Humans and dinosaurs did NOT co-exist. If
they did, humans would be extinct.
5. (a) The Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.
We call this the K-T boundary because the letter “C” denotes
Cambrian period. The relative abundance of iridium in the KT
boundary compelled scientists to conclude that an iridium-rich asteroid,
struck Earth about 65 million years ago.
6. (b) Thermonuclear fusion.
Hydrogen fuses into helium. These reactions generate the energy
that powers the Sun.
7. (b) Star cluster or asterism.
A star cluster is a collection of stars held together by
gravity, An asterism is a star pattern within a larger constellation.
The Pleiades Star Cluster can be correctly called either a cluster or
asterism.
RATINGS
7 CORRECT MASTER OF THE PROSAIC
Yours is a world of folded
napkins under forks; clean plates, and glasses full of ice water.
4 – 6 CORRECT MASTER APPRENTICE OF THE PROSAIC
If you could just remove the
phosphorescent lipstick while you’re making the bed, you’d be perfect.
1 – 3 CORRECT PROSAICALLY CHALLENGED
You discussed
epistemological philosophy, Pteradactyl breeding habits, and time travel
for so long, your
Soufflé collapsed.
0 CORRECT Strawberry fields forever.
Clarification:
We will accept
(b) and (c) as answers
for the last question.
The Pleiades IS a gravitationally
bound system. (choice C)
as well as being a star cluster
and asterism.
