Term
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Definition
| Work of Francis Bacon that described an ideal society based on organized and applied science and which had a part in the formation of what was to become the Royal Society |
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Term
| the philisophical system of Rene Descartes was based on critical doubt and the |
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Definition
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Term
| Historically, the first scientific society was the |
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Definition
| Accademia dei Lincei in Italy |
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Term
| The largest satellite of Saturn, Titan, was discovered by |
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Definition
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Term
| According to Newton's first law of motion, an object that is not acted on by any external forces |
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Definition
| moves with constant velocity |
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Term
| Uniform circular motion is caused by the operation of a |
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Definition
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Term
| Newton's universal gravitation |
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Definition
| Acts throughout the universe and is of infinite range |
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Term
| According to Newton, an object fired from the earth with more than the escape velocity will follow a trajectory that is part of a |
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Definition
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Term
| Newton's version of Kepler's Third Law (the Harmonic Law) is extremely important because it |
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Definition
| allows us to estimate the masses of astronomical bodies (planets, stars, and galaxies) |
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Term
| The Earth's oblateness is caused by |
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Definition
| its rotation and the resulting centrifugal "force" |
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Term
| The tidal force caused by the Moon at the place on Earth opposite the moon is directed |
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Definition
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Term
| If the earth were perfectly spherical instead of oblate |
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Definition
| there would be no precession |
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Term
| Which of the following did Halley not do in connection with Newton's Principia? |
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Definition
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Term
| The most accurate star positions measured without using a telescope were those of |
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Definition
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Term
| Ole Roemer introduced the practice of measuring one of the equatorial coordinates by recording the sidereal time at which a star transits the celestial meridian. Which coordinate was it? |
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Definition
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Term
| To measure the shape of the Earth, one measures the length of a degree of latitude at different latitudes. If the Earth is prolate, a degree of latitude is |
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Definition
| longer at the Equator than at the poles |
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Term
| The first expedition to bring back data to show that the Earth is in fact oblate was that headed by |
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Definition
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Term
| The straight-line (collinear) solution for the gravitational three-body problem was put forward by |
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Definition
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Term
| The branch of astronomy that deals with orbital motions of astronomical bodies is |
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Definition
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Term
| The "Great Inequality" involves slight orbital irregularities associated with a resonance between the planets |
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Definition
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Term
| The planet Uranus was discovered by |
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Definition
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Term
| A numerical calculation of the orbit of Halley's Comet that accurately predicted the comet's return in 1759 was carried out by |
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Definition
| Clairaut and Madame Lepaute |
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Term
| The fact that the "fixed" stars actually shift their positions on the celestial sphere very slowly because of their individual motions through space (the shifts we call {\it proper motions}) was discovered by |
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Definition
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Term
| The first proof that the Earth goes around the Sun was the aberration of starlight discovered by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| Longitude on the Earth is determined by |
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Definition
| comparing local time witht hat at the Prime Meridian |
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Term
| Mayer's tables of the moon's motuon were |
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Definition
| calculated using Mayer's lunar theory with some perameters determined from observation (semi-empirical) |
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Term
| Observations of the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769 were made for the purpose of finding out |
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Definition
| the length of the astronomical unit (AU) |
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Term
| The type of reflecting telescope having a paraboloidal primary mirror with a hole in the center and a convex secondary mirror is the |
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Definition
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Term
