Astronomers Test – Flashcards
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Did ancient Greek astronomers consider the earth to be round and go around the sun?
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yes
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The Almagest is a collection of science and math of the ________.
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greeks
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Ptolemy's model of the universe contained ________.
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epicycles
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True or false: The purpose of the astronomical alignments of Stonehenge is known by scientists.
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false
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The primary alignment in Stonehenge is an alignment of the center with the outer "heel" stone toward the ____ solstice sunrise point.
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summer
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______ introduced the concept of the eccentrics and epicycles to planetary motion about Earth, created a star catalog, and is generally credited with the development of trigonometry.
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Hipparchus
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What is the circumference of Earth?
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25,000 miles
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Who did not accept a heliocentric model of the universe?
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Tycho Brahe
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The book "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" first describes the ______ theory.
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Copernican
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The Copernican system was no more accurate than the Ptolemaic system in predicting the positions of the planets because it used uniform circular motion like _______.
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Ptolemy
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Brahe's universe was the same as the Copernican universe except that the ______ didn't move.
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Earth
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True or false: Tycho Brahe's greatest contribution to astronomy was his years of careful observations of the planets.
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true
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A _______ is a commonly accepted set of scientific ideas and assumptions.
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paradigm
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Galileo's observations of the gibbous phase of Venus proved that Venus orbits the ____.
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sun
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In the context of the Aristotle's geocentric ideas, Galileo's telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and ____ are not perfect.
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moon
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True or false: Galileo's telescopic discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter was important because it showed that Jupiter was much more massive than Earth.
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false
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A _____ is a single conjecture that can be tested.
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hypothesis
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A ____ is a system of rules and principles that can be applied to a wide variety of circumstances but may not be universally accepted.
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theory
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In pre-Copernican astronomy, it was almost universally believed that the ____ was the center of the universe.
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Earth
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An apparent westward motion of a planet in the sky compared to the background stars (as viewed from the Earth) when observed on successive nights is referred to as _______.
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retrograde
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The greatest inaccuracy in Copernicus' model of the solar system was that the planets travel in _____ orbits.
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circular
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Aristotle concluded that the earth is round because of two reasons.
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ships looked like they were sinking and the shadow of the earth was round when saw on the moon.
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The ancient Greek astronomer Eratosthenes measured the size of the _______.
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Earth
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The first person to propose that the Earth went around the sun was _____.
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Copernicus
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Galileo used a telescope to discover ________, _________, ________, and phases of ______.
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craters on the moon, moons of Jupiter, sunspots, Venus
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Copernicus showed how ______ motion could be explained without epicycles if the planets all orbited the sun.
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retrograde
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Kepler used Tycho's observations to show that the planets followed by elliptical _______.
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orbits
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Aphelion occurs when the Earth is _____ from the sun.
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far
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How many constellations are circumpolar at the equator?
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none
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Where is Stonehenge located?
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Salisbury Plains, England
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True or false: Viewed from the center of Stonehenge, the summer solstice sun rises behind the Heelstone.
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true
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True or false: Many classical astronomers believed Earth could not move because they detected no parallax.
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true
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True or false: Parallax is the apparent change in location of an object due to the motion of the observer.
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true
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True or false: The Ptolemaic model of the universe was heliocentric.
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false
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True or false: The Copernican model of the solar system has the planets orbit the sun along elliptical paths.
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false
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True or false: Copernicus was the first to propose that Earth moves around the sun.
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true
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True or false: Galileo wrote the Almagest.
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false
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True or false: Galileo used a telescope to observe the phases of Venus.
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true
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True or false: Kepler's 2nd of planetary motion states that the orbits of the planets are ellipses with the sun at one focus.
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false
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Stonehenge is located in Ireland.
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false
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____ is a description of the Ptolemaic model of the solar system.
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Almagest
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_____ calculated the diameter of Earth using the distance between Alexandria and Syene and the angle of the sun at noon relative to the zenith on the summer solstice.
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Eratosthenes
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The first observations of objects in the solar system that orbit neither the sun nor the Earth were made by _______.
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Galileo
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Ptolemy formulated a ______ model of the solar system to predict positions of the Sun, moon, and planets.
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geocentric
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The modern first astronomer to propose a heliocentric model for the solar system was ______.
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Copernicus
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Which alignments at Stonehenge suggest that its builders were familiar with the sky?
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the sunrise of the summer solstice rises behind the heelstone
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What are Kepler's three laws?
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1. ellipses 2. a line from a planet to the sun sweeps over equal areas at equal intervals of time 3. P²y=a³ (AU)
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the investigation of the astronomical knowledge of prehistoric culures
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archaeoastronomy
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Who said the universe could be divided into the imperfect Earth and the perfect heavens (geocentric universe) ?
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Aristotle
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Who was the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth and the tilt of the Earth's axis?
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Eratosthenes
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Who wrote the Almagest, believed in the geocentric model, and saw the 5 planets?
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Ptolemy
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Who formed a model of the universe where the sun was in the middle (located in the De Revolutionious)?
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Copernicus
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Who had an accurate number for the distance from Earth to the moon?
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Hipparchus
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Who made the laws of planetary motion and started the theory for gravity?
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Kepler
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Who kept records of the sun, moon, and planets?
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Brahe
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Who made the theory of universal gravity?
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Newton
