Name: __________________________ Date: _____________

A)
B)
C)
D)

1.The first three strong radio sources, discovered by Reber in the 1930s and 1940s, did not
include
the galactic nucleus.
a supernova remnant.
a globular cluster.
a distant galaxy.

A)
B)
C)
D)

2.What is the most outstanding feature of a quasar compared to other objects in deep
space?
Its small size
Its great distance from the Earth
Its short lifetime
Its prodigious output of energy

A)
B)
C)
D)

A)
B)
C)
D)

A)
B)
C)
D)

3.The specific characteristics that identify most quasars are

that they look like elliptical galaxies, but with high spectral redshifts.
bright, starlike appearance and very high spectral blueshift, indicating that they are
approaching the Sun very fast, and rapid intensity fluctuations, indicating small
intrinsic size.
bright, starlike appearance with very high redshifts and hence very large distances,
indicating very energetic sources.
spiral galaxy appearance and very high spectral blueshift, indicating that they are
coming toward the Sun at high speed.
4.Which observations of quasars convinced astronomers that they were very distant
objects?
Their extremely red spectrum, reddened by extreme interstellar absorption of the
blue part of the spectrum, meaning that the source must be a very long way away
Extreme redshift of visible Balmer and UV Lyman hydrogen emission lines,
indicating high recessional velocities and hence, by the Hubble law, very large
distances
Their extreme faintness at visible wavelengths, the inverse square law for visible
light showing that they must be very distant
Their appearance as pointlike star images under the highest magnification, meaning
that they must be very far away
5.What are the typical characteristics of a quasar in terms of energy generation?
The output of a 100 galaxies from a volume with diameter of 1 light-day
The output of a 106 galaxies from a volume with diameter of 1 light-day
The output of a 100 galaxies from a volume with diameter of 1 light-year
The output of a single galaxy from a volume with diameter of 1 light-year
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B)
C)
D)

A)
B)
C)
D)

A)
B)
C)
D)

A)
B)
C)
D)

6.What observations convince us that the energy source of a quasar is physically very
small?
Rapid fluctuations in brightness since variations over 1 day mean that the source
must be less than one light-day across
The instant disappearance of the quasar when occulted by the Moon's edge as the
Moon moves in front of a quasar, indicating a very small source size
The sharpness of the emission lines in their optical spectra since motions within a
large source would smear out the line shapes
The extremely small size of the image of a quasar, even from Hubble Space
Telescope images and radio interferometry measurements
7.Seyfert galaxies are
elliptical galaxies with extremely bright nuclei.
supergiant elliptical galaxies that are periodically disturbed by supernova explosions
within them.
spiral galaxies with extremely active cores.
active galaxies that shine mainly by radiation from two relatively widely spaced
radio lobes.
8.BL Lacertae objects appear to be
giant irregular galaxies with neither spiral arms nor the smooth shape of elliptical
galaxies.
elliptical galaxies with bright, starlike nuclei.
spiral galaxies with bright, starlike nuclei.
active galaxies, most of whose energy is emitted by two widely spaced radio lobes.
9.Which of the following will produce synchrotron radiation?
The accelerated motion of high-speed electrons as they spiral in a magnetic field
The heating of matter by compression as it spirals into a black hole
The radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus
The slowing down of charged particles as they enter a dense medium such as the
atmosphere of a star or that of the Earth

10.What mechanism appears to produce the double radio sources seen in intergalactic space?
Two oppositely directed jets of matter, ejected from a small source
Two radio galaxies orbiting each other, much like two binary stars
A radio-bright galaxy with a dark absorbing disk edge-on to the Earth, splitting the
source into two from our viewpoint
D)
Two black holes orbiting around a small but massive galactic nucleus
A)
B)
C)

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A)
B)
C)
D)

11.What recent evidence seems to indicate that several nearby galaxies may contain
supermassive black holes at their centers?
The rotation curve of these galaxies, which shows no decrease in orbital velocity of
stars as the radius of orbit increases out to the observable limit of the galaxy,
indicating an unusual source of gravity.
Spectroscopic observations of stars near the centers of these galaxies showing
extremely fast orbital velocities, indicating the presence of a large mass to keep stars
in orbit
Extreme redshift of light from stars near the centers of these galaxies caused by
gravitational redshift from a very massive object
Observation that these galaxies are rushing rapidly toward each other (and in at least
one case, toward the Milky Way!) because of the gravitational attraction between
these very large masses

12.Observations indicate that BL Lacertae objects are

quasars colliding with smaller galaxies and initiating vigorous star formation.
black holes in binary star systems, where matter pulled from the companion stars
forms a hot accretion disk around the black holes.
C)
distant spiral galaxies with high rates of supernova explosions within them.
D)
radio galaxies whose jets and radio lobes point almost directly at the Earth.
A)
B)

A)
B)
C)
D)

A)
B)
C)
D)

13.The central engine of an active galaxy appears to be

stars falling into a supermassive black hole, their remnants being thrown out in all
directions.
supernova explosions in an extremely dense star cluster at the center of the galaxy.
the violent merger of two galaxies in which the collision throws out jets of matter
along the rotation axis of the larger galaxy.
a supermassive black hole at the center of an accretion disk, with material being
projected out perpendicular to the disk in both directions.
14.I thought black holes gobbled up matter! If the central engine of a double-lobed radio
source is a black hole swallowing matter from an accretion disk, where do the jets of
matter come from that we see traveling OUTWARD from the galaxy?
They are accelerated in the ergoregion of the rotating black hole and ejected outward
in the black hole's equatorial plane.
They are composed of material that has been accelerated from two hemispheres
toward the black hole with such speed that it escapes again on two opposite sides of
the black hole.
The jets arise in the weak galactic magnetic field, not in the region near the black
hole.
They are squirted out by high pressure in the accretion disk before the matter reaches
the black hole.

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B)
C)
D)

15.Quasars, double radio sources, and BL Lacertae objects may well be the same kind of
object, the different appearance of them being simply that
their position in the universe is different: Quasars are in our Galaxy, double radio
sources are associated with other galaxies, and BL Lacertae objects are within the
vast voids of space between galaxies.
the orientation of our line of sight to the axis of their ejected jets of matter is
different.
their ages are different: BL Lacertae objects evolving through the double radio
source phase end as quasars.
their sizes are different: Quasars are star-sized, double radio are sources larger, and
BL Lacertae objects are galaxy-sized.

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Answer Key
1.C
2.D
3.C
4.B
5.A
6.A
7.C
8.B
9.A
10.A
11.B
12.D
13.D
14.D
15.B

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