ASTRON Quiz 1

Earth’s orbit around the sun

Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted relative to…

23.5

Earth’s axis is ___ away from the direction perpendicular to Earth’s orbital plane

NOrth Star

The Earth’s North Pole is always tilted toward the…

the directness of sunlight that reaches Earth

The largest impact on weather is due to…

12 hours long everywhere on earth (equinox)

When the sun is at the points in space where the ecliptic and celestial equator intersect, day and night are each…

The solstice

What is it called when the sun reaches its most northern and southern points in the sky

Toward the south

Where does the sun appear to rise and set in the winter

Toward the north

Where does the sun appear to rise and set in the summer

Due east and due west

Where does the sun appear to rise and set in the fall and spring

The summer solstice

On June 21 in the northern hemisphere, the sun rises at the northernmost point which is called…

The winter solstice

On December 21 in the northern hemisphere, the sun rises at the southernmost point which is called…

Newgrange

Tomb in Ireland, set in a 76 m mound. A narrow slit illuminated the central tomb at sunrise on the winter solstice

Avebury Henge

Large henge monument 30 km south of Stonehenge

Stonehenge (5000 years old)

Megalithic ruin near Amesbury in Wiltshire, UK, built during the Bronze Age

Stonehenge

Partially restored by 20th century archeologists

Sarsen stones

The largest stones in Stonehenge. Carried from as far as 32 km away

Bluestones

Smaller stones in Stonehenge that came from Preseli Hills in Wales, 250 km away

Altar Stone

Middle Stone in Stonehenge that came from Scotland, 460 miles away

Summer solstice

The Horseshoe of trilithons point to sunrise on the _____ _____. The sun rises just to the left of the Heel Stone and shines into the largest trilithon

The Avenue

Leads into Stonehenge from the opposite direction, towards the sunset on the winter solstice

Horseshoe stones

The ________ _____ in Stonehenge mark the direction of extreme south positions of the sun along the horizon. This happens on the solstices

Station stones

The _____ ____ mark the extreme south position of the rising moon along the horizon. This happens once every 18.6 years

Prof. Fred Hoyle

Who came up with an algorithm that predicted eclipses and is now accepted as an arbitrarily complex theory to explain a coincidence. Scientists no longer believe that Aubrey holes were used to predict eclipses at the time of Stonehenge.

Lintel Stones

Flat stones on top of sarsen stones