Quiz 1 Flashcards
Which of the following structures is farthest from the Earth?
- Earth
- Sun
- Stars
- Galaxies
Galaxies
The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. How would this be written in scientific notation?
1.86 x 10^5
An astronomical unit is defined as:
The average distance between the Earth and the Sun.
A light year is defined as:
The distance that light travels in one year.
The Celestial Sphere is:
An imaginary sphere surrounding Earth with the stars stuck on the inside like thumbtacks in a ceiling.
The celestial equator is:
The line in the sky that separates the North Celestial Sphere from the South Celestial Sphere.
The great ancient astronomer Claudius Ptolemy introduced the magnitude scale for the apparent brightness of stars. This scale is known as apparent visual magnitude for a star and ranges from:
1 - 6 with 1 being the brightest.
The reason for the seasons are:
The Earth is tipped like a top and during the spring and summer the days are longer than the nights so the extra heat from the days makes the temperatures rise. It is just the opposite during the fall and winter.
The phenomena of precessions is:
The wobbling of the Earth like a top.
Precession is caused by:
Both the Moon and the Sun.
What are the four phases of the moon?
- New Moon
- First Quarter
- Last Quarter
- Full Moon
A lunar eclipse happens when:
The Moon moves behind the Earth.
What are the three types of solar eclipses?
- Total
- Partial
- Annular
Where would you go on Earth to see both the North Celestial Pole and the South Celestial Pole at the same time?
The Equator.
If the Earth did not rotate could you still define the Ecliptic?
Yes
