Astronomy Unit Test: Three Different Parts of the Question
The Astronomy Unit test is easy and brief tests which should only take up a few minutes each day to complete. In the exam you are required to demonstrate your knowledge of the many ways in which the stars and planets move around the night skies. For this you will be shown a series of charts whilst your mind will be asked to predict which planets will be on each set of charts, next to the stars. This is the easiest method and therefore the recommended one for most exam takers. If you struggle with this type of test then you will find some other methods to help you in your exams more easily.
Some of the easier versions of the Astronomy Unit test cover relatively simple topics such as the properties of gases, the properties of the electron and the properties of atoms. But what many people find difficult is mastering the different terms used, such as a supernova, or Alpha, Beta and Gamma. The reason for this is that these terms have specific meanings when they are used in relation to the stars and the various planetary systems in the solar system. You will be shown charts with these symbols, which will mean that the particular term has a meaning associated with it when seen through the telescope.
It is easy to understand why the experts think that the observed movements of the heavenly bodies can give clues to the formation of the universe. For example, there are constant gravitational pulls exercised by the planets in our solar system, and this means that astronomers believe that the composition of gases within the outer planets have to be very different to that of gases which existed at the beginning of the universe. If the composition of the gases is different, it means that there must have been evolution in the beginning of the solar system. Another idea advanced by scientists is that the observed mass distribution in the solar nebula (which is made up of a disk of cool gas) is caused by perturbations that took place at the beginning of the universe.
This theory also suggests that the solar nebula got to its present position by gravitational contraction and expansion. Scientists think that the material within the disk was once much denser than it is now, and that perturbations took place in the past which caused the material to contract. They also think that some of the planets in the solar system were created through collisions, and that their composition is quite similar to that of the inner planets. There are also theories that suggest that the distribution of planets in the solar system could be very different, and that there might even be life on other worlds, although that idea remains highly controversial among many scientists.
The second part of the quiz concerns how the inner planets were found by astronomers using telescopes. The astronomers did not just look at the stars, but they looked carefully at the positions of the planets and calculated how these positions are linked to the positions of the stars. Once they noticed a link, they measured the distance of the planet from the star, and from this they could calculate the mass of the planet, which is determined from the solar system’s radius as well as the fraction of the solar nebula of a planetary system. From this information they were able to determine that the planet was a gas planet, like Earth, and that it was slightly too dense for its solar system to have hosted life, which is what led scientists to conclude that the solar system’s age was approximately ten billion years. With this information, the astronomers were able to conclude that the whole solar nebula must have existed for at least ten billion years.
The third section of the quiz concerns whether or not the solar system is an evolved system. To do this, you’ll need to know what “evolved” means. According to the big bang theory, space and time simply began with nothing around. Therefore, all the planets and solar systems in the universe were created in the very beginning. However, some scientists are not so keen about this theory, and instead believe that the solar system was “abrupt” and that life began only later on. To support this idea, they point out that all the planets and solar systems in the solar system have orbital periods that are roughly similar to our own Solar System’s orbital period, while none of the planets or solar system elements have orbital periods that are significantly longer or shorter than the Solar System’s.