Question | Answer |
What makes a refracting telescope different from a reflecting telescope? | A refracting telescope has 2 lens to direct light. A reflecting telescope has 1 lens and 2 mirrors to direct light. |
What's the purpose of a lens? | To focus/direct light |
True or False: A planet is a huge globe of hot gases that shines by its own light. | False. Planets do not produce their own light. Instead, planets reflect the sun's light. |
How is earth's rotation measured? | 24 hrs. or 1 day |
What is the difference between earth's rotation and revolution? | Earth's rotation occurs each day. Earth makes one full turn on its axis. Earth's revolution occurs each year. The earth makes one full orbit around the sun. |
Is our sun a star or planet? | Star |
What is the name of the powerful telescope that orbits earth in space? | The Hubble Space Telescope |
Who was Galileo? | A famous scientist who developed one of the first telescopes. |
A group of stars that forms a pattern in the night sky is called...? | A constellation |
Earth's axis points toward this star that, unlike other stars, doesn't seem to move. | Polaris |
What do we call a piece of a comet or asteroid that hits earth's atmosphere and burns up? | A meteor |
When a meteor doesn't burn up by earth's atmosphere and it ends up striking earth, we call it a...? | Meteorite |
A large ball of ice, dust, and rock particles that moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun is called a...? | Comet |
This type of telescope is more common because it creates a clearer picture of the object and it is easier to create larger mirrors than larger lens. | Reflecting telescope |
Ursa Major is a scientific term for what well known constellation? | The Big Dipper |
Do planets or stars move? | Planets |
Are planets closer to earth or stars (other than the sun)? | Planets |
Thinking about size, which are larger: planets or stars? | Stars |
What causes the sun to rise in the east and set in the west? | Earth's rotation around its axis. |
True or False: Earth is the center of our solar system. | False. The sun is the center of our solar system since all planets orbit around it. |
A comet travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun. What's an elliptical orbit look like? | A stretched out oval. |
Do comets orbit around the sun frequently? | No. The most well known comet, Haley's comet, orbits the sun every 76 years. |