Lesson 2: Historical Highlights In Astronomy Flashcards
Who created the theory of epicycles, thus explaining retrograde motion?
Ptolemy
Aristotle proposed that motion in three dimensions could be described using what two types of motion?
“Towards/away” and “around”
Fill in the blank. The ______ are the group of people credited with preserving most of the Greek astronomy we know today.
Arabs
Which Renaissance astronomer first detailed advantages of a sun-centered universe?
Nicolaus Copernicus
Which of the following best describes the difference between a sidereal and synodic period?
A sidereal period is the time it takes for a planet to complete one orbit around the Sun; a synodic period is the time between two successive identical configurations, as seen from the earth.
Fill in the blank. When a planet is at the point in it’s orbit nearest the Sub, it is called ______.
Perihelion
Fill in the blank. Meaning “Earth-centered” __________ refers to the idea that planets rotate around the earth.
Geocentric
Fill in the blank. _____ is the brightest star visible from Earth (excluding our sun).
Sirius
Which bright star is found in Auriga?
Capella
Eratosthenes?
Calculated the circumference of Earth.
Aristotle?
Theory of the universe with two types of motion: towards/away from and around.
Ptolemy?
Invented epicycles to explain retrograde motion.
Aristarchus?
Believed that the Sun was at the center of the universe.
True or False: people of Ancient Greece believed the world was shaped like a sphere.
True
True or False: all early astronomers before Copernicus believed that the world was flat.
False
What was the greatest contribution of Tycho Brahe to astronomy?
He amassed a large number of precise measurements of stellar and planetary positions in the sky.
TRUE OR FALSE: PLANETS IN ORBITS CLOSER TO THE SUN MOVE FASTER THAN PLANETS IN ORBITS FURTHER AWAY.
True: Remember Kepler’s Second Law: the area swept out by a planet will be equal for equal times. One result of this is that the closer planets are to the Sun, the faster they move in their orbits.
Which of the following is not one of the major astronomical discoveries made by Galileo?
1) Jupiter is orbited by moons.
2) Venus goes through phases.
3) The Moon has mountains, valleys, and craters.
4) The shape of a planet’s orbit is an ellipse.
5) The Sun has spots and rotates.
4) The shape of a planet’s orbit in an ellipse.
Who proposed the idea that gravity could actually bend light?
Albert Einstein.
True or False: Epicycles are smaller spheres attached to the larger deferents.
True
Aphelion is the point in a planetary orbit at which the planet is….?
Farthest from the Sun.
True or False: The synodic period is the amount of time for a planet to move from one configuration to the next identical configuration.
True
Nicolaus Copernicus?
First modern astronomer to believe in a heliocentric universe.
Johannes Kepler?
Theorized that planets do not move at uniform speeds throughout their orbits.
Galileo Galilei?
First astronomer to use a telescope.
Tycho Brahe?
Tried to prove heliocentric universe was wrong.
True or False: when Saturn is at opposition, we cannot see it because it is hiding behind the Sun.
False
True or False: Most of the names of the brightest stars are if Arabic origin.
True
True or False: Planets do not orbit the Sun in perfectly circular orbits.
True
