MidTerm Flashcards
(233 cards)
1
Q
There are ___ minutes in a degree
A
60
2
Q
There are ___ seconds in a minute
A
60
3
Q
Imaginary structure surrounding earth, to which the stars are affixed
A
Celestial Sphere
4
Q
This point on the celestial sphere is directly above the Earths north pole
A
Celestial North Pole (CNP)
5
Q
This point on the celestial sphere is directly above the Earths south pole
A
Celestial South Pole (CNP)
6
Q
This great circle on the celestial sphere is directly above Earth’s equator
A
Celestial Equator (CE)
7
Q
Instead of latitude, celestial equatorial system coordinates use lines of
A
declination
8
Q
Instead of longitude, celestial equatorial system coordinates use lines of
A
Hours of Right Ascension
9
Q
This great circle is the boundary between the earth and sky
A
Horizon
10
Q
This point is at the top of your sky
A
Zenith
11
Q
This line stretches from North through the Zenith, to South___
A
Meridian
12
Q
In the horizon system, an angular measurement of height is called
A
Altitude
13
Q
In the horizon system, an angular measurement of compass direction is ___
A
Azimuth
14
Q
The sun, moon, stars and planets rise in the ___ and set in the ___; this is due to the earths ___
A
east, west, rotation
15
Q
There are ___ hours in one solar day
A
24
16
Q
The sun is highest in the sky at ___
A
Culmination
17
Q
Earth’s orbital path around sun, or sun’s yearly path in our sky
A
Revolution
18
Q
Due to earth’s revolution, the sun seems to move ___ against the starry background.
A
1 degree
19
Q
The sun, moon and planets are all found on or near this line:____
A
ecliptic
20
Q
The ecliptic is also the center line of the ___
A
Zodiac
21
Q
During what season do these constellations appear in the mid-evening sky? Orion, Scorpius, Leo, Pegasus
A
Winter, Summer, Spring, Fall/Autumn
22
Q
The beginnings of summer and winter are called
A
solstices
23
Q
The beginnings of spring and fall are called
A
equinox
24
Q
The point in a planet’s orbit when its nearest the sun
A
perihelion
25
The point in a planets orbit when its farthest from the sun
aphelion
26
Month when earth is at perihelion; at aphelion
January / July
27
When earths northern hemisphere has summer, the southern hemisphere has
winter
28
The reason why we have seasons on earth:
23.5 degrees of tilt
29
Roman / Norse god: Sunday
Sol
30
Roman / Norse god: Monday
Luna
31
Roman / Norse god: Tuesday
Tiw
32
Roman / Norse god: Wednesday
Woden
33
Roman / Norse god: Thursday
Thor
34
Roman / Norse god: Friday
Freya
35
Roman / Norse god: Saturday
Saturn
36
Official, generally mythological grouping of stars
constellations
37
Number of officially recognized constellations
88
38
Because the stars are very far away from us, their angular velocities are great; so today's constellation patterns are very different from those of thousands of years ago - T/F?
False
39
Unofficial, easier to see star grouping
Asterism
40
Example of an asterism
Ursa Major = Plough (England) or Chariot (Rome)
41
Our current North Star, this star lies very near the north celestial pole
Polaris
42
Constellations typically have ___ names
Greek
43
Stars typically have ___ names
Arabic
44
"Betelgeuse" means this:
the armpit of the giant
45
Why do you think Aldebaran is called "the follower"?
Follows the Hyades Cluster (Head of the Bull)
46
The Greek alphabet is used for this stellar purpose
measuring brightness
47
The "name" of Alpha Canis Majoris
Sirius
48
This stars altitude equals your latitude in earths northern hemisphere
Polaris
49
Where on earth would you be if you never could see Polaris
southern Hemisphere
50
Constellation that never sets below the horizon
Circumpolar
51
Are any constellations circumpolar at the north pole
All
52
Are any constellations circumpolar at the equator
None
53
The only circumpolar constellation for our latitude
Ursa Minor
54
What is our latitude in this part of Florida?
27.5
55
The carious appearances of the moon, its various apparent shapes, are called
Phases
56
Due to its revolution of earth, the moon moves ___ against the stars during the month.
13 degrees
57
Like the planets, the moon shines not by its own light, but by reflected
light
58
The dark regions on the moon are called
Maria (plural) or Mare (individual)
59
27.3 day orbit of the moon about the Earth
Sidereal month
60
29.5 day cycle of moon phases
Synodic month
61
This line separates night from day on any moon or planet
Terminator
62
Term to describe sun, earth and moon in a rough aligment
Syzygy
63
Can you see the new moon?
