Introduction, Sky & Astrology
- Where does our modern culture fall on the Cosmic Calendar?
- What idea does the Cosmic Calendar help to reinforce?
- What defines a constellation?
- Approximately how many stars can we see in the night sky (10? 100? 1000? etc.)
- What is the Celestial Sphere? Is it real? What is it useful for?
- How do stars appear to move throughout the night? Why?
- What is the Zodiac? What makes these constellations important?
- What is science? What sets it apart from, say, pseudo-science?
- What is astrology? What is it that makes astrology a pseudo-science?
- What forces do we know of? Why can none of these be the “astrological” force?
- Describe any other issues that make the validity of astrology questionable.
Early Astronomy
- Why was astronomy equivalent to astrology in ancient times?
- What importance did the sky have to ancient peoples? Why?
- Why must we take care when study ancient people & their astronomical constructs?
- Choose 3 ancient cultures and describe their use of and/or contributions to astronomy; you should be able to answer questions similar to those below.
- Some of the oldest constellation names originated with…?
- What connection to astronomy might the pyramids have had?
- Why might it be dangerous to be an ancient Chinese astronomer?
- Many star names originate from which culture?
- What (astronomical) things were the Mayans known for?
- What is so perplexing about the `sight lines’ drawn in the desert by the Nazca?
The Greeks
- Where did the Greek tradition of scientific enquiry originate? Why here?
- How did what the Greeks did differ from other ancient cultures?
- List 4 Greek scientists and their major accomplishment(s).
- How did we figure out the Earth had to be a sphere?
- How did we figure out the size of the Earth?
- What were some arguments against a `sun-centered’ solar system?
- What is (stellar) parallax? Why could the Greeks not detect any?
- If science is so great, why didn’t it `take off’ and dominate?
- What was the `geocentric model’?
- What major objection(s) emerged regarding this model? How were they addressed?
- Why did this (incorrect) view of the universe persist for so long?
The Age of Reason: Copernicus, Brahe & Kepler
- How was some of the Ionian knowledge preserved?
- What events led to the `Dark Ages’ in Europe?
- How is `changing your mind’ perceived in general? In science? Why?
- What did Copernicus do? Why was his background important?
- Why was the idea of a heliocentric universe not instantly accepted?
- Who was Tycho Brahe? What was his major contribution to astronomy?
- How did Brahe’s observations challenge the geocentric model?
- Who was Johannes Kepler? How was he different from Brahe?
- Why was Mars a lucky choice for Kepler when contemplating planetary orbits?
- List and explain Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion.
The Age of Reason: Bruno, Galileo & Newton
- Who was Giordano Bruno? What impact did he have on astronomy?
- What happened to Giordano Bruno? Why?
- What instrument was the pre-eminent astronomical tool for millenia?
- What is an `arcminute’?
- What is a telescope’s fundamental purpose? What were early telescopes like?
- Who was Galileo? What was he known for?
- Be able to discuss Galileo’s telescopic observations.
- Why did Galileo have trouble with the Inquisition?
- Who was Isaac Newton? What did he accomplish?
- Discuss the Law of Gravitation.
- Why was Newton’s Law of Gravitation important, philosophically & scientifically?
The Modern Age
- Why was determination of the distance to the Sun so important? How was it done?
- Today we laser-range the distance to the Moon but how did ancient Greeks do it?
- Why were Uranus, Neptune & Pluto discovered later than the other planets?
- Why is the discovery of Neptune touted as a `triumph of science’?
- Why was it important to demonstrate that the Earth did in fact move?
- How was it shown that the Earth rotated & revolved?
- Why was stellar parallax so difficult to demonstrate? How does this limit its use?
- What did many people feel the size of the universe was in Newton’s time?
- What did Newton feel were the characteristics of our universe? His `proof’?
- What problems were there with Newton’s view of the universe?
- What is a `globular cluster’? How were they important?
- Why was the true nature of `spiral nebulae’ so difficult to determine?
- How did visible light telescopes advance during this time?
- Why are today’s largest ground based telescopes reflectors and not refractors?
- What are CCD’s? How did they revolutionize astronomy?
- Despite its modest size the Hubble Space Telescope was a huge leap – why?
- What is adaptive optics? Discuss the overall idea and how it is accomplished.
The Space Age
- What event kicked off the Space Age?
- Why did a `Space Race’ between American and the USSR start?
- Where did the American expertise in rocketry originate?
- What were the main differences between Mercury, Gemini & Apollo?
- Describe the stages of an Apollo lunar mission, detailing the important steps.
- Why do some call the Lunar Module the first `true’ spacecraft?
- Who were the first men to walk on the Moon?
- What happened to Apollo 13?
- What did we learn from exploring the Moon?
- Why did the missions to the Moon end?
- Current plans to return to the Moon look very similar to Apollo. Why?
- Despite the evidence, conspiracy theorists question the moon landings. Why?
- Why is space exploration important?