Term
| Who built the Sunn Dagger? Approximatly when did they build it and where is it located? |
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Definition
Anasazi, prehistoria pueblo indians
AD 1000 in Chaco Canyon, N.M. |
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Term
| What is the origin and meaning of the name Anasazi? |
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Definition
| comes from anatsazi, means "the ancient enemies" |
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Term
| What observation led Anna Sofaer to suspect the moving dager of light was something more than just a noon marker? |
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Definition
| she questioned why the dagger of light could be moving vertically downward when the sun is moving horizontally across the sky. |
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Term
| Name four ways the Sun Dagger differs from other prehistoric calandars in the New World. |
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Definition
It utilizes the changing height of the sun at miday.
It changes horizontal movement of the sun's path across the sky into vertical motion of the daggers across the spirals
It marks the extreme positions of both the sun and moon at one site.
It is made of natural materials on the butte; it does not appear to be a man made structure. |
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Term
| Explain why Newton's Laws of gravity helped to solidify the foundation of Kepler's laws and the heliocentric model of the solar system |
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Definition
| Newton's laws of gravity says that it also works in the atmosphere, so the fact that his laws are based upon the theory that objects are not revolving around the Earth is proved by the laws of gravity. The basic idea is that gravity is universal and explains all the motions. |
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Term
| Explain why the apple falls from the tree but the Moon remains "suspended" in the sky, as Newton explained it. |
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Definition
| Newton's law of gravity also states that it does not just work on Earth, and that the force making the apple fall from the tree is the same force that makes the moon stay in the sky. |
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Term
| What are Kepler's three laws of planetary motion? |
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Definition
"The Law of Ellipses"
"The Equal-Areas Law"
"The Harmonic Law" |
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Term
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Definition
| The orbits of the planets are ellipses with the Sun at one of the foci. |
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Term
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Definition
| The line that connects the planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times. |
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Term
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Definition
| The squares of the orbital periods of the planets around the Sun are proportional to the cubes of the orbital semi-major axes.... P^2=a^3 |
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Term
| The Pyramid of the Sun in the Aztec city of Teotihuacan seems to face in a direction perpendicular to the main avenue, the "street of the dead" through the city. This direction is also the same as the alignment marked by the Viking Group pecked cross and the Cerro Colorado pecked cross (seen in the photo on page 282). First, what is a pecked cross? Second, what do we think the Pyramid of the Sun was actually pointed toward, astronomically, and why would that astronomical object be significant? |
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Definition
| Pecked cross is a sequences of shallow holes chipped into the rock or punctured into the floor. These then resemble speed limit signs. The pyramid was pointed at the pleadies it was important because it was the heriacle rising at the zenith passage. |
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Term
| Near Cuzco, at a place known as Mismanay, the city is divided into four parts, with the intersection at a chapel known as Crucero. Explain how the motion of the Milky Way in the sky (unique to this specific latitude) inspires these paths which point along the intercardinal (NE, NW, SE, SW) directions. |
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Definition
In Mismay, the people see the sky in intercardinal terms. Milkyway develops intercardinal directions.
• It rolls up each night from the eastern horizon and arcs through the zenith. One end intersects the southeastern horizon, while the other drops out of sight in the Northwest |
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Term
| Explain what a ceque and a huaca is to the Inca. How did the Inca use these to organize their empire? |
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Definition
The whole incan plan was to incorporate a system of lines of shrines
• A huaca was a place or feature that had a sacred meaning
• A line formed by several huacas is a ceque |
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Term
| Templo Mayor in the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan is skewed from a cardinal alignment so that it faces 7 degrees south of east instead of due east like most other buildings. Nevertheless, the Aztecs used the building to mark the days of the equinox, when the Sun rose directly East. Explain how the Aztecs used this "misaligned" building to mark the sun's location on the equinox (use a diagram to help with this answer) |
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Definition
| The temple was high enough so when the sun is high enough in the sky during its equinox the sun appears between the top at the Temple of Mayor. |
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Term
| What is the origin of the term "feng-shui", a technique used today even in America to design homes and neighborhoods? |
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Definition
| It originated from a process known as geomancy, which is how cities, houses, and tombs were oriented according to symbolic and practical rules |
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Term
| In the discussion of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, Sir Norman Lockyer had proposed that the temple is aligned with a star in Ursa Major or Draco. What is wrong with this idea? According to texts found at the temple, what was observed from the rooftop and why did this observation coincide with the Egyptian New Year? |
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Definition
| The Temple was not aligned with Ursa Major and it would of been aligned if the temple was 3,000-4,000 years older. On the rooftop they would watch heliacal rising of sirius. Sirius was the mother of the New Year. |
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Term
| Structure J at the Zapotec temple of Monte Alban in Central America has an alignment that seems to point toward a particular place on the horizon where the bright star Capella can be seen. Explain the significance of Capella and the what was likely observed here and at the neighboring building, Structure P. |
