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