THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249      usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N    70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
2022-2023: XLVIII
Sunrise: 6:56 a.m.
Sunset: 4:05 p.m.
Civil twilight begins: 6:22 a.m.
Civil twilight ends: 4:37 p.m.
Sun's host constellation: Ophiuchus
Moon phase: Waxing gibbous (62% illuminated)
Moonrise: 1:27 p.m.
Moonset: 2:02 a.m. (12/3/2022)
Julian date: 2459916.21
"What a nice night for an evening."
-Stephen Wright
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, December 2, 2022
Quiz # 12: Twenty Astronomy Questions

________________
No worries!
The Night Sky Calendar returns on Tuesday, December 6th.
_________________

Today, we go back to the basics: a quiz about astronomy on the Daily
Astronomer. We'll focus on star clusters, galaxies and the workings of
stars! Enjoy and good luck!


*1. Which one of the following statements about galactic clusters is not
true?*
a.  the stars within a galactic star cluster formed around the same time
b.  they generally contain hundreds or thousands of stars
c.  they are located within the galaxy's spiral arms
d.  most of them are more than 10 billion years old.

*2. Approximately ____________ galactic star clusters have been catalogued
within the Milky Way Galaxy.*
a. 100
b. 1,100
c. 11,100
d. 111,100

*3.   Did the Sun form within a galactic star cluster?*
a.  no
b.  yes
c.  astronomers don't know
d.  both a and b

*4.  On average, a galactic star cluster's half life is between ___________
years.*
a. 30 -50 million
b. 100 - 300 million
c.  150 - 800 million
d.  2 billion

*5.  ______________ , located at a distance of ____________ light years
from the Sun, is the closest galactic star cluster.*
a. The Pleaides; 400
b. The Hyades; 150
c.  The Coma Star Cluster; 250
d. The Wild Duck Cluster;  1300

*6.  M4, the nearest globular cluster, is about _________ light years away.*
a.  2000
b. 4000
c.  5500
d.  11,000

*7.  Which one of the following statements about globular clusters is not
true?*
a.   they are only found well outside of the galaxy
b.  they can be billions of years ago
c.  their stars formed around the same time
d.  their stars are metal poor

[image: Arecibo-message copy.png]


*8.  The image above shows a message beamed to M13, a Globular Cluster in
the constellation ____________.*
a.   Hercules
b.   Centaurus
c.   Andromeda
d.   Orion

*9. This globular cluster is approximately ________________ light years
away from the solar system.*
a. 500
b. 1500
c.  15,000
d. 25,000

*10. The Milky Way Galaxy contains approximately _________ globular
clusters*
a.  50
b. 100
c. 200
d. 1100

*11. ___________ was the heaviest element generated during Big Bang
Nucleosynthesis.*
a.  Helium
b. Carbon
c. Lithium
d. Oxygen

*12. How long did the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis phase last?*
a. 10 seconds
b. 10 minutes
c. 10 years
d. 10 centuries

*13. _________ is the heaviest element created within stellar cores.*
a. strontium
b. neon
c.  iron
d. gold

*14.  What elements are fused within white dwarfs?*
a.  oxygen, magnesium, titanium
b.  sulfur, silicon, strontium
c.  chromium, calcium, carbon
d. none of the above

*15.  The number of __________ within an atom determines its elemental
identity. *
a.  protons
b. neutrons
c. positrons
d. electrons

*16.   __________is the heaviest element created by exploding white dwarfs.*
a.  arsenic
b.  zinc
c.  barium
d.  krypton

*17.  The r process occurs when atoms rapidly capture _____________.*
a.  helium nuclei
b.  neutrons
c.  protons
d.  neutrinos

*18.  According to currently accepted models, Uranium is only produced by
_____________.*
a. Type II supernovae
b. merging neutron stars
c.  black hole accretion disk nucleosynthesis
d. cosmic ray spallation

*19.  Cosmic Ray Spallation is responsible for the relatively high
abundances of lithium, beryllium and ____________*
a. boron
b. flourine
c. kyypton
d. silver

*20.  ________________  produce the element Einsteinium?*
a.  Merging neutron stars
b.  Type II supernovae
c.  Cosmic Ray Spallation
d. None of the above


ANSWERS
*1. Which one of the following statements about galactic clusters is not
true?*
d.  most of them are more than 10 billion years old.
If one traveled around the galaxy one would encounter a few galactic
clusters more than one billion years old.
However, none of them persist for more than 10 billion years.

