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Intro Astronomy > Exam 1 > Flashcards

Exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

1 AU or 1 astronomical unit is defined as

A

the average mean distance between the Earth and Sun.

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2
Q

The speed of light is

A

186,000mi/sec.

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3
Q

One light-year is a distance of approximately

A

6,000,000,000,000 miles

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4
Q

What is the celestial sphere?

A

An imaginary sphere of large radius which the ancient’s believed the whole heavens were plastered onto it.

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5
Q

In modern astronomy, the constellations are

A

88 non-overlapping sky regions, covering the whole sky

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6
Q

When viewed from the Earth, the celestial sphere (the background of stars) moves east to west on a daily basis. This motion is caused by

A

the rotation of the Earth on its axis.

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7
Q

In pre-Copernican astronomy, it was almost universally believed that

A

the Earth was at the center of the universe.

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8
Q

The word “planet” is derived from a Greek word meaning

A

wanderer.

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9
Q

What is Geocentric Cosmology?

A

An Earth centered universe

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10
Q

Who was Ptolemy?

A

Greek astronomer, made Geocentrism the world standard through the Middle-Ages.

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11
Q

What is Heliocentric Cosmology?

A

A Sun centered universe

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12
Q

Are the constellations seasonal?

A

Yes, on a summer night many of the constellations you can see are different from those you can see on a winter night. But there are some constellations you can see all year long.

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13
Q

What are the solstices?

A

Northern and southern most points of the path of the Sun on the ecliptic, i.e., the winter and summer solstices.

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14
Q

At the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, our Sun

A

reaches its highest angle in the sky for the whole year.

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15
Q

The celestial coordinate declination is equivalent to longitude or latitude here on Earth?

A

Latitude

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16
Q

What do the cycles of the Earth determine?

A

Seasons

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17
Q

The apparent BACKWARD motion of planets against the background stars during their yearly orbits through the heavens is referred to as

A

Retrograde Motion.

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18
Q

Copernicus solved the mysterious apparent BACKWARD, or retrograde, motion of the planets by understanding what about our solar system?

A

The planets orbit around the Sun at different rates of speed, rather than the Sun rotates around the Earth.

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19
Q

Parallax is

A

the apparent motion of an object due to the motion of the observer.

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20
Q

The Copernican system for planetary motions is

A

Sun-centered, with the planets moving in perfect circles around our Sun.

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21
Q

Kepler’s first law of planetary motion implies that

A

planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun.

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22
Q

Who invented the telescope?

A

Han Lippershey in 1608

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23
Q

In Galileo’s telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and moon

A

were not perfect spheres.

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24
Q

Galileo’s observations of a complete set of phases of Venus proved

A

that Venus orbited our Sun.

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25
Q

According to Newton’s first law of motion,

A

if no force acts on it, a moving object will continue in a straight line at a constant speed.

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26
Q

What is gravity?

A

One of four fundamental forces in the Universe.

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27
Q

The force of gravity from one object extends to infinity never going to zero. When we say that gravitation is universal we mean that

A

all material objects in the universe exert gravitational forces on one another.

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28
Q

Who was the discoverer of the planet Uranus?

A

Sir William Herschel, in 1781

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29
Q

The first person to derive a method to successfully calculate the distance to nearby stars (d=1/p ) was German Astrophysicist Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel in the year

A

1838

30
Q

The charged-coupled device (CCD), now used extensively for astronomical imaging, works on what principle?

A

Light generates electrical charge on a computer-readable multi-element pixel array of detectors.

31
Q

A(n) ____ is 1/60th of an arc minute.

A

arc second

32
Q

An apparent westward motion of a planet in the sky compared to the background stars (as viewed from the Earth) when observed on successive nights is referred to as

A

retrograde motion

32
Q

____ is the point in Earth’s orbit where Earth is closest to the sun.

A

Perihelion

32
Q

Telescopes are placed in space to view distant galaxies primarily

A

to avoid the absorption and distortion of the light or other radiations within the atmosphere of the Earth.

