Quiz 4 - Mar 10, 2004

Question 1:

Sirius is the brightest star in the constellation

1. Orion
2. Taurus
3. Canis minor
4. Canis major
5. Ursa major

Question 2:

The companion star to Sirius A is a

1. red giant
2. main sequence
3. planetary nebula
4. supergiant
5. white dwarf

Question 3:

The interior of a 2 solar mass AGB star consists of

1. Inert carbon core, with helium and hydrogen shell burning
2. Helium core burning with hydrogen shell burning
3. Hydrogen core burning with helium shell
4. Carbon fusion in core, hydrogen and helium atmosphere
5. Iron core, successive shells of light elements

Question 4:

Which statement is not correct concerning a white dwarf?

1. There is no fusion process anywhere in the interior
2. The interior is mostly carbon and oxygen
3. Typical cooling time is less than one million years
4. The Sun’s eventual fate is as a white dwarf
5. White dwarfs lie to the left of the MS in HR diagram

Question 5:

The ‘helium flash’ refers to

1. The sudden brightening of a star when helium dredges to the surface
2. A sudden increase in the helium spectral line strength
3. A ring of bright light around an evolved star
4. The thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium
5. The sudden ‘turn on’ of helium fusion in a stellar core

Question 6:

A ‘planetary nebula’ is energized by

1. Ultraviolet radiation form the central star
2. Shock waves emanating from a central star
3. The solar wind colliding with outer planets
4. A swirl of planetary debris rotating around a stellar wind
5. Neutrinos from a dying star

Question 7:

Which statement best describes the precursor to a Type I supernova?

1. A massive star which has imploded, followed by explosive shock
2. A white dwarf in a binary with mass accretion
3. A low-mass evolved star which has depleted its hydrogen ‘fuel’
4. An iron-rich star with enormous gravitational contractive forces
5. An exploding star which is Population I

Question 8:

Supernovae occur in a typical galaxy

1. Even few weeks
2. Every few months
3. Every few years
4. Every few hundred years
5. About once per 10,000 years

Question 9:

The Population II stars differ from Population I stars in their

1. Size
2. Temperature
3. Spectral Type
4. Luminosity
5. Metal abundance

Question 10:

The famous ‘Crab’ supernova remnant was first seen

1. By powerful telescopes on the Hubble spacecraft
2. By Kepler in 1604
3. By Galileo in 1611
4. By Hubble at Mt. Wilson in 1911
5. By the Chinese astronomers in 1054

Grades: