Name: ___________________________
Period: ________ Date: ________ Score: _______ / 60
Group Members: _____________________________________________________________
Chapter 4: The Origin of Modern Astronomy Team Test
Astronomy
Multiple Choice
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Completion
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Chapter 4: The Origin of Modern Astronomy Team Test
Astronomy
Directions: In collaboration with your group, read and outline Chapter 4: The Origin of Modern Astronomy. Once your
group has mapped out the chapter, answer each of the following questions using the text and the outline you
designed. For a bonus of up to 10 points, staple YOUR (not a group) outline to this test. The outline must be
a minimum of two full pages for the entire bonus credit. Good luck!
Multiple Choice
1. The diagram below shows three approximate locations of the sun along the western horizon. Which number
indicates the location of the sun at sunset on December 21st for an observer at latitude 48 degrees N?
a.
b.
c.
d.
1
2
3
The sun will set in the east.
2. Which of these were things ancient Greek astronomers never even considered in astronomy?
a. The Earth is round.
b. Everything in the universe goes around the Earth.
c. The Earth goes around the sun.
d. Wrong! They considered the possibility of all the above.
3. The Almagest
a. is the book that first described the heliocentric solar system.
b. is a collection of the science and mathematics of the Greeks.
c. caused the author to be sentenced to house arrest.
d. is a book of astrological myths and predictions produced by the Arabs.
4. A(n) ____ is a circle whose center is located on the circumference of another circle.
a. equant
b. deferent
c. retrograde loop
d. epicycle
5. Ptolemy's model of the universe
a. was heliocentric.
b. included elliptical orbits.
c. contained epicycles.
d. all of the above
6. The purpose of the astronomical alignments of Stonehenge are known
a. from ancient manuscripts found buried in the monument
b. by asking Druid priests who have worshiped there since it was built
c. by studying the stories about King Arthur
d. Wrong! The exact purposes are not known.
7. The primary alignment in Stone Henge is an alignment of the center with the outer “heel” stone toward
a. the full moon on the summer solstice.
b. the southernmost point on the horizon where Venus rises.
c. Polaris, the north star.
d. the summer solstice sunrise point.
8. ____ introduced the concept of the eccentrics and epicycle to planetary motion about Earth, created a star
catalog, and is generally credited with the development of trigonometry.
a. Kepler
b. Tycho
c. Copernicus
d. Hipparchus
9. The distance from Alexandria to Syene is about 500 miles. On the summer solstice the sun is directly
overhead at noon in Syene. At Alexandria on the summer solstice, the sun is 1/50th of the circumference of the
sky (about 7 degrees) south of the zenith. Based on this information, what is the circumference of Earth?
a. 25,000 miles
b. 10 miles
c. 3500 miles
d. 3140 miles
10. Which of the following people did not accept a heliocentric model of the universe?
a. Kepler
b. Copernicus
c. Tycho
d. Galileo
11. The book "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium"
a. describes how Galileo's observations and Kepler's calculations proved the Copernican
theory.
b. describes the construction of Galileo's telescope and his observations.
c. is a dialog written to convince the general public of the merits of the Copernican theory.
d. first described the Copernican theory.
12. The Copernican system was no more accurate than the Ptolemaic system in predicting the positions of the
planets because
a. the Copernican system used the old value for the radius of Earth.
b. Copernicus had been unable to detect parallax.
c. the Copernican system used uniform circular motion like Ptolemy.
d. in the Copernican system only Mercury and Venus orbit the sun, all other planets orbited
Earth.
13. Brahe's universe was the same as the Copernican universe except that
a. Earth did not move.
b. the sun did not move.
c. the moon orbited the sun.
d. the orbits were elliptical with the sun at one focus.
14. Tycho Brahe's greatest contribution to astronomy was
a. his model of the universe.
b. his telescopic observations.
c. his discovery of three laws of motion.
d. his years of careful observations of the planets.
15. A ____ is a commonly accepted set of scientific ideas and assumptions.
a. theory
b. paradigm
c. hypothesis
d. natural law
16. Galileo's observations of the gibbous phase of Venus proved
a. that Venus orbits the sun.
b. that Earth orbits the sun.
c. that all of the planets orbit the sun.
d. that the moon orbits Earth.
17. In the context of the Aristotle’s geocentric ideas, Galileo's telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon
and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and moon
a. are the same kind of object.
b. are not perfect.
c. are inhabited.
d. orbit each other.
