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Explorations: Stars, Galaxies, and Planets
Thomas Arny, University of Massachusetts
History of Astronomy
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?
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
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