< Radiation astronomy < History
The Trundholm Sun chariot pulled by a horse is a sculpture believed to be illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. The sculpture is probably from around 1350 [Anno Domini] BC. It is displayed at the National Museum of Denmark. Credit: Malene Thyssen.

Radiation history is the history of radiation astronomy lecture and article for the course on the principles of radiation astronomy.

This is a quiz based on the lecture that you are free to take at any time.

Once you’ve read and studied the lecture itself, the links contained within the article/lecture, listed under See also, External links and in the {{principles of radiation astronomy}} template, you should have adequate background to take the quiz.

Suggestion: Have the lecture available in a separate window.

Enjoy learning by doing!

Quiz

  

1 True or False, The principal difference between ancient astronomical history and archeoastronomy is "cultural interpretations of phenomena in the sky."

TRUE
FALSE

2 Which of the following is not a studied characteristic of the early history of astronomy?

the North Polar region
the first celestial globe
radiation
constellations
trained observers of today are different from the observers of antiquity

3 Name a Neolithic monument in England that may have functioned as a celestial observatory

4 Yes or No, Those parts of human interest in celestial phenomena which are amenable to mathematical treatment are called astronomy.

Yes
No

5 Ionization within the Earth's atmosphere from cosmic rays has what property?

it's subject to solar eclipses
it increases underwater
cosmic rays do not penetrate the atmosphere
is higher at the base of the Eiffel tower rather than the top
is obscured by hot-air balloons
the ionization rate rises at rising elevation

6 "[T]he study of objects and matter outside the Earth's atmosphere and of their physical and chemical properties" is called

7 True or False, The disparity between the atomic number of an atom and its atomic mass is explained by the existence of the neutrino.

TRUE
FALSE

8 The Larmor radius is not a limit in positron astronomy because of what characteristic of a positron?

the positron has a half-life of about one year
at the Larmor radius from the Sun the quarks inside a positron become unstable
at relativistic speeds the charge on a positron approaches zero
for very high speeds (almost relativistic) local or large scale magnetic fields produce little deflection
solar positron events may have a significant impact on the Earth's atmosphere
the positron annihilates after a short distance with a nearby electron

9 Which group of astronomers were the first to keep written records of what they learned about the heavens?

10 True or False, The fundamental unit was over 1000 times smaller than an atom, suggesting the subatomic particles called delta rays.

TRUE
FALSE

11 Which of the following is not in the history of neutrino astronomy?

Enrico Fermi coined the term "neutrino"
Wolfgang Pauli postulated the muon neutrino
in the Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment, antineutrinos are created
a hydrogen bubble chamber was used to detect neutrinos
Niels Bohr was opposed to the neutrino interpretation of beta decay
a neutrino hitting a proton is detectable

12 What is the name of the oldest recorded star catalog?

13 True or False, The Goddard rocket was the first sounding rocket to carry an X-ray detector above the Earth's atmosphere.

TRUE
FALSE

14 Which of the following is not a phenomenon associated with the history of optical astronomy?

actuators may be a part of active optics
the Vela satellites were the first devices in space ever to detect optical bursts
Galileo made a telescope with about 3x magnification
Galileo sold his telescopes to merchants
Sidereus Nuncius
a terrestrial telescope or a spyglass could also be used to observe the sky

15 The rising Sun illuminates the inner chamber of Newgrange, Ireland, only at which solstice.

16 True or False, Infrared astronomy began in the 1730s, a few decades after the discovery of infrared light by William Herschel

TRUE
FALSE

17 Which of the following is not a phenomenon associated with the history of violet astronomy?

photographs of the planet Venus taken in 1927
two nebulous bright streaks running approximately perpendicular to the terminator on Venus
observations of Venus in 1959 with spectrographs show a wide continuous absorption
the stellar abundance of aluminum
the Galileo spacecraft observed Venus
the helium beta line

18 Who first proposed the hypothesis that the Sun is at rest, while the Earth and the planets rotate about the Sun?

19 True or False, A new archaeological excavation has found a Babylonian telescope for the first time.

TRUE
FALSE

20 Observations of comets have benefited greatly from what phenomenon of cyan astronomy?

Cherenkov radiation
the electric blue glow of lightning
gas-expansion velocity decreases with increasing heliocentric distance
methane possesses prominent absorption bands in the visible
adaptive optics
the light of the neutral CN-radical

21 The history of astronomy, archaeoastronomy, and the application of historical records to modern astrophysical problems have been included in what astronomy?

