Unit 11

Question 1

For the Inuits, Venus is associated with the legend of the great seal hunter Nâlagssartoq. The dark, misanthropic narrative underscores which recurring theme of the Inuit?

Answer 1

Wrong doers were transformed into luminous beings in the sky where they reside for eternity for their evil deeds to be recounted as a warning to successive generations.

Question 2

According to the reading by Magli 2016 and the lecture slides, what is meant by planetary retrograde motion?

Answer 2

Planets appear to temporarily change direction in their movement against the background stars as seen from Earth

Question 3

Venus is at its furthest distance from the Sun setting behind it in the evening sky. According to the lecture slides, what position is this called?

Answer 3

Greatest Elongation

Question 4

According to the encyclopedia entry on Tlahuizcalpantechuhtli and the lecture slides, which two ancient Mesoamerican gods represented each aspect of Venus (morning & evening)?

Answer 4

Quetzalcoatl & Xolotl

Question 5

According to the lecture slides, if Venus is at full phase directly behind the Sun as viewed from Earth, the configuration is referred to as which of the following?

Answer 5

Superior Conjunction

Question 6

According to the encyclopedic entry on Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, which of the following is a Mayan ruin that shows evidence for alignment with the extreme declination setting position of Venus?

Answer 6

El Caracol

Question 7

According to the lecture slides, which of the following is a Mesoamerican deity associated with Venus that throws darts at people?

Answer 7

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli

Question 8

According to the lecture slides, which of the following was a contribution of Johannes Kepler to understanding the motions of planets?

Answer 8

Their orbits are elliptical

Question 9

According to the lecture slides, which of the following solar system models features the planets and Sun revolving around the Earth?

Answer 9

Geocentric Model

Question 10

According to the readings by Williamson and Williamson & Farrer, Venus and Mercury appear as morning and evening stars. The outer planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) can be seen where?

Answer 10

Any other position along the ecliptic

Question 11

Venus takes about 584 days to go through a cycle in which it reappears in its initial configuration as seen from Earth. According to reading by Magli 2016 and the lecture slides, this is called which of the following?

Answer 11

Synodic Period

Question 12

The planets follow a path very close to the ecliptic. According to the reading by Williamson, where do they appear in the sky?

Answer 12

High in the night sky during the winter, lower in the sky during the summer

Question 13

According to the lecture slides, who developed a model of planets going around the Sun on circular orbits?

Answer 13

Copernicus

Question 14

According to the reading by Magli, what is the only planet for which any kind of connection with astronomically oriented buildings has been argued?

Answer 14

Venus

Question 15

According to the reading by Magli, Venus extreme declinations have a cycle of how many years?

Answer 15

8 years

Question 16

Who developed the Heliocentric Model of the Solar System?

Answer 16

Copernicus

Question 17

Every celestial object appears to go around the Earth once a day. In addition to this motion, which celestial object has the fastest apparent motion in the sky?

Answer 17

the Moon

Question 18

When it comes to our place in the solar system today, which model do we accept?

Answer 18

Heliocentric

Question 19

In what fundamental way did the work of Galileo differ from his predecessors who had thought about the sky?

Answer 19

Galileo used instruments and experiments to show him what nature was doing, instead of relying on pure logic

Question 20

When a planet temporarily moves westward in the sky over the course of several weeks or months (instead of eastward, as it typically does), we call it ____ motion

Answer 20

retrograde

Question 21

More distant planets appear to move more ____ than planets that are closer to us

Answer 21

slowly

Question 22

Retrograde motion happened when the superior planets occur at _____

Answer 22

opposition

Question 23

What causes a small displacement of planets path from the ecliptic?

Answer 23

Planet’s orbital inclinations

Question 24

Which planet was an important symbol in the “Ghost Dance” movement?

Answer 24

Venus

Question 25

Which of the following would most likely happen to you according to the Maya, if you met Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli?

Answer 25

You would be injured by darts

Question 26

In the Aboriginal tradition, the path of the planets in the sky is seen as what?

Answer 26

The path to the land of the dead