| The instrument used to discover the aberration of starlight and nutation was the |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The solution to the problem of chromatic aberation (though only partial) was the achromatic reflector patented by |
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Definition
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Term
| The approximate date of the Principia is |
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Definition
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Term
| Saturn's peculiar apperance and the disappearance of its "companions were first explained in terms of rings by |
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Definition
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Term
| Newton's theory of gravitation was finally shown to be incomplete or incorrect when which of the following was explained? |
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Definition
| advance of Mercury's perihelion |
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Term
| Toward the end of Newton's life he precipitated the great controversy over priority in inventing the branch of mathematics known as calculus; his antagonist was |
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Definition
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Term
| The concept of impetus introduced by Buridana nd Oresme to correct Aristotle's theory of forced motion could be used to invalidate |
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Definition
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Term
| The medieval astronomy text dealing with the celestial sphere and much of the other material covered in the first part of the course was |
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Definition
| Tractatus de sphaera (Treatise on the Sphere) by Sacrobosco (John of Hollywood) |
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Term
| The first extensive series of fairly accurate observations in Europe were those made by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The Copernican theory presented in De revolutionibus was of major importance because |
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Definition
| it removed the Earth from the center of the Universe |
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Term
| We usually speak of the Copernican theory as heliocentric, yet is this strictly true of the theory in De revolutionibus? |
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Definition
| No, the center of the Earth's orbit -- the "mean Sun" -- is the true center |
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Term
| The unsigned preface to De revolutionibus (On the revolutions) was written by |
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Definition
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Term
| The first planetary tables based on the Copernican theory were the |
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Definition
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Term
| Tycho Brahe's observations of the "new star" of 1572 were very important in showing that |
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Definition
contrary to Aristotle's view, change is possible in the superlunary (celestial) region
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Term
| Tycho Brahe's refraction tables for the Sun differed from those for the stars because |
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Definition
| He used Ptolemy's value for the sun's geocentric parallax, which was badly off |
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Term
| Kepler's first two laws of planetary motion were first presented (for the case of Mars) in |
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Definition
| Astronomia nova (New Astronomy) |
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Term
| Kepler's First Law says that the orbits of planets are |
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Definition
| ellipses with the sun at one focus |
|
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Term
| the collision of the Copernican theory with the Roman Catholic Church was caused by Galileo's |
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Definition
| Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina |
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Term
| Galileo's discovery that Venus has the same phases as the moon |
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Definition
| proved the Ptolemaic theory was wrong |
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Term
| Which of the following was probably NOT a contributing cause of Pope Urban VIII's anger at at Galileo over the Dialogues? |
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Definition
| the book's unmistakable attack on church doctrin |
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Term
| Learning about nature by extracting general principles from specific observations and/or experiments was advocated by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The first known scientific society was the |
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Definition
| Accademia dei Lincei in Italy |
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Term
| Four small satellites of Saturn were discovered by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The first accurate pendulum clock was invented by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The most accurate positional measurements made with the naked eye were those of |
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Definition
|
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Term
| Newton's method used in the Principia was |
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Definition
| a combination of the inductive and deductive methods |
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Term
| According to Newton, in addition to the elliptical orbits found by Kepler, two bodies could also move around each other in |
|
Definition
| parabolic and hyperbolic orbits |
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Term
| According to Newton, precession is caused by |
|
Definition
| the Sun and Moon trying to pull the Earth's equatorial bulge into the ecliptic plane, which is prevented by Earth's rotation |
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Term
| Ole Roemer showed how the transit telescope could be used which of the following accurately? |
|
Definition
| right ascension and declination |
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Term
| The person who played the most important part in publishing the Principia after Newton, who wrote it, was |
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Definition
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Term
