Quiz 1: Astronomy & The Night Sky Flashcards
What is an AU?
Astronomical Unit, the distance from earth to the sun
What is a parsec?
A distance away with a parallax angle of 1 arc second. About 3.26 light years.
What is the correct order of size of our Observable Universe?
Earth, Solar System, Solar Neighborhood, Milky Way, Local Group, Super Cluster
What is a Joule?
Joules are work done. Force applied of a distance. W=FD
What is a Watt/Power?
The rate a which work is done.
What is indirect knowledge
Seeing the effect of something
What is direct Knowledge?
Something we set out to gain from observing
What is the scientific method?
It is about disproving things through means that are repeatable and consistent.
What is inductive reasoning?
a method of reasoning in which a body of observations is synthesized to come up with a general principle.
What is Deductive Reasoning?
the process of reasoning from one or more statements to reach a logical conclusion.
What is a hypothesis
The assumption made before doing any experiments
What is a Theory?
a principle set to explain phenomena already supported by data.
What is Falsifiability?
the logical possibility that an assertion, hypothesis, or theory can be shown to be false by an observation or experiment.
What is Magnitude?
a unitless measure of the brightness of an object
What is the Celestial Sphere?
an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, which may be centered on Earth or the observer
What is a Constellation?
Certain groupings of stars that are imagined to form shapes of creatures or objects.
What is an Asterism?
In observational astronomy, an asterism is a pattern or group of stars that can be seen in the night sky.
What is a Zodiac Constellation?
Constellations behind the sun during a certain month.
How Many Zodiac Constellations are there?
13
Why do we have seasons on Earth?
Because of the Axil tilt of the planet relative to the orbital plane. Whatever end is pointing toward the sun, that half has summer.