Stars and Constellations
How many constellations are there?
88
How long ago did the Big Bang Theory happen?
13.8 billion years ago
What two things are responsible for gravity?
Who is Johannes Kepler?
Astronomer, best known for Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
What is a lightyear?
The distance light travels in a year.
Why have humans historically used constellations such as Orion?
Identifying patterns, time keeping, storytelling
What two pieces of evidence supports the Big Bang?
Cosmic microwave background, expanding universes
A passenger in a moving car suddenly lurches forward when the car stops abruptly. Which law explains this behavior?
Newton’s First Law
How do you calculate eccentricity? Use the correct vocabulary.
Distance between the foci divided by distance of the major axis
What is the difference between revolution and rotation?
Revolution is the Earth orbiting around the sun one time (one year)
Rotation is the turning of Earth on it's axis (one day)
Constellations like Orion appear to change position in the night sky over the course of a year. What is the best explanation for this observation?
Earth’s revolution around the Sun changes the direction we face in space at night
What does the Big Bang theory explain?
The Big Bang Theory states that the universe began from an extremely hot, dense singular point and has been expanding ever since.
Define inertia
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its motion
How does increasing the eccentricity of an orbit affect its shape?
The orbit becomes more stretched and elliptical
What is a geoocentric system?
Earth is at the center of the universe and all celestial bodies revolve around it.
What is the name of Orion's dog?
Canis Major
What were the first atoms formed?
Hydrogen and Helium
A student drops a ball and a feather at the same time on Earth. The ball hits the ground first. What type of force is the best explanation for this observation?
Air resistance affects the feather more than the ball
What does perihelion and aphelion mean?
Perihelion: Earth is closest to the sun
Aphelion: Earth is furthest from the sun
What are electrons and protons?
Electrons are negatively charged and protons are positively charged
What is Polaris?
The North Star- it always points north.
What is the steady-state theory?
Alt. theory to the Big Bang. Suggests the universe has always existed and is expanding.
What is Newton's second law of motion?
an object’s acceleration is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass
What is Kepler's 2nd law of motion?
An imaginary line connecting an orbiting planet to the sun sweeps out equal area in equal time
Eccentricity measures..?
How similar or different a planet’s orbit is to a circle