| If the length of a degree of latitude decreases as one goes from the Earth's equator to its poles, it means that the Earth's shape is |
|
Definition
| prolate, as the French originally thought |
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Term
| The naked-eye instrument that was used for telling latitude from the Pole Star and for telling the time of night was the |
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Definition
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Term
| The type of telescope having a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece lens is the |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The aberration in which different colors have different focal lengths is |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| The main disadvantage of the early reflectors was |
|
Definition
| the necessity of having to polish the metal mirror quite often because it tarnished |
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Term
| The speed of light was first determined by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The most accurate early determination of the Earth's oblateness was obtained by |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| The proper motions of the stars were discovered by |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| According to Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, the gravitational force is proportional to |
|
Definition
| the inverse square of the distance |
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Term
| The approximate date of Newton was |
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Definition
|
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Term
| Philosophers in the medieval European universities believed that the correct model of the universe was that of |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The Treatise on the Sphere was |
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Definition
| Sacrobosco's basic textbook on the celestial sphere (John of Holywood) |
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Term
| The "Epitome" of Ptolemaic astronomy was a collaboration between Georg Peurbach and |
|
Definition
| Regiomantanus (Johannes Mueller) |
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Term
| Copernicus placed the sun |
|
Definition
| More or less at the center of the universe |
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Term
| Besides changing the title of Copernicus's book, what did Andreas Osiander, who oversaw its publication, do to deflect criticism by Protestants? |
|
Definition
| Added an unsigned preface saying that the heliocentric model was not intended to be a true picture but only useful for calculations |
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Term
| The first planetary tables based on the Copernican theory, the Prutenic Tables, were produced by |
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Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Tycho Brahe showed the "new star" of 1572 to contradict Aristotle by |
|
Definition
| Measuring that it had no geocentric parralax |
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Term
| Kepler's work in which he first "explained" the planets' distances from the sun using the regular solids (cube, tetrahedron, etc) was |
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Definition
|
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Term
| According to Kepler's Second Law (Law of Areas), a given planet moves fastest in its orbit at |
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Definition
|
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Term
| Galileo's first discoveries with the telescope were reported in his book |
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Definition
|
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Term
| Galileo's discovery that venus goes through all the phases that the moon does |
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Definition
| Proved that the Ptolemaic model was wrong |
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Term
| Which of the characters in Galileo's "Dialogue on the Two Great World Systems" presented Pope Urban VIII's argument at the end? |
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Definition
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Term
| How did Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's four large moons support the Copernican theory? |
|
Definition
| it showed that moons could orbit something that was itself moving without being left behind, countering one argument against the earth's motion |
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Term
| The advocate of the inductive method in natural philosophy was |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The idea that comets are burnt-out stars passing from one vortex to another and can only pass through the solar system once was due to |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The idea that there are infinitely many planetary systems and many planets with living beings was suggested by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The first scientific society was the |
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Definition
| Accademia del Lincei (Academy of the Lynx-Eyed) |
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Term
| The "aerial" telescope, with only a rope between the objective lens and the eyepiece lens, was devised by |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| The first reasonably correct determination of the length of the astronomical unit (AU) was obtained through measurement of Mars's geocentric parallex at opposition by |
|
Definition
| Giovanni Domenico Cassini |
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|
Term
| The most accurate measurements of star positions made without benefir of telescopic sights were those of |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| In his "Principia," Newton used |
|
Definition
| A combination of the inductive and deductive methods |
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|
Term
| According to Newton's second law of motion, if the same force is applied to two objects, one more massive than the other, |
|
Definition
| the less massive one is accellerated more |
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|
Term
| According to the law of Universal Gravitation, the attractive force is |
|
Definition
| inversely proportional to the square of the distance |
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Term
| Which of the following is a possible form of the orbits in the gravitational two-body problem not found by Kepler? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| Newton's explanation of the tides was that they are caused by |
