Astronomy week 2

Last night I saw Mars move westward through the sky in its apparent retrograde motion

No, apparent retrograde motion is only noticeable over many nights, not a single night.

What do we mean by a model in science? Briefly summarize the Greek geocentric model.

A scientific model is a conceptual representation created to explain and predict observed phenomena. Greeks' geocentric model presents a spherical Earth at the center of a great celestial sphere.

Why did ancient peoples study astronomy? Describe an astronomical achievement of at least three ancient cultures.

Ancient people studied astronomy to keep track of time and seasons which was essential for farming. Egyptians - huge obelisks that probably served as clocks Stonehenge - helped ancient cultures mark the seasons Aztecs - Temple Mayor used to mark the seasons Anasazi - sun dagger to mark the suns position on special dates such as summer and winter solstice Greek - Metonic cycle; 19 yr. cycle on which the dates of lunar phases repeat Babylonians - predicting eclipses with the help of 18 yr. Saros cycle

What do we mean by apparent retrograde motion of the planets? Why was this motion difficult for ancient astronomers to explain? How do we explain it today?

Apparent retrograde motion is the apparent motion of a planet during the period of a few weeks to a few months when it appears to move west relative to the stars in the sky. It was difficult for ancient astronomers to explain this because they were reluctant to let go of the idea that earth was the center of the universe. Today, scientists are explaining it as the earth passing the object in its revolution or rotation

When we see Saturn going through a period of apparent retrograde motion, it means:

Earth is passing Saturn in its orbit, with both planets on the same side of the Sun

In what way is scientific thinking natural to all of us, and how does modern science build upon this everyday type of thinking?

Scientific thinking is natural to all of us because it deals with careful observations along with trial and error that we use in everyday life. Modern science differs form everyday type of thinking because they are trained to organize everyday thinking in a way that makes it easier for them to share their discoveries.

What is stellar parallax? How did an inability to detect it support an ancient belief in Earth-centered universe?

Stellar parallax is the apparent shift in position of a nearby star that occurs as we view the star from different positions in earths' orbit of the sun each year. Because ancient Greeks could not detect the angular separation of stars, without aid, they determined earth was the center of the universe

Last night I saw Jupiter right in the middle of the Big Dipper. (Hint: is the big dipper part of the zodiac?)

The statement is false. The big dipper is not part of the zodiac. Even though the planets travel on the same plane they have not connection the big dipper constellation.

ellipse

an oval shape discovered by kepler, how the planets orbit

what was the copernican revolution, and how did it change the human view of the universe?

cop. revolution was the dramatic change initiated by copernicus, that occurred when we learned that earth is a planet orbiting the sun rather than the center of the universe

what do we mean by the ptolemaic model? how does this model account for the apparent retrograde motion of the planets?

ptolemaic model is the geocentric model of the universe created by ptolemy in about 150 AD. explained apparent retrograde motion by saying that each planet moves around earth on a small circle that turns upon a larger circle