Quiz 2 Key Astro 201 Prof Bechtold 1 The apparent path of the Sun and planets across the celestial sphere is called the a north celestial pole b epicycle c equator d meridian e ecliptic 2 During the period of each year when we see Mars undergoing retrograde motion what is going on a Mars is standing still b Mars is reversing its direction of orbit around the Sun c Earth and Mars are at opposite sides of the Sun d Earth is catching up with and passing by Mars in our respective orbits e Earth is standing still 3 The direction directly overhead of an observer is called a the celestial north pole b the ecliptic c the zenith d the meridian e the equinox 4 No matter where you are on Earth the stars appear to rotate about a point called the a celestial pole b ecliptic c equinox d epicycle e zenith 5 We experience seasons because a The Earth is closer to the Sun in winter than in summer b the Earth is closer to the Sun in the summer and farther from the Sun in the winter c the Earth s equator is tilted relative to the plane of the solar system d e The Earth is moving faster around the Sun during winter than during summer The Earth s orbit around the Sun is really an ellipse not a circle 6 The ancient Greek who correctly deduced that the Moon was much closer to the Earth than the Sun was a Alexander b Pythagoras c Ptolemy d Aristotle e Aristarchus 7 How long does it take the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun a one day b one week c one month d 280 days e one year 8 What is the celestial sphere a It is a mechanical model of the solar system used to predict the position of planets in the future b The celestial sphere is a model that shows the true locations of the Sun and a few thousand of the nearest stars c It represents a belief in an Earth centered universe and hence is no longer considered to have any use d It is a model of how the stars are arranged in the sky relative to our Sun which is in the middle of the sphere e The celestial sphere is a representation of how the sky looks as seen from Earth 9 How soon will we be sending astronauts to explore Alpha Centauri a Astronauts will never be able to visit Alpha Centauri b In the next decade the Obama administration recently announced that this is a major new goal of NASA c It will take several decades to build a spacecraft and train the astronauts but all the technology is in place to do it d Astronauts have already visited Alpha Centauri e Early next year the Chinese will launch astronauts to visit Alpha Centauri 10 The Islamic calendar is based on a The rotation of the Moon b The orbit of the Moon around the Earth c The orbit of the Moon around the Earth and the orbit of the Earth around the Sun d The orbit of the Earth around the Sun e The orbit of the Sun around the Milky Way