Pick the single best answer and mark the corresponding letter. This is an actual exam from an Astronomy 301 class I taught in a previous year. Take this practice test under exam conditions after you have studied. Grade it yourself, using your notes and book, to identify areas you need to study further. You may find it useful to study for the exam by swapping notes and working in small groups.
Gravity is responsible for a.
One can define the distance scale in the Universe readily in terms of light travel time. The fact that stars radiate energy implies that a. stars have a finite mass b. stars have luminosities in proportion to their mass c. stars die d. One of our former 301 students proposed the idea that perhaps there was a large impact on Venus shortly after its formation. Similar to the impact- trigger mechanism for the formation of the Earth's moon. Another of our former students suggested that the gas swept out of the inner part of the solar system may have piled-up to explain a. the mass of the Sun b. the mass of Saturn c. the composition of the Saturn d. the composition of Jupiter e. the mass of Jupiter 8.