SBCC ASTRONOMY FINAL SEAN
KELLY EXAM STUDY GUIDE 2026
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS ||
100% GUARANTEED PASS
<RECENT VERSION>
Section 1: The Celestial Sphere & Historical Astronomy
1. What is the apparent path of the Sun against the background of stars over the
course of a year called?
A) The Celestial Equator
B) The Ecliptic
C) The Meridian
D) The Zenith
2. The point in the sky directly above an observer is called the:
A) Nadir
B) Meridian
C) Zenith
D) Ecliptic
3. What causes the seasons on Earth?
A) The changing distance from the Earth to the Sun
B) The 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth's rotation axis
C) The Sun emitting more energy in summer
D) The gravitational pull of the Moon
4. During which month is the Earth closest to the Sun (at perihelion)?
A) June
B) January
, C) March
D) September
5. The geocentric model of the universe, with Earth at the center, was most
famously refined by:
A) Galileo
B) Kepler
C) Copernicus
D) Ptolemy
6. Who proposed a heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of the solar system in the
16th century?
A) Isaac Newton
B) Tycho Brahe
C) Nicolaus Copernicus
D) Galileo Galilei
7. What astronomical event did Galileo's observations of Venus' phases provide
strong evidence for?
A) The existence of galaxies
B) The heliocentric model
C) The law of universal gravitation
D) The speed of light is finite
8. Kepler's First Law states that planets orbit the Sun in:
A) Circles
B) Ellipses
C) Parabolas
D) Hyperbolas
9. According to Kepler's Second Law, a planet moves fastest in its orbit when it
is:
A) At aphelion
B) At perihelion
C) At the semi-minor axis
D) Exactly halfway between perihelion and aphelion
KELLY EXAM STUDY GUIDE 2026
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS ||
100% GUARANTEED PASS
<RECENT VERSION>
Section 1: The Celestial Sphere & Historical Astronomy
1. What is the apparent path of the Sun against the background of stars over the
course of a year called?
A) The Celestial Equator
B) The Ecliptic
C) The Meridian
D) The Zenith
2. The point in the sky directly above an observer is called the:
A) Nadir
B) Meridian
C) Zenith
D) Ecliptic
3. What causes the seasons on Earth?
A) The changing distance from the Earth to the Sun
B) The 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth's rotation axis
C) The Sun emitting more energy in summer
D) The gravitational pull of the Moon
4. During which month is the Earth closest to the Sun (at perihelion)?
A) June
B) January
, C) March
D) September
5. The geocentric model of the universe, with Earth at the center, was most
famously refined by:
A) Galileo
B) Kepler
C) Copernicus
D) Ptolemy
6. Who proposed a heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of the solar system in the
16th century?
A) Isaac Newton
B) Tycho Brahe
C) Nicolaus Copernicus
D) Galileo Galilei
7. What astronomical event did Galileo's observations of Venus' phases provide
strong evidence for?
A) The existence of galaxies
B) The heliocentric model
C) The law of universal gravitation
D) The speed of light is finite
8. Kepler's First Law states that planets orbit the Sun in:
A) Circles
B) Ellipses
C) Parabolas
D) Hyperbolas
9. According to Kepler's Second Law, a planet moves fastest in its orbit when it
is:
A) At aphelion
B) At perihelion
C) At the semi-minor axis
D) Exactly halfway between perihelion and aphelion
