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 70.2667° W  Altitude:  10 feet below sea level Founded January 1970 Julian
Date:  2459327.18
2020-2021: CXVIII

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday,  April 23, 2021
Exploratorium XLVII:  Week 9 Quiz

This week's quiz combines classical mythology, solar eclipses, wormholes,
and a message beams to a distant globular cluster.   A nifty little mix of
myth and science to end the week.   Next week: all different topics and
mythologies.


*1. Every part of Achilles was invulnerable except for his ______________.*
a. knee
b. left eye
c. heel
d. right shoulder

*2. An eclipse that is total in some locations and annular in others is
known as a _______________.*
a. hybrid
b. Tot-Ann
c. Ann-Tot
d. variabl*e*

*3. The next Solar saros cycle (# 157) will begin on June 21, ________.*
a. 2037
b. 2044
c. 2058
d. 2071

*4.  What part of the Argo could talk?*
a. the mast
b. the prow
c. the 49th oar
d. the sail

*5. How did Jason die?*
a.  Medea killed him
b.  Paris shot him with a poisoned arrow
c. A piece of the Argo fell on him as he slept
d. Jason didn't die. Medea made him immortal

*6. The constellation Argo Navis was eventually divided into how many
different constellations?*
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. 8

*7. What is a "semi-prime" number?*
a. a number that is a product of two prime numbers
b. a number whose digits, when added together, equals a prime number
c. a number that is only prime on even numbered days
d, a number that contains more than 10 prime factors

*8.  The Arecibo message was beamed toward M13: the Hercules Star Cluster.
The M stands for ____________.*
a.  Messier
b.  Magnitude
c.  M-class star cluster
d.  M is the letter designation for a globular cluster.  N is the
designation for galactic cluster.

*9. When the Arecibo message was sent in 1974, it contained information
about Earth's population.  What was the planet's human population in 1974?*
a. 3.8 billion
b. 4.3 billion
c. 5.1 billion
d. 5.8 billion

*10. The message will arrive at its destination in about __________________
years.*
a. 10,000
b. 17,000
c. 22,000
d. 25,000




ANSWERS
*1. Every part of Achilles was invulnerable except for his ______________.*
c. heel
Achilles' mother Thetis dipped Achilles in the River Styx so as to render
his body invulnerable to any weapon..  However, she held him by one of his
heels which consequently never touched the water.    This heel was
Achilles' only vulnerable body part, hence the still popular term
"Achilles' Heel."

*2. An eclipse that is total in some locations and annular in others is
known as a _______________.*
a. hybrid
An eclipse will be hybrid if the moon's shadow touches Earth in some
locations, but doesn't quite reach the ground at others.  Hybrid eclipses
occur because our planet is spherical.     If Earth were flat, an eclipse
would either be total or annular.

*3. The next Solar saros cycle (# 157) will begin on June 21, ________.*
c. 2058
The cycle will begin with a partial eclipse in 2058 and end with a partial
eclipse on July 17, 3302, in case you wish to plan accordingly.

*4.  What part of the Argo could talk?*
b. the prow
The prow was made of oak taken from the forest of Dodona, a grove sacred to
Zeus.    The prow was therefore able to speak and render prophecies.

*5. How did Jason die?*
c. A piece of the Argo fell on him as he slept
Many years after the quest for the golden fleece, Jason, then an old and
broken man, returned to the beach at Pagasae, where the Argo had remained
ever since the Argonauts returned from their mission.    While Jason napped
next to the Argo, a piece of its prow detached and struck his head, killing
him instantly.   Whether or not this detachment was accidental or directed
by a higher power remains unclear.

*6. The constellation Argo Navis was eventually divided into how many
different constellations?*
b. 3
Puppis (the deck), Vela (the sails), and Carina (the keel).
While all of three are southern constellations, the northern part of Puppis
is visible to mid-latitude observers.  One will find it just south of Canis
Major.

*7. What is a "semi-prime" number?*
a. a number that is a product of two prime numbers
The Arecibo message contained 1,679 bytes of data. 1,679 is a semi-prime
number, meaning that it is the product of two prime numbers (23 and 73).

*8.  The Arecibo message was beamed toward M13: the Hercules Star Cluster.
The M stands for ____________.*
a.  Messier
M13 is the 13th entry in the Messier Catalog: compiled by French astronomer
Charles Messier (1730-1817).


*9. When the Arecibo message was sent in 1974, it contained information
about Earth's population.  What was the planet's human population in 1974?*
b. 4.3 billion
The world's population is now approximately 7.8 billion.

*10. The message will arrive at its destination in about __________________
years.*
d. 25,000
Even though the message was transmitted 47 years ago, it still has to
travel almost 25,000 light years to reach the Hercules Star Cluster.


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