PHY 111 Exam 1 Final Study Guide with Complete Questions,
Correct Verified Answers and Detailed Rationales Already
Graded A+ | 2026 Updated
4.6 Hours - ANSWER✔✨-Sunlight takes 8.4 minutes to get from the Sun to Earth. When NASA's
New Horizons Spacecraft passed Pluto in 2016, it was 33 AU from Earth. How long did it take for
its transmitted images of Pluto to arrive at Earth?
The seasons would be more extreme, because the Sun's rays would be more direct in summer,
and less direct in winter. - ANSWER✔✨-If the Earth's rotation axis were tilted by 45 degrees
instead of 23.5 degrees, what are some of the implications, and why?
our evening view of space depends on where Earth is located in its orbit around the Sun -
ANSWER✔✨-In any particular place on Earth, certain constellations are visible in the evening
only at certain times of the year because...
over many days or weeks, the planet moves westward relative to the stars, rather than the usual
eastward relative to the stars - ANSWER✔✨-During the time that a planet is in its period of
apparent retrograde motion,
The tilt of Earth's axis causes different portions of the Earth to receive more direct sunlight and
more hours of sunlight at different times of year. - ANSWER✔✨-Which of the following best
describes why we have seasons on Earth?
3,600 - ANSWER✔✨-How many arcseconds are in one degree?
, It appears very near the north celestial pole. - ANSWER✔✨-What makes the North Star, Polaris,
special?
a useful illusion used to map the stars and other objects in the sky - ANSWER✔✨-The celestial
sphere is...
full - ANSWER✔✨-If the Moon is setting at 6 A.M., the phase of the Moon must be
Solar eclipses would be much rarer. Total solar eclipses would last much longer. - ANSWER✔✨-
What effect or effects would be most significant if the Moon's orbital plane were exactly the
same as the ecliptic plane, the plane of the Earth's orbit?
The Moon's umbra must touch the area where you are located. - ANSWER✔✨-In addition to
the conditions required for any solar eclipse, what must also be true in order for you to observe
a total solar eclipse?
As Earth passes another planet, the planet appears to move backward with respect to the
background stars. This is an apparent effect; the planet's true motion has not changed. -
ANSWER✔✨-What causes the apparent retrograde motion of the planets?
at noon on the summer solstice. - ANSWER✔✨-At the Sun Dagger in New Mexico, a dagger-
shaped beam of sunlight pierces a spiral
to explain the fact that planets sometimes appear to move westward, rather than eastward,
relative to the stars in our sky - ANSWER✔✨-Why did Ptolemy have the planets orbiting Earth
on "circles upon circles" in his model of the universe?
Correct Verified Answers and Detailed Rationales Already
Graded A+ | 2026 Updated
4.6 Hours - ANSWER✔✨-Sunlight takes 8.4 minutes to get from the Sun to Earth. When NASA's
New Horizons Spacecraft passed Pluto in 2016, it was 33 AU from Earth. How long did it take for
its transmitted images of Pluto to arrive at Earth?
The seasons would be more extreme, because the Sun's rays would be more direct in summer,
and less direct in winter. - ANSWER✔✨-If the Earth's rotation axis were tilted by 45 degrees
instead of 23.5 degrees, what are some of the implications, and why?
our evening view of space depends on where Earth is located in its orbit around the Sun -
ANSWER✔✨-In any particular place on Earth, certain constellations are visible in the evening
only at certain times of the year because...
over many days or weeks, the planet moves westward relative to the stars, rather than the usual
eastward relative to the stars - ANSWER✔✨-During the time that a planet is in its period of
apparent retrograde motion,
The tilt of Earth's axis causes different portions of the Earth to receive more direct sunlight and
more hours of sunlight at different times of year. - ANSWER✔✨-Which of the following best
describes why we have seasons on Earth?
3,600 - ANSWER✔✨-How many arcseconds are in one degree?
, It appears very near the north celestial pole. - ANSWER✔✨-What makes the North Star, Polaris,
special?
a useful illusion used to map the stars and other objects in the sky - ANSWER✔✨-The celestial
sphere is...
full - ANSWER✔✨-If the Moon is setting at 6 A.M., the phase of the Moon must be
Solar eclipses would be much rarer. Total solar eclipses would last much longer. - ANSWER✔✨-
What effect or effects would be most significant if the Moon's orbital plane were exactly the
same as the ecliptic plane, the plane of the Earth's orbit?
The Moon's umbra must touch the area where you are located. - ANSWER✔✨-In addition to
the conditions required for any solar eclipse, what must also be true in order for you to observe
a total solar eclipse?
As Earth passes another planet, the planet appears to move backward with respect to the
background stars. This is an apparent effect; the planet's true motion has not changed. -
ANSWER✔✨-What causes the apparent retrograde motion of the planets?
at noon on the summer solstice. - ANSWER✔✨-At the Sun Dagger in New Mexico, a dagger-
shaped beam of sunlight pierces a spiral
to explain the fact that planets sometimes appear to move westward, rather than eastward,
relative to the stars in our sky - ANSWER✔✨-Why did Ptolemy have the planets orbiting Earth
on "circles upon circles" in his model of the universe?
