Brightness of the Sun and Other Planetsets

Tyrone notices that headlights of a car coming toward him at night seem to change. Which statement best describes how the car headlights appear to change?

• A.

  The headlights seem to get dimmer as the car gets closer.

• B.

  The headlights seem to get smaller as the car gets closer.

• C.

  The headlights seem to get brighter as the car gets closer.

• D.

  The headlights actually get brighter as the car gets closer.

Diane and Betty wrote a short paragraph that gives information about their model’s layers. Select the missing words to complete their paragraph.

The sun has three main layers. The layer where the sun’s energy is generated is the  _________.

• corona

• radiative zone 

• core 

• photosphere 

The ___________  and the convective zone carry that energy to the sun’s surface.

• radiative zone 

• photosphere

• core

• corona

Diane and Betty labeled the parts of their model. Select the label that represents the layer of the sun’s atmosphere that can always be seen with the unaided human eye.

• Corona

• Photosphere

• Convection Zone

• Chromosphere

What star is closest to Earth?

• Vega

• Arcturus

• Canopus

• Sirius

What star is farthest away from Earth?

• Rigel

• Arcturus

• Canopus

• Sirius

The picture shows a fairly common event in our solar system. What does the picture show?

• A.

  a solar eclipse

• B.

  a rock crashing into the sun

• C.

  a solar flare

• D.

  a hurricane on the sun's surface

In addition to the solar system event, what else does the picture show?

• A.

  a size comparison of Earth and the sun

• B.

  a comparison of gases on Earth and the sun

• C.

  a comparison of atmospheric layers of Earth and the sun

• D.

  an estimate of the amount of energy that Earth gets from the sun