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Definition
| Capella star made its first reappearance in the predawn sky on the first of the year's tow zenith passages of the sun at Monte Alban. A structure P they observed the passage of the Zenith sun. |
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Term
| Explain how the Sun "weaves" the threads that make up the floor of the Kogi temples. |
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Definition
| Four fire places in the temple are the four corners of the loom and the sun's cyclical changes of its daily path are transformed into a cloth of light on the temple floor. |
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Term
| Explain the structure of kivas of the Pueblo and Anasazi indians in the American southwest. Specifically, why were they built underground and entered via climbing down a ladder through a hole in the ceiling? Why did they use four large wooden poles for roof supports, as opposed to some other number? Why were they round, as opposed to some other shape? |
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Definition
| Kivas were circular and covered by a roof and one entered through a hole in the ceiling and a wooden ladder provided access to the floor. Kiva is a no bigger than 25 feet in diameter. They were built underground because the indians believed their ancestors came from the underworld. They would go through a whole and climb down a ladder because it is symbolic component of the chamber going into the underworld. The four posts represent the four trees in the underworld. The Kiva is round because the world's rim is round. |
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Term
| According to Feynman in the reading "Cargo Cult Science", what sort of actions should scientists take in order to have the utmost integrity and therefore confidence in the accuracy of the results? Briefly explain two examples. |
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Definition
| To have utmost integrity and confidence in the accuracy of results we just need one thing—honesty. For example, if a scientist is doing an experiment he should not only report what he thinks is right about it, but everything that could make it untrue, other factors that could explain your results, and things they thought of that they've eliminated by another experiment, and how they worked. They must try to explain anything at all wrong, or possibly wrong with the experiment. To illustrate, if you make a theory and advertise it, you must not only put out the facts that agree with it, but also the ones that disagree with it. The goal is to give all of the information on your idea or experiment to help others judge the value of your belief. |
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Term
| From the reading "Cargo Cult Science", briefly explain the story of the Millikan oil drop experiment and the subsequent history. Explain why this was such an embarrassing episode for scientists. |
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Definition
| Millikan was measuring the charge of an electron by an experiment of falling oil drops, and when he got his answer it was published. When other scientists emulated the experiment, they got much larger numbers in their results. These scientists found reasons to go back and get different results in order to get a number closer to Millikans. This was embarrassing because scientists were deducing information based off a publication rather than the results at hand. |
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Term
| How does the Sun Dagger mark the winter solstice differently from the summer solstice? Explain when and why these events occur. |
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Definition
In winter the sun is low in the sky, but in the summer the sun is very high, thus the sunlight falls on the calendar at different angles.
Summer Solstice is June 21st, the longest day of the year, when the sun moves farthest north and summer begin.
Winter solstice is December 21st, when the sun is farthest south and winter begins.
The solstice and equinox events result from the tilt of the earth's axisrelative to the earth's orbit around the sun, not from movements of the sun itself. |
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Term
| What evidence are we shown that the Anasazi were concerned with things other than just "getting food into their stomachs" |
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Definition
elaborate stone architecture
Complex road network
artistic jewlery and ceramics
Run off water irrigation
complex ritual and ceremonial life
construction on sun dagger calender |
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Term
| What is the Pueblo Indian Kiva? |
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Definition
| a circular ceremonial pit built into the ground, a focal point of spiritual and political life for a pueblo indians. |
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Term
| How was the speed of ships determined in knots? |
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Definition
| It was a triangle of wood which was called the log, and onto that was tied the line. It was a knotted line, knots tied at intervals of about 48 feet 3 inches. The navigator would throw the line over the side of the ship. And the first 50 feet of line would be clear, but as soon as the marker on the line passed through the navigator's fingers, the navigator would shout "Turn" and count the number of knots flowing through his fingers in the time it took a 28-second sand glass to flow through. This would give the speed of the ship in knots. |
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Term
| What task/journey was required to ”prove” the method for determining longitude? |
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Definition
| must know the time to prove longitude. the chalange was knowing the time of the home base |
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Term
| What three effects hampered the relability of clocks? |
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Definition
| temperature, friction, and gravity |
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Term
| Explain the two astronomical methods were/can also used to determine longitude? |
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Definition
| jupitars moons and lunar distance |
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Term
| How accurate a H4 in longitude and in time? |
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Definition
| a few miles, and within 30 seconds |
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Term
| Explain the daily motion of stars and be able to draw this on a celestial sphere diagram. |
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Definition
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Term
| Explain why some stars are circumpolar. Use a celestial sphere diagram to help explain why stars at higher declinations are more likely to be circumpolar stars. |
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Definition
Stars near the celestial poles do not rise or set. Instead they circle the poles and are called circumpolar .