18. Galileo's telescopic discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter was important because it showed that
a. the universe could contain centers of motion other than Earth.
b. Earth might move along an orbit and not leave the moon behind.
c. Jupiter was much more massive than Earth.
d. a and b above
19. A ____ is a single conjecture that can be tested.
a. hypothesis
b. paradigm
c. natural law
d. model
20. A ____ is a description of some natural phenomenon that can't be right or wrong. It is merely a convenient way
to think about a natural phenomenon.
a. hypothesis
b. paradigm
c. natural law
d. model
21. A ____ is a system of rules and principles that can be applied to a wide variety of circumstances but may not
be universally accepted.
a. hypothesis
b. paradigm
c. natural law
d. theory
22. Which of the following was not based on uniform circular motion?
a. the Rudolphine Tables
b. the Prutenic Tables
c. the Alphonsine Tables
d. the Almagest
23. Halley's Comet has an orbital period of 76 years. What is the average distance of Halley's Comet from the
sun?
a. 51 AU
b. 18 AU
c. 114 AU
d. 660 AU
24. Saturn is on average 10 AU from the sun. What is the approximate orbital period of Saturn?
a. 10 years
b. 32 years
c. 100 years
d. 1000 years
25. In pre-Copernican astronomy, it was almost universally believed that
a. the planets traveled in elliptical orbits about the Earth.
b. the center of the universe was the Sun with the Milky Way representing other distant
planets.
c. the Sun was at the center of the universe.
d. the Earth was at the center of the universe.
26. An apparent westward motion of a planet in the sky compared to the background stars (as viewed from the
Earth) when observed on successive nights is referred to as
a. epicycle
b. retrograde motion
c. prograde motion
d. heliocentric motion
27. The purpose of using epicycles and deferents to explain the motion of the planets in the night sky was to
account for
a. prograde motion.
b. Mercury and Venus' limited angular distance from the Sun.
c. retrograde motion.
d. non-uniform speed of the planets in their orbits.
28. Which of the following objects cannot transit (i.e. pass in front of) the Sun as seen from Jupiter?
a. Mars
b. Earth
c. Saturn
d. Mercury
29. When Mars is located directly behind the Earth with respect to the Sun in its orbit, it is
a. at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at sunset.
b. at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at midnight.
c. at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at sunrise
d. at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at noon.
30. The greatest inaccuracy in Copernicus' model of the solar system was that the planets
a. traveled in circular orbits with uniform motion.
b. traveled on epicycles whose centers followed orbits around the Sun.
c. traveled in elliptical orbits.
d. were allowed to travel backwards in their orbits.
31. Which of the following planets can be seen as a crescent phase from Earth?
a. Mercury
b. Venus
c. Mars
d. Both a and b
32. Direct motion of a planet is its normal motion ____________ among the stars..
a. west to east along the ecliptic
b. east to west along the ecliptic
c. west to east along the celestial equator
d. east to west along the celestial equator
33. Aristotle concluded that the earth is round because...
a. its shadow on the moon during an eclipse was always part of a circle.
b. ships going out to sea on a calm day appeared to sink into the ocean.
c. both of the above
d. Wrong! Aristotle thought the earth was flat.
34. The ancient Greek astronomer Eratosthenes measured the size of.
a. the universe
b. the sun
c. the earth's orbit around the sun
d. the earth
35. The first person to propose that the Earth went around the sun was.
a. Copernicus
b. Ptolemy
c. Aristotle
d. Aristarchus
e. Eratosthenes
36. Galileo used a telescope to discover.
a. spots on the sun
b. craters on the moon
c. moons around Jupiter
d. all of these
37. Copernicus
a. was the first person to propose that the earth orbited the sun
b. showed how retrograde motion could be explained without epicycles if the planets all
orbited the sun
c. showed how retrograde motion could be explained without epicycles if the planets all
orbited the earth
d. first used the telescope for astronomical purposes
38. Kepler used Tycho's observations to show that the planets...
a. followed perfectly circular orbits
b. followed perfectly cubical orbits
c. all circled the earth
d. followed elliptical orbits
True and False
1. Viewed from the center of Stonehenge, the summer solstice sun rises behind the Heelstone.
2. Parallax is the apparent change in location of an object due to the motion of the observer.
3. Newgrange contains an alignment that indicates the winter solstice sunrise.
4. Many classical astronomers believed Earth could not move because they detected no parallax.
5. The Ptolemaic model of the universe was heliocentric.
6. Classical Greek astronomers believed the motions of the heavens could be described by uniform circular
motion.
7. The Copernican model of the solar system has the planets orbit the sun along elliptical paths.
8. Copernicus was the first to propose that Earth moves around the sun.
9. Galileo wrote the Almagest.
10. Galileo used a telescope to observe the phases of Venus.
11. If a planet orbits the sun at a distance of 4 AU, then its orbital period is 8 years.
nd
12. Kepler's 2 of planetary motion states that the orbits of the planets are ellipses with the Sun at one focus.
13. Kepler completed the Rudolphine Tables.
Fill In the Blank
1. ____________________ is a description of the Ptolemaic model of the solar system.
2. ____________________ calculated the diameter of Earth using the distance between Alexandria and Syene
and the angle of the sun at noon relative to the zenith on the summer solstice.
3. The first observations of objects in the solar system that orbit neither the sun nor Earth were made by
____________________.
4. Uranus' orbital period is 84 years. How far is Uranus from the sun? ____________________
5. The ____________________ Tables were based on a heliocentric model of the universe and used elliptical
orbits for the planets.
6. Tables based on a heliocentric model of the universe which used elliptical orbits for the planets were more
accurate than ____________________.
7. Ptolemy formulated a(n) ____________________ model of the solar system to predict positions of the Sun,
Moon, and planets.
8. The modern first astronomer to propose a heliocentric model for the solar system was
____________________.