No
64
Term to describe when the sun and moon are together in the sky
Conjunction
65
Term to describe when moon is on the opposite side of sky from sun
Opposition
66
When the moon appears to grow fuller night after night
Waxing
67
When the moon appears to diminish night after night
Waning
68
Phase of moon after new moon
Waning Crescent
69
Phase of moon one week past new
Quarter
70
Phase of moon when it appears egg-shaped
Gibbous
71
Phase of moon when its fully lit
Full
72
What does a quarter moon look like in the sky?
Half Lit
73
Because earth revolves about the sun, moonrise is delayed about ___ minutes earch day
50
74
Rise time for New Moon ___; 1st Quarter ___; Full___; 3rd Quarter
With the sun; Noon (sets at midnight); Sunset (set sunrise); Midnight (set noon)
75
Why is the synodic month longer than the sidereal month?
Based on position in sky
76
For every one revolution of the moon about the earth, the moon makes on full rotation on its axis - T/F?
True
77
This ancient structure in England may have been used to predict the change of seasons and eclipse of the sun and moon
Stonehenge
78
We don't know much about ancient megalith builders because they left few ___ records
written
79
In Mesopotamia, eclipses, comets and the planet appearances were recorded on ___
clay and stone tablets
80
___ were used by native Americans to record the position of the sun through the year
Medicine Wheels
81
These Meso-American people made careful observations of the sky and great calendars:
Aztec, Maya, Inca, Toltec, Olmec
82
An ancient model suggested Earth was on the backs of 4 ___ that stood on a great ___
elephants, turtle
83
Egyptian sky goddess, often depicted on tomb and sarcophagus paintings:
Nut
84
Ancient Egyptians measured the length of the ___ and knew it was about ___ days long
year, 365.25
85
To ancient Egyptians, the most important star was ___ known to them as Isis or Sothis
Sirius
86
When a star rises just before the sun comes up, its known as a ___ rising.
heliacal
87
___ stars were bright stars, spread out about every 10 degrees across the sky
Decanal
88
The rising of decanal stars through the summer night established our time period of the ___.
hours
89
The sun's eastward movement through the background of stars is about ___ degree a day.
1
90
Egyptian ___ included hippopotamuses, alligators, jackals, and heroes.
constellations
91
Of the Seven Wonders of the World, only this one remains standing
The Great Pyramid (of Khufu)
92
The Great Pyramid is oriented toward the four main or ___ directions.
cardinal
93
To ancient Egyptians, Orion represented the god of the afterlife
Osiris
94
Stars and constellations in the northern sky which never set below the horizon
circumpolar
95
A very slow 26,000 year wobble in earths rotational axis
precession
96
Due to precession, our North Star has not always been ___ to the Pharaohs, it was ___
Polaris, Thuban
97
Although people long ago carefully observed the sky, they had no real ___ of what was going on.
understanding
98
"The father of astronomy", he predicted eclipses and thought the world a flat disc:
Thales of Miletus
99
He argued that the cylindrical earth was at the center of a boundless universe
Anaximander
100
He thought the circle & the sphere to be perfect, that the universe consisted of trans-parent spheres that carried everything about a round earth, and the "Music of the Spheres"
Pythagoras
101
He thought the heavens perfect & unchanging, the earth imperfect, round but stationary
Plato
102
Plato thought the planets orbited earth in perfect circles at unchanging speeds:
uniform circular motion
103
By "saving the phenomenon" or "saving appearances" Plato meant that if the facts didn't fit his theory, then you discarded the ___
facts
104
The Greek word "planetes," our modern day "planet" means ___
wanderer
105
When a celestial object reaches its highest altitude in the sky & is on the meridian:
culmination
106
West to east motion of the planets against the background of stars over time:
prograde
107
Seeming backwards motion (east to west) of the planets over time
retrograde
108
He advanced the stationary earth and the geocentric model, citing the lack of this:
parallax (Aristotle)
109
The reason why Aristotle could not detect stellar parallax:
distance of stars
110
Aristotle cited this as strong evidence for a round earth:
lunar shadow (round)
111
Aristotle said earth was larger than the moon because
Earths shadow was larger
112
He taught that earth was a planet that rotated on its axis and revolved about the sun:
Aristarchus of Samos
113
He died in exile from Athens because he said the sun was not a god, but a flaming ball:
Anaxagorus
114
This Alexandrian librarian measured the circumference of the earth
Eratosthenes
115
Equation for finding circumference?
