Space Exploration - Section 11.3 Quiz

When comparing the distance from Earth to different stars, which unit is the most appropriate?
1. Light-year
2. Astronomical unit
3. Kilometre
4. Light-hour
Which of the following units is the greatest in distance?
1. One Light-year
2. One Kilometre
3. One Astronomical unit
4. One Parallax
Let us say a star just exploded into a supernova 9 million km away. How long will it take its radiation to reach our solar system?
1. 30 seconds
2. 30 hours
3. 30 years
4. 750 hours
The Oort cloud is about 70,000 times as far from Earth as Earth is from the sun. How far away is the Oort cloud?
1. 70 000 AU
2. 7 AU
3. 700 AU
4. 7000 AU
If a galaxy is 1.5 million light-years away, how long does it take the light to travel from the galaxy to Earth?
1. 1.5 million years
2. 1.5 years
3. 1.5 billion years
4. 1.5 thousand years
Which calculations are necessary to perform a triangulation measurement?

I. a straight baseline length
II. two angle measurements
III. a tan(theta) calculation
IV. a scale calculation
1. I, II and IV
2. II and III
3. I, II, III and IV
4. I, III and IV
Scientists measure the distance of a star using parallax and the earth's orbit around the sun. Which statement about parallax measurement is not accurate?
1. It takes 1 year to obtain the necessary measurements
2. The Earth's orbit is chosen because it creates a very long baseline
3. Parallax is basically a very large triangulation measurement
4. When the earth is in different positions the star appears to shift against more distant stars
What is the speed of light?
1. 300 000 km/s
2. 300 000 m/s
3. 3 km/s
4. 300 000 000 km/s
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Which object is larger than a human by about the same scale as an atom is smaller than a human?
1. The Sun
2. A galaxy
3. The universe
4. The solar system
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The observable universe is approximately _________ times the size of a protozoan.
1. 10³⁰
2. 10²⁶
3. 10²²
4. 10²⁰