Elementary astronomy Modules 1-7

7:00 pm

At which of these times would you expect to see the sun in the west

Form a pattern in the sky

A constellation is a collection of stars that

The distance between Alexandria and Syene

A early measurement of noon sun angles at the summer solstice at Alexandria and Syene needed one additional piece of information in order to determine the size of the earth

An actual observation of the real world

A reporter at the newspaper says she saw a full moon last height. This statement is most likely

The time it takes for the stars to come back to the same position in the sky

A sidereal day is

Eratosthenes of Syene.

Although most records from that time were lost in the burning of the Great Library at Alexandria, most historians say that the first actual measurement of the Earth's circumference was made in the 3rd century BCE by

The distance between Alexandria and Syene.

An early measurement of noon Sun angles at the summer solstice at Alexandria and Syene needed one additional piece of information in order to determine the size of the Earth.

Execute retrograde loops

Ancient astronomers were puzzled by the planets because they

Less than 90 degrees by an amount that was easy for him to measure

Aristarchus measured the angle between the sun and the moon when exactly half of the moon was immuninated. IF the sun were actually just two or three times as far away as the moon, he would have found that the angle to be

the Earth's shadow on the Moon is curved during a lunar eclipse

Aristotle pointed out that a spherical Earth would explain why

the constellations visible from Egypt are somewhat different than the constellations visible from Greece

Aristotle pointed out that a spherical Earth would explain why

The natural result of gravity pulling everything toward the center

Aristotle said that the shape of the world was

Sets in the west and southwest

As seen from North America, the constellation Orion

Well tested models

Astronomy is known for claiming to have measured many things that cannot possibly ne probed directly. These measurements are made by combing actual measurements with

11 pm the same day

At 8 pm you see that the pointer stars of the big dipper and the star polaris are arranged in a vertical line. At what time, give or take a few minutes would you see them arranged at 45 degrees to the vertical.

Moving over and under a flat Earth.

At midsummer in Murmansk the sun stays above the horizon for days. This observation would conflict with the predictions if the module of the sun's motion that has the sun

size of the Earth.

Eratosthenes of Syene is generally credited with using the angle of the noon Sun at Alexandria and Syene to determine the

The retrograde motion of the planets

Copernicus said that the Earth and Planets orbiting the sun caused

There is great disinterest because there is no need to replace a theory that has passed every well-understood observational test

Einstein's Theory of Gravity has passed every well-understood observational test for over 100 years. However there are some observations, which are not well-understood. For example, the Pioneer space probe is showing tiny deviations from its predicted course as it leaves the neighborhood of our solar system. A new theory, called Modified Newtonian Dynamics, actually does not do as well as Einstein's Theory at predicting most things, but it does predict those tiny deviations and also accounts for several other, apparently unrelated, anomalous observations as well. From what we have said about the way scientists think, which of the following receptions would you expect this new theory to get?

Solar Eclipses

For the ancient greeks, the most basic of several clues that the sun is farther from the earth than the moon came from

Other people build it and it works and he becomes famous.

Fred device actually works, what's the outcome?

Other people build the purpose device. They do not see any electrical power, and attack his report as a mistake or a fraud.

Fred reports that a special arrangement of wire coil can draw electrical power from the air. Actually he made that up. The most likely outcome of his fraud is that

That there could never be a full Venus but Galileo saw one

From his observations of the phases of Venus, Galileo concluded that the Ptolemaic model of planetary motion was wrong because it predicted

Calculate the distance from the Earth to the Moon

From the way that lunar eclipses happen, the Ancient Greeks were able to

Observe the heavens with a telescope

Galileo is generally acknowledged to be the first to

Gary's observations are not reproducable

Gary the ghostbuster takes his crew, with a truckload of cameras and electronic instruments, to a house that is supposed to be haunted. Sure enough, the ghost shows up and does an on-camera interview while the instruments record all sorts of odd readings. After Gary's press conference and TV show, a skeptical scientist takes the same sort of equipment to the same house on a similar evening and records nothing but cricket noises and dogs barking. Gary's evidence is ignored by the scientific community because

1/60 degree of arc

In addition to measuring the positions of all the planets all the time, Tycho Brahe measured them to an accuracy of

About the same accuracy

In comparison to the established, earth- centered theory, the copernican theory of planetary motion made predictions that were of

Moves eastward along the ecliptic by 1 degree

In one day, the position of the celestial sphere

They conflict with reproducible observations

It has been said that the facts of science are actually revisable facts. When do these reviable facts get revised

Joe's observations were not reproduced by others

Joseph Weber designed a series of devices to detect gravitational waves. No one could detect these waves. So joes evidence was ignored because

Joe's observations were not reporduced

Joseph Weber designed a series of devices to detect ripples in spacetime, called gravitational waves. After several years of effort, Joe announced that he had detected gravitational waves. He built several versions of his devices and they all detected the waves. When other people tried to build similar devices, none of them detected anything at all. Joe's evidence was ignored by the scientific community because

An ellipse

Kepler found that the orbit of Mars is best described as

Many primitive cultures have a model of the Sun's motion in which the Sun passes underneath a flat earth. This model predicts

Many primitive cultures have a model of the Sun's motion in which the Sun passes underneath a flat earth. This model predicts

Aristarchus of Samos

Most of the ancient Greek astronomers believed that the Earth was fixed at the center of the universe. There was one, however, who thought the sun was fixed and a rotating Earth moved around the sun. That was

What holds up the surface of the Earth

One advantage of the spherical earth model is that it completely explains

Even the closest stars are so far away that the shift is very small

One objection to a solar system model that has the Earth moving around the sun is that we would then see nearby stars seem to shift back and forth relative to more distant stars. The correct answer to that objection is that

the Earth casts a curved shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse.

