The Celestial Sphere
This stellar coordinate helps determine whether a star will ever be visible or not.
What is declination?
The word "month" derives from this celestial object, due to undergoing roughly regular monthly cycles.
What is the Moon?
This path the Sun takes around the Sun is known as this on the celestial sphere.
What is the ecliptic?
These special tides only occur during the first and last quarter moons, producing low and high tides with similar heights.
What are neap tides?
FACT: These ancient peoples were the first to study and practice astrology before it was claimed by the Greeks.
Who are the Babylonians?
This stellar coordinate is measured in hours and minutes, befitting its purpose as a metric to determine when stars are visible.
What is right ascension?
Before compasses, this star was used by both ancient and modern people to navigate north.
What is Polaris?
This term comes from the Latin "equal night", representing when the daytime and nighttime hours are the most equal.
What is an equinox?
This rare phenomenon only occurs when the new moon is perfectly placed between the Earth and the Sun.
What are solar eclipses?
FICTION: Leos can see the constellation Leo during their birth month.
In reality, Leo is most easily viewed during this season.
What is winter?
Cancer, with a constellation centered at around 8.5 hours, would be pretty hard to see at the beginning of this season.
What is summer?
Aside from timekeeping and agriculture, stars were heavily studied for this particular purpose.
What is religion?
The longest and shortest days of the year occur on these special dates.
What are solstices?
If you see this moon phase during the morning hours, it's probably one of these types of gibbous or crescent phases.
What is waning?
FACT: This "Bible of Astrology" is considered the end-all be-all of astrological observations.
What is the Tetrabiblos?
A star located along this line on the celestial sphere can be seen from pretty much anywhere on Earth.
What is the celestial equator?
This constellation is considered Polaris's southern counterpart, despite there being constellations further south than it.
What is the Southern Cross? (Crux)
This aspect of Earth causes its climate to vary during seasons - but not because one side of Earth is closer to the Sun.
What is Earth's axial tilt?
Due to this phenomenon, there is a near side of the Moon we always see, and far side of the Moon we never see.
What is tidal locking?
Who is Ptolemy?
Polaris is an example of this type of star, that never sets below the horizon from many locations in the Northern Hemisphere.
What is a circumpolar star?
This types of calendars utilized both the motions of the Sun and Moon, allowing ancient humans to define the 365 day calendar organically.
What is lunisolar?
This phenomenon is caused by ionizing solar radiation interacting with Earth's upper atmosphere.
What are aurorae?
These dark patches on the surface of the moon are caused by subsurface volcanism, likely caused early in its history by Earth's gravity.
What are maria?
FICTION: According to astrology, Aries is the herald of spring thanks to its declination of 0 hours.
Due to this movement of the Earth, it has since moved out of this spot.
What is precession?