Astronomy 130
Test 1
Dr. Farris Summer 1999
Each question is worth 5 points unless marked otherwise. Write your answers on the test; use the back if needed.
1. State Kepler’s first law of planetary motion.
2. Which one of these men did not use epicycles to explain retrograde motion?
(a) Copernicus (b) Hipparchus (c) Ptolemy (d) none of these
3. You are watching the sunrise on the morning of the summer solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere). In what direction does the sun rise?
4. You go outside around midnight and see the Moon high overhead. What is its phase?
5. You go outside around midnight 11 days later (after the night in question 4). If the Moon is visible, where is it in the sky? Explain briefly.
6. Epicycles could explain two general aspects of the planets observed by the ancients. What were they?
7. (10 points) On the figure at the right, identify the eccentric, epicycle and deferent. (Put the term in the appropriate blank. There will be empty blanks.)
8. Which one of these motions was not explained by Pythagoras’ model?
(a) The Sun’s motion along the ecliptic (b) The daily motion of the stars
(c) The west-to-east motion of the Moon (d) Mars’ retrograde motion
9. By comparing observations from around Europe of the supernova of 1572, Tycho was able to discover something about the supernova. What did he discover, and what the significance of the discovery?
10. A new comet is discovered. It has a perihelion of 1.5 AU and a semimajor axis of 7.0 AU. What is its aphelion? (Show your work.)
11.Astronomers today are discovering many small asteroid-like objects in orbit around the Sun, but out beyond Pluto. If one of these objects is found to orbit with a semimajor axis of 100 AU, how long does it take it to orbit the Sun? (Show your work.)
12. Identify these motions as forced (F) or natural (N) in Aristotle’s view.
_____ The Moon orbiting Earth _____Smoke rising from a chimney
_____A bird flying up from its perch
13. (10 points) State at least 6 features of Copernicus’ model.
14. (10 points) Plato and Aristotle are in philosopher heaven discussing what they like and don’t like about the models of Ptolemy and Copernicus.
(a) What would they like about each model?
(b) What would they dislike about each model?
15. You are an Anasazi leader responsible for calendar keeping. A group from your village is leaving start a new community. You must write an instruction manual telling them how to determine the day of the summer solstice using only their natural surroundings. (OK, I know that’s stretching it a bit, but go with me on this one.) Briefly give the steps that should be in your instruction manual.
16. State the three "steps" of the scientific method.
17. Order these men chronologically, from first (1) to last (4)
_____ Aristotle _____ Hipparchus _____ Plato _____ Pythagoras