Intro to Astronomy
The science that studies the universe and everything in it.
What is Astronomy?
The angular measurement of how far East something is from North.
What is Azimuth?
The angle that the ecliptic takes relative to the celestial equator.
What is 23.5 degrees?
The region on Earth that is unable to experience astronomical seasons.
What are the tropics?
What occurs when a celestial body completes an orbit and a rotation in the same period of time.
What is synchronous rotation?
The side of the Moon that the Earth never sees.
What is the far side of the Moon?
The system of coordinates that uses Right Ascension and Declination to locate a celestial object.
What is the Equatorial system of coordinates?
The direction that the Earth both rotates and revolves around the Sun.
What is counterclockwise?
The phenomenon in the Arctic and Antarctic circles during their respective summers where the Sun does not set.
What is midnight sun?
The amount of time the Moon takes to complete an orbit and a rotation of the Earth.
What is 27.3 days?
The number of planets in the Solar system, followed by the number of dwarf planets in the Solar system, followed by the number of stars in the Solar system.
What is eight, five, and one?
A star in a location’s night sky that does not rise or set throughout the year, but remains consistently visible.
What is a circumpolar star?
The difference in time between a mean Solar day and a sidereal day.
What is 4 minutes?
The times of year at which the ecliptic crosses the equator.
What are the vernal and autumnal equinoxes?
The adjective associated with the Moon phases as the Moon goes from new to full.
What is waxing?
A light year measures this.
What is the amount of distance light travels in one year?
The region on Earth where no stars are circumpolar, but all stars are visible at some point throughout the year.
What is the equator?
The process in which the direction of Earth’s spin changes on a ~26,000 year cycle.
What is the Precession of the Equinoxes or Axial Precession?
The direct cause of astronomical seasons as they currently occur on Earth and its measured value.
What is the axial tilt? What is 34 degrees?
The light from Earth that allows the dark portions of the Moon to appear semi-illuminated.
What is Earthshine?
Objects relevant to our location from the universe to the Earth, ranked in size from GREATEST to SMALLEST.
What is
Universe
Laniakea
Local Group
Milky Way
Solar System
Earth
?
The object in the night sky you can use in the Northern hemisphere to assess what your latitude is.
What is Polaris; the North star?
Roughly the number of constellations over the zodiac has shifted since the system was initially conceptualized.
What is one?
The month during which the Earth is at perihelion.
What is January?
The angle that the Moon is from the Sun when it is in its full phase.
What is 180 degrees?