• In the northern hemisphere, the stars circle the pole in a counterclockwise direction. |
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Term
| Be able to draw a horizon diagram showing the daily motions of stars at all declinations from various latitudes on the Earth. |
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Definition
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Term
| Explain why we see different constellations overhead at the same time of night on different days of the year. A simple diagram may help. |
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Definition
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Term
| What is special about the latitudes of the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 North) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 South)? Be able to draw a horizon diagram from these specific latitudes to help explain what makes them significant. |
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Definition
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Term
| What is special about the latitudes of the Arctic Circle (66.5 North) and the Antarctic Circle (66.5 South)? Be able to draw a horizon diagram from these specific latitudes to help explain what makes them significant. |
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Definition
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Term
| Use a diagram like figure 2.15 in your textbook to help explain why the Northern hemisphere is warmer in June compared to the Southern hemisphere (two reasons). |
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Definition
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Term
| What does solstice translate to literally, and why does this make sense? In other words, describe what is happening to the Sun's rising or setting point near the solstice. (HW) |
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Definition
| sun-stop the suns stopping pint high and low (summer and winter) |
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Term
| What does equinox translate to literally, and why does this make sense? In other words, what is happening in the sky during the equinox? (HW) |
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Definition
| equinox means equal night, which means equal day and night |
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Term
| What is the Milky Way as it appears on the sky? In other words, describe the Milky Way on the sky and explain what it is we are actually looking at when we see the Milky Way. (HW) |
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Definition
| appearance as a dim "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky. like a band because it is a disk-shaped structure being viewed from inside. |
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Term
| What is the Age of Aquarius, and what does it have to do with the Earth's precession? What exactly is precession (diagram would help)? (HW) |
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Definition
| Astrologers maintain that an astrological age is a product of the earth's slow precessional rotation and lasts for 2,150 years, on average. Astrological ages, however, proceed in the opposite direction ("retrograde" in astronomy) |
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Term
| Where does the word "month" come from and why is a month about 30 days? (HW) |
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Definition
| because month comes from moon which represent its phases through 30 days of transistioning |
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Term
| Why can't we use the repeating phases of the Moon to keep a calendar for use in, say, an agricultural calendar? (HW) |
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Definition
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Term
| The death of Osiris is typically observed in Egyptian mythology on the 17th day of a certain month. Explain why that day is the appropriate time for such a ritual. (HW) |
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Definition
| The death of Osiris is marked on the 17th day of Ayther in the Egyptian calendar when the moon starts to wane or "die" for the month, and the Nile river starts to decline from it's maximum height of the year of 28 cubits. |
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Term
| What is the definition of "heliacal rising"? Why was the heliacal rising of Sirius significant in the Egyptian calendar? (HW) |
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Definition
| Thus the helical rising of Sirius was an accurate reference point for the The rising of a celestial object at the same time or just before the sun. Earth’s orbit round the sun and could be used to predict seasonal events, and begining of egyptian calender |
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Term
| In most cultures, the gods associated with the sky, weather, rain and lightning are male, but the Egyptians personified the sky as a goddess. Explain why. |
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Definition
| The goddess swallows the Sun every night, but the Sun is reborn from her loins each dawn. She also consumes the stars that set and gave birth to them at sunset when she at the the sun. |
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Term
| Is Earth the only body in the solar system which can have total solar eclipses? |
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Definition
| No, Jupiter can have solar eclipses. |
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Term
| Be able to answer questions about where the Moon is found in the sky at different times. |
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Definition
New- 6am-6pm
Waxing Cr- 9am-9pm
1st Q- noon-midnight
Waxing Gib- 3pm-3am
Full- 6pm-6am
Waning Gib- 9pm-9am
3rd Q- midnight-noon
Waning Cr- 3am-3pm |
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Term
| Be able to draw in and label the eight major phases of the Moon on a Sun-Earth-Moon diagram. |
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Definition
| New, waxing crescent, 1st quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, 3rd quarter, waning crescent. |
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Term
