Astronomy Exam 1

What dwarf planet is located in the asteroid belt?

Ceres

Declination on the celestial sphere has this role on the Earth:

Latitude

The___is the line that divides the eastern and western halves of the sky.

Meridian

If you time travelled to Earth to the year 14,000 AD, the “North Star” would be___.

Vega

What is “light-years” the measure of?

Distance

When does a “Supermoon” occur?

Perigee

What is the correct alignment during a lunar eclipse?

Sun, Earth, Moon

What is the correct alignment for a total eclipse?

Sun, Moon, Earth

Planets always rise in __ and set in the __.

east, west

Which astronomer used epicycles in the geocentric planetary model?

Ptolemy

Who is credited with popularizing the heliocentric model of the solar system?

Copernicus

A moth crashes into the windshield of a car going 65 mph. Which undergoes the greater force?

The same

Although the number of steps in the scientific method depends on how you learned it, the sequence is always the same. Which step comes first?

Propose a hypothesis

The way scientists know that a hypothesis in astronomy is a reasonable description of nature is to

Do experiments and make observations about the predictions of the hypothesis

A star is 230 light years away. The light we see tonight from that star left it

230 years ago

The Astronomical Unit (AU) as defined by astronomers is

The average distance between the Earth and the Sun

What star that provides energy for life on Earth?

The Sun

How long does light take approximately to travel between Sun and the Earth?

8 minutes

When it comes to our place in the solar system today, which model do we accept?

Heliocentric

The Renaissance astronomer who wrote the pioneering book that suggested the Earth probably orbits the Sun (instead of the other way around) was:

Copernicus

Who discovered four of Jupiter’s moons?

Galileo

What is the model where the Earth is the center of the system of planets called?

Geocentric

What is the Sun's apparent path around the celestial sphere?

The ecliptic

What was Eratosthenes major contribution to the field of astronomy?

Calculating the circumference of the Earth

A heavy object and a light object are dropped at the same time from rest in a vacuum. When does the heavier object reach the ground?

At the same time as the lighter object

True or False: Tycho Brahe used the first telescope to measure positions in the sky with great precision.

False

According to Newton's first law, what will plates at rest on a tablecloth do when the tablecloth is pulled out quickly from under them?

 

Resist the change in motion and stay at rest

What is identified by an object’s speed and direction?

Velocity

Are the following objects accelerating: Children riding a carousal around in a circle at a constant speed.

Yes

What do satellites need to have to be able to leave the gravitational pull of the Earth, and explore other planets?

Escape Velocity

Which planet has the fastest average orbital speed around the Sun?

Mercury

Which calendar was introduced in 1582 and eliminated leap years in centuries not divisible by 400? Hint: This is the common calendar we use today.

Gregorian Calendar

What is the correct order of phases from new to full moon for viewers in the evening sky?

 

Waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous

When the Sun and Moon are lined up and pull together, the tides they raise are called:

Spring tides

What ate tides are mostly caused by?

 

The Moon’s pull of gravity on the Earth.

September 22, 2023 marks which of the following events?

Autumnal Equinox

During a “leap year” why do we add an extra day to our calendar?

Earth takes 365 ¼ (365.25) days to revolve

True or False: The Milky Way is larger than the Solar System.

True

What is the third planet from the Sun?

Earth

In astronomy what set of units do we use?

the metric International System of Units

When is Earth farthest away from the sun (slower)?

Aphelion

How long is a sidereal day, expressed in solar time?

23 hours and 56 minutes

What is the approximate diameter of our own Galaxy (the Milky Way)?

100,000 light-years

The slow tipping of the Earth's axis in a circle with a period of about 26,000 years is called (wobbles like a top) :

Precession

Aristotle concluded that the Earth is spherical from the curvature of its shadow on the

Moon during a lunar eclipse.

The law that states that for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force is Newton’s

Third law of motion

Which of the following is one of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion

planets move on elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus

What planet is said to be the first planet to be discovered through the use of mathematics because Uranus wasn’t following the pattern?

Neptune

Which of these properties of an object best quantifies its inertia?

Mass

Lunar eclipses do not occur every full Moon, because the path of the Moon is tilted approximately                               degrees with respect to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. 

5

What phase of the Moon must it be to have a lunar eclipse?

Full moon

For scientists, an element (like gold) is defined by

the number of protons in its nucleus

The natural object (not one that humans built) in space that’s closest to Earth is

The Moon

When a planet temporarily moves westward in the sky over the course of several weeks or months (instead of eastward, as it typically does), we call it:

retrograde motion

Zodiac means:

Circle of Animals

Kepler used which of the following astronomer’s data to show that planets go around the sun in ellipses?

Brahe

What is the approximate orbital speed for an object near Earth’s surface?

8 km/s (17,500 mph)

The tilt of the Earth's equator relative to its orbital plane is about

23.5

In which of the following locations can the length of daylight range from zero to 24 hours?

At latitudes greater than 66.5º north or south

Why were epicycles used in Ptolemy's model of the solar system?

to explain the retrograde motions of planets

These stars are always above the horizon.

circumpolar

A shift in the direction of an object caused by a change in the position of an observer (thumbs, closing one eye) is called

Parallax

What are the planets in order from the Sun?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

Dwarf planets in order from the Sun:

Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris

How long is the Moon’s distance from the Earth?

30 times the diameter of Earth

Who predicts that the Earth is a sphere, as they believe that circles and spheres are perfect forms?

Pythagorus

What Astronomer discovered that the Earth was a sphere and thought the Earth didn’t move?

Aristotle

Who proposed the heliocentric model?

Aristarchus

Who discovered the phases of Venus?

Galileo

Who discovered the Moons of Jupiter?

Galileo

Who discovered that the Milky Way is made up of millions of individual stars and observed the rings of Saturn?

Galileo

Who discovered the Moon had mountains and craters, which made it more like Earth and not a perfect sphere?

Galileo

Which one of Kepler’s Laws is this: the orbit of a planet is an ellipse, not a circle, with the Sun located at one of the two focal points?

First Law

What is Kepler’s second law?

Planets move faster when they are closer to the Sun (at perihelion) and slower when they are farther away (at aphelion).

What is Kepler’s third law?

Planets that are farther from the Sun take much longer to complete one full orbit than planets that are close (p=years; a=AU ~ p²=a³)

What is closest to Earth? Perigee or Apogee?

Perigee

How does a “Supermoon” occur?

When a full moon lines up at the exact same time the Moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit

What is Newton’s second law of motion?

The acceleration of an object based on the amount of force used on the object and the amount of mass the object has.

What is Newton’s third law of motion?

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. (Moth and car windshield; both hit with same amount of Earth, but the Moth gets squished as the opposite reaction)

How fast is escape velocity?

11 km/s