Section 1 Flashcards
Altitude
Extent upward
Altazimuth system
An instrument for determining both the altitude and azimuth of a heavenly body
Astrolabes
Instruments for taking the altitude of the sun or stars
Astronomical units
Average distance between the earth and the sun
Astronomy
Study of the universe
Azimuth
Arc of the horizon measured clockwise from a South point to the circle in the heavenly body
Celestial Sphere
Imaginary sphere shell formed by the sky
Ellipse
An oval shaped path
Geocentric
That all planets and the sun revolve around the earth
Heliocentric
That all planets revolve around the sun
Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion
- Planets move in an ellipse
- Each planet revolves so that an imaginary line sweeps over equal distances in equal time
- Length of time to orbit the sun is directly linked to distance from the sun
Major Axis
An axis of the Ellipse that passes through the two foci
Orbital Period of Revolution
The time in which it takes for a planet to revolve around its primary
Period
The time it takes a planet to rotate on its axis
Planets
Body revolving about a star
