Filters
Question type

Study Flashcards

One prominent feature recently identified within many energetic close binary star systems as a result of their mutual interaction and mass exchange is:


A) two oppositely directed high-speed jets of matter leaving the system.
B) planetary formation between the stars, emitting IR radiation from molecular constituents and dust.
C) the beginnings of spiral arms, showing the possible origin of spiral galaxies.
D) a cool dust cloud surrounding the whole star system, hiding it from visible view.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

What is the likely final fate of a star of 15 solar masses when it is on the main sequence?


A) The star will collapse and become a black hole.
B) The star will condense to the point where it is composed completely of neutrons, the degeneracy of which will prevent further shrinkage.
C) The degeneracy of the electrons in the star will prevent collapse below the diameter of a white dwarf.
D) The star will immediately split in two and become a binary star system.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

What are thermal pulses?


A) They are the loops formed on the H-R diagram as the evolutionary tracks of low-mass stars move beyond the planetary nebula stage.
B) They are the pulses of radiation emitted during helium shell flashes.
C) This is another name for the high-luminosity pulses of radiation emitted periodically by variable stars.
D) They are the burst of radiation given off during a nova.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

Which nuclear fusion cycle is the next one to begin after helium fusion ends in a massive star?


A) carbon fusion
B) iron fusion
C) silicon fusion
D) oxygen fusion

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

Suppose you are in the Space Shuttle in orbit around Earth at a speed of 7 km/s,and at some particular time your direction of travel is straight toward the Sun.The speed of light in a vacuum is 300,000 km/s.What speed will you measure for light from the Sun?


A) 300,007 km/s because your speed is added to that of the light
B) 300,014 km/s because your speed is added to that of the light, and relativistic contraction has shortened the meterstick used in the measurement of the speed of the light
C) 300,007 km/s because relativistic contraction has shortened the meterstick with which you measure the distance traveled by the light in order to measure its speed
D) 300,000 km/s

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

How is it that white dwarfs,which are relatively small,can have surface temperatures of several tens of thousands of Kelvins?


A) They are actually very similar in size and temperature to small main sequence stars such as red dwarfs.
B) The nuclear fusion in the core of a white dwarf involves carbon and oxygen, and this produces more energy and heat than either hydrogen or helium fusion.
C) The surface of the white dwarf is actually the core since the cooler outer layers have been blown off.
D) Because white dwarfs are fully convective, the nuclear fusion takes place on the surface.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

A space freighter accidentally drops a steel beam while passing a black hole,and the beam starts falling toward the black hole with the long direction of the beam pointing toward the black hole.What happens to the beam as it approaches the event horizon?


A) The beam expands in all dimensions to the size of the black hole event horizon when it reaches this distance from the singularity.
B) The beam is stretched in length and compressed in width.
C) The beam is compressed in both length and width.
D) The beam is compressed in length and stretched in width.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

Which property can never be known about a black hole?


A) the type of material inside it
B) the angular momentum (spin)
C) the total amount of matter (the mass) inside it
D) the net electric charge

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

An electromagnetic wave leaves the surface of a neutron star and travels outward.As the wave gets farther from the star's surface,the _____ and the _____.


A) speed decreases; wavelength increases
B) frequency increases; wavelength decreases
C) frequency decreases; wavelength increases
D) speed decreases; frequency decreases

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

We believe that elements heavier than carbon CANNOT be created:


A) in the cores of solar mass stars.
B) in the cores of massive stars.
C) during supernova explosions.
D) when two neutron stars collide.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

A high-mass star goes through many fusion cycles in its lifetime: hydrogen,helium,carbon,neon,oxygen,and silicon.How does the timescale for each cycle compared with the previous one?


A) Each new nucleus is heavier than the previous one and thus it moves more slowly. Each successive stage therefore takes longer than the previous one.
B) The temperature is higher at each stage and the number of nuclei to react fewer. Thus, each stage takes a shorter time than the previous one.
C) 2 M to 8 M only
D) all stars 0.4 M to 8 M

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

The energy to create a virtual particle-antiparticle pair lasts only a short time and does not have to be accounted for in the usual conservation of energy balance.However,if the virtual particles are transformed into real particles,their energy must come from some physical source.In the case of the Hawking process,what is the source of this energy?


A) electromagnetic waves from the black hole
B) magnetic energy from the black hole
C) gravitational waves from the black hole
D) the accretion disk

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

Which phenomenon is NEVER a consequence of a supernova explosion?


A) the triggering of star formation by shock waves moving through interstellar space
B) the formation of a planetary nebula
C) he condensation of matter into a solid nuclear star composed entirely of neutrons
D) the generation of a pulse of neutrino emission

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

The very last nuclear process to occur at the center of a massive star (at the end of its life) is:


A) the helium flash.
B) silicon fusion, resulting in the production of iron.
C) the photodisintegration of nuclei by gamma rays.
D) the capture of electrons by protons to produce neutrons.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

When the core of a star becomes too massive to be held up by the pressure associated with electron degeneracy,it:


A) is unable to collapse further because of the rules of quantum mechanics.
B) collapses further until it is held up by the pressure of neutron degeneracy.
C) collapses further until it is held up by quark degeneracy.
D) cannot be prevented from further collapse and thus forms a black hole.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

What are cosmic rays?


A) steady, low-energy flux of neutral atoms into the solar system due to the passage of the Sun through the interstellar medium
B) neutron beams emitted along the rotational axes of accretion disks around neutron stars
C) beams of photons produced by rotating, magnetic neutron stars
D) atomic nuclei and other subatomic particles traveling through space at more than 90% of the speed of light

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

Which properties of the matter inside a black hole can be measured from outside the black hole?


A) mass and angular momentum
B) only mass
C) mass, angular momentum, electric charge, and average atomic weight
D) mass, angular momentum, and electric charge

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

The light from the expanding shell of gas in a planetary nebula consists of:


A) bright emission lines of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and other elements.
B) thermal (blackbody) radiation with peak emission in the infrared.
C) the light of the central white dwarf star reflected and scattered by dust and gas in the shell.
D) thermal (blackbody) radiation with peak emission in the ultraviolet.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

A black hole is so named because:


A) the gravitational field is so high that the wavelength of its emitted light is gravitationally redshifted to radio wavelengths.
B) it emits no visible light because it is so cold, less than 100 K.
C) no light can escape from it due to its powerful gravitational field.
D) it is colder that the rest of the universe; that is, its effective temperature is less than 3 K.

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

The first pulsar was discovered in which year?


A) 1967
B) 1930
C) 1978
D) 1054

Correct Answer

verifed

verified

Showing 141 - 160 of 395

Related Exams

Show Answer