| Be able to identify what celestial cycle forms the basis for different calendars (e.g., Egyptian, Islamic, etc.) |
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Definition
| Most ancient calendars are based on the phases of the moon. Ancient Greeks, Sumarians, Chinese, and Anazazi used a 12 month lunar calendar with 354 days. Greeks alternated between 29 and 30 days so average was 29.5. Egyptian calendars determined the year was ~365 days long by noting when the Nile flooded. First civ to use a solar calendar. |
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Term
| Describe the sun dagger phenomenon found in many places throughout the American southwest. When we find alignments with particular phenomena on the horizon, how do we determine whether they are intentional or accidental? |
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Definition
| t's a carving in a rock that has light that shows through in dagger form during the summer solstice. We determine they're intentional when there are multiple occurrences of the same special phenomenon in the same general area. |
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Term
| During a total eclipse of the sun what's the phase of the Earth as seen from the moon? |
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Definition
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Term
| Explain how monuments like Stonehenge or tombs like Newgrange may have helped ancient cultures establish a calendar or tell what time of the year it was. |
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Definition
| Since they marked different solar events such as the summer solstice, it was essentially like a giant solar calendar. |
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Term
| Explain the difference between a sidereal and solar day on Earth. Which is longer and why? |
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Definition
SOLAR: How long it takes the sun to get to the same spot (24 hr)
SIDEREAL: How long it takes Earth to go 360 degrees (23 hrs 56 min) |
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Term
| Explain the difference between a sidereal and synodic (solar) month. Which is longer and why? |
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Definition
SIDEREAL: How long it takes the moon to return to a given position among stars, 27.3 days
SYNODIC: Cycle of moon phases, 29.5 days |
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Term
| Explain the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse. |
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Definition
LUNAR ECLIPSE: only occurs at a full moon when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon. Lasts up to 1 hr 40 minutes.
SOLAR ECLIPSE: only occurs at a new moon when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. Lasts up to 7 min 40 seconds. |
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Term
| Explain the origin of the Christmas holiday. Why do we celebrate Christmas in December 25 instead of in April, the time of year most scholars believe Christ was born? |
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Definition
| It was in the same time of the winter solstice, which is all about the rebirth of the new world. It's a date that's very rich in cool celestial cycles and seasonal symbolism. There were many long standing popular traditions, such as early Christianity's competitor Mithraism, that this borrowed from (their Sun God's birthday) |
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Term
| Explain the significance of the Star of Bethlehem story in the gospel of Matthew by summarizing how this story shared ideas and traditions seen in other cultures in Egypt and Mesoamerica. |
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Definition
| The Star of Bethlehem is the celestial sign of a new order in the Christmas story. |
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Term
| Explain two pieces of evidence to indicate that the image in the lid of the sarcophagus of Lord Pacal at the Palenque temple is meant to represent his death, as opposed to the interpretation that Pacal was some sort of astronaut on board a rocket ship. |
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Definition
| There's a face that's fleshed above the jaw but skeletal below, which signifies his transition from the middle world (life) to the underworld (death). Pacal is falling into underworld as the winter solstice falls into the maw of the earth and dies (winter solstice sun is in line of the center of the top of his tomb and folls the same angle as the first stairway descending to Pacal's tomb. |
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Term
| Feb 15, the Moon is a waxing gibbous. When would you expect to see the Moon? |
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Definition
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Term
| Feb 20, the Moon is a waning crescent. What is the phase of the Earth as seen from the Moon? |
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Definition
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Term
| Feb 21, the Moon is new. What is the phase of the moon on March 6? |
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Definition
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Term
| If you are standing on the moon in a place where the Earth is directly overhead and the Sun is on your Eastern horizon, consider the following: How long until the Earth sets (if ever)? How long until the Sun sets (if ever)? |
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Definition
| The Earth will never set, it will always be directly overhead. The Sun will set after about 2 weeks, when the moon is in 1st quarter (it was in 3rd quarter when the Sun was on the eastern horizon). |
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Term
| Name and briefly explain two arguments that can be used to refute the misconception that the phases of the Moon are caused by the shadow of the Earth. |
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Definition
-If the moon's phases are caused by the Earth, it would mean that the moon would always be in the state of a lunar eclipse, which isn't possible because the Earth rarely blocks the Moon's pathway to the Sun.
