Exam 21: Origin of Modern Astronomy

The apparent westward "drift" of the planets compared to the background stars is called ________.

In the Ptolemaic system, planets orbited in small circles called ________ while revolving along large circles called ________.

This scientist was the first to use the telescope in astronomy.

The period of time required for the Moon to complete a cycle of phases is called the ________ month.

The belt of constellations through which all the planets move is called the ________.

This astronomer spent 20 years plotting the position of the planet Mars.

Earth is closest to the Sun in January.

When Earth is farthest from the Sun, its location is referred to as the ________ position.

The ancient Greeks proposed an Earth-centered view of the universe.

Sir Isaac Newton was convicted of heresy for supporting the Sun-centered view of the universe.

The same side of the Moon is always visible from Earth.

Three laws of planetary motion were discovered by ________.

Solar eclipses are more common than are lunar eclipses.

The planets maintain elliptical orbits around the Sun.

The apparent westward drift of the planets as compared to the background stars is called ________ motion.

Galileo discovered that the Sun has "blemishes," which we call sunspots.

The proposal that contends that the Sun is in the center of the universe is called the ________ view.

The first modern astronomer to propose a Sun-centered universe was ________.

A total eclipse of the Sun can be seen only along a narrow zone.

In the Ptolemaic (Greek) model of the universe, the stars are attached to the ________.