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39 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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The study of stars and other objects in space |
astronomy |
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a group of stars that seems to form an outline of a person, animal, or object |
constellation |
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the time it takes for Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun |
year |
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The time it takes for the Moon to complete one orbit around Earth |
month |
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The time it takes for Earth to rotate on its axis one time |
day |
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A year into which one day has been added |
leap year |
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the place where the Earth seems to meet the sky |
horizon |
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the angle in degrees above the horizon |
altitude |
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term that means a star is directly overhead |
zenith |
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imaginary sphere the surrounds Earth and contains all stars and planets on its surface |
celestial sphere |
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the Sun's path on the celestial sphere |
ecliptic |
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celestial latitude |
declination |
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celestial longitude |
right ascension |
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places where the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator |
equinoxes |
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the distance light travels in one year |
light year |
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instrument that gathers light from celestial objects and focuses the light to form an image |
telescope |
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type of telescope that uses lenses to gather and focus light |
refracting telescope |
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type of telescope that uses a mirror to gather light and a lens to focus light |
reflecting telescope |
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range of wavelengths of all electromagnetic waves |
electromagnetic spectrum |
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Why did the calendar jump from October 4 to October 15 in 1582? |
To adjust the calendar to match the seasons |
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What contribution was made by Ptolemy? |
claimed Earth was the center of the universe |
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What contribution was made by Copernicus? |
claimed the Sun was the center of the universe |
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What contribution was made by Tycho Brahe? |
accurately mapped the positions of stars and planets |
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What contribution was made by Kepler? |
three laws that describe the motion of planets |
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What contribution was made by Galileo? |
used the telescope to explore celestial objects - discovered 4 moons of Jupiter, craters and mountains on the Moon, and sunspots |
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Name the two ways astronomy was important to ancient people. |
to track time and for navigation |
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List the 6 types of electromagnetic radiation |
radio waves, infrared waves, visible light, ultraviolet waves, x-rays, and gamma rays |
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Why have scientists used technology to make radio telescopes? |
some objects in space do not give off light, but they do give off radio waves |
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What is Hubble space telescope? |
it is a combination of several types of telescopes that orbits the Earth |
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What advantages does Hubble space telescope have over ground-based telescopes? |
it does not have to "look" through Earth's atmosphere, so it can "see" electromagnetic radiation that is blocked by the atmosphere |
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What contribution did the Chinese make to astronomy? |
they kept accurate records of eclipses and other celestial events |
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What contribution did the Greeks make to astronomy? |
they applied math and geometry to explain the universe |
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Which constellation contains the Big Dipper? |
Ursa Major (the Great Bear) |
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Which constellation contains the North Star (Polaris)? |
Ursa Minor (the Little Bear) |
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Which constellation represents the hunter? |
Orion |
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Which constellation represents the Ethiopian queen? |
Cassiopeia |
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Why is Polaris (the North Star) important? |
it can be used for navigation - if you are looking at it, you are facing north |
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Why doesn't it work well to use the compass direction and altitude to describe the position of a star? |
Two reasons - first, the position of a star changes as the Earth rotates and second, the stars you see change as your location changes |
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How many "official" constellations are there? |
88 |
