Exam 1: Discovering the Night Sky

The length of time for the Moon to move from new Moon to new Moon is known as one synodic month.Compared with one full orbital period with respect to the star background,or one sidereal month,the synodic month is:

When the Sun pulls DOWNWARD on the bulge at Earth's equator,Earth responds by:

If you were standing on the equator,which of the following positions in the sky would pass directly over your head (i.e.,through your zenith)? (See Figure 1-15,Comins,Discovering the Essential Universe,6th ed.)

Which of the Moon's phases is most easily seen during the daytime?

Two celestial coordinates that together describe a star's position precisely in our sky are:

During a partial lunar eclipse,the illuminated portion of the Moon's surface receives light from:

Because of precession,how long will it be before Earth's spin axis points toward the present pole star again?

If the Moon is located at the vernal equinox on the first day of spring,what is the phase of the Moon?

Which of the following lines or points is always directly over your head,no matter where on Earth you go?

In a penumbral lunar eclipse:

If you point toward the zenith today and point there again 45 days later,you will have pointed twice in the same direction relative to:

If you observe from a location north of the equator the Sun's position on the horizon as it rises each morning throughout the year,you will find that the:

How long will it take for precession to move the Earth's spin axis to a position perpendicular to the ecliptic plane?

In this age of space exploration,mankind has now traveled to the Moon.By how many orders of magnitude (powers of ten)was this journey greater than that of Columbus when he traveled from the Old World to the Americas?

Why is the period between two successive full Moons NOT equal to the Moon's orbital period,or sidereal month?

The total phase of a particular solar eclipse can be seen:

What will the right ascension of the Sun be on June 21 of this year?

In the system of celestial coordinates that matches latitude and longitude up Earth,which is the coordinate that is equivalent to latitude?

The phase of the Moon when the Sun and the Moon have the same right ascension is:

The Moon will appear to an observer at mid-latitudes on Earth to rise in the east,in solar time,about (You might attempt to verify this by observation!):