1THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249      www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street     Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N                   70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
Julian date:  2457711.16
               "And, just when we thought that the world couldn't be any
stranger."



THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, November 18, 2016
Quiz XI:   A Shadowy Tribute

The shadow professor used to write quiz questions based on previous DA
articles.   He was a real person and, most lamentably, perished in
September 2015.     In life, he preferred to remain anonymous, hence the
nickname "shadow professor."     Even after his death, I am reluctant to
disclose his identity, as I suspect his ghost, which is known to wander
around the science building on occasion, wouldn't approve.

Instead, we offer this quiz based on those the shadow professor once
crafted for our benefit.  (I won't be nearly as tricky as he was, of
course.)



1.   Who discovered the infrared band of the electromagnetic spectrum?
a.  Isaac Newton
b.  William Herschel
c.   James Clerk Maxwell
d.  Henry Cavendish

2.   A supermoon occurs when the moon is full at or around the same time it
is at ____________
a. perigee
b. apogee
c.  perihelion
d.  periastron

3. The galaxy NGC 6744, a barred spiral galaxy in Pavo the Peacock, is
noteworthy because:
a  it is the most distant spiral galaxy known to astronomers
b. it closely resembles the Milky Way Galaxy
c. it is the largest spiral galaxy in the Virgo Super Cluster
d.it contains fewer than one million stars

4.  The concept of dark energy arose to explain what phenomenon?
a.  the rapid motion of stars within galaxies
b.  the evaporation of black holes
c.  the formation of planets within binary stars
d.  the acceleration of the Universal expansion

5. Four people are standing at different locations on Earth.  Which one is
rotating most quickly?
a.   Frank at the North Pole
b.  Bob at the South Pole
c.  Lisa at the Equator
d.  Olivia at the Tropic of Capricorn

6.  Vulpecula and Sagitta (the Fox and Arrow constellations, respectively)
are located within what?
a.  the Summer Triangle
b.  the Winter Triangle
c.  the Southern Cross
d.  Capricornus

7.  American astronomer Francis Pease is noteworthy because:
a.  he was the first person to correctly predict the timing of a solar
eclipse
b. he was the first person to discover a planetary nebula in a globular
cluster
c.  he was the first astronomer to walk on the moon
d.  he was the first astronomer to observe how the starfield is altered by
the Sun during a solar eclipse

8.  The European Space Agency developed the GAIA satellite to do what?
a.  map planet Earth's structures down to the size of 1 square meter
b. provide the locations and motions of more than one billion stars
c.  establish an orbit around the asteroid Icarus
d.  crash into a comet

9.  The region around a black hole beyond which nothing can escape is known
as___________
a. the event horizon
b.a singularity
c. the Einstein-Rosen Bridge
d. the Feynman Ring

10.  The point in the sky from which meteors appear to emanate is called
a.  the zero point
b.  the radiant
c.  the omega point
d.  the convergence zone

ANSWERS  (Article dates pertaining to the question are written in
parentheses.)
1. b.  William Herschel    (11/17)

2. a. perigee   (11/10)

3. b. it closely resembles the Milky Way Galaxy  (10/26)

4. d.  the acceleration of the Universal expansion   (11/15)

5. c.  Lisa at the Equator   (10/18)

6. a.  the Summer Triangle (10/06)

7.  b. he was the first person to discover a planetary nebula in a globular
cluster
(10/12)

8.  b. provide the locations and motions of more than one billion stars
 (9/15)

9.  a. the event horizon  (11/16)

10.  b.  the radiant  (11/14)