One observation that Aristotle used to justify a spherical model of the Earth was that

Southern constellations were higher in the sky in Egypt than in Greece

One observation that Aristotle used to justify a spherical model of the earth was that

Constellations that can be seen from Egypt but not from Greece.

One observation that are fairly sure helped to convince the Greeks that the Earth is spherical rather than flat is

a bad thing since it lets the model fit many possible measurements.

One property of a model such as the shape of the Earth is the number of adjustable parameters it has --- the number of numbers that are needed to determine the model. If this number is very large, that is regarded as

Small

One property of a model such as the shape of the earth is the number of adjustable parameters it has the number of numbers that are needed to determine the model. For a model to be regarded as elegant this number should be

The sun is higher in the sky in the summer

One reason that temperatures are higher in the summer is that

IT used circular orbits instead of ellipses

One reason that the Copernican System failed to fit Tycho's observations was that

Retrograde Motion

Planets move mostly eastward relative to the distant stars but, once during each trip around the Celestial Sphere, they loopback westward for a while. This motion is called

Thought that the sphere was the simplest and most elegant shape

Pythagoras propose that the earth was round probably because he

Other people look near Betelgeuse. They do not see the green star, and attack her report as a mistake or a fraud.

Sarah reports that she saw a green star close to the star Betelguese. Actually she did not even look there. The most likely outcome of her fraud is that:

Other people look near Betelgeuse. They see the star and confirm her report. She becomes famous as the discoverer of the first green star.

Sarah reports that she saw a green star close to the star Betelguese. She really saw it and was quite surprised. The most likely outcome of her report is that:

The Earth takes more time to go around the sun and also moves slower than mercury

The Earth is farther from the sun than mercury, Which of the following is true

Pythagoras

The Greek philosopher who guessed that the earth is a sphere because it's the most elegant and simple shape was

It came into conflict with reproducible observations

The Ptolemaic System was replaced when

predict what really happens

The ancient Greeks insisted that a worthwhile model of a situation had to

The quarter phases of the moon

The ancient Greeks were able to estimate the distance from the Earth to the sun by using

It did not account for observations any better than the Ptolemaic System

The astronomers of Copernicus's time rejected his model of the Solar System mostly because

Alpha Orionis

The brightest star in the constellation Orion might be named

A map of the stars

The celestial sphere is

Only when south of the arctic circle and north of the antarctic circle

The daily rising and setting of the sun happens

noon Sun angles at two locations to determine the angle between the Earth radii to those locations.

The earliest known measurement of the circumference of the Earth used

29.5 days

The length of a sidereal month is 27 days. The time from one full moo to the next is closest to

The phases of the moon

The motion of the Moon around the Earth causes

Most at nearly the same distance from Earth, but with exceptions

The stars that form the Big Dipper (in England it is called the Plough) are

the Celestial Sphere, a sphere that surrounds the Earth..

The stars, as seen from the Earth, appear to be attached to

East

The sun usually rises in the

West

The sun usually sets in the

Sidereal Day

The time that it takes for the Earth to rotate once relative to the distant stars is called a

The summer solstice

The time when the noon sun is highest in the sky is called

Make extensive observations

Tycho Brahe's main contribution to the understanding of planetary motion was to

Star Sirius

We can use the pointer stars in Orion to locate a point in the sky near the

North Celestial Pole.

We can use the pointer stars in the Big Dipper to locate a point in the sky near the

The period- radius relation

Which of Kepler's Laws compares the speeds of different planets?

A simulation, using currently accepted physical laws, of waves crashing on the beach

Which of the following computer programs is the most likely to be considered a scientific model

I saw the moon rise at 6:32 pm yesterday

Which of the following is an observation of the natural world

Waning Quarter

Which of the following phases of the moon would be seen high in the south at dawn?

Passenger pigeons are extinct

Which of the following statements is falsifiable

I saw the sun set at 4:55 pm on December 22 in Richmond va

Which of the following statements is most likely a reproducible observation

I saw the Sun rise and set during the same clear 24-hour day in the continental United States

Which of the following statements is the most likely to be a reproducible observation?

I saw a full moon last night

Which of the followings is a observation of the natural world

Ptolemaic Model

Which of these was the Solar System model that assumed the Earth is fixed and the Sun, Moon, and planets all move on epicycles that, in turn move on circular orbits around the Earth?

The right of the North Pole

Who is experiencing sunset in this picture?

South pole

You are looking down on the Earth from a spacecraft hovering far above. After watching a whole, you notice that from your perspective, it is rotating clockwise. The part of the Earth that is directly below you must be the Earth's

By using a model of the Sun that correctly accounts for everything that has been measured so far.

You read in an Astronomy book that the temperature at the center of the Sun is 30,000,000 degrees Kelvin. How do you suppose this number was determined?

Waxing gibbous

You see the Moon almost directly in the south at 10 pm. What phase is it?

Rising in the east just before the sun

You would expect to see a waning crescent moon