Chapter 2 - Part 1

Question 1

On the horizon is east and west on the left or right?

Answer 1

East is on the right and west in on the left

Question 2

On the sky is east and west on the left or right?

Answer 2

East is on the left and west is on the right

Question 3

What are random patterns of stars that form an image in the sky?

Answer 3

Constellations

Question 4

How many constellations are there?

Answer 4

88

Question 5

Are stars in constellations close to each other?

Answer 5

No, they just appear close from earth when they are in fact thousands of light years away from each other

Question 6

What represents the regions in the sky?

Answer 6

Constellations

Question 7

What are the less formally defined group of stars?

Answer 7

Asterisms

Question 8

Give an example of an asterism

Answer 8

The big dipper

Question 9

What are the two types on motion that the ancient Greeks observed?

Answer 9

1. Daily motion

2. Annual motion

Question 10

What is daily motion?

Answer 10

Objects in the sky appear to be rising in the east and setting in the west each day (This is because the reflect the rotation of the celestial sphere)

Question 11

What is annual motion?

Answer 11

The Sun and the Moon are slowly moving east while rotating west with the celestial sphere

Question 12

What were the daily and annual motions caused by?

Answer 12

The earth’s rotation and the revolution around the sun

Question 13

What are coordinates that anyone in the world can use to find an object?

Answer 13

Universal coordinates

Question 14

What is the projection of the earth’s equator onto the sky called?

Answer 14

The celestial equator

Question 15

What did we use the geocentric model to come up with?

Answer 15

Universal Coordinate

Question 16

What is the projection of the earth’s north pole onto the sky?

Answer 16

The celestial north pole

Question 17

What is the apparent path of the sun?

Answer 17

The ecliptic

Question 18

What is the point directly above your head?

Answer 18

The zenith

Question 19

What is the point in the sky directly below you feet?

Answer 19

The nadir

Question 20

Why is the ecliptic tilted with respect to the celestial sphere?

Answer 20

The earth’s axis is tilted by 23.5 degrees

Question 21

How many times a year does the sun rise and set directly in the east and west?

Answer 21

2

Question 22

What are the coordinates that are only true from your location?

Answer 22

Local coordinates

Question 23

Why are local coordinates only true from where you are?

Answer 23

Since the earth is sphere shaped the sky is different from different locations

Question 24

Are local coordinates always go to be the same?

Answer 24

No, they change over time

Question 25

While using local coordinates what do we use in order to figure out how far north an object is from the horizon?

Answer 25

Altitude

Question 26

What do we use in order to figure out how far north an object is from the horizon?

Answer 26

Altitude

Question 27

What do we use in order to figure out how far east or west an object is on the horizon?

Answer 27

Azimuth

Question 28

In the geocentric model, what is at the center of the universe?

Answer 28

The earth

Question 29

List the universal coordinates

Answer 29

1. Declination | 2. Right ascension

Question 30

List the local coordinates

Answer 30

1. Altitude | 2. Azimuth

Question 31

What measures how far north or south an object is from the celestial equator?

Answer 31

Declination

Question 32

What is declination measured in?

Answer 32

Degrees

Question 33

How many arcminutes does a degree have?

Answer 33

60

Question 34

What measures how far east or west an object is on the celestial equator? (The celestial longitude)

Answer 34

Right ascension

Question 35

What is the celestial latitude?

Answer 35

Declination

Question 36

What is the celestial longitude?

Answer 36

Right ascension

Question 37

What is the right ascension measured in?

Answer 37

Hours, minutes, and seconds

Question 38

Where does the right ascension start from?

Answer 38

The vernal equinox

Question 39

Why are the declination and right ascension considered universal coordinates?

Answer 39

They are the same wherever you go, they don't change when you change locations

Question 40

In order to use the universal coordinates, what do you have to find?

Answer 40

Your latitude and the north celestial pole

Question 41

What angle does the celestial equator make form the southern point of our horizon?

Answer 41

50*

Question 42

How long is a solar day?

Answer 42

24 hours

Question 43

How long is a sidereal day?

Answer 43

23 hours and 56 minutes

Question 44

What is the time elapsed between a sun rise and the next?

Answer 44

Solar day

Question 45

What is the time it takes for the earth to make a complete rotation?

Answer 45

Sidereal day

Question 46

Why is the solar day 4 minutes longer then the sidereal day?

Answer 46

As the earth spins it also moves one degree on its orbit

Question 47

Why is it warmer during the summer?

Answer 47

We are hit with direct sunlight and the sun stays above the horizon for a longer period of time

Question 48

When is the sun farthest north from the celestial equator?

Answer 48

The summer solstice

Question 49

When is the sun on the celestial equator, moving southward?

Answer 49

Autumnal equinox

Question 50

When is the sun farthest south from the celestial equator?

Answer 50

Winter solstice

Question 51

When is the sun on the celestial equator, moving northward?

Answer 51

Vernal equinox

Question 52

What is the wobbly motion of the earth's rotational axis?

Answer 52

Precession

Question 53

What's the reason for procession?

Answer 53

Since the earth's equator is slightly bulged it leads to extra gravitational pull from the sun and the moon

Question 54

How long does procession take to make one complete circle?

Answer 54

26,000 years

Question 55

How many zodiac signs are there?

Answer 55

13

Question 56

How often does the zodiac the sun enters on May 21 change?

Answer 56

Every 2000 years