Sample Exam Questions

Use this exam to test your skills and understanding once you have completed your studying. It should allow you to identify week areas that need attention.  The actual exam will have approximately twenty questions instead of just ten.

_____ 1. The third quarter moon is on the meridian. The time is:
a)6pm b) midnight c) 6am d) noon

_____ 2. What is the circumference of a planet where latitude 30 degrees is 1000 km from the equator?
a) 3000 km b)6000 km c)12000 km d)24000 km

_____ 3. You are standing on the tropic of Cancer and see the Sun pass directly overhead. The date is:
a)March 22 b)June 22 c)September 22 d)December 22

_____ 4. As viewed from above the north pole of the solar system, all planets:
a)orbit clockwise b)orbit counterclockwise c)rotate clockwise d)rotate counterclockwise

_____ 5. A sidereal day is:
a)4minutes longer than a solar day b)4minutes shorter than a solar day c)exactly equal to solar day d)none of these

_____ 6. On the moon:
a)The Sun rises in the East b)the Earth rises in the East c) the Sun rises in the West b) the Earth rises in the West

_____ 7. The inferior planets:
a)are Mercury, Venus and Earth b)have inferior conjunction once each year c)closer to the Sun than the Earth d)all of these.

_____ 8.Precession:
a)causes the solar position in spring to shift in the sky
b)is caused by the gravitational attraction of the Sun
c)causes RA and DEC to shift.
d)all of these

_____ 9. How long is a night at the north pole of Uranus?
a)8 hr. b)12 hr. c)16 hr. d)42 years

_____ 10. How many times larger in diameter does Mars appear at opposition as opposed to conjunction? (Mars orbits at 1.5 AU)
a)1.5 b)3 c)5 d)9 e)12

Answers: 1C,2C,3B,4B,5B,6A,7C,8D,9D,10C