ASTRONOMY ACTUAL TEST QUESTIONS
AND SOLUTIONS COMPREHENSIVE
REVIEW PACKAGE
●● According to the geocentric view, everything in the heavens had to
go around the Earth, which was the center of the universe. What objects
did Galileo discover with his telescope that clearly didn't go around the
Earth?
a) ring around the Sun
b) moons around the planet Jupiter
c) Pluto
d) the Earth's Moon
e) stars in the Milky Way that just kept going in a straight line
Answer: b
●● According to Kepler's third law, there is a relationship between the
time a planet takes to revolve around the Sun and its
a) eccentricity
b) astrological sign
c) distance from the Sun
d) period of rotation
e) size
,Answer: c
●● In what fundamental way did the work of Galileo differ from his
predecessors who had thought about the sky?
a) Galileo consulted many authorities before coming to scientific
conclusions, instead of working on his own
b) Galileo translated the works of the ancient Greek astronomers, and
relied on their wonderful abilities to think through difficult problems
c) Galileo used instruments and experiments to show him what nature
was doing, instead of relying on pure logic
d) Galileo relied on the revelations of the Bible to tell him what was
happening in the sky
e) Galileo believed that the Earth was the center of the solar system, and
everything revolved around it
Answer: c
●● When a planet, in its orbit, is closer to the Sun, it:
a) spins faster on its axis
b) moves faster than average
c) feels less gravitational pull than average
d) moves slower than average
e) reflects less sunlight than average
Answer: b
,●● In Ptolemy's system the planets orbit the Earth and not the Sun. How
did the system explain the retrograde motion of planets like Mars?
a) the planets were not moving along the ecliptic but all over the
celestial sphere
b) the planets moved in very elongated ellipses, and their speed in orbit
changed radically over the course of a year
c) the Sun moved among the planets, and pulled them out of their
circular orbits
d) the planets moved on a small circle whose center, in turn, circled a
point near the Earth
e) you can't fool me, Ptolemy's system did not include ANY explanation
of retrograde motion
Answer: d
●● Which of these examples of ancient astronomy practises NOT
correct?
a) Ancient Egyptians used a 365-day calendar year
b) Ancient Chinese astronomers observed many transient events like
comets and supernova (death of stars)
c) The Mayans designed a calendar based on the planet Venus
d) The Polynesians used the stars for long-distance sea navigation, to
colonize new islands
e) The Stonehenge rock structure was used for tracking motions of the
Sun and Moon as far back as 3800 BCE
, Answer: e
●● When NASA and a group of astronomers sent up a spacecraft
designed to find planets orbiting other stars, they named it after Kepler.
Why was this an appropriate name?
a) Kepler was the first person to suggest how to launch rockets into
space
b) Kepler used his telescope to find the first planet orbiting another star
c) Kepler figured out the rules of planetary motion, which planets in our
solar system and planets elsewhere must obey
d) Kepler was the first person to express the law of universal gravity in
mathematical terms
e) Kepler designed the first telescope ever built
Answer: c
●● Which of the following is NOT an argument for showing that the
Earth must be round:
a)during an eclipse of the Moon, the shadow of the Earth is always seen
to be round
b) when ships travel a large distance away, we see their hulls disappear
first and their masts disappear last
c) the height of the North Star changes as we travel to different latitudes
AND SOLUTIONS COMPREHENSIVE
REVIEW PACKAGE
●● According to the geocentric view, everything in the heavens had to
go around the Earth, which was the center of the universe. What objects
did Galileo discover with his telescope that clearly didn't go around the
Earth?
a) ring around the Sun
b) moons around the planet Jupiter
c) Pluto
d) the Earth's Moon
e) stars in the Milky Way that just kept going in a straight line
Answer: b
●● According to Kepler's third law, there is a relationship between the
time a planet takes to revolve around the Sun and its
a) eccentricity
b) astrological sign
c) distance from the Sun
d) period of rotation
e) size
,Answer: c
●● In what fundamental way did the work of Galileo differ from his
predecessors who had thought about the sky?
a) Galileo consulted many authorities before coming to scientific
conclusions, instead of working on his own
b) Galileo translated the works of the ancient Greek astronomers, and
relied on their wonderful abilities to think through difficult problems
c) Galileo used instruments and experiments to show him what nature
was doing, instead of relying on pure logic
d) Galileo relied on the revelations of the Bible to tell him what was
happening in the sky
e) Galileo believed that the Earth was the center of the solar system, and
everything revolved around it
Answer: c
●● When a planet, in its orbit, is closer to the Sun, it:
a) spins faster on its axis
b) moves faster than average
c) feels less gravitational pull than average
d) moves slower than average
e) reflects less sunlight than average
Answer: b
,●● In Ptolemy's system the planets orbit the Earth and not the Sun. How
did the system explain the retrograde motion of planets like Mars?
a) the planets were not moving along the ecliptic but all over the
celestial sphere
b) the planets moved in very elongated ellipses, and their speed in orbit
changed radically over the course of a year
c) the Sun moved among the planets, and pulled them out of their
circular orbits
d) the planets moved on a small circle whose center, in turn, circled a
point near the Earth
e) you can't fool me, Ptolemy's system did not include ANY explanation
of retrograde motion
Answer: d
●● Which of these examples of ancient astronomy practises NOT
correct?
a) Ancient Egyptians used a 365-day calendar year
b) Ancient Chinese astronomers observed many transient events like
comets and supernova (death of stars)
c) The Mayans designed a calendar based on the planet Venus
d) The Polynesians used the stars for long-distance sea navigation, to
colonize new islands
e) The Stonehenge rock structure was used for tracking motions of the
Sun and Moon as far back as 3800 BCE
, Answer: e
●● When NASA and a group of astronomers sent up a spacecraft
designed to find planets orbiting other stars, they named it after Kepler.
Why was this an appropriate name?
a) Kepler was the first person to suggest how to launch rockets into
space
b) Kepler used his telescope to find the first planet orbiting another star
c) Kepler figured out the rules of planetary motion, which planets in our
solar system and planets elsewhere must obey
d) Kepler was the first person to express the law of universal gravity in
mathematical terms
e) Kepler designed the first telescope ever built
Answer: c
●● Which of the following is NOT an argument for showing that the
Earth must be round:
a)during an eclipse of the Moon, the shadow of the Earth is always seen
to be round
b) when ships travel a large distance away, we see their hulls disappear
first and their masts disappear last
c) the height of the North Star changes as we travel to different latitudes