*2. Approximately ____________ galactic star clusters have been catalogued
within the Milky Way Galaxy.*
b. 1,100
While astronomers have catalogued slightly more than 1,000 galactic star
clusters, they estimate that the galaxy might contain more than ten times
that number.

*3.   Did the Sun form within a galactic star cluster?*
b.  yes
So far astronomers have found at least one of its "sibling stars," those
that formed within the same cluster.

*4.  On average, a galactic star cluster's half life is between ___________
years.*
c.  150 - 800 million
The "half life" of a galactic star cluster is the amount of time required
for half of its stars to leave it.

*5.  ______________ , located at a distance of ____________ light years
from the Sun, is the closest galactic star cluster.*
b. The Hyades; 150
Most of Taurus the Bull's face consists of stars within the Hyades Star
Cluster.

*6.  M4, the nearest globular cluster, is about _________ light years away.*
c.  5500
The closest globular cluster is much farther away than the closest galactic
star clusters.     Many globular clusters are more than 10,000 light years
from Earth.

*7.  Which one of the following statements about globular clusters is not
true?*
a.   they are only found well outside of the galaxy
Globular clusters congregate within the galactic halo, the spherical region
surrounding the nucleus.

*8.  The image above shows a message beamed to M13, a Globular Cluster in
the constellation ____________.*
a.   Hercules
Called the "Hercules Cluster," M13 is located within the keystone, a
quadrilateral of stars forming Hercules'  torso.

*9. This globular cluster is approximately ________________ light years
away from the solar system.*
d. 25,000
As the radio signals move at light speed, they will require 25,000 years to
travel 25,000 light years

*10. The Milky Way Galaxy contains approximately _________ globular
clusters*
c. 200
Galactic star clusters greatly outnumber globular clusters.    Of course,
the total number of stars within all the galaxy's globular clusters vastly
outnumber the total number of stars within all the galactic star clusters.

*11. ___________ was the heaviest element generated during Big Bang
Nucleosynthesis.*
c. Lithium


*12. How long did the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis phase last?*
a. 10 seconds
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis occurred when the Universe was between 10 - 20
seconds old.

*13. _________ is the heaviest element created within stellar cores.*
c.  iron
Iron fusion is an endothermic process, meaning that the amount of energy
required to fuse iron is greater than the energy the fusion reactions
impart back into the star.

*14.  What elements are fused within white dwarfs?*
d. none of the above
Some elements are created by white dwarf explosions.  However, no nuclear
fusion occurs within white dwarfs, themselves.

*15.  The number of __________ within an atom determines its elemental
identity. *
a.  protons
Any atom with six protons is carbon.     There are many types of carbon
isotopes: carbon atoms containing six protons, but differing numbers of
neutrons.

*16.   __________is the heaviest element created by exploding white dwarfs.*
b.  zinc
Both exploding massive stars (Type II supernovae) and exploding white
dwarfs can produce zinc.

*17.  The r process occurs when atoms rapidly capture _____________.*
b.  neutrons

*18.  According to currently accepted models, Uranium is only produced by
_____________.*
b. merging neutron stars

*19.  Cosmic Ray Spallation is responsible for the relatively high
abundances of lithium, beryllium and ____________*
a. boron

*20.  ________________  produce the element Einsteinium?*
d. None of the above
Einsteinium is a synthetic element with the atomic number of 99.  It is not
produced by any natural process.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from the "Daily Astronomer"

http://lists.maine.edu/cgi/wa?A0=DAILY-ASTRONOMER