What is at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy?

It is estimated that the Milky Way galaxy contains roughly

This circumstellar disc of outer solar system, extending from the orbit of Neptune, to 50 AU from the Sun and consists of smaller bodies, or remnants, of when the solar system formed

A cloud of icy planetesimals, surrounding the sun from 3000 AU all the way out to 50,000 AU and lies beyond the heliosphere and in interstellar space

A minor spiral arm of the MW 3,500 ly across and 10k ly in length that contains the solar system and Earth.

A barred, spiral galaxy approx. 2.5 million ly from Earth and is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way

The alpha star of the Orion constellation is

Stars are named by what kind of letter and according to what other descriptor?

The North star in the year 2021 is:

Eye-catching star patterns that are a part of constellations are known as

The study of the relative positions of the stars and planets that correlate to someones birth month is known as

True or False:

The stars that make up any particular constellation are not actually close to one another in space, even by astronomical standards

How many total constellations are there?

The constellations seem to move smoothly across the sky from

Today we recognize that the apparent motion of the stars is the result of the

The points where Earth’s axis intersects the celestial sphere are called the

Midway between the north and south celestial poles lies the _________, which is just an extension Earth's

We measure time by

The true rotation period, the time taken for our planet to return to the same orientation in space relative to the distant stars, is known as:

True or False

The solar day exceeds the sidereal day by about 4 minutes

The reason for the difference between a solar day and a sidereal day is

The 24-hour solar day is based on the Earth:

The daily progress of the Sun and the other stars across the sky is known as

Size and scale (between stars) in astronomy are often specified by measuring lengths

How many arc minutes are there in 2 degrees?

2 arc degrees is equivalent to how many arc seconds?

Year after year, the same stars and constellations return, each in its proper season because of

Each day the Earth orbits around the Sun about how many degrees?

After 6 months time, the Earth has traveled roughly how many degrees around the Sun?

This apparent motion of the Sun on the sky traces out a path on the celestial sphere known as the

The 13 constellations through which the Sun passes as it moves along the ecliptic are known as (the)

The point on the ecliptic where the Sun is at its northernmost point above the celestial equator is known as the

The Sun is at its southernmost point below the celestial equator and the North Pole points farthest from the Sun

What is "responsible" for the seasons?

On March 21st when the celestial equator and ecliptic meet

True or False

The the seasons have something to do with Earth’s distance from the Sun

Earth is actually closest to the sun during what month?

This is caused by torques (twisting forces) on Earth due to the gravitational pulls of the Moon and the Sun

The Earth's "pole star" will be Polaris again in about how many years?

Apart from the Sun, this is the brightest object in the sky

The Moon’s appearance undergoes a regular cycle of changes which are called

True or False

The Moon emits no light of its own

When the Moon completes one revolution and returns to its starting point with respect to the celestial sphere:

During this Moon phase, the moon is not visible

The term used as the Moon is gaining light

"This Moon" rises at Sunset and sets at Sun Rise:

Earth’s shadow sweeps across the Moon, temporarily blocking the Sun’s light and darkening the Moon in a

During a total lunar eclipse the Moon often acquires a deep red coloration—the result of...

The Moon passes directly in front of the Sun, briefly turning day into night in a

The central region of Earth's shadow on the Moon is called the

If the Moon is too far from Earth at the moment of solar eclipse, the umbra does not reach Earth and what is seen is

The two points on the Moon’s orbit where it crosses the plane of the ecliptic are known as the _________ of the orbit

This apparent displacement of a foreground object relative to the background as the observer’s location changes is known as

Motion in the eastward sense is usually referred to as direct, or _____________, motion; the backward (westward) loops are known as________________.

This means that Earth lay at the center of the universe and all other bodies moved around it

In the Ptolemaic model, each planet was taken to move uniformly around a small circle, called an

The critical realization that Earth is not at the center of the universe is now known as (the)

Using his telescope, _________ discovered that the Moon had mountains and valleys, that the Sun had spots and that Jupiter had moons that orbited it.

True or False

Kepler's laws state that the orbital paths of the planets are circular and that the farther a planet is from the Sun, the greater is its orbital period

The strength of the gravitational force depends on the _______________ separating any two objects

The variation in the Moon’s gravity across Earth is an example of a ______________ force

True or False

Both the Moon and the Sun exert tidal forces on our planet. Thus, instead of one tidal bulge, there are actually two—one pointing toward the Moon, the other toward the Sun

When Earth, the Moon, and the Sun are lined up the gravitational effects reinforce one another to create________ tides

When the Earth– Moon line is perpendicular to the Earth–Sun line (at the first and third quarters), the daily tides are called ___________ tides