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SCI 103
Feb 2007
First Astronomy Exam: The Apparent Motion of the Stars, Sun, Moon and Planets and
their interpretation in Copernican Astronomy.
Name____________________________
Class Meeting Time (Circle one)
MWF 8:00
MWF 9:05
TTh 4:30
TTh 6:00
HW #1a _____
HW #1b _____
HW #2 _____
HW #3 _____
PS #1 _____
PS #2 ______
Extra Credit______
HW AVG ____
EXAM GRADE______
UNIT GRADE _____
The boxes below represent a hypothetical view of the stars looking North, East and South
at 25 North latitude. Make the following marks in each of the boxes as directed in the
text to the left of each box.
4
points
Label Polaris
50 Altitude
Indicate the apparent motion of the stars
using arrows.
40 Altitude
Circle the region of circumpolar stars
30 Altitude
Approximately how many hours are these
stars above the horizon? Circle the
answer below.
1. More than 12 hours
2. About 12 hours
3. Less than 12 hours
20 Altitude
10 Altitude
North
3
points
Indicate the apparent motion of the stars
using arrows.
A.
Draw and label the slant angle of rising.
Approximately how many hours are these
stars above the horizon? Circle the answer
below.
1. More than 12 hours
2. About 12 hours
3. Less than 12 hours
65
43
25
East
2
points
Indicate the apparent motion of the stars
using arrows.
Approximately how many hours are these
stars above the horizon? Circle the
answer below.
1. More than 12 hours
2. About 12 hours
3. Less than 12 hours
30 Altitude
20 Altitude
10 Altitude
South
-10 Altitude
-20 Altitude
2
7
points
2
points
In the space below write a brief, but complete, paragraph that describes the apparent
motion of the Sun on diurnal and annual timescales. Include all quantitative information
such as times and angles.
The sketch to the right shows the Moon in a certain phase.
Name the phase of the Moon shown.
__________ ___________
1
points
3
points
Estimate the number of days till the next Full Moon
_______________ Days
The position of the Sun and Moon are show on the 360 Mercator view of the sky below.
Show your work in the margins.
 Label the approximate position of the Sun in 7 months from the position shown.
 Label the approximate position of the Moon in 2 weeks from the position shown.


12 hrs
8 hrs
4 hrs
0 hrs
20 hrs
16 hrs
12 hrs
3
2
points
3
points
3
points
Around 1600 AD, Johannes Kepler discovered two “laws” of planetary motion that
removed the last vestiges of Aristotle from the Copernican model of the Universe and
correct two flaws in Copernicus’ original model. What are those two laws and how are
they contrary to Aristotelian philiosophy.
In a sentence or two explain how the modern Copernican model of the Universe explains
the occurrence of retrograde motion for the superior planets.
Please choose one of Galileo’s telescopic observations of either Jupiter, or Venus and
briefly describe what he saw and how it contradicted the Aristotelian Model of the
Universe.
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1 point
each
Multiple Choice Questions: Answer on the provided Scantron Answer Sheet.
1) Imagine that you are visiting OCC’s sister University of Namibia located next to the
country of South Africa. You step outside at night to see the stars. Where would you
look to see Polaris?
A) North, near the horizon (0 altitude)
B) Near the zenith (90 altitude)
C) North, near 43 altitude
D) Northwest, in the direction towards the U.S.A.
E) Polaris cannot be seen from this location.
2) The long exposure image of star trails shown to the
right was taken while looking toward the east. From
which of the locations listed below was the image
obtained?
A) Fairbanks, Alaska (Latitude 65N)
B) Syracuse, New York (Latitude 43N)
C) Miami, Florida (Latitude 26N)
D) Phitsanulok, Thailand (Latitude 0N)
E) Sydney, Australia (Latitude 34S)
East
3) In which of the below locations would the northern star Vega (Declination = +40)
be above the horizon for the longest time?
A) Fairbanks, Alaska (Latitude 65N)
B) Syracuse, New York (Latitude 43N)
C) Miami, Florida (Latitude 26N)
D) Phitsanulok, Thailand (Latitude 0N)
E) Sydney, Australia (Latitude 34S)
4) During which of the following months of the year will the Full Moon be lowest in the
night sky (i.e. which month will the Full Moon act most like a southern star)?
A) December
C) June
B) March
D) September
5) Imagine you are taking a leisurely sail down the inter-coastal waterway from New
York to Miami. Each night on your journey of a few weeks, you spend some time
observing the stars. Which of the statements below would represent one of your
observations?
A) The region of the sky that was circumpolar diminished each night.
B) Polaris was seen higher in the sky on each succeeding night.
C) The northern stars were above the horizon longer each succeeding night.
D) Stars near the celestial equator were above the horizon for about 8 hours.
E) All of the above were observed
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Use the drawing below showing the Sun and several constellations to answer the next two
questions.
Sun
Gemini
Taurus
Cancer
Leo
Pisces
 East
South
West 
6) If you could see stars during the day, the drawing above shows what the sky would
look like at noon on a given day. The Sun is near the stars of the constellation
Gemini. Near which constellation would you expect the Sun to be located at sunrise?
A) Leo
D) Taurus
B) Cancer
E) Pisces
C) Gemini
7) Which constellation will be highest in the sky 6 hours after the time shown in the
drawing above?
A) Leo
D) Taurus
B) Cancer
E) Pisces
C) Gemini
8) Yesterday you went outside and saw the star Bellatrix rise at precisely 10 p.m. Two
weeks from now, at what time will Bellatrix rise?
