Physical Geography Past Papers PDF

1. Universe 1. Which scientist thought of the concept of 4. Which of the following stars is nearest to the steady state of the universe? the sun? (a) Harold Jeffrey (a) Proxima Cent...

1. Universe 1. Which scientist thought of the concept of 4. Which of the following stars is nearest to the steady state of the universe? the sun? (a) Harold Jeffrey (a) Proxima Centauri (b) Edwin Hubble (b) Sirius (c) Pierre - Simon Laplace (c) Deneb (d) Fred Hoyle (d) Betelgeuse SSC CGL (Tier-1) - 14/07/2023 (Shift-I) SSC CGL (Tier-I) - Ans. [d] 11/06/2019 (Shift-I) In the 1950s there were two theories regard- Ans. (a): ing the nature of the universe: the Steady Proxima Centauri is the closest to the Sun. It State and the Big Bang. At that time, there is 4.22 light years from Earth. Its discovery was not sufficient observational evidence to was announced in 2016. clearly favor or disprove either of them. The other two main stars are Alpha Centauri The British astronomer Fred Hoyle was a A and Alpha Centauri B, located 4.3 light British mathematician and astronomer best years from Earth. known as the foremost proponent and de- fender of the steady-state theory of the uni- 5. The constellation 'Sapta Rishi' is known verse. to (a) Seven Monks 2. IC 1101 is a……. (b) Alpha Centauri (a) Satellite (c) Big Dipper (b) Milky Way (d) Small Bear (c) Asteroid SSC CGL (TIER-1) 03-09-2016, 10am (d) Supernova Ans: (c) SSC CHSL 06/08/2021 (Shift-III) The Sapta Rishi constellation is known as SSC JE Electrical 09/10/2023 (Shift-III) the Big Dipper in Western countries. In an- Ans. [b] cient Indian astronomy, the Big Dipper is IC 1101 is the largest galaxy within the part of the constellation Ursa Major and is Abell 2029 galaxy cluster. The cluster is lo- known as Saptarishi, which means "seven cated predominantly within the Virgo con- sages" in Sanskrit. stellation. IC 1101 was discovered by Wil- The Big Dipper is made up of seven bright liam Herschel, of Uranus fame, on 19th June stars that form the shape of a ladle or dipper. 1790. In Hindu mythology, these seven stars repre- IC 1101 is estimated to be about 6 million sent the seven rishis or sages. light-years in diameter, making it one of the largest known galaxies in the observable 6. A huge collection of gas, dust and billions universe. of stars is called a: (a) planet 3. How many brightest stars is the constella- (b) satellite tion called the Great Bear made up of? (c) galaxy (a) Nine (d) solar system (b) Five SSC JE Mechanical 27.10.2020 (Shift-II) (c) Seven SSC CGL (TIER-1) 07-09-2016, 10 am (d) Three Ans. (c): SSC CGL-(Tier-I) 24/08/2021 (Shift I) A huge collection of gas, dust, and billions Ans.[c] of stars is called a galaxy. Galaxies are spin- Ursa Major, also known as The Great Bear, ning objects that are held together by gravi- contains seven stars that form the famous ty. 'The Plough' or 'The Big Dipper.' The They vary in size and shape and may con- Plough points towards Polaris, also known tain billions of stars. There are three main as the North Star. types of galaxies: elliptical, spiral, and irreg- It's the third largest constellation in the sky ular. and the largest in the Northern Hemisphere There are billions of galaxies in the uni- verse. The Milky Way is also a galaxy. 1  When seen from Earth, it looks like an irreg- 10. What is the other name for 'Orion' Con- ular bright strip of stars and gas clouds. stellation? (a) Hunter (b) Predator 7. Which one of the following units is used (c) Fighter by astronomers for measuring larger stel- (d) Piper lar and extragalactic distances? SSC CGL (Tier-1) - 13/06/2019 (Shift-I) (a) Fathom Ans: (a) (b) Ampere The Orion constellation is one of the bright- (c) Knot est and best known constellations in the (d) Light year night sky. It is located on the celestial equa- SSC JE Civil 28.10.2020 (Shift-II) tor. Orion has been known since ancient Ans. (d) times. The astronomers usually use light-years to The constellation is also known as the measure the distance between stars. A light- hunter due to its association in Greek my- year is a distance of light that can travel in thology. one year. 1 parsec = 3.26 light years or 3.09 × 1013 11. Objects that shine in the sky are known km (1.92 × 1013 mi). The parsec is used by as: professional astronomers as a unit to express (a) Celestial bodies distances to stars and galaxies. (b) Meteoroids (c) Constellations 8. In the life cycle of a star, the stage nebula (d) Asteroids refers to: SSC CGL (Tier-1)-2019-03/03/2020 (Shift-II) (a) a cloud of dust and hydrogen Ans. (a) (b) the outer shell of a star Objects that shine in the sky are called ce- (c) the stage when