|
Definition
| differences between the gravitational acceleration due to the moon (and Sun) at various points and the acceleration of the Earth as a whole |
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Term
| The first map of stars in the southern sky made by a European was that of some 350 stars by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The first determination that the Earth is oblate rather than prolate as Newton and Huygens had predicted, ws that of |
|
Definition
| Maupertuis and the Lapland expedition |
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Term
| Tycho Brahe introduced the use of transversals (zigzag patterns of dots) on angular scales in order to |
|
Definition
| increase the precision of the measurement |
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Term
| Which of the following is an advantage of the Galilean refractor over the Keplerian (astronomical) refractor? |
|
Definition
| upright image instead of inverted |
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Term
| The reflector having a solid primary mirror (ie no hole in its center) and a flat secondary mirror that reflects light to the side is the |
|
Definition
|
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Term
| The failure of a refractor to bring all colors of light to a focus at the same distance from the objective lens is called |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The instrument used for correcting the altitude of Polaris to find one's latitude as well as for telling the time at night was the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The approximate date of Johannes Kepler is |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The approximate date of Newton is |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| In his original correspondence with Kepler in 1597, Galileo wrote that he |
|
Definition
| was a Copernican but chose not to go public because he didn't wish to be bothered about it |
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|
Term
| Which of Galileo's discoveries with the telescope is more an argument against Aristotle than it is an argument against Ptolemy? |
|
Definition
| The moon's surface is rough, with craters and mountains |
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|
Term
| A special emphasis was placed on the practical application of scientific knowledge by |
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Definition
|
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Term
| The approach to natural philosophy by reasoning from scientific experiments or observations to general principles is called the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Descarte's idea of a universe that is nowhere empty |
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|
Term
| The organization that formally (if not financially) sponsored Newton's "Principia" and indirectly led to its being written was |
|
Definition
| The Royal Society of London |
|
|
Term
| The largest satellite of Saturn, Titan, was discovered by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The Paris Observatory was founded by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The speed of light was first successfully measured by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The method used by Newton in his "Principia" was |
|
Definition
| a combination of the inductive and deductive methods |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| is proportional to the inverse square of the distance and therefore has infinite range |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is NOT a possible orbit shape in the two-body problem? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Jupiter's mass is approximately 0.001 that of the sun. The center of mass of the Sun-Jupiter system (considering just those two) is located |
|
Definition
| Very near the sun's center |
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|
Term
| The critical speed for an object to go into Earth orbit is termed the Earth's |
|
Definition
| circular or orbital velocity |
|
|
Term
| Newton's version of Kepler's Third (Harmonic) Law, is very important mainly because it is used to |
|
Definition
| estimate masses of stars and galaxies |
|
|
Term
| The Earth's oblateness is caused by |
|
Definition
| centrifugal force arising from its rotation |
|
|
Term
| The tidal acceleration caused by the Moon at the point on the Earth midway between the nearest point and the farthest point (diagram) |
|
Definition
| is directed inwards, toward's the earth's center |
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|
Term
| The tides that occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are at syzygy (along a straight line), so that their tidal forces are reinforcing each other, are called |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The phenomenon that results when the tidal forces of the Sun try to pull the Moon's orbit plane into allignment with the ecliptic plane is |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The publication cost of Newton's "Principia" was paid mainly by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The second Astronomer Royal was |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| If the earth is oblate, the distance corresponding to one degree change in latitude |
|
Definition
| increases from the equator to the pole |
|
|
Term
| The expedition whose measurements gave the first accurate measurement of the Earth's oblateness was led by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The first proof that the earth goes around the sun was |
|
Definition
| the discovery of the aberration of starlight |
|
|
Term
| The prediction of the return of Halley's comet based on Newton's gravitational theory, which confirmed the theory in addition to disproving Descarte's idea about comets, was made by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The so-called "Great Inequality" is |
|
Definition
| a near-resonance between Jupiter and Saturn |
|
|
Term
| Expeditions were sent out from France and England to observe the Venus transits of 1761 and 1769 in order to determin |
|
Definition
| the length of the astronomical unit (through solar parallax) |
|
|
Term
| The first lunar theory that was good enough to be used for finding longitude was |
|
Definition
| Tobias Mayer's semiempirical theory |
|
|
Term
| The astronomical or Keplerian refractor has the advantage over the Galilean refractor in which of the following respects? |
|
Definition
| a real image, which can be viewed simultaneously with wires at the focus, as with crosshairs |
|
|
Term