-The phases of the moon are caused by the angle of the Earth to the moon. |
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Term
| The tombs of Chinese royalty are usually oriented north-south. Explain why the Emperors usually oriented their tombs and palaces so they had to be approached form the South. In other words, why did these leaders associate themselves with the North? |
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Definition
| The north pole of the sky (around which everything else seems to turn) establishes the primary direction, and the other three follow naturally. |
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Term
| There are two shafts within the Great Pyramid that appear to be astronomically aligned. Explain why it makes sense for one shaft to point toward Orion's Belt and the other to point toward the meridian crossing of Thuban. |
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Definition
| It points to Orion's Belt because the pharoh is supposed to make a celestial journey to Orion, which is a symbol of his rebirth because Orion stood for Osiris and the great cycle of birth/life/death/resurection. It marked the hours of the night throughout the Egyption year. The other points to the meridian crossing of Thubian because it was considered the North Star and it was the circumpolar zone was the realm of immortality. |
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Term
| Though no written records exist, explain two pieces of evidencethat support the idea that the tomb at the Irish tomb of Newgrange was astronomically aligned purposefully. |
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Definition
| Only the roofbox allows light to reach the inner chamber, but only on the winter solstice. This is covered quartz stones, which hold significance to the Sun. Winter solstice sunrise is important because it symbolizes death and rebirth at the same time. |
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Term
| Use a side view of the Moon's orbit and the Ecliptic plane to help explain why the Moon doesn't undergo a lunar or solar eclipse every month. |
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Definition
| The Moon's orbit is slightly inclined to the ecliptic, so the chance that a new or full Moon will occur just as the Moon crosses the ecliptic plane is not very common. |
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Term
| What are eclipse seasons? |
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Definition
| Eclipse seasons are the only times during a year eclipses can occur, due to the 5° inclination of the moon's orbit. |
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Term
| What is the dark side of the moon? |
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Definition
| The side that always faces away from the earth (never visible), but gets just as much light as the near side. |
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Term
| What is the Metonic Cycle? Why is it used? |
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Definition
| It was a 19 year lunar/solar calendar that was used before the Julian calendar. It has 235 synodic months in it. It's still used in some religious sects to determine holidays like Easter. |
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Term
| What is the significance of the 70 day time period to the Egyptians. Why, for example, did the purification of a dead body (mummification) take 70 days? |
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Definition
| It imitated the behaviors of Sirius, which disappeared from the night sky for 70 days. The decan's departure from the night sky symbolized its death, and for that period, it resided int he dangerous realm of Tual where the Sun went every night. The end of the 70 day purificationof the body meant the dead pharoah was reborn. |
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Term
| What was the main divine role of the Sun in the cultures described in the reading? What was the main divine role of the Moon in these cultures? |
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Definition
Sun- ruler of the day, cosmic law
Moon- the calendar-keeper and scheduler of feasts, lord of knowledge, linked with life and fertility |
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Term
| What's a total solar eclipse |
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Definition
| Occurs when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely obscured the super bright light of the Sun, allowing the corona to be visible. Totality only occurs at best only in a narrow track on the Earth surface. |
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Term
| What's an annular eclipse? |
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Definition
| Occurs when the Sun/Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than the Sun. The Sun appears as bright ring (annulus) surrounding the Moon's outline. |
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Term
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Definition
| When the Moon rocks back and forth. |
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Term
| What's perigee and apogee? |
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Definition
Perigee- when Moon is closest to Earth
Apogee- when Moon is furthest from Earth |
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Term
| Which celestial objects are associated with each day of the week? |
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Definition
Monday- Moon
Tuesday- Mars
Wednesday- Mercury
Thursday- Jupiter
Friday- Venus
Saturday- Saturn
Sunday-Sun |
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Term
| Why are solar eclipses less common than lunar eclipses? |
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Definition
| It's rare because totality exists only along a narrow path on the Earth's surface traced by the Moon's shadow or umbrea. |
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Term
| Why are solar eclipses sometimes annular and sometimes total? |
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Definition
| The eclipse isn't a total circle, so at different parts of the year, the Sun and Moon are different degrees away from the Earth. |
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