Astronomy Exam 1 Flashcards
(57 cards)
What is Latitude?
North to South
What is Longitude?
East to West
great circle running though Greenwich,England and the North and South Pole
Prime Meridian
What is the latitude of ASU?
33 N
At what angle will the North Star be tonight in Tempe?
30 degrees
At what angle will the North Star be tonight at the North Pole?
90 degrees
stars’ locations in the sky given by latitude
declination
right ascension is?
the stars’ location in the sky given by longitude
What way do stars appear to rotate around the North Star?
counterclockwise
The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. Which way is the Earth rotating?
toward the east
What is teh celestial sphere centered on?
the earth
This is when the days have equal amounts of daylight and nigthtime
Equinoxes
What is a Solstice?
the days that have the most unequal amount of daylight and nightitme
what is insolation?
the amount of solar energy incident on a suraface area
what does insolation depend on?
the angle of the sun
What is the sunlight angle of incidence for a equinox?
90 degress
what is the sunlight angle of incidence for a solstice?
23.5 degrees
our earth’s orbit is
eccentric
what is teh Perihelion?
the closest point to the Sun that occurs during Northern Winter
What is the farthest point to the Sun that occurs during Northern Summer called?
Aphelion
What does precession do ?
the earth spins like a top
what does Obliquity do?
the axis tilt changes about +/- 1 degrees, period is about 40,000 years
this is what causes the orbit shape to change over time. the period is about 100,000 years.
Eccentricity
why does we only ever see just one face of the moon?
because of the synchronous rotation, rotation period=orbit period
