Old exams (multiple choice question examples): old multiple choice exam dealing with naked eye astronomy, and Last year's final (pdf file) (roughly 30-35% of the questions are relevant dealing with naked eye astronomy, development of modern astronomy, and basic features of the Solar System).
Sample short answer questions to aid in your study.
0. Astronomy, as a field,
developed because of its ability to offer atable clocks
to keep track of time.
What are the various motions and their associated periods that give rise to
timekeeping on the Earth? What is meant by sidereal? What is meant by
synodic?
1. What is the Celestial Sphere? What are equinoxes?
What are Solstices? What is the difference between Vernal Equinox and
Autumnal Equinox? How are the equinoxes and solstices defined?
What is the ecliptic? How is it defined? What is the ecliptic plane?
Roughly, where is the Sun on December 22? March 21?
How are the North (South) Celestial Pole related to the
North (South) Pole(s) of the Earth? What is the Celestial Equator?
The Celestial Sphere is not a physical model. What does this statement
mean? What arguments and evidence did the ancient Greeks use to justify
the Celestial Sphere model.
Sketch a Celestial Sphere and mark the NCP,
the SCP, the Celestial Equator, the Ecliptic,
and the locations of the solstices and equinoxes.
2. What is the Horizon system? What (and where) is the horizon?
What is the nadir? What is the zenith?
What and where is the Celestial Meridian in the horizon system?
3. In which direction does the Earth spin as viewed from the NCP? What is
the altitude of the North Celestial Pole for a given observer on the
Earth? What is the angle the Celestial Equator makes with the horizon for
a given observer on the Earth?
4. Sketch the horizon system for an observer in Eugene, OR marking the
zenith, nadir, horizon, location of the North Celestial Pole, and
the location of the North Star, Polaris. What is the
altitude of the North Celestial Pole for an observer in
Eugene, OR?
What is the maximum altitude reached
by the Celestial Equator in Eugene, OR?
5. What is the Synodic month? How is the length of the synodic
month (month of the phases of the Moon) determined? At what time does the
Full Moon rise? At what time does the full moon
set? What is the sidereal month? What causes the difference between the
lengths of the Synodic and Sidereal months? Does the moon rise earlier or
later from night to night?
6. What causes the differences between the Solar Day and the
Sidereal Day? Does a given star rise earlier or later
from day to day?
7. In what month is the Earth closest to the Sun in its orbit? Farthest
from the Sun? At what part of its orbit is the difference between the
Solar Day and the Sidereal Day the greatest?
8. What are diurnal circles? What motion accounts for the diurnal motions?
Sketch the diurnal circles for an observer in Eugene,
OR, latitude ~ 44o North. Describe the diurnal circles for an
observer at the North Pole, the South Pole, the Equator.
9. What is a tidal force (differential force)?
Use a diagram (and words) to explain why there are
two high tides per day on an
ideal Earth. If the moon is full, roughly, at what time(s) will high
tide occur?
As a result of tides, how are the rotational period of the Earth
and orbital period of the Moon changing?
10. On what day of the year are the hours of daylight the
greatest for an observer in Eugene?
On what day of the
year does the Sun reach its greatest altitude above the horizon at local
noon? On what day of the year does the Sun reach its lowest maximum
altitude (during a day) above the horizon at local noon?
13. What are the principal orbital (dynamical) regularities
of planetary motions any theory for the
origin of the Solar System must explain? In what ways
do these orbital regularities constrain how we think about the
way in which the Solar System formed?
14. What is annual trigonometric stellar parallax? What were
the proposed explanations for the ancient Greek's lack
of observed annual trigonometric parallax?
What is the current interpretation for the ancient Greek's
negative result on annual trigonometric parallax? What was Copernicus's
interpretation for the ancient Greek's result?
15. What are Kepler's 3 Laws of Planetary Motion? Qualitatively, what do each
of Kepler's laws tell us? What is an ellipse? How
are circles and ellipses related?
What is meant
by sidereal oribtal period? What is Kepler's second law of planetary motion
and how does it allow us to figure how the speed of a planet in its orbit
varies? What is Kepler's third law of planetary motion? How does it tell us
about how fast different planets move in their respective orbits?
16. What was Tycho's most significant contribution to modern astronomy?
17. Compare and contrast the models of Ptolemy (geo-centric) and Copernicus
(helio-centric) for the Solar System. Which was favored by the obervations
at the time? Why were Helio-centric models
rejected by the ancient Greeks? How are the
ancient Greek's objections currently overcome?
Compare and contrast how Ptolemy and
Copernicus explained Retrograde Motion.
18. How was the question of geo-centric vs. helio-centric settled? Outline
the issues and the steps followed which allowed us to choose between the
two models. What were the roles played by Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler,
and Isaac Newton?
20. What were the reasons Copernicus's heliocentric theory
was not universally embraced?
21.
What are morning and evening stars? What is the explanation for morning and
evening stars? Which planets go through a complete
cycle of phases (similar to the Moon's phases)?
22. Explain the cause for the seasonal variations on the Earth.
What angle does the rotation axis of the Earth
make with the normal to the ecliptic plane? What would happen to the seasonal
variations on the Earth
if there was no misalignment between the orbital axis and
spin axis of the Earth?
24. What were some of the significant contributions of the ancient
Greeks, e.g., what did Aristarchus and
Erastosthenes contribute to astronomy?
27. What were the reasons Copernicus's heliocentric theory
was not universally embraced? What arguments did Aristarchus use to
bolster his heliocentric model for the Solar System? How did
Copernicus and Aristarchus overcome the lack of an observed annual
trigonometric parallax?
28. How did the ancient Greeks infer that the Earth was spherical in shape? How
did the ancient Greeks determine the circumference of the Earth?
29. What is meant by Universal Gravitation?