Chapter 5 Flashcards
What is the zenith?
means “road overhead”; the point on the Celestial Sphere directly overhead the observer.
What is the nadir?
means “opposite”; the point opposite the zenith on the celestial sphere.
What is asterism?
means “star”; a pattern of stars identifiable within a constellation, but not itself a constellation.
What is an example of asterism?
The “sickle” in Leo, which is a pattern of six stars that look like a reversed question mark.
What is Occultation?
means “to conceal”; the covering up of one celestial object by another.
What is the ecliptic?
The apparent annual path of the Sun among the stars.
What is Conjunction?
The moment when two celestial objects appear to be very close to each other in the sky.
What is precession?
a slow, periodic wobble in Earth’s axis caused by the combined gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon.
Which three stars compose the “Great Winter Triangle”?
Betelgeuse, Sirius, and Procyon.
Explain how the Greeks corrupted the name and meaning of Como Berenices?
his constellation was named by the Greeks after Berenice II of Egypt. She vowed her hair to the gods as long as her husband returned home safely from battle. When he did, legend says she offered her hair but it dissapeared. It is said that this constellation was the locks of hair that the gods accepted. The Hebrews, however, named it Comah, meaning “the desired”/”the longed for.” It was pictured to be a virgin woman with child, ie. Mother Mary. An interesting fact is that the pre-defined Hebrew word Comah sounds incredibly similar to the Greek word “kome” and the Latin word “Coma.” Even more interestingly, these both mean hair.
Explain the difference between the altazimuth and equatorial telescope mountings.
The altazimuth mounting allows you to move both up and down and left and right. the equatorial only allows you to move on one chosen axis, which is helpful in tracking one celestial body, but not if you want to observe various wonders of the night sky.
