Exam 21: Origin of Modern Astronomy

Why are there only 4-7 eclipses per year?

The planets maintain elliptical orbits around the Sun.

Galileo discovered Jupiter's four largest moons.

The ________ day is the time it takes for Earth to make one complete rotation with respect to a star other than our Sun.

The planets,Moon,and the Sun lie along nearly the same plane and therefore move along the same region of the sky that is called the ________.

A very slow motion of Earth's axis that requires 26,000 years to complete is called ________.

The angular distance north or south of the celestial equator is called ________.

A very slow motion of Earth's axis that requires 26,000 years to complete is called ________.

Use Figure 21.26 below to help explain the difference between the sidereal and synodic month.

If you are north of the Tropic of Cancer,you will never see stars south of the celestial equator.

When Earth is closest to the Sun,its location is referred to as the ________ position.

Relative to the celestial background,the moon moves ________.

Sir Isaac Newton was convicted of heresy for supporting the Sun-centered view of the universe.

A total eclipse of the Sun is only possible at ________.

Why were planets called "wanderers" by early Astronomers?

Solar eclipses are more common than are lunar eclipses.

declination right ascension perihelion equatorial system

Compare and contrast the Ptolemaic System with the Copernican System.Are there any similarities? What are the key differences? How did the prevailing ideas or perspectives of society affect each of these explanations?

The diagram below illustrates the relationship of the Moon and the Earth during a lunar eclipse.Based on the illustration,would you expect lunar eclipses to occur more or less frequently than solar eclipses? Also,which type of eclipse would be seen by a larger portion of the Earth (and therefore potentially more people)?

This scientist was the first to use the telescope in astronomy.