| The type of reflector having a paraboloidal primary mirror and a flat secondary mirror reflecting the light to a focus out to the side near the front is the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The kind of aberration in which rays that come in at an oblique angle to the central axis of a paraboloidal mirror are focused in a comma- or teardrop-shaped region at the edge of the field of view is |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| With the transit telescope, a star's declination is found by |
|
Definition
| calculation from its measured altitude, correcting for the observor's latitude |
|
|
Term
| The approximate date of Newton's "Principia" was |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| At his trial in 1633, Galileo's sentence was |
|
Definition
| house arrest for life, recitation of a penitential psalm once a week, and prohibition on publication |
|
|
Term
| Newton himself considered the most productive time of his life for mathematics and science (natural philosophy) to have been when he was |
|
Definition
| home at Woolsthorpe during the plague years |
|
|
Term
| Newton's "Principia" originated |
|
Definition
| as a followup to a conversation among members (Fellows) of the Royal Society--Wren, Hooke, and Halley |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following did Halley not do in connection with Newton's "Principia"? |
|
Definition
| Write a considerable portion of it |
|
|
Term
| The methodology employed by Newton in his "Principia" was |
|
Definition
| a combination of the inductive and deductive methods |
|
|
Term
| The mathematics of "Principia" was |
|
Definition
| almost calculus, but not quite, yet very difficult |
|
|
Term
| According to Newton's Laws of Motion, an object in not being acted on by a net external force so long as |
|
Definition
| its velocity isn't changing |
|
|
Term
| Which is accelerated more by their forces on each other, the Earth or the Moon? (Earth is more massive) |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Uniform circular motion is caused by the operation of a |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| If two planets have the same mass but different radii, which will have the larger surface gravity? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following orbits is a periodic orbit in the two-body problem |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| According to Newton, an object fired from the earth with exactly the escape velocity will follow a trajectory that is part of a |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The Earth's mass is about 81 times greater than the Moon's. Then the center of mass of the Earth-Moon system is located |
|
Definition
| Near the center of the earth |
|
|
Term
| Newton showed that Kepler's Law of Areas (Second Law) is actually a result of the conservation of |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following quantities doesn't appear in Newton's version of Kepler's Third Law? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The tidal force caused by the moon at the place on the earth farthest from the moon is directed |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The tides that occur when the sun, moon, and earth lie nearly along a straight line are called |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The earth's oblateness is caused by |
|
Definition
| its rotation and the resulting centrifugal "force" |
|
|
Term
| The Earth's precession (of the equinoxes) is caused by |
|
Definition
| tidal forces of the Sun and Moon trying to pull its equatorial bulge into alignment with the ecliptic plane |
|
|
Term
| To measure the shape of the Earth, one measures the length of a degree of latitude at different latitudes. If the earth is oblate, a degree of latitude is |
|
Definition
| shorter at the equator than at the poles |
|
|
Term
| Toward the end of Newton's life he precipitated the great controversy over priority in inventing the branch of mathematics now known as calculus; his antagonist was |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The first expedition to bring back accurate data which indicated the actual oblateness of the earth was that headed by |
|
Definition
| Godin, La Condamine, and Bouger |
|
|
Term
| The branch of astronomy that deals with the positions of astronomical bodies on the sky is |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The "great inequality" is a 900-year cycle associated with a resonance between the planets |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| A numerical calculation of the orbit of Halley's Comet that accurately predicted the comet's return in 1759 was carried out by |
|
Definition
| Clairaut, Madame Lepaute, and Lalande |
|
|
Term
| The fact that the "fixed" stars actually shift their positions on the celestial sphere very slowly because of their individual motions through space (the shifts we call proper motions) was discovered by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The first proof that the Earth goes around the sun was the aberration of starlight discovered by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Longitude on the Earth is determined by |
|
Definition
| Comparing local time with time at the Prime Meridian |
|
|
Term
| Mayer's tables of the Moon's motion were |
|
Definition
| calculated using Mayer's lunar theory with many parameters determined from observation (semi-empirical) |
|
|
Term
| Halley pointed out that observations of the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769 would give an accurate value for |
|
Definition
| The length of the Astronomical Unit |
|
|
Term
| The "Treatise on Celestial Mechanics which was the high point of eighteenth century celestial mechanics was written by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Newton's theory of gravitation was finally shown to be incomplete or incorrect when which of the following was explained? |
|
Definition
| advance of mercury's perihelon |
|
|
Term
| The refracting telescope having a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece lens is known as the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The reflecting telescope having a concave primary mirror and a concave secondary mirror is the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The problem with the refracting telescope that causes color fringes around images and motivated Newton to turn to mirrors for the main optical element instead of lenses was |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| the solution to the problem of chromatic aberration (though only partially) was the achromatic refractor patented by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The instrument used to discover the aberration of starlight and nutation was the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The approximate date of Newton |
|
Definition
|
|
