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University of Phoenix Material

Basics of Astronomy Worksheet

Complete the table based on the readings for this week: Ch. 1–4 of The Essential Cosmic Perspective.

|Term or concept |Definition and explanation |

|The Universe | |

| | |

|What is Earth’s Sun and what is its role in the solar system? | |

|What is the Milky Way galaxy and the Sun’s position in it? | |

|What is the Big Bang and what does it say about the age of the | |

|universe? | |

|What is meant by the phase “looking out in the universe is looking | |

|back in time?” | |

|Location in the Universe | |

| | |

|What is Earth’s place in the solar system? | |

|How close are the nearest stars to the Sun as compared to the | |

|distance between the Sun and the Earth? | |

|How large is the Milky Way galaxy? | |

|How many stars are estimated to exist in this galaxy? | |

|How old is the earth compared to the universe itself? | |

|Motion in the Universe | |

| | |

|How fast does the Earth move around the Sun? Compare that to fast | |

|things in day-to-day life. | |

|How is the Sun moving in the galaxy? | |

|How are the galaxies around the Milky Way galaxy moving from humans’| |

|point of view? | |

|Significance of the Celestial Sphere | |

| | |

|What important directions and coordinate systems help you find your | |

|way around the sky? | |

|Why do stars have different levels of brightness and how does one | |

|describe their brightness as compared to one another? | |

|What are constellations? | |

|What is Polaris, and what is its significance in the sky? | |

|Why does the Moon change its phase, how does it move, and how do | |

|these combine to create eclipses? | |

|History of Astronomy | |

| | |

|What is the science of astronomy? | |

|What is the scientific method, and how does it relate to the science| |

|of astronomy? | |

|Who was Aristotle, and what was his relationship to the science of | |

|astronomy? | |

|What was the Copernican revolution? | |

|What observations did Galileo make that proved that planets go | |

|around the Sun? | |

|Seasons of the Earth | |

| | |

|How does the Earth rotate, and how does that relate to day and night| |

|or the seasons? | |

|How does the Earth revolve, and how does that relate to day and | |

|night or the seasons? | |

|What causes the seasons? Is it the tilt of the Earth’s axis or its | |

|changing distance from the Sun throughout the year? | |

|Gravity, Free Fall, and Orbits | |

| | |

|What is gravity, and how much weaker does it get as you get farther | |

|from the center of a body? | |

|Are objects in orbit of the Earth still under the influence of | |

|gravity? | |

|An object in orbit falls around the Earth. What do planets, comets, | |

|and asteroids fall around? | |

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