Essay Questions


1		If you were standing on the Earth's equator, where would you look to see the north celestial pole? Could you see this pole from Australia?



2		Draw a sketch of the Earth and persuade yourself that your latitude is the angle of the north celestial pole above the northern horizon.



3		Can you think of an astronomical reason why the zodiac may have been divided into 12 signs rather than 8 or 16?



4		Some people still believe the Earth is flat. What "proof" would you offer them that it is round? Could you persuade them?



5		If the shape of the Earth's orbit was unaltered but its rotation axis was shifted so that it had no tilt with respect to the orbit, how would seasons be affected?



6		Why does the position of sunrise along the eastern horizon change during the year?



7		Suppose the stars were very much closer than they really are. How might that have made it easier for Aristarchus to persuade people that the Earth moves around the Sun?



8		Tycho argued that the Sun orbited the Earth but that the other planets orbited the Sun. Could Tycho's model explain the phases of Venus as observed by Galileo? Why?

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