(360 / angle of planet) * mileage between two cities
116
He catalogued constellations and stars, and assigned the stars magnitudes:
Hipparchus
117
The brightest stars are ___ magnitude; stars that are 2.5 times dimmer are ___ magnitude; the faintest stars are ___ magnitude and are ___ times dimmer than 1st
1st, 2nd, 6th, 100
118
With modern telescopes, we can see things as faint as ___ magnitude
30th
119
Bright objects, like Venus, have ___ magnitude which is
negative, -4.4
120
Full moons magnitude
-12.6
121
Suns magnitude
-26.73
122
Decimal values are used to replace ___ numbers when it comes to magnitude
whole
123
The Green alphabet is used to provide ___
designations
124
The brightest star of a constellations is designated as ___; second brightest is ___
alpha, beta
125
Alpha Canis Majoris magnitude
1st; a
126
Beta Orion magnitude
2nd; b
127
Eta Ursa Majoris magnitude
7th; n
128
He wrote a compendium of Green knowledge of natural history, including astronomy
Claudio Ptolemy
129
Smaller planetary circle attached to Ptolemy's deferent (the big circle)
epicycle
130
This book was the sum of Greek mathematical, geographic and astronomical knowledge
Syntaxis (Algamast)
131
Another name for the geocentric model:
Ptolemaic
132
Two celestial objects that share the same coordinate positions in the sky:
conjunction
133
When the ___ & the moon or a planet are in the same part of the sky, that's a conjunction
sun
134
These are inferior planets: ___ and ___
Venus, Mercury
135
These are superior planets:
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
136
When an inferior planet is between earth and the sun
Inferior Conjunction
137
When the sun is between earth and an inferior planet
Superior Conjunction
138
When the moon or a planet is 90 degrees from the suns position
quadrature
139
When the earth is between the sun and a celestial object (180 degrees from the sun)
opposition
140
Can you see Venus or Mercury at midnight?
No
141
Traditional name for a planet seen in evening; in the predawn morning?
Evening Star, Morning Star
142
In the 16th century, he proposed the Earth orbited the sun with other planets
Copernicus
143
Copernicus' model where sun is at the center of it all
Heliocentric
144
In the heliocentric model, the rising and setting of the sun, moon and stars is due to
Earths rotation
145
In the heliocentric model, the eastward motion of the sun through the zodiac is due to
Earths Revolution = Earth and Planets motion about the sun
146
Which universe model is vaster, the geocentric or the heliocentric?
heliocentric
147
Drawbacks to the Copernican model:
Orbits are round and not eliptical, orbital speed remains the same, still has epicycles (34), could not predict positions better than Ptolemy
148
This Dane made very accurate measurements of star and planet positions
Tycho Brahe
149
The appearance of a ___ in Cassiopeia in 1572 suggested a change in the heavens
Super Nova
150
Because Brahe detected little ___ in a comet, he showed that Aristotle was wrong
parallax
151
Big problems with the observations of astronomers until Brahe's work:
imprecise; sporadic
152
This observatory on the Danish island of Hveen housed Tycho's instruments
Uraniborg
153
How many telescopes were housed at Uraniborg?
0
154
Tycho proposed that planets orbited ___, and that ___ orbited ___
the sun, sun, the earth
155
He used Tycho's Mars data to determine its orbital shape
Kepler
156
Instead of discarding the data when it didn't fit the theory, Kepler was the first to discard
theory
157
Actual shape of a planetary orbit, as determined by Kepler
eliptical
158
The average distance between earth and the sun in miles
93 million miles
159
The average earth-sun distance is called an AU, or
Astronomical Unit
160
Kepler's First Law
Orbit is elipse with sun at focus
161
Kepler's second law
Planets sweep out equal areas in similar periods
162
Keplers third law
If earth is standard of measure, can calculate distance & measurement: P3 = A3
If P is unkown, A is distance. If Planet "X" is 4 times as far from sun as the earth, how long with it take to orbit?
4 cubed = 64
Square root of 64 is 8
8 earth years to orbit
163
Using Kepler's third law, what is the distance from the sun in AU's of a planet if its orbital period is 8 years
4 AU's
164
Using a telescope, he was first to see Jupiter's moons, he saw the phases of Venus, the moon's imperfect features, observed sunspots, and found many more stars
Galileo
165
Galileo discovered the rings of Saturn - T/F?
False
166
One indication that the Aristotelians were wrong was the discovery that the four ___ orbited Jupiter, and not the earth
moons
167
This planets changing phases proves it orbits the sun
Venus
168
Surface features on these two objects suggested that celestial objects were not perfect
moon & sun
169
The telescopic discovery of many more stars than previously seen suggested that the Universe was ___
vast
170
Contrary to ancient belief, the stars were not confined to a narrow shell, but had ___
depth
171
Galileo was the only astronomer looking at the sky with a telescope in the early 1600's - T/F?
