Exam 2: Observing the Sky: the Birth of Astronomy

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

The great astronomer of ancient times who summarized and improved a system of circles upon circles to explain the complicated motions of the planets (and published the system in a book now called The Almagest) is:

The 88 sectors into which astronomers today divide the celestial sphere (the whole sky) are called:

The point in the sky directly above your head at any given time is called the

The scientist who first devised experimental tests to demonstrate the validity of the heliocentric model of the solar system was

Based on the scientific and statistical tests of astrological predictions, which of the following statements is the most reasonable?

From a city in the U.S., where in the sky would you look to see a star that is not turning with the motion of the sky in the course of a night?

In the Northern Hemisphere, the altitude (height in degrees above the horizon) of the North Star is always roughly equal to the

On the celestial sphere, halfway between the celestial poles lies the

In what fundamental way did the work of Galileo differ from his predecessors who had thought about the sky?

What problem has precession caused for many of the schools of astrology?

A graduate student in geology who grew up in Florida (near the southernmost tip of the United States) gets to accompany her research professor to the North Pole. What will be different at the North Pole from the way she remembers the sky in Florida?

Some Canadian troops are sent (as part of a U.N. peacekeeping force) to a country located on the Earth's equator. At night, when homesickness makes them gaze sleeplessly at the stars, which of the following will be familiar to them (the same at the equator as in Canada):

The celestial sphere turns once around each day because

Which of the following is NOT a result of the Earth's precession?

Within a constellation, a smaller, recognizable pattern of stars is often called:

Every celestial object appears to go around the Earth once a day. In addition to this motion, which celestial object has the fastest apparent motion in the sky?

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

Which of the following was NOT done by Galileo Galilei?

According to the geocentric view, everything in the heavens had to go around the Earth, which was the center of the universe. What objects did Galileo discover with his telescope that clearly didn't go around the Earth?