the outer layers expand, lestial bodies, astronomical objects, stellar cool down and become less bright objects, or heavenly bodies. These are natu- (d) the last stage of its life ral physical entities that exist outside of SSC CPO-SI-11/12/2019 (Shift-1) Earth's atmosphere and include the sun, Ans: (a) moon, planets, stars, and asteroids. In the life cycle of a star, the nebula stage is Some celestial bodies are very large and hot, the first stage of evolution, when a star be- and are made up of gasses. These are called gins as a vast cloud of dust and gas. stars, and they give off their own light These clouds, called nebulae, are made up of through a fusion reaction that converts hy- molecules like hydrogen and helium, as well drogen into helium. as dust particles. They are often hundreds of light-years in diameter, and can be star- 12. The earth's radius is approximately forming regions. (a) 6,070 km (b) 6,170 km 9. Which one of the following is the bright- (c) 6,270 km est star in the Orion Constellation? (d) 6,370 km (a) Eta Orionis (SSC J.E. 01.03.17, 2:45 pm) (b) Betelgeuse Ans: (d) (c) Alnilam The Earth's radius is the distance from the (d) Rigel Earth's center to its surface. The Earth is al- SSC CGL (Tier-1) 10/06/2019 (Shift-II) most a perfect sphere, but not completely. Ans: (d) The Earth's equatorial radius is 6,378 kilo- Rigel is the brightest star in the Orion con- meters (3,963 mi), while its polar radius is stellation, located on the hunter's left knee. It 6,357 kilometers (3,950 mi). is also the seventh brightest star in the night In other words, the Earth is slightly flat. The sky at 0.1 magnitude. Rigel is a blue super- radius of the Earth is used extensively in giant star with a mass 18 times that of the astronomy and geology and is represented Sun. by R. Betelgeuse is the second brightest star in Orion, marking the hunter's eastern shoul- 13. What do you call one of the most famous der. Bellatrix is the third brightest star in the constellations that we can see during sum- constellation. mer time in the early part of the night? 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. (a) Cassiopeia (b) Ursa Minor 2  (c) Orion SSC (10+2) CHSL 09/01/2017 (4:15 Ρ.Μ.) (d) Ursa Major Ans.[c] SSC MTS 11/10/2021 (Shift-1) Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that Ans. (d) involves the origin and evolution of the uni- URSA MAJOR verse, from the Big Bang to today and on It is easiest to find in the northernmost part into the future. of the sky during the summer months. If we According to NASA, the definition of cos- find the Ursa Major, we can learn to recog- mology is "the scientific study of the large- nize that the handle is actually the head and scale properties of the universe as a whole." neck of "Ursa Major" Edwin Powell Hubble was an American ob- servational cosmologist and father of mod- 14. Which of the following is another word ern cosmology. for universe? (a) Big Crunch 17. Which of the following is indicated by the (b) Astronomy colour of a star? (c) Cosmos (a) Weight (d) Supernova (b) Distance SSC CHSL (Tier-1) - 10/03/2023 (Shift-II) (c) Temperature Ans. [c] (d) Size The word "Universe" refers to the totality of SSC CGL 08-09-2016, 10 am all matter and energy, including all celestial Ans: (c) bodies and forms of energy in space. The color of a star is indicated by Tempera- The term “Cosmos” is often used as a syno- ture. nym for the universe and emphasizes the Cooler stars are red in color, hotter stars idea of order and harmony in the Universe range from orange to yellow and white. The and is often used to describe the beauty and hottest stars shine with blue light. mystery of the universe. 18. Which is the closest star to our solar sys- 15. In 1950, which Russian astronomer re- tem? vised the 'Nebula hypothesis; proposing (a) Alpha Centauri that the Sun is surrounded by a solar neb- (b) Beta Centauri ula consisting mainly of hydrogen and (c) Proxima Centauri helium as well as dust? (d) Barnard (a) Victor Safronov Ans: (c) (b) Naum Idelson (SSC 10+2 CHSL 10.01.17, 10 am) (c) George Gamow Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our (d) Otto Schmid own, is still 40,208,000,000,000 km away. SSC CHSL (Tier-1) 07/08/2023 (Shift-II) (Or about 268,770 AU.) When we talk about Ans. [d] the distances to the stars, we no longer use In 1950, Otto Schmidt in Russia and Carl the AU, or Astronomical Unit; commonly, Weizascar in Germany somewhat revised the light year is used.A light year is the dis- the 'nebular hypothesis', though differing in tance light travels in one year - it is equal to details. 