ANNUAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2015

ST. JOSEPH HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL

ASTRONOMY OLYMPIAD
(Class 9-10)
Total Mark: 50 (MCQ 40, Math 10)
1. Which planets rotate on its axis from east
to west?
a. Jupiter & Venus
b. Venus & Mercury
c. Uranus & Neptune
d. Venus & Uranus
2. The minimum distance between the sun
and the earth occurs on a. December 22
b. June 21
c. January 3
d. September 22
3. When the sun is nearest to the earth, the
earth is said to be in a. Aphelion
b. Perihelion
c. Apogee
d. Perigee
4. How much of the surface of the moon is
visible from the earth a. About 59%
b. More than 75%
c. Only about 40%
d. Only about 25%
5. On the surface of the moon the a. Mass and weight become less
b. Only the mass is less
c. Mass remain constant and only the
weight is less
d. Mass and weight both remain
unchanged

Time: 30 Minutes
6. When a superior planet is at opposition
it is making an angle of how many
degrees with the sun?
a. 0 degrees
b. 45 degrees
c. 90 degrees
d. 180 degrees
7. A Galactic year is the length of time that
it takes our sun to orbit the galaxy. In
Earth years, how long is a Galactic year?
a. 100 million years
b. 230 million years
c. 620 million years
d. 940 million years
8. The habitable zone around a star is _____?
a. The region around a star where liquid
water can exist on planetary surfaces
b. The region around a star where life
exists
c. The region around a star where humans
can survive
d. The region around a star where rocky
planets form
e. The region around a star where the
ultraviolet radiation does not destroy
organisms on a planetary surface
9. How are galaxies important to our
existence?
a. Without galaxies, the universe could not
be expanding
b. Without galaxies, there could not have
been a Big Bang
c. Galaxies Prevent planets from leaving
their orbits around stars; e.g. our galaxy
prevents the earth from leaving its
orbits of the Sun
d. Galaxies recycle heavy elements
produced in stars into future
generations of stars

ANNUAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2015

ST. JOSEPH HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
10. Who discovered that Jupiter has moons?
a. Aristotle
b. Ptolemy
c. Kepler
d. Galileo
e. Tycho Brahe
11. From laboratory measurements, we
know that a particular spectral line
formed by hydrogen appears at a
wavelength of 486.1 nanometers (nm).
The spectrum of a particular star has the
same hydrogen line appearing at a
wavelength of 485.9nm. What can we
conclude?
a. The star is getting hotter.
b. The star is getting colder.
c. The "star" actually is a planet.
d. The star is moving toward us.
e. The star is moving away from us.
12. Which planet has the highest average
surface temperature and why?
a. Mercury, because it is closest to the Sun
b. Mercury, because of its dense carbon
dioxide atmosphere
c. Venus, because of its dense carbon
dioxide atmosphere
d. Mars, because of its red color
e. Jupiter, because it is so big
13. Which two properties are most
important in determining the surface
temperature of a planet?
a. Size and distance from the Sun
b. Internal temperature and atmosphere
c. Size and chemical composition
d. Distance from the sun and atmosphere
e. Size and atmosphere
14. Which of the following statements about
the sunspot cycle is not true?
a. The number of sunspots peaks
approximately every 11 years.
b. With each subsequent peak in the
number of sunspots, the magnetic
polarity of the Sun is the reverse of the
previous peak.
c. The rate of nuclear fusion in the Sun
peaks about every 11 years.

d.

e.

The cycle is truly a cycle of magnetic

activity, and variations in the number of
sunspots are only one manifestation of
the cycle.
The number of solar flares peaks about
every 11 years.

15. On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram,

where on the main sequence would we
find stars that have the greatest mass?
a. Lower right
b. Upper right
c. Upper left
d. Lower left
e. None of the above
16. Sirius is a spectral type A star whereas
Rigel is a spectral type B star. What can
we conclude?
a. Sirius has a higher core temperature
than Rigel.
b. Rigel has a higher surface temperature
than Sirius.
c. Sirius has a higher surface temperature
than Rigel.
d. Rigel has a higher core temperature
than Sirius.
e. Sirius and Rigel have the same
temperature
17. Space within clusters of galaxies is not
expanding because ____________?
1. Expansion of the universe affects only
empty space, not space in which matter
is present.
2. The universe is not old enough yet for
these objects to have begun their
expansion.
3. Space IS expanding within clusters of
galaxies, which is why clusters tend to
grow in size with time.
4. Their gravity is strong enough to hold
them together even while the universe
as a whole expands.
5. There is not enough matter in the
clusters to repel the galaxies away

ANNUAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2015

ST. JOSEPH HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
18. What does the Schwarzschild radius of a
black hole depend on?
a. Whether the black hole formed in a
massive-star supernova or in some
other way
b. The radius of the black hole, as
measured by careful observations of its
size
c. Both the mass and the chemical
composition of the black hole
d. Only the mass of the black hole
e. The colour of the black hole
19. Which of the following places is not
generally considered a potential home
for life in our solar system?
a. Jupiter's atmosphere
b. Europa
c. Mars
d. Ganymede
e. All of the above

ANSWER

II. Sirius is an A1V main sequence star. Use the

H-R diagram (given below) to find the
luminosity and surface temperature of Sirius.
(Show Reasoning)

20. We do not expect to find life on planets

orbiting high-mass stars because?
a. Planets cannot have stable orbits
around high-mass stars.
b. The stars are too hot to allow for life.
c. The lifetime of a high-mass star is too
short.
d. The high-mass stars emit too much
ultraviolet radiation.
e. They emit too much ultraviolet
radiation
ANSWER

Short Question

(52=10)

I. By how many times is the light of the Moon

at full moon weaker than that of the Sun if the
stellar magnitude of the moon is -12.5 and that
of the Sun -26.7?
Clue: Magnitude is the logarithmic measure of
the brightness of an object. Every interval of one
magnitude equates to a variation in brightness
of 1001/5 or roughly 2.512 times.