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Astronomy Quiz 2

Midterm

QuestionAnswer
Which of the following ideas was given to us by the ancient Greeks and now forms one of the most important bases of modern science? The universe is governed by laws that are both regular and comprehensible.
Consider the statement "The universe was created half an hour ago, complete with all people in it and all their memories." Is this statement a valid scientific theory? Why or why not? (Both the answer and the reason must be correct.) No. It can never be tested and (if incorrect) could never be disproved.
Occasionally Mars undergoes retrograde motion, in which the planet appears to reverse its direction of motion in the sky for a period of time. The reason we see this happen is that the Earth orbits the Sun.
The first person we know to have suggested that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun was Aristarchus.
In the Greek model of planetary motion, a planet follows a small epicyclic motion as it moves around a circle while the center of this circle moves on a larger circle, the deferent. In what position is it when it appears to be in retrograde motion? closest to the Earth
Which one of the following objects passes through positions of greatest elongation as seen from the Earth? Venus
Suppose that on some particular day, the straight line from the Sun to the Earth continues on to pass through Mars and ultimately through some particular star in the sky. One synodic period later, Mars will be lined up again with the Earth and the Sun but not with the star
Copernicus's heliocentric theory was very successful, but it was also incorrect in one major aspect. What was this aspect? He assumed that the planetary orbits were circular.
Tycho Brahe's major contribution to the development of modern astronomy was the detailed and precise measurement of the positions of stars and planets in our sky.
The shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun is elliptical, with the Sun at a point known as a focus of the ellipse.
An object orbiting the Sun with an orbital eccentricity of 0.1 has an orbit whose shape is slightly elliptical, but almost circular.
A solar observatory has been placed in space, and it travels around the Sun in a circular orbit once every 10 months. Use Kepler's third law to calculate how far the satellite is from the Sun (i.e., the radius of the satellite's orbit). 0.886 AU
Which of the following observations, taken by itself, proved to Galileo that Venus orbits the Sun, thus disproving the geocentric (or Earth-centered) theory? Venus shows both crescent and gibbous phases.
Newton's first law of motion—that a body remains at rest or moves in a straight line at a constant speed unless acted upon by a net outside force—appears to be contradicted by everyday experience. Why? The force of friction almost always acts on any moving object on the Earth, supplying an unbalanced force that slows the object down.
Which of the following objects is NOT accelerating? a person standing on scales weighing himself or herself
A moose is standing at rest on a rock. The weight of the moose is the force of gravity pulling downward on the moose, and the rock is pushing up on the moose with a force that is equal and opposite to the moose's weight. This is an example of Newton's second law.
The solar system formed when a very large, rotating cloud of gas and dust contracted under the influence of its own gravity. What is the fundamental law of physics that allowed the planets to form? conservation of angular momentum
If a comet approaches and then recedes from the Sun in a parabolic orbit, it will never again return toward the Sun
Which of the following masses would feel the greatest gravitational force from the Earth? 150 kg on the surface of Earth, 6400 km from its center
The first major astronomical prediction of Newton's theory of gravitation to be confirmed by observation was the return of Halley's Comet.
Created by: ches8
 

 



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