Exam 1: Charting the Heavens: the Foundations of Astronomy

As you watch a star, you see it move 15 degrees across the sky. How long have you been watching it?

A star with a right ascension of 1.0 hours will rise

If new moon fell on March 2nd, what is the Moon's phase on March 14th?

Drawing on Eratosthenes' method, if two observers are due north and south of each other and are separated by 400 km, what is the circumference of their spherical world if they see the same star on their meridian at altitudes of 23 degrees and 47 degrees respectively, and at the exact same time?

The time interval of 365.242 days is defined as the .

The synodic month is

Right ascension in the sky is very similar to latitude on the Earth.

How long does the synodic month take, and how it this observed?

The sidereal day is determined by the Earth's rotation with respect to the stars.

What do both latitude on Earth and declination in the sky measure?

If the Moon rises exactly at sunset, what will its phase be? Why?

In the sky, declination is measured in degrees north or south of the celestial equator.

If intending to teach his students the constellations by season, why would an astronomy instructor be advised to always assign the stars in the current western sky at the beginning of each term?

At the solstice, what is the maximum angle the Sun can be above or below the equator?

Only people in the Moon's umbral shadow can see a total solar eclipse.

Our seasons are a consequence of the Earth's 23.5 degree .

There are 3,600 arc seconds in a degree.

How far above or below the ecliptic can the Sun move?

That Polaris will not always be the pole star is due to

Compare and contrast longitude and right ascension.