Abeka Grade 8 - Science: Earth and Space - Chapter 10
Essay: In his work Divine Comedy, the 14th century Italian poet Dante described a trip into space. As he traveled away from Earth, he visited the following celestial bodies in order: the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Jupiter, and Saturn. What view of solar system structure did Dante hold? How do you know? Compare this view with a modern understanding of the solar system's structure.
- Dante held to a geocentric view of the solar system, in which Earth is at the center and the moon, sun, and planets orbit Earth. - We can know Dante held a geocentric view of the solar system because, in a heliocentric (sun-centered) system, he would have either reached Venus before Mercury (if both were on the opposite side of the sun from Earth). - Dante's view of the solar system was that the moon, the sun and the planet orbit around Earth. A modern understanding is that only the moon orbits Earth; Earth itself and all the planets orbit the sun.
How many planets were know to ancient astronomers?
5
Which of the following stars is part of the Summer Triangle?
Altair
If a right triangle were drawn with the sun, the earth and the star at the corners, which angle would represent the stellar parallax?
Angle at the star
Which of the following statement best explains the difference between an asteroid and a comet?
Asteroid are made of metal or rock
Based on what we now know about the cause of planet orbits, why would it be impossible for the sun, moon, and all the planets to orbit the earth?
Because of the sun's gravity, the planets would begin to orbit the sun?
Which of the following characteristics do Uranus and Venus have in common?
Both have a "backward" rotation
What constellation contains the star Alderamin?
Cepheus
What was the first object to be classified as an asteroid?
Ceres
What is the smallest type of structure formed by a group of galaxies?
Cluster
Halley's comet completes one orbit in about 76 Earth year. Uranus required about 84 Earth years to complete one orbit. How do we know this to be true?
Halley's comet is, on average, closer to the sun than Uranus is because objects with a closer average distance to the sun orbit more quickly.
What is the main reason that Pluto is no longer considered a planet but is instead considered a dwarf planet?
It is near objects not controlled by its gravity.
Why can the sun's transition region be studied only using space-based solar observations?
It releases ultraviolet radiation
The largest planet in our solar system is?
Jupiter
Which planet travels most rapidly through its orbit?
Mercury
The only planet to be discovered mathematically before it was seen is?
Neptune
Which scientist proposed a system in which Earth and all other planets orbit the sun?
Nicolaus Copernicus
Jesus was crucified around the day of Passover, which falls on the full moon. Matthew 27:45 records that during the Crucifixion there was darkness for three hours in the afternoon. From a scientific point of view, could this darkness have been caused by an eclipse? Why or why not?
No, because a solar eclipse can occur only during a new moon
The largest known mountain in the solar system is?
Olympus Mons
what happens to Earth's orbital speed when Earth approaches aphelion?
Orbital speed decreases
What constellation is pictured?
Orion
Which of Mars's two moons orbits closer to the planet and more quickly?
Phobos
What is Saturn's outermost major moon, which orbits in the opposite direction of most other moons?
Phoebe
What star is located at the north celestial pole?
Polaris
Which constellation contains the Teapot asterism
Sagittarius
Which of the following stars can be found by tracing a line from Orion's belt?
Sirius
What is the primary factor that determines the brightness of average stars in the main sequence?
Temperature
Which of the following statements best explains why the celestial sphere is useful to astronomers?
The celestial sphere represents the view from Earth
Which of Neptune's satellites experiences the coldest known temperatures in the solar system?
Triton
The two groups of asteroids that travel in Jupiter's orbit are called______ asteroides?
Trojan
What is the brightest summer star?
Vega
What is the only planet that takes longer to rotate on its axis than to orbit the sun?
Venus
The distance between two object on the celestial sphere is measured as a(n)?
angle
What type of partial eclipse occurs when the moon is too small to cover the sun entirely, leaving a ring of light around the moon?
annular (solar eclipse)
What value represents the brightness of a star as viewed from Earth?
apparent magnitude
A group of stars that are used to form a picture or represent an object is a?
asterism
What is an object so massive and dense that not even light can escape its gravity?
black hole
What is an extremely bright meteor that explodes in midair called?
bolide
A star that is always above the horizon at a particular latitude is said to be __________ as that latitude?
circumpolar
What is the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere called?
corona
Aristotle taught a(n)________ view of the universe?
geocentric
What type of star group travels outside the boundaries of the Milky Way in an unusual orbit around the Galaxy's center?
globular cluster
The planets closest to the sun are the _______ planets?
inner
Which of Jupiter's moons is the most volcanically active body in the solar system?
io
What astronomical distance measurement is based directly on the speed of light?
light year
What is a chunk of space debris that has reached Earths' surface?
meteorite
What is a trail of space debris left by a comet?
meteoroid stream
What evidence indicates that the sun is spinning?
movement of sunspots
Spiral and irregular galaxies commonly contain large clouds of gas and dust called?
nebulae
What evolutionary idea claims that they solar system formed from a cloud of gas and dust?
nebular hypotheses
What is the central portion of a comet called?
nucleus
What is a loose, asymmetrical clump that contains tens, hundreds, or thousands of stars?
open cluster
What other property of a planet's orbit does Kepler's third law relate to the planet's average distance from the sun?
period
What is the visible part of the sun?
photosphere
What is a rapidly rotating neutron star that emits directional beams of radio waves?
pulsar
A star-like object believed to be made up of a large black hole surrounded by a glowing ring of gas in a(n)?
quasar
What are the light-colored streaks surrounding a lunar crater called?
rays
What type of star is cool, small, and dim?
red dwarf
What term refers to the "backward" rotation of a planet on its axis?
retrograde
What are the moons that help keep a planet's rings in place called?
shepherd moon
A comet that takes 150 years to complete on orbit is a_________ comet?
short-period
What features of lenticular galaxies can help distinguish them from spiral galaxies?
solid disk
The Hertszprung-Russell diagram is used for classifying?
stars
What term describes the composition of interplanetary space?
vacuum
The phase in which the moon has a bulging shape and is growing larger is called?
waxing gibbous
What is the imaginary band in the sky containing the moon and planets?
zodiac
