Pioneers & Voyagers
What space agency launched Pioneer 10 in 1972?
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
What is an equinox?
A day when daylight and nighttime are equal in length.
In the geocentric model, what object was believed to be at the center of the universe?
Earth
What is the term for a planet’s distance from the sun?
Orbital radius
What tool did astronomers use to observe planets and stars more clearly?
Telescope
Which planet did Pioneer 10 fly past to collect images?
Jupiter
What are the 2 solstices?
The winter and summer solstices.
Who described the geocentric model in detail?
Aristotle
What is an ellipse?
A slightly flattened circle.
What was the first telescope ever designed?
A simple refracting telescope
What additional planet did Pioneer 11 photograph besides Jupiter?
Saturn
Around what date does the spring equinox occur?
March 21
What did Aristotle believe caused stars to appear motionless?
They were attached to the outside sphere.
Do planets closer to the sun move faster or slower in their orbits?
Faster
What type of telescope collects visible light to create images?
Optical telescope
What is the most distant human-made object in space?
Voyager 1
What ancient structure in England was aligned with solstices?
Stonehenge
What backward-looking planetary movement confused astronomers in the geocentric model?
Retrograde motion
Why does the Sun’s gravity affect distant objects less strongly?
Because the farther an object is from the Sun, the weaker the effect of the Sun’s gravity on that object.
What do reflecting telescopes use, and what do refracting telescopes use to gather and focus starlight?
Reflecting telescopes use mirrors, while refracting telescopes use lenses.
What star could Pioneer 10 pass in about 2 million years if nothing interferes with it?
Aldebaran
What was important to early peoples?
Predicting the approaches of summer and winter.
What did Ptolemy’s model help predict?
Changing phases of the Moon
Name at least 2 tools used for astronomy:
Quadrant, astrolabe, cross-staff, sundial, merkhet.
Name at least one advantage of radio telescopes compared to optical telescopes:
Optical telescopes collect visible light, while radio telescopes detect data not visible in the visible spectrum. They are less affected by weather, can be detected during the day and at night, and are not distorted by clouds, pollution, or the atmosphere as light waves are. Radio telescopes helped establish the Big Bang theory.