Aristotle claimed the earth was ________, but that the heavens were _______. |
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Imperfect, perfect |
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What is one AU? |
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The distance from the earth to the sun (approximately 150 million km) |
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What is one light year? |
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The distance light travels in one year |
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What is today's definition of a constellation? |
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Well defined regions of the night sky |
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The Big Dipper is an example of a(n) _________. |
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Asterism (portion of a constellation) |
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What is the Celestial Sphere? |
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The appearance of the the stars from earth. |
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The ______ star is the brightest star in a constellation. |
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alpha |
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The brightest stars are part of the ________ magnitude, and the the faintest stars visible to the naked eye are part of the _______ magnitude. |
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first, sixth |
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First magnitude stars are _______ times brighter than sixth magnitude stars. |
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one hundred |
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Stars become _______ times brighter with each increase in magnitude. |
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2.5 |
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What is the relationship between magnitude and brightness of a star? |
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The smaller the magnitude, the brighter the star. |
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What is a zenith? |
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The highest point in the celestial sphere |
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What is a nadir? |
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The lowest point in the celestial sphere |
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What is the celestial equator? |
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Earth's equator projected out into space |
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What is the celestial north pole? |
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Earth's north pole projected out into space |
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The distance between stars is typically measured in ________. |
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degrees |
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What is latitude? |
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The angle from the horizon to the celestial north pole |
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What is altitude? |
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The number of degrees above the horizon |
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What is azimuth? |
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The number of degrees on the horizon |
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What is meant by the term circumpolar? |
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Stars that never set and are constantly rotating around celestial north. |
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What is the name of the apparent path of the sun? |
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The ecliptic |
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Seasons are caused by the ________. |
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angle of incidence |
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What does the term "perihelion" mean? |
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It is when the earth is closest to the sun. |
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What are the astronomical influences on the seasons? |
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Eccentricity, precession, inclination of the Earth's axis, and Milankovitch hypothesis (changes in all 3 = long-term global climate change). |
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It takes 29.53 days for the moon to go through one _______ period. |
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synodic |
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Because the moon is __________, only one side can ever be seen from earth. |
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tidally-linked |
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The _______ is the DARKER shadow of earth. |
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umbra |
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The _______ is the LIGHTER shadow of earth. |
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penumbra |
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A(n) _________ shadow is necessary for a total lunar eclipse. |
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umbra |
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In a(n) ________ eclipse the moon is covered. |
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lunar |
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In a(n) ________ eclipse the sun is covered. |
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solar |
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The _______ is a layer of atmosphere of the sun just outside of the photosphere. |
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chromosphere |
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The _____ is the glare the comes off of the sun during solar eclipses. |
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corona |
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_________ jump from the sun and back again. |
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Prominences |
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________ occurs when the moon is CLOSEST to the earth. |
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Perigee |
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________ occurs when the moon is FURTHEST from the earth. |
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Apogee |
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A(n) ________ solar eclipse occurs when the moon doesn't completely cover the sun. |
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annular |
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Who accurately calculated Earth's radius for the first time? |
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Eratosthenes |
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What theory has the planets on epicycle tracks? |
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Ptolemy |
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Copernicus came up with the idea of a ________ universe. |
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heliocentric |
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The apparent backward motion of Mars from earth is an example of ________. |
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retrograde motion |
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Who was a supernova that overruled Aristotle's theory of a perfect universe? |
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Tycho Brahe |
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Who hired Johannes Kepler? |
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Tycho Brahe |
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Kepler said that planets have _____ orbits and move in _______ motion. |
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elliptical, non-uniform |
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What were Kepler's three laws? |
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1.) Planets move around the sun.2.) The sun sweeps over equal areas in equal amounts of time.3.) A planet's orbit squared is proportional to its distance from the sun cubed. P(squared) = a(cubed) |
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Galileo founded science that was purely based on ________. |
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observation |
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True of False: Galileo invented the first telescope. |
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False, but he did greatly improve upon it. |
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What important discovery about Jupiter did Galileo make? |
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Its moons |
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What did Galileo see for the first time on Saturn? |
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Its rings |
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Galileo noticed _______ on the moon. |
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surface structures |
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Galileo discovered _______ on the sun, proving it is not perfect. |
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sun spots |
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What did Galileo use to prove a heliocentric universe? |
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The phases of Venus |
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