False
172
After Galileo, telescope construction and star charting got ___
much better
173
These two astronomers saw and sketched the moon and sun before Galileo:
Scheiner & Harriot
174
Dark inner part of a shadow; not-so-dark outer shadow
umbra / penumbra
175
Faint, outermost atmosphere of the sun seen during a total eclipse
corona
176
These flame-like eruptions in the chromosphere can bee seen at totality
prominences
177
These appear in the sky during totality
planets & bright stars
178
Lunar eclipses are cause by the ___ falling on the
earths shadow, moon
179
The shadowy "bite" that is taken out of the moon is caused by the earths
shadow
180
Because earth shadow on the moon is fuzzy, this means we have an ___
atmosphere
181
Because the lunar silhouette during a solar eclipse is sharp, this means that the moon
has no atmosphere
182
The region around a planet where all the sunrises and sunsets are occuring
twilight circle
183
During totality, the red color of the moon is caused by
sunlight refracted through earth atmosphere then reflected back
184
Phase of the moon during a lunar eclipse
Full
185
When the moon is directly between the earth and sun we have this
conjunction
186
Phase of the moon during a solar eclipse
New
187
Intersection of new or full moon with earths orbital plane
Node (ascending & descending)
188
Why don't we have a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse every month
Orbit inclined 5 degrees to earth ecliptic
189
At 6-month intervals, eclipses occur; these are called
eclipse seasons
190
It's possible to have a year with no solar eclipses - T/F?
False
191
In this kind of lunar eclipse, the moon is only slightly dimmed
penumbral lunar eclipse
192
During a solar eclipse, if we're within the moons umbral shadow on earth, the eclipse is ___
total
193
If we're outside the moons umbra but in the penumbra, we see a ___ eclipse
partial
194
If we're outside the moons penumbra, we see ___ eclipse
no
195
This solar eclipse would be total, but moons at apogee
annular eclipse
196
Closest point in the moons orbit of the earth
Perigee
197
Farthest point in the moons orbit of the earth
Apogee
198
Three ways to safely observe the sun during a total solar eclipse
1) Telescopic Projection
2) Filters #14 arch welding glass or higher
3) Solar filters placed over telescopic objective
199
These "mini eclipses" are the result of an inferior planet passing between us and the sun
transits
200
In 1639 Jeremiah Horrocks observed the first transit of this planet
Venus
201
Observing transits helps us determine the ___ of the sun and of the transiting planets
size, diameter, orbital speeds, distances, atmosphere, exoplanets
202
Where would you need to be in order to see a transit of earth?
Mars or beyond
203
Why do more people see lunar eclipses than solar eclipses
Solar: Must be within narrow path of moons shadow
Lunar: Entire moon in earths shadow
204
When is the next transit of Mercury
2032
205
When is the next transit of Venus
2117
206
What is it about viewing the sun during a solar eclipse that makes it so dangerous
Staring at the sun without protection
207
When the moon passes directly between us and a planet, an asteroid or a star; or when a planet or asteroid passes directly between us and another planet, asteroid or star:
occulation
208
His "Pricipia" described how things move and how gravity works
Isaac Newton
209
Newton concluded that gravity works the same everywhere and is therefore
Universal
210
Measurement of the amount of matter in an object
Mass
211
The greater the masses of two objects, the ___ the gravitational force
greater
212
Given Fg=Mm/d2, Fg is the gravitational ___, M and m are the ___ & d is the ___
force, masses, distance
213
Given Fg=Mm/d2, if the product Mm is doubled, then Fg is ___, if distance between 2 objects is cut in half, the Fg is ___
doubled, quadrupled
214
Newton's 1st law of motion says that is takes an outside ___ to change an objects inertia, a change in velocity and/or direction of travel of an object is known as ___
force, acceleration
215
Newtown's 2nd law, F=ma, means that if you ___ the force, you increase the acceleration
increase (or decrease the moon)
216
Newtown's 3rd law says that for every action, there's an equal and opposite ___
reaction
217
What is the circular velocity for an object in low Earth orbit
18,000 mph
218
How fast must a rocket go to leave the earths gravity field
25,000 mph
219
He patented the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926
Robert Goddard
220
First artificial satellite to orbit the Earth
Sputnik 1
221
First man in space
Uri Gagrin
222
First American in space
Alan Shepard
223
Why launch rockets from the east coast of Florida
Adds 1,000 mph boost from earth rotation
224
What two things must be in balance in order to maintain orbit?
Gravitational pull of the object you're orbiting, inertial linear motion (gravity & inertia)
225
If a rocket exhaust has no air to push against, what does it push against to go?
Exhaust
226
Before people flew into space, Russia sent up ___ and America set up ___
dogs, monkeys & chimpanzees
227
First woman in space
Valentina Tereshkova (1963)
228
First American woman in space
Sally Ride (1983)
229
First black American in space
Guion Bluford
230
What was the name of the lunar manned mission project
Apollo
231
What Russian manned spacecraft has been used since the late 1960's
Soyuz
232
First astronauts to walk on the moon
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin
233
Last astronauts to walk on the moon
Gene Cerian, Harrison Schmitt
