Greatest Discoveries with Bill Nye: Astronomy
Answer the following questions as it relates to the video.
1. Describe the first model of the solar system as it was developed by the Greeks. (Describe planetary
motion)
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2. Who realized that the sun is the center of our universe?
A) Copernicus
B) Galileo
C) the Greeks
D) Kepler
3. Johannes Kepler linked the motion of the planets directly to the sun. He discovered that the
planetary motion is
A) Circular
B) Linear
C) Elliptical
D) Rectangular
4. What tool did Galileo produce to study the solar system?
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5. What discovery did he make using this tool in 1609?
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6. Why was a comet named after Edmund Halley?
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7. Which of the following important discoveries was made by William Herschel?
A) He discovered Saturn and Uranus.
B) He discovered several stars.
C) He determined the shape of the galaxy.
D) He found other solar systems.
8. Which of the following experiments was used to prove Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity?
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A) Scientists charted the position of stars throughout a year.
B) Scientists viewed light bending around a bowling ball.
C) Scientists took photos of stars before and during a solar eclipse.
D) Scientists mapped the orbits of nearby solar systems.
9.What discovery led Edwin Hubble to conclude that the universe is expanding?
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A) The color shift spectrum for a galaxy is almost always shifted to the blue.
B) The color shift spectrum for a galaxy showed fixed orbits for distant galaxies.
C) The color shift spectrum for a galaxy is almost always shifted to the red.
D) The color shift spectrum for a galaxy fluctuates between both red and blue.
10. Which of the following interstellar objects was first located by Carl Jansky using radio astronomy?
o A) a supernova
o B) a nearby solar system
o C) a distant galaxy
o D) a black hole
11. Which of the following did Robert Wilson and co-workers discover in support of the Big Bang
Theory?
o A) The universe has background microwave radiation.
o B) The universe is expanding rapidly.
o C) The universe has many galaxies close to ours.
o D) The universe is composed of billions of galaxies.
12. How do astronomers find planets in other solar systems?
o A) They chart the curvature of space as light bends around a star.
o B) They predict the acceleration of nearby stars in relation to the planet.
o C) They can directly observe them with a telescope.
o D) They monitor the pattern of movement and light from a star.
13. Why do you want extra credit?