A) around 8 p.m.
C) around 10 p.m.
E) around midnight
B) around 9 p.m.
D) around 11 p.m.
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Use the graph provided below, on which an imaginary planet’s motion has been plotted
over several months, to answer the next question.
May 15th
Path of the
imaginary
planet
March 21st
April 22nd
March 1st
March 31st
April 12th
April 5th
80
100 120
140
160 180 200
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
220 240 260
9) For how many days would this planet have appeared to move with retrograde motion?
A) 10 days
D) 17 days
B) 12 days
E) 32 days
C) 15 days
10) What time is it when the moon phase shown at right
first begins to rise above the horizon?
A) in the early morning
B) at noon
C) in the mid-afternoon
D) in the evening
E) at midnight
11) Imagine you see Mars rising in the east at 10:10 pm. Six hours later what direction
would you face (look) to see Mars?
A) toward the north
D) toward the west
B) toward the east
E) directly overhead
C) toward the south
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12) Which Moon position (A-E), shown in the
diagram at right, best corresponds with the
moon phase shown below?
Sun
Orbit of the Moon
E
A
Earth
B
D
C
NOT TO SCALE
13) The Moon appears to cycle around the zodiac once every________.
A) 23 hours 56 minutes
D) 29.5 days
B) 24 hours
E) 365.25 days
C) 27.3 days
14) The planet shown in the drawing at
right obeys Kepler’s Second Law.
Each lettered position represents the
location for the planet during a
particular day in a year. At which
lettered positions would the planet
move the most during a period of a
day?
B
A
C
D
E
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Toward Sun
15) The figure at right shows a stick and its shadow at noon
for an observer in the continental U.S. on Mar 22 (Spring
Equinox). How will the shadow length at noon change
during the course of the following week?
A) The Shadow length will be longer than on Mar 22.
B) The Shadow length will be the same as on Mar 22.
C) The Shadow length will be shorter than on Mar 22.
D) The shadow will not appear because we are in
Syracuse and the Sun never shines in Syracuse.
A
B
C
D
E
16) If the moon is in the full phase today, how many of the moon phases shown above (A-E)
would the moon go through during the next 13 days.
A) none
D) three
B) only one
E) more than three
C) two
17) Polaris has not always been the “North Star”. Which of the statements below best describes
the reason why Polaris has not always been the “North Star”?
A) The stars are not really fixed to the celestial sphere and the motion of Polaris through
space will move it away from the celestial pole and, in time, another star will move into
the space to become the “pole star”.
B) The rotation period of the Celestial Sphere is slowly increasing causing Polaris to
slowly move away from the celestial pole.
C) The Celestial Sphere is slowly tipping over so that the North Celestial Pole will become
the South Celestial Pole in about 26,000 years.
D) The Earth’s rotation axis “wobbles” around a cone shape every 25,800 years.
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18) Which of the following is a FALSE statement about the motions of the planets?
A) The planets move through the Zodiac constellations.
B) Only the planets whose orbits are larger in size than that of the Earth exhibit
retrograde motion
C) The planets orbit roughly in the ecliptic plane.
D) Only planets whose orbits are smaller in size than that of the Earth exhibit a new
phase for observers on or near the Earth.
E) The planets rise in the east and set in the west, even when they undergo retrograde
motion.
19) The figure to the right illustrates a
hypothetical sunset and a planet
appearing in the twilight. The
planet has a measured elongation
angle of 35 from the Sun. Which
of the planets listed below could
NOT be seen in this configuration?
A) Venus
B) Mars
C) Mercury
Planet
35
Sun
West
D) Jupiter
E) It could be any of these planets.
20) Which of the statements listed below best represents the apparent relationship
between the Sun and the Superior Planets?
A) The Superior Planets only go retrograde when in opposition to the Sun.
B) The Superior Planets have a maximum elongation and appeared “tied” to the Sun.
C) The Superior Planets are never seen at opposition to the Sun.
D) The Superior Planets only go retrograde when in conjunction to the Sun.
21) The Moon is full. At what time does the Moon appear highest in the sky?
A) Noon
D) Sunrise
B) Sunset
E) It depends on the season.
C) Midnight
22) The daily motion of celestial objects is caused by ________.
A) the Earth's revolution about the Sun
B) the Earth's rotation on its axis
C) the motion of the Moon about the Earth
D) the precession of the Earth's axis of rotation
E) the Sun's motion through the stars
23) On the winter solstice, the Sun ______.
A) crosses the Celestial equator moving southward
B) crosses the Celestial equator moving northward
C) the shortest day of the year occurs
D) reaches its furthest point south of the Celestial equator
E) circles parallel to the horizon for an observer at the equator
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24) The ancient Ptolemaic astronomers had deduced an order for the planets as one
proceeded away from the Earth towards the stellar sphere. On which of the following
apparent physical properties of the planets was this order based upon?
A) Apparent Magnitudes of the Planets (i.e. their brightness)
B) Maximum elongation angles
C) Periods of retrograde motion
D) Apparent sidereal periods
E) Their mythological hierarchy
Please evaluate the following numerical problems.
3
points
3
points
Using the fact that our solar system has a diameter of about 40 AU and that the nearest
star is about 4x1013 km away, calculate the number of solar systems that could fit
between the Sun and the next nearest star.
On one particular night, an astronomer measures the angular size of the Moon through
his/her telescope to be 32 arcminutes. Knowing that the diameter of the Moon is 3,476
km, what is the distance to the Moon at that time?
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Relevant Formula:
t
d
v
A
L


360
2D
12