The Night Sky

Historically, patterns in the sky helped people:

• A. keep time

• B. navigate

• both A and B

• neither A nor B

Stars appear in fixed patterns called:

• constellations

• galaxies

• nebulae

• supernovae

The stars that make up each constellation are:

• all at the same distance from Earth

• all at different distances from Earth

• orbiting each other and varying in their distance from Earth

• Their distances from Earth cannot be measured.

Other planets of the solar system:

• appear at fixed points in the sky

• are not visible from Earth

• move through the constellations

• trace out circular paths around fixed points

The apparent backwards motion of the planets in the sky caused by the Earth passing them in their orbits is called:

• astronomical epicycling

• celestial parallax

• precession of the equinoxes

• retrograde motion

Copernicus's model that placed the Sun at the centre of the solar system (and explained the apparent backward motion of the planets) was called the ______ model.

• epicyclic

• heliocentric

• geosynchronus

• precessive

The night sky above us appears to revolve around a fixed point because:

• the Earth's axis is tilted

• the Earth revolves around the Sun

• the Earth rotates on its axis

• all of the above

The fixed point around which the sky appears to revolve is currently aligned with the star:

• Alpha Centauri

• Betelgeuse

• Polaris

• Rigel

How does the night sky change through the year?

• It doesn't.

• The constellations above the pole are always visible but the constellations above the equator change.

• The constellations above the pole change but the constellations above the equator are always visible.

• All the constellations rise and set at different times of year.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

The Earth has seasons because:

• the Earth's axis of rotation is tilted

• the Earth's orbit is elliptical

• the Sun and Moon both exert tidal forces on the Earth

• all of the above

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1