Test 1 will be on Mon 2/3. Review is today.
Study Questions for Test 1
Chapters 1,2,3,4 & 5.1
What is the Sun? What is a planet? What is a solar system? What is a galaxy? How do they compare in size?
Why is scientific notation used?
What is the average distance of the Sun from Earth?
How are stars designated according to brightness within a constellation?
Where is the star Polaris always located in N Hemisphere skies?
What is the magnitude scale? What is meant by apparent visual magnitude?
What is the celestial equator? What is the zenith?
What causes the seasons on Earth? How are seasons in N and S hemisphere related?
What effects do the rotation, revolution and precession of Earth have on the apparent motions of celestial objects in the sky.
What is Milankovitch’s Theory of the Ice Ages?
What are the Sidereal and Synodic Periods of the Moon?
What are the four named phases of the Moon? What is the Earth-Moon-Sun configuration for each?
What are spring tides? What are neap tides? How many tides does a coastal location experience daily?
What are the conditions required for a solar and a lunar eclipse?
What is visible during a total lunar and a total solar eclipse?
What was the classical Greek conception of the Universe?
What were the most significant contributions of each of the following people?
Ptolemy, Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo and Newton
What was the Ptolemaic Model of the Universe? What devices did it incorporate?
How did Galileo’s observations of the Moon contradict the prevalent Greek view of the Universe? What did his observations of the phases of Venus indicate?
What sort of popular names do the 50 brightest stars in the sky have?
What is parallax? Why was it relevant to the early Greeks?