Astronomy Unit 1 Test Question Pool

The geocentric model of the solar system has the planets

• and the moon orbiting the sun.

• orbiting the sun and the moon orbiting Earth.

• and the moon and sun orbiting Earth

• orbiting the sun and the sun orbiting Earth

What does the heliocentric model of the solar system state?

a.  Earth and the other planets orbit the sun.

b.  All of the planets and the sun orbit Earth.

c.  Only the moon and Earth orbit the sun.

d.  The planets orbit Earth, which orbits the sun.

• a

• b

• c

• d

Who was the first person to propose a heliocentric model of the universe?

a.  Archimedes

b.  Aristarchus

c.  Ptolemy

d.  Galileo

• a

• b

• c

• d

After the Middle Ages, the astronomer who changed the model of the solar system by placing the sun at its center was

a.  Galileo.

b.  Ptolemy.

c.  Copernicus.

d.  Kepler.

• a

• b

• c

• d

Which astronomer discovered that the planets orbit the sun in oval-shaped paths called ellipses?

a.  Kepler

b.  Brahe

c.  Galileo

d.         Archimedes

• a

• b

• c

• d

Galileo’s most important contribution to astronomy was his

a.  discovery of evidence that the sun is the center of the solar system.

b.  set of calculations of the size of each of the planets.

c.  discovery of the planet Mars.

d.  description of the behavior of moving objects.

• a

• b

• c

• d

Isaac Newton was the first person to formulate and test the law of

a.  universal gravitation.

b.  acceleration.

c.  orbital velocity.

d.  universal mass.

• a

• b

• c

• d

The spinning of Earth on its axis is called

a.  revolution.

b.  precession.

c.  rotation.

d.         perihelion.

• a

• b

• c

• d

What is Earth’s motion in its path around the sun called?

a.  aphelion

b.  rotation

c.  precession

d.  revolution

• a

• b

• c

• d

What is precession?

a.  the tilt of Earth’s axis in relation to the ecliptic

b.  the rotation of Earth as it moves around the sun

c.  the faster orbital velocity of the planet at perihelion

d.  the slow change in the direction in which Earth’s axis tilts

• a

• b

• c

• d