33
Q

A telescope whose objective is a lens and contains no mirrors is a(n) ____ telescope.

A

Refracting

34
Q

Who was the first astronomer to build and use a telescope to observe the night sky?

A

Galileo

35
Q

Is the planet Uranus visible to the unaided naked-eye from Earth?

A

No

36
Q

The colors of the rainbow, or of white light passed through a prism, from longest to shortest wavelength are

A

red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

37
Q

Which of the following types of electromagnetic radiation has the greatest energy?

A

gamma-rays

38
Q

Who discovered the invisible infra-red (or heat) portion of the solar spectrum?

A

Sir William Herschel

39
Q

Ptolemy’s model of the universe

A

was geocentric.

40
Q

An astronomical unit is larger than a light-year.

A

False

41
Q

Galileo used a telescope to observe the phases of Jupiter.

A

False

42
Q

A nanometer (nm) is

A

a unit of length.

43
Q

If the distance to the next nearest star is 4.24 light-years, then

A

the light we see left the star 4.24 years ago.

44
Q

The nearest star is 1 light year from the solar system.

A

False

45
Q

What is the frequency of the shortest wavelength light that can be detected by the average human eye?

A

400 nm

46
Q

Ptolemy’s 13 volume treatise on the astronomical knowledge of the ancient world was titled:

A

The Almagest

47
Q

Ptolemy’s Geocentric model for the solar system to explain the apparent BACKWARD motion of planets against the background stars caused him to create the concepts of __________, and _________ into the theory of circular orbits around the Earth

A

Epicycles and Deferents

48
Q

How much of the overall sky is north of the celestial equator?

A

Exactly one-half

49
Q

Two celestial coordinates, which together describe a star’s position precisely in our sky, are

A

right ascension and declination

50
Q

What is an “arc angle?”

A

The opening between two lines that meet at a point.

51
Q

What is “angle measure?”

A

The method of describing the size of an angle, based on units of degrees.

52
Q

An “arc second” is a measure of

A

angle.

53
Q

If we could watch the Sun moving day-by-day against the background stars, it would follow

A

the ecliptic.

54
Q

The nightly motion of objects across our sky from horizon to horizon is caused by

A

the rotation of the Earth on its axis.

55
Q

The ecliptic crosses the celestial equator

A

at two points, known as equinoxes.

56
Q

In the Greek era, it was almost universally believed that

A

the Earth was at the center of the Universe.

57
Q

Ptolemy’s model for the solar system was

A

Earth-centered, with planetary orbits composed of deferents and epicycles.

58
Q

Kepler’s first law states that a planet moves around the Sun

A

in an elliptical orbit, with the Sun at one focus.

59
Q

What is the distance between the Earth and the nearest star?

A

1 AU

59
Q

What is the equation first used to determine distance to a star?

A

d = 1/p

60
Q

The planet Jupiter travels in an elliptical orbit. Our Sun is at one focus of this ellipse. What is at the other focus?

A

Nothing

61
Q

Why is the Earth round?

A

Gravitational force

62
Q

Who formulated the law of gravity?

A

Sir Isacc Newton

63
Q

Who developed the first reflecting astronomical telescope?

A

Isaac Newton

64
Q

Tycho Brahe’s major contribution to the development of modern astronomy was

A

the detailed and precise measurement of the positions of stars and planets in our sky.

65
Q

What is the true nature of white light?

A

Light is not white but is a small portion of The Electromagnetic Spectrum.

66
Q

In terms of wavelengths, gamma rays

A

have the shortest wavelengths of the named electromagnetic waves.

67
Q

What is Ultima Thule?

A

(Ultima Thule meaning “beyond the known world”) 2014 MU69 is a planetesimal orbiting in the Kuiper Belt, made largely of ice. It is the most distant explored object in the solar system, explored by New Horizon on January 1, 2019.

Intro Astronomy (4 decks)

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