Solution

 

The following questions are from chapters 1 and 2 of the text, my Web site, and Stellarium

 

Fill in the blanks for the following

 

¢  The __________________ is the totality of all space, time, matter, and energy. 

    universe

 

¢  A configuration of stars is called a________________________________ Ancient

    astronomers named many of them after mythological beings.  constellation

 

¢  ____________________ is the study of the universe.  Astronomy

 

¢  The ___________________ of a star is measured in degrees north or south of the celestial

    equator.  declination

 

¢  The ______________________ of a star is measured in hour, minutes, and seconds. It

     increases in the eastward direction. right ascension

 

¢  The apparent path of the Sun on the celestial sphere in the course of a year is called the

    _______________________. It is inclined to the celestial equator at an angle of 23.5

    degrees.  ecliptic

 

¢  The prime meridian runs through _______________________ Greenwich England.

 

¢  The apparent displacement of a foreground object relative to the background as the

    observer's location changes is known as ____________________ parallax.

 

¢  A ________________________ is a representation of a phenomena in terms familiar to the

    observer. It is useful in studying properties of the phenomena but one should be careful

    concerning the validity that is attached to it.  model

 

¢  A ____________________ is a framework of ideas and assumptions used to explain some

    set of observations and to make predictions about the real world.  theory

 

¢  The distance that light travels in one year is called a ____________________ light year

 

¢  The Big Dipper is called a(an) ___________________________ asterism

 

¢  _____________________ discovered our place in the "suburbs" of the Milky Way galaxy.

   Harlow Shapley

¢  _____________________ discovered the expansion of the universe.  Edwin Hubble

 

¢  The ______________________ universe concept placed the Earth at the center of

    everything.  geocentric

 

¢  The ______________________ universe concept placed the Sun at the center of everything. 

    heliocentric

 

¢  A planet's back and forth motion relative to the stars is called __________________ motion.

    retrograde

 

¢  The earliest models of the universe followed the teachings of the Greek philosopher

    _______________ Aristotle

 

¢  Later, around 140 AD, the Greek Astronomer ______________________ constructed one of

    the most complete Earth centered models of all time.  Ptolemy

 

¢  What is the name of the following constellation?_______________________ Ursa Minor

 

 

¢  Stellarium, along with all modern planetarium software require the use of longitude and

    latitude of a user’s location. These items are also related to celestial coordinates. Define

    these two term.

 

    Ø  Longitude

 

Lines of latitude measure north-south position between the poles. The equator is defined as 0 degrees, the North Pole is 90 degrees north, and the South Pole is 90 degrees south. Lines of latitude are all parallel to each other, thus they are often referred to as parallels.

 

    Ø  Latitude

 

Lines of longitude, or meridians, run between the North and South Poles. They measure east-west position. The prime meridian is assigned the value of 0 degrees, and runs through Greenwich, England. Meridians to the west of the prime meridian are measured in degrees west and likewise those to the east of the prime meridian are measured to by their number of degrees east.

 

¢  Indicate whether the following statements are true or false by placing a check mark (P ) in the

    appropriate column.

 

Statement	True	False
Galileo Galilei’s daughter was placed in a monastery		P
Newton was born the same year Galileo died	P
Aristotle argued that the Earth was stationary and the universe was finite	P
Ptolemy was born somewhere in South America		P
Tycho Brahe was an observational astronomer	P
Kepler’s nose was severed in a sword fight		P
Copernicus was the first to publish a heliocentric hypothesis		P

 

¢  State Kepler’s 3 laws

 

1. The orbital paths of the planets are elliptical with the Sun at one focus.

2. An imaginary line connecting the Sun to any planet sweeps out equal areas of the

    elllipse in equal intervals of time.

3. The square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of its semimajor

    axis.

 

¢  Sirius will be visible at night or in the morning (you pick which). List below the date, time, and

    direction Sirius will be visible using Stellarium.

 

4 am looking to the right of East, low on the horizon

 

 

·  How far away is Sirius? ___________________________  8.6 light years