Exam 3: Motion of Astronomical Bodies

In a period of three months, a planet travels 30,000 km with an average speed of 10.5 km/s. Some time later, the same planet travels 65,000 km in three months. How fast is the planet traveling at this later time? During which period is the planet closer to the Sun?

Kepler's third law written as P² =A³ holds true mathematically for our Solar System only if the period is expressed in years and the semimajor axis is expressed in AU.

If the sidereal period of Jupiter is 11.9 years, what is Jupiter's synodic period as observed from Earth?

A circle has an eccentricity of _________ and a line has an eccentricity of _________.

Suppose an asteroid had an orbit with a semimajor axis of 4 AU. How long would it take for it to orbit once around the Sun?

If Neptune has a semimajor axis of 19 AU, its orbital period is:

How was retrograde motion explained in the geocentric system?

The time it takes for a planet to come back to the same position relative to the Sun is called its _________ period.

At the center of the geocentric model of the Solar System is the:

If the synodic period of Venus is observed from Earth to be 1.6 years, Venus' sidereal period is _____ years.

Based on the figure shown below, explain why an inferior planet is most likely to be seen when it is at one of its greatest elongations.

The time it takes a planet to complete one full orbital revolution is commonly known as its:

Nicolaus Copernicus was the first to propose that Earth revolved around the Sun.

Which of the following are the inferior planets?

In the ________ model of the Solar System, ________ motion is only an apparent, not a real, motion.

Why were epicycles used in the geocentric system? Who first introduced epicycles?

Figure 2 -In Figure 2, a planet orbits the Sun. During which of the three sections (A, B, or C) will the planet have the lowest average velocity?

In terms of frames of reference, explain why an object moving in a straight line at constant speed remains in motion.

If you travel at a velocity of 30 mph during a 15-mile trip from home to school, how long does the trip take?

Observations of what astronomical events allowed astronomers to definitively determine that the heliocentric model of the solar system was correct?