Deck 2: Observing the Sky: the Birth of Astronomy

Question 1

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

A) longitude of the observer
B) latitude of the observer
C) altitude of the Sun
D) the tilt of the Earth's axis
E) the temperature at midnight

Answer 1

latitude of the observer

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT an argument for showing that the Earth must be round:

A) during an eclipse of the Moon, the shadow of the Earth is always seen to be round
B) when ships travel a large distance away, we see their hulls disappear first and their masts disappear last
C) the height of the North Star changes as we travel to different latitudes
D) photographs of the Earth from space always show a round body
E) the Sun is seen blocking different constellations in the course of a year

Answer 2

the Sun is seen blocking different constellations in the course of a year

Question 3

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

A) nadir
B) zenith
C) celestial pole
D) horizon point
E) bald spot

Answer 3

zenith

Question 4

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

A) horizon
B) zenith for all observers
C) celestial equator
D) path of the Sun on any given day
E) celestial hungarian

Question 5

The south celestial pole and the north celestial pole lie in the sky directly above

A) the Earth's equator
B) the observer's zenith
C) the ecliptic
D) the Earth's axis
E) the town of Bayonne, New Jersey

Question 6

If the Earth goes around the Sun, why is the ecliptic not lined up with the celestial equator?

A) the ecliptic is a circle fixed in the sky, but the celestial equator is different for observers at different latitudes
B) the Earth's orbit is not a circle but an ellipse
C) the Earth's axis is tilted by about 23 degrees from the vertical
D) the pull of the other planets makes the Earth wobble significantly in the course of a year
E) the land mass of the Earth is more concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere

Question 7

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

A) a Dipper
B) a zodiac
C) an asterism
D) an ecliptic
E) a cameo _________________________________________________________________________
2)2 Ancient Astronomy

Question 8

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?

A) Mars
B) the Sun
C) Venus
D) the Moon
E) the Big Dipper

Question 9

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?

A) the celestial pole is overhead
B) the celestial equator is on the horizon
C) the way (and whether) the stars rise or set
D) all of the above would be different from the way it is in Florida
E) all of the above (a - c) would be the same as in Florida

Question 10

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):

A) the celestial poles are on the north and south points of the horizon
B) the celestial equator is overhead and passes through the zenith
C) all stars rise and set (no star remains in the sky all night long)
D) all stars are above the horizon exactly half a day
E) none of the above are the same on the equator as in Canada

Question 11

From horizon to opposite horizon, the sky takes up how much angular distance?

A) 90 degrees
B) 180 degrees
C) 360 degrees
D) 100 degrees
E) you can't fool me, this number varies with latitude

Question 12

Let's say we find a star that is located on the points or circles in the sky listed in the answer choices below. Then, on the same night, we move to a location on Earth that is some significant distance from our first location. There will now be a different star at or on:

A) the celestial north pole
B) the zenith
C) the celestial equator
D) the celestial south pole
E) all of the above

Question 13

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

A) zodiacs
B) constellations
C) asterisms
D) epicycles
E) celestial states

Question 14

As seen from the continental United States, the Big and Little Dipper

A) are below the horizon throughout the year
B) are at the zenith throughout the year
C) are on the celestial equator throughout the year
D) are in the north circumpolar zone throughout the year
E) none of the above

Question 15

The celestial sphere turns once around each day because

A) the planet on which we live is rotating
B) the Earth is going around the Sun
C) the phases of the Moon
D) precession
E) everything in the universe turns around the Earth

Question 16

The strip of the sky through which the Sun, the Moon, and the bright planets appear to move in the course of a year is called:

A) the zodiac
B) the celestial equator
C) the circumpolar zone
D) the horizon
E) the asteroid belt

Question 17

The star that is currently closest to the North Celestial Pole is:

A) Arcturus
B) Betelgeuse
C) Polaris
D) Rigel
E) Nicole Kidman

Question 18

Someone who observes the sky every clear night in Boston for many years will NEVER get to see:

A) the south circumpolar zone
B) the north celestial pole
C) the observer's zenith point
D) the north circumpolar zone
E) the Big Dipper

Question 19

The Sun's apparent path around the celestial sphere is called

A) the horizon
B) the circumpolar zone
C) the celestial equator
D) the celestial hot-zone
E) the ecliptic

Question 20

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?

A) on your horizon
B) at your zenith
C) on the celestial equator
D) at the north celestial pole
E) you can't fool me, all stars appear to turn around the sky from locations in the U.S.

Question 21

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

A) astrology has passed every test with flying colors and scientists now agree that the positions of celestial objects are very important in determining our personalities and future
B) astrology has not passed any clear scientific or statistical test and, as a result, most scientists are very doubtful that it can predict anything meaningful about our lives
C) astrology has passed about half of the tests that have been devised for it, and it is very controversial; about half the scientists think it works, and the other half do not
D) no one has ever tested astrology, so it is not possible to say whether it is a useful predictive tool
E) because it was Ptolemy who wrote the books on which modern astrology is based, most scientists believe it must be correct, no matter what any tests reveal

Question 22

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

A) geocentric
B) heliocentric
C) Ptolemaic
D) Aristotelean
E) self-centered (Trumpian)

Question 23

Which ancient Greek thinker suggested (long before Copernicus) that the Earth is moving around the Sun?

