THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Altitude: 10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
Julian Date: 2459320.18
2020-2021: CXIV
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, April 16, 2021
Exploratorium XLIII: Week 8 Quiz
We answered quite a few questions this week. Now that it's Friday, we'll ask a few questions based on the answers to the original questions.
1. The Sun's contribution to Earth's tides is _______% that of the moon.
a. 23
b. 44
c. 67
d. 108
2. High tides that occur when the full or new moon is at or near perigee at the same time when Earth is at or near perihelion are known as ____________________
a. king tides
b. neap tides
c. spring tides
d. Poseidon's tides
3. The Arecibo Radio Message was beamed toward ______________.
a. the Orion Nebula
b. the Pleiades Star Cluster
c. The Hercules Star Cluster
d. The Andromeda Galaxy
4. How many stars have been conclusively identified as being siblings to the Sun?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d.5
5. The Sun will be able to support life on Earth for the next _____________ years.
a. 500,000
b. 100 million
c. 1.1 billion
d. 5 billion
6. The Great Bear chased the seven maidens up ___________________, located in the state of ______________.
a. Portland Head Light; Maine
b. Devil's Tower; Wyoming
c. Eiffel Tower; Paris
d. Thor Peak; Nunavut
7. Observers are only able to see a total solar eclipse if they stand within the _______________.
a. ecliptic
b. gamma zone
c. totality path
d. mobius strip
8. The next total solar eclipse visible in Maine will occur on ________________.
a. April 8, 2024
b. April 8, 2026
c. April 8, 2028
d. April 8, 2030
9. If we miss a total solar eclipse in our area, will we see another one in the same area in 18 years because of the Saros Cycle?
a. yes
b. no, Successive eclipses within a given Saros are separated by 22 years, not 18.
c. no. The next solar eclipse in the same Saros cycle will be visible in another part of the world
d. no, Each Saros cycle contains only one total solar eclipse. Every eclipse prior to and after that one will be partial.
10. The Saros Cycle which includes the next total solar eclipse visible in Maine is numbered ___________.
a. 136
b. 137
c. 138
d. 139
ANSWERS
1. 1. The Sun's contribution to Earth's tides is _______% that of the moon.
b. 44
For this reason, the tides are higher when the moon is new or full as those are the times at which the Sun and moon are acting on the tides along the same line.
2. High tides that occur when the full or new moon is at or near perigee at the same time when Earth is at or near perihelion are known as ____________________
d. Poseidon's tides
The term "King tides" refers to the high tide that occurs during a Supermoon, the time when the moon is either new or full when at or near perigee. Poseidon's tide, the highest of all possible tides, occurs when the supermoon happens around the time that Earth is closest to the Sun, at a point called perihelion. Perihelion currently occurs in early January.
3. The Arecibo Radio Message was beamed toward ______________.
c. The Hercules Star Cluster
Located in the constellation Hercules, hence the name, the Hercules Star Cluster is a globular cluster approximately 25,000 light years away. The message, consisting of 1,679 bytes of data,was beamed toward this cluster in 1974. It has been moving at light speed toward the cluster ever since. Even though the transmission has traveled 47 light years, it still has a long way to go before reaching its destination.
4. How many stars have been conclusively identified as being siblings to the Sun?
b. 1
Located in the constellation Hercules, the star's name is HD 162826. Hundreds, perhaps even more than a thousand stars formed out of the same nebula from which the Sun was born. So far, however, astronomers have only identified one such "sibling."
5. The Sun will be able to support life on Earth for the next _____________ years.
c. 1.1 billion
Although the Sun will continue to fuse hydrogen into helium for the next five billion years, the Sun's luminosity will increase so much that in about 1.1 billion years, Earth will receive so much solar energy that its surface will become too hot to sustain life. And, since I'm seeing snow falling outside my window in mid-April, the notion of a smoldering Earth seems quite delightful, thank you.
6. The Great Bear chased the seven maidens up ___________________, located in the state of ______________.
b. Devil's Tower; Wyoming
Fortunately, the moon goddess rescued the maidens and transformed them into the Seven Sisters star cluster, also known as the Pleiades. The goddess also hoisted the bear up into the sky to become Ursa Major so that it could never harm anyone else on Earth.
7. Observers are only able to see a total solar eclipse if they stand within the _______________.
c. totality path
Only observers within the totality path will actually see the moon completely cover the Sun during a total solar eclipse. Observers outside this path will either see a partial solar eclipse or, if they are quite far away, no eclipse at all.
8. The next total solar eclipse visible in Maine will occur on ________________.
a. April 8, 2024
Don't worry if you answered this question incorrectly.
You'll definitely commit that date to memory long before the date actually arrives.
9. If we miss a total solar eclipse in our area, will we see another one in the same area in 18 years because of the Saros Cycle?
c. no. The next solar eclipse in the same Saros cycle will be visible in another part of the world
If you miss the April 8, 2024 total eclipse, the next one in the Saros 139 cycle will be visible in Asia and Australia. Successive solar eclipses are not visible from the same region of the world.
10. The Saros Cycle which includes the next total solar eclipse visible in Maine is numbered ___________.
d. 139
The first Saros 139 eclipse was a partial that occurred on May 17, 1501. The last Saros 139 eclipse -another partial- will occur on July 27, 2763. The first total solar eclipse of this cycle happened on December 21, 1843. The last total solar eclipse in the Saros 139 cycle will occur on March 26, 2601. Your life is complete now, isn't it?
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