Ast Final Flashcards
During the New Moon Phase, how much of the moons total surface is being illuminated by sunlight
Half
During a lunar eclipse
The moon passes into the shadow of the Earth
Which of the following is true about the autumnal equinox
There are 12 hours of daylight everywhere on earth
The primary cause for earths season is
The tilt if the earths rotational axis
Imagine a planet whose rotational axis is perpendicular to its orbital plane. How would you describe its seasons
Constant
Keplers second law states that
The area swept out by a line between a parent object (such as a star) and an object orbiting (such as a planet) is constant for constant periods of time.
Which describes keplers first law?
The planet orbits the sun in elliptical paths.
Who proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system during the 1500’s
Copernicus
Who used epicycles to explain the retrograde motion of the planets while maintaing a geocentric model
Ptolemy
Who was the first to use telescopic observations to support the idea of a heliocentric model (but was not the first to propose the heliocentric model)
Galileo
Keplers third law states that
The period of an object orbit squared is proportional to the object semi-major axis cubes
Which of the following describes a valid reason that the northern and the southern hemisphere have different seasons at the same time?
During a day of the year when the sun is high in the sky in the northern hemisphere it will be low in the sky in the southern hemisphere due to the tilt of the earths rotational axis
Which of the following sequence of moon phases will occur one after the other within one cycle of the phase?
New, waxing, crescent, first, quarter, waxing gibbous
Imagine the earths orbit were changed to be a perfect circle about the sun so that the distance to the sun never changed. How would this affect seasons?
We would continue to experience seasons in essentially the same way we do now.
Which of the following best describes why the moon goes through phases?
We see only part of the lit-up face of the moon depending on its position relative the earth and the sun
Sun appears to rise and set in our sky because_____, and you are on year older each time___.
Earth rotates on its axis; Earth completes one orbit of the sun
The phase of the moon during a lunar eclipse
Is always full
The phase of the moon during a solar eclipse
Is always new.
The famous star that is directly over the North Pole is called
Polaris
What are constellations?
Apparent groupings of stars and planets visible on a given evening.
Where on Earth would you be if Polaris were at your zenith?
North pole
Keplers law were modified after the discovery and establishment of
Newtons law
What does Keplers Third Law imply about planetary motion
Planets further from the sun orbit at a slower speed than planets close to the sun.
What is meant by the term astronomical unit?
Its another way of saying light year