A) Aristotle
B) Aristarchus
C) Eratosthenes
D) Hipparchus
E) Zorba

Question 24

When a planet temporarily moves westward in the sky over the course of several weeks or months (instead of eastward, as it typically does), we call it:

A) precession
B) ecliptic motion
C) retrograde motion
D) circumpolar motion
E) rude

Question 25

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

A) Newton
B) Ptolemy
C) Eratosthenes
D) Halley
E) Copernicus

Question 26

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:

A) Hipparchus
B) Copernicus
C) Ptolemy
D) Pythagoras
E) Alfonso the Wise

Question 27

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

A) Because of precession, the stars making up the constellation figures (like Leo the Lion) have moved so far apart, they no longer look like their names
B) Because of precession, Mars no longer shows retrograde motion and so all the horoscopes done using Mars turn out to be wrong
C) Because of precession, some of the planets that astrologers use to construct horoscopes no longer orbit the Sun
D) Because of precession, the constellations are no longer lined up with the astrological signs that are named after them; since astrology was set up, the two have slipped one sign apart
E) You can't fool me, precession has not affected anything about astrology _________________________________________________________________________
2)4 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Question 28

Which of the following was NOT done by Galileo Galilei?

A) turning the telescope to the sky and believing what it showed his eyes
B) discovering four large moons around Jupiter
C) discovering that Venus goes through phases (like the Moon)
D) resolving the Milky Way into many, many stars
E) explaining retrograde motion with the heliocentric hypothesis

Question 29

In Copernicus' day, people were worried about the idea that the celestial sphere seemed to turn around us once a day because the Earth rotates. They argued that if the Earth were to rotate so fast, it should fly apart. According to our textbook, what was one response Copernicus had to this worry?

A) Copernicus said that the presence of a large Moon kept the Earth from flying apart.
B) Copernicus argued that God would never allow a planet with people to be exposed to that kind of danger
C) Copernicus said that the Earth also orbits the Sun, and the motion around the Sun keeps the many parts of the Earth together
D) Copernicus argued that the idea that the much larger celestial sphere is turning once a day (and the Earth is not) meant that the celestial sphere would be torn apart even more
E) You can't fool me, Copernicus never thought that the Earth was rotating

Question 30

Which of the following was NOT done by Hipparchus, the great ancient astronomer?

A) compiled a pioneering catalog of the positions of hundreds of stars
B) created the system of star magnitudes that we still use today
C) discovered that the Earth has a motion called precession
D) explained retrograde motion
E) you can't fool me; Hipparchus did all of the above

Question 31

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

A) the Earth wobbles (like a spinning top) with a period of 26,000 years
B) where the Earth's axis points in the sky changes over the centuries and millennia
C) Polaris will no longer be the North Star in several thousand years
D) the stars twinkle when seen from the surface of planet Earth
E) the signs of the zodiac most astrologers use are no longer in accord with the constellations in which the Sun is currently found over the course of the year

Question 32

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

A) Galileo consulted many authorities before coming to scientific conclusions, instead of working on his own
B) Galileo translated the works of the ancient Greek astronomers, and relied on their wonderful abilities to think through difficult problems
C) Galileo used instruments and experiments to show him what nature was doing, instead of relying on pure logic
D) Galileo relied on the revelations of the Bible to tell him what was happening in the sky
E) Galileo believed that the Earth was the center of the solar system, and everything revolved around it

Question 33

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

A) Copernicus
B) Ptolemy
C) Galileo
D) Eratosthenes
E) Lippershey

Question 34

The slow tipping of the Earth's axis in a circle with a period of about 26,000 years is called:

A) precession
B) ecliptic motion
C) retrograde motion
D) deferential motion
E) revolution

Question 35

How did Eratosthenes measure the size of the Earth?

A) by walking about one-quarter of the way around its circumference
B) by measuring the times of sunrise in each of the four seasons
C) by determining the parallax of the Moon and finding the size of its orbit
D) by measuring the height of the Sun in the sky on the same day in two cities at different latitudes
E) by asking Aristotle who knew everything

Question 36

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?

A) stars in the Milky Way that just kept going in a straight line
B) moons around the planet Jupiter
C) a ring around the Sun
D) the Earth's Moon
E) Pluto

Question 37

In Ptolemy's system the planets orbit the Earth and not the Sun. How did the system explain the retrograde motion of planets like Jupiter?

A) the planets were not moving along the ecliptic but all over the celestial sphere
B) the planets moved in very elongated ellipses, and their speed in orbit changed radically over the course of a year
C) the Sun moved among the planets, and pulled them out of their circular orbits
D) the planets moved on a small circle whose center, in turn, circled a point near the Earth
E) you can't fool me, Ptolemy's system did not include ANY explanation of retrograde motion _________________________________________________________________________
2)3 Astrology and Astronomy