22 True or False, The astronomer Clyde Tombaugh is the discoverer of Charon.

TRUE
FALSE

23 Which of the following is a phenomenon associated historically with yellow astronomy?

Jupiter
sodium line emission
sunspots on the Sun
an emission with a wavelength of 420 nm
phosphorus
TiO

24 A collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II at his then new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1733 is known as the

25 True or False, To ancient astronomers stars remain relatively fixed over the centuries while planets move an appreciable amount during a comparatively short time.

TRUE
FALSE

26 Which of the following is not associated with spherical trigonometry?

the sum of the angles internal to a triangle is always 180°
Menelaus of Alexandria
Tycho Brahe
the sum of the angles internal to a triangle may be greater than 180°
chords
it is not appropriate to extend its mysteries to everyone

27 What term was first used with reference to the transfer of momentum from the Sun to the planets in 1942

28 True or False, The Sun is a classical planet.

TRUE
FALSE

29 From a historical perspective which of the following is not characteristic of the solar corona

the solar corona is electric
it drives away the tails of comets
a net charge on the Sun of approximately -0.3 x 1028 e.s.u.
extrasolar planets
the Reverend Lecturer referring to coronal holes
"the coronoidal discharges in poor vacua obtained by Prof. Pupin about an insulated metal ball are exceedingly like the rays and streamers of the solar corona."

30 That which forms in space above a sunspot area and rains streamers upon it is called a

31 True or False, The observations of planetary motion agree with computed orbits to the accuracy of the observations.

TRUE
FALSE

32 Considering Spöerer's law which phenomenon is not associated with sunspots?

the forerunners of the new cycle are beginning to appear in high latitudes
in a minimum year the zone about 15° should be entirely barren
the greatest group of the year
the celebrated "eclipse group"
a cause produces variation of rotation rate with latitude
There is a slight acceleration of the rotation period from the first cycle to the second

33 Name a classical planet that was not apparently seen in the sky before 5102 b2k

34 True or False, Tally sticks, notched bones dating as far back as 20–30,000 years ago, are believed by some to mark the sunspot cycle.

TRUE
FALSE

35 Various radiation observatories occur at different altitudes and geographic locations due to what effect?

the presence of oceans on the Earth
locally available carving tools
the atmosphere of the Earth
most astronomical objects are observed at night
currently dormant volcanoes seldom erupt
human habitation increases near an astronomical observatory

36 To the Babylonians, this object represented their god Marduk.

37 True or False, The V 2 rocket was first used as a sounding rocket for X-ray astronomy before being converted to a weapon.

TRUE
FALSE

38 The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is an astronomical document produced to help astronomers for what purpose?

predict the end of the Earth
determine the accuracy of local computers
accurately predict the equinoxes
demonstrate that Venus was once a comet
predict when currently dormant volcanoes will erupt
demonstrate that the local pyramids were built by aliens

39 On 19 May 1910, the Earth actually passed through the tail of what comet.

40 True or False, Demetrius lived at Abdère 300 years before the Christian era 2300 b2k. In a short fragment quoted by Plutarch, he declares that the Milky Way is an agglomeration of small stars too far away to be perceived singly.

TRUE
FALSE

41 Johannes Kepler is not known for which of the following?

being an astrologer
a key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution
Euclidean geometry
projective geometry
if a straight line is extended to infinity it will meet itself at a single point at infinity, thus having the properties of a large circle
Rudolphine Tables

42 What type of early calculator is capable of working out several kinds of spherical astronomy problems

43 True or False, Historically, observatories were as simple as having some alignments on astronomical phenomena.

TRUE
FALSE

44 Sputnik I was involved in which of the following astronomies?

red astronomy
stellar astronomy
neutrino astronomy
radio astronomy
neutron astronomy
X-ray astronomy

45 "El Caracol" is an observatory at Chichen Itza, Mexico, serving at the very least as an observation.

46 True or False, The first gamma-ray telescope was carried into orbit aboard OSO 3.

TRUE
FALSE

47 Historically, orange astronomy is not known for which of the following?

Alpha Centauri B
Epsilon Eridani
Saturn
K spectral type stars
the Bayer designation for a star
the Indian city of Pondicherry in December 1689

48 Soon after the invention of radar astronomy, what classical planet was detected

49 True or False, Analysis of tree rings has revealed a detailed picture of past solar cycles.

TRUE
FALSE

50 Cheomseongdae was involved in which of the following astronomies?

cosmic-ray astronomy
infrared astronomy
neutrino astronomy
visual astronomy
ultraviolet astronomy
radio astronomy

51 Before the current era and perhaps before 6,000 b2k which classical planet may have been green?

Hypotheses

  1. The history of radiation astronomy dates at least to 42,000 b2k.

See also

{{History of science resources}}

{{Radiation astronomy resources}}

This article is issued from Wikiversity. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.