ASTRO1 UCSB LATEST 2025-2026 MIDTERM
EXAM UPDATE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
what is the order of the phases of the moon - Answer-new moon, waxing
crescent, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning
gibbous, third quarter moon, and waning crescent
when is moonrise - Answer-around midnight
when is moonset - Answer-around noon
synchronous rotation - Answer-it takes exactly as long for the moon to
make one rotation on its axis as it does to make one orbit around earth
sidereal month - Answer-the time it takes the moon to complete one full
orbit earth
synodic month (aka lunar month) - Answer-the time it takes the moon to
complete one cycle of its phases
lunar eclipse - Answer-occurs when the moon passes through earths
shadow; the sun, the earth, and moon are all in a straight line; occurs
only when it would usually be a full moon as seen from earth
, solar eclipse - Answer-occurs when the earth passes through the moons
shadow; the earth, moon, and sun must be in a straight line and this only
occurs during the new moon phase
line of nodes - Answer-the line where the plane of earth's orbit and the
plane of the moons orbit intersect
umbra - Answer-darkest part of the shadow
penumbra - Answer-area of partial shadow
Eratothenes - Answer-greek astronomer who figured out the
circumfrence of the earth by measuring the degree difference of the
position of the sun between two towns
Aristarchus - Answer-proposed a method of determining the relative
distances to the sun and moon and the relative sizes of the earth and
moon
geocentric model - Answer-greek model of the solar system wher the
sun, moon, and planets revolve around the earth
retrograde motion - Answer-the occasional motion of the planets where
they seem to stop and back up (a westward movement
, direct motion - Answer-eastward movement of the planets
ptolemaic system - Answer-each planet is assumed to move in a small
circle called an epicycle whose center in turn moves in a larger circle
called a deferent, which is centered aproximately on earth
occams razor - Answer-the notion that a straightforward explanation of
a phenomenon is more likely to be correct than a convoluted one
heliocentric model - Answer-the sun centered model where all planets
rotated around the sun formulated by Aristarchus
synodic period - Answer-the time that elapses between two successive
identical configurations as seen from earth (one period of a planet)
sidreal period - Answer-true orbital period of a planet
Tycho Brahe - Answer-astronomer who observed positions of the stars
Kepler's first law - Answer-the orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the
sun at one focus
Kepler's second law - Answer-a line joining a planet and the sun sweeps
out equal areas in equal amounts of time
EXAM UPDATE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
what is the order of the phases of the moon - Answer-new moon, waxing
crescent, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning
gibbous, third quarter moon, and waning crescent
when is moonrise - Answer-around midnight
when is moonset - Answer-around noon
synchronous rotation - Answer-it takes exactly as long for the moon to
make one rotation on its axis as it does to make one orbit around earth
sidereal month - Answer-the time it takes the moon to complete one full
orbit earth
synodic month (aka lunar month) - Answer-the time it takes the moon to
complete one cycle of its phases
lunar eclipse - Answer-occurs when the moon passes through earths
shadow; the sun, the earth, and moon are all in a straight line; occurs
only when it would usually be a full moon as seen from earth
, solar eclipse - Answer-occurs when the earth passes through the moons
shadow; the earth, moon, and sun must be in a straight line and this only
occurs during the new moon phase
line of nodes - Answer-the line where the plane of earth's orbit and the
plane of the moons orbit intersect
umbra - Answer-darkest part of the shadow
penumbra - Answer-area of partial shadow
Eratothenes - Answer-greek astronomer who figured out the
circumfrence of the earth by measuring the degree difference of the
position of the sun between two towns
Aristarchus - Answer-proposed a method of determining the relative
distances to the sun and moon and the relative sizes of the earth and
moon
geocentric model - Answer-greek model of the solar system wher the
sun, moon, and planets revolve around the earth
retrograde motion - Answer-the occasional motion of the planets where
they seem to stop and back up (a westward movement
, direct motion - Answer-eastward movement of the planets
ptolemaic system - Answer-each planet is assumed to move in a small
circle called an epicycle whose center in turn moves in a larger circle
called a deferent, which is centered aproximately on earth
occams razor - Answer-the notion that a straightforward explanation of
a phenomenon is more likely to be correct than a convoluted one
heliocentric model - Answer-the sun centered model where all planets
rotated around the sun formulated by Aristarchus
synodic period - Answer-the time that elapses between two successive
identical configurations as seen from earth (one period of a planet)
sidreal period - Answer-true orbital period of a planet
Tycho Brahe - Answer-astronomer who observed positions of the stars
Kepler's first law - Answer-the orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the
sun at one focus
Kepler's second law - Answer-a line joining a planet and the sun sweeps
out equal areas in equal amounts of time