9.461 x 1012 km. They considered that the sun was surround- Alpha Centauri A & B are roughly 4.35 light ed by solar nebula containing mostly hydro- years away from us. Proxima Centauri is gen and helium along with what may be slightly closer at 4.25 light years. termed as dust. The friction and collision of particles led to 19. If a star is bigger than the Sun, but not formation of a disk-shaped cloud and the more than twice as big, it will turn into planets were formed through the process of a... accretion. (a) Pulsar (b) Maxima 16. …………….is a discipline of science that (c) Avenger studies the origin and eventual fate to the (d) Discover universe. (SSC 10+2 CHSL 15.01.17, 4:15 pm) (a) Bromatology Ans: (a) (b) Acarology If a star is larger than the Sun, but not more (c) Cosmology than twice as massive, it can turn into a neu- (d) Desmology tron star or pulsar star. When a massive star SSC CHSL 16/04/2021 (Shift-III) collapses under its own weight during a su- 3  pernova explosion, its core becomes very SSC CGL (Tier-I) 13/06/2019 (Shift-1) dense and it becomes a neutron star. Ans: (c) If the mass of the collapsing star is within a Hydra is the largest of the 88 modern con- certain limit, the result is a pulsar star. Pul- stellations, at 1303 square degrees, and is sar stars spin rapidly and shoot out beams of also the longest at over 100 degrees. Its electromagnetic radiation from their mag- southern edge is at the border of Libra and netic poles. They are called pulsars because Centaur, and its northern edge is at the bor- of their rapid rotation and regular pulses of der of Cancer. It was one of the 48 constel- radiation. lations of the 20. Which of the following is our nearest 24. Which of the following is not a constella- known Galaxy? tion? (a) Galaxy UGC 2885 (a) Vesta (b) Virgo (b) Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (c) Ursa Major (d) Hydra (c) Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy SSC CHSL 21/10/2020 (Shift-1) (d) Triangulum Galaxy Ans. (a): SSC JE Electrical 29.10.2020 (Shift-II) A constellation is a group of stars that ap- Ans (c) pear to form an outline on the celestial The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, a member sphere.They are given names according to of the Local Group of galaxies (the group the patterns they form. 88 constellations that also includes the Milky Way Galaxy), is have been given names. named after the constellation Canis Major, Vesta is not a constellation. Here, Orion, in which it appears to lie. It's located about Ursa Major and Scorpius are constellations 42,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. 25. Which of the following elements occurs most abundantly in our universe? 21. "Sirius", the brightest star outside the (a) Nitrogen (b) Oxygen solar system, is also called.. (c) Helium (d) Hydrogen (b) Dog star SSC JE Civil-23/03/2021 (Shift-1) (a) Cat star Ans. (d): (c) Fox star Hydrogen is the most abundant element in (d) Lion star the universe, making up about 70–90% of its (SSC 10+2 CHSL 15.01.17, 1:15 pm) total mass. It's also the simplest element, Ans: (b) with each atom containing only one proton The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, also and one electron. known as the "Dog Star" or, more officially, Even on the earth's surface, it occurs in large Alpha Canis Majoris, because it is located in quantities in the form of water from various the constellation Canis Major. sources. Sirius is a binary star, dominated by a bright main sequence star, Sirius A. 26. The mean distance between the Sun and the Earth is approximately 22. What is the periodicity of Halley's comet? (a) 99.6 Million Km (b) 49.6 Million Km (a) 45-46 years (c) 149.6 Million Km (d) 199.6 Million Km (b) 30-31 years (SSC J.E. 02.03.17, 2:45 pm) (c) 75-76 years Ans: (c) (d) 85-86 years The average distance between the Sun and SSC CPO-SI-13/12/2019 (Shift-I) Earth is about 150 million kilometers (93 Ans: (c) million miles), also known as an astronomi- Halley's Comet, also known as 1P/Halley, cal unit (AU). However, the distance be- has a periodicity of 75–79 years. This means tween Earth and the Sun constantly changes it returns to the inner parts of the Solar Sys- depending on its position due to the Earth's tem and is visible to the naked eye from elliptical orbit. Earth every 75–79 years. The comet was last Every year, the distance between Earth and seen in 1986 and is expected to return in mid the Sun is the shortest around 5 January , -2061. which is called perihelion. Because of this great distance between the Sun and Earth, 23. Which one of the following is the largest sunlight takes about 8.3 minutes to reach recognised constellation? Earth. (a) Dorado (b) Crux (c) Hydra (d) Antilla 4