Term
The term in Arabic for the very thin crescent Moon right after new that marks the beginning of the month in the Islamic calendar is |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Which of the following statements about astrology during the Islamic period is true? AA S 1 (1) it was acceptable as a part of medical practice |
|
Definition
it was acceptable as a part of medical practice |
|
|
Term
Which of the following scholars was not associated with the House of Wisdom in Baghdad? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Which of the following motions was definitely first suggested by Thabit Ibn Qrra (Tobit)? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Which of the following zijes was noteworthy because it included a compilation of observational data on conjunctions and eclipses? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Whose zij was the first to include the advance of the Sun's apogee and tables of sines instead of chords for trigonometry? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The great observatory of the Islamic period which was equipped with large instruments, a library, a sizeable staff and also produced a definite school of thought about the planetary motions was |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The Samarkand Observatory, one of the great observatories of the Islamic period, was founded by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The problem with Ptolemy's model for the Moon's orbit, namely that its distance would vary by a factor of two contrary to observations, was resolved by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The approximate date of the Alfonsine Tables was |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The concept of impetus was introduced by medieval professors Buridan and Oresme to explain |
|
Definition
violent or forced motion as opposed to natural motion in Aristotle's philosophy |
|
|
Term
The best university textbook on the motions of the planets in the early European period was |
|
Definition
New Theory of the Planets by Peurbach and Regiomontanus (Mueller) |
|
|
Term
The first extensive (three decades) series of fairly accurate observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets carried out in Europe was by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Which of the following instruments was used for measuring the ecliptic coordinates of objects? |
|
Definition
zodiacal armillary sphere |
|
|
Term
The instrument that was used either to correct the altitude of Polaris to get the observer's latitude or to tell the time of night was the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The approximate date of Kepler is |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Copernicus estimated the average distance of an inferior planet from the Sun by using |
|
Definition
trigonometry with its angle of greatest elongation |
|
|
Term
The real significance of Copernicus's book On the Revolutions was that it |
|
Definition
reintroduced the idea of a heliocentric universe and presented arguments |
|
|
Term
Andreas Osiander changed the title of Copernicus's book On the Revolutions and added an unsigned preface because |
|
Definition
he was afraid the Protestants would consider it against Holy Scripture |
|
|
Term
The planetary tables that were based on Copernicus's On the Revolutions were the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Tycho Brahe used observations of which of the following to disprove for the first time Aristotle's doctrine that nothing ever changes in the superlunary region? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
One of the innovations introduced into observational astronomy by Tycho Brahe involved a change in the way a certain instrument was used that allowed two observers to observe simultaneously. This was the |
|
Definition
sextant, by moving the backsight from the pivot to two points along the angular scale |
|
|
Term
One of the reasons that Tycho Brahe was able to obtain more accurate positions of planets and stars than the Greeks was |
|
Definition
his application of a correction for atmospheric refraction from tables he compiled |
|
|
Term
Tycho Brahe didn't accept the Copernican system. Instead he proposed a system in which |
|
Definition
the Sun and Moon go around the Earth and everything else revolves around the Sun |
|
|
Term
Kepler's book which presented his third law of planetary motion was |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion (actually the first to be discovered) states that |
|
Definition
an imaginary line from the Sun to a given planet sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals |
|
|
Term
The shape of a planet's elliptical orbit is given by its |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Galileo's discovery that Venus shows all the same phases as the Moon proved |
|
Definition
that the Ptolemaic system was incorrect but nothing about the Copernican system |
|
|
Term
Which of the following points was not used by Galileo to argue that sunspots really are on the Sun's surface and not simply passing in front of it? |
|
Definition
the spots appear to move across the Sun's disk at a constant rate |
|
|
Term
The work which caused Galileo to be tried by the Roman Catholic Church was his |
|
Definition
Dialogue on the Two Great World Systems |
|
|
Term
Which of the following books marked the beginning of modern planetary theory and theoretical astronomy? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Bacon's approach to natural philosophy (science) was based on experimentation and observation as well as the application of the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Descartes's idea about space was that it |
|
Definition
is filled with swirling particles forming vortices (the plenum) |
|
|
Term
As far as is known the first scientific society was the |
|
Definition
Accademia dei Lincei (Academy of the Lynx-Eyed) |
|
|
Term
The Philosophical Transactions |
|
Definition
was (and is) the research journal of the Royal Society of London |
|
|
Term
The first successful pendulum clock as a precision instrument for keeping time was invented by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The largest moon of Saturn, Titan, was discovered by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The first reasonably accurate estimate of the length of the astronomical unit was obtained by Cassini in Paris and Richer in South America using |
|
Definition
the geocentric parallax of Mars at favorable opposition |
|
|
Term
The speed of light was first measured successfully by Roemer using |
|
Definition
the time delay of eclipses of Jupiter's moons across the Earth's orbit |
|
|
Term
The instrument that was capable of measuring both altitude and azimuth at the same time was the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Aristarchus's estimate of the Sun's distance relative to the Moon's was |
|
Definition
considerably too low (about a factor 20) |
|
|
Term
Which of the following first proposed the heliocentric theory? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Magnitudes were introduced by Hipparchus to categorize which of the following for stars? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Precession was discovered by which of the following? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Ptolemy's detailed planetary models were published in which of his works? |
|
Definition
Matematike syntaxis = Mathematical Compilation |
|
|
Term
In the simplified geocentric model we covered in lecture, the epicycle for an inferior planet is |
|
Definition
that planet's orbit around the Sun |
|
|
Term
In the simplified geocentric model we covered in lecture, a superior planet's orbital period around its epicycle in the Greek way of reckoning is |
|
Definition
that planet's synodic period |
|
|
Term
Ptolemy's reason for introducing the equant into his models was to better represent the |
|
Definition
variable motion in longitude |
|
|
Term
The term hilal refers to which of the following? |
|
Definition
the "new" Moon (very thin crescent) at the beginning of the month in the Islamic calendar |
|
|
Term
Which of the following was not associated with the House of Wisdom in Baghdad? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The advance of the Sun's apogee seems to have been first introduced into planetary tables (along with the use of sines in trigonometry in place of chords) by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The Book of the Fixed Stars with new magnitudes for some stars in place of Ptolemy's was the work of |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The so-called Maragha School of planetary theory was established at the observatory of that name by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Which of the following zijs included observational data on eclipses, conjunctions, and the like? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Ibn al-Shatir was able to get rid of the equant using what device instead? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The only star catalogue to be published during the Islamic period with positions that were newly measured (instead of updated ones from Ptolemy) was produced at which observatory? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The solution proposed for the problem of violent or forced motion in Aristotle's physics at the University of Paris in the Middle Ages was the concept of |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The Theory of the Planets was a university text on astronomy written by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Bernhard Walther of Nuremberg, who made the first extensive set of fairly accurate observations (spanning three decades) in Europe, was "recruited" as an observer by |
|
Definition
Johann Mueller = Regiomontanus |
|
|
Term
The instrument that was used either to measure the angular separation between two objects in the sky or to measure an object's altitude (such as Polaris, to approximate the latitude) was the |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Copernicus estimated the average distance of a superior planet from the Sun in astronomical units by using |
|
Definition
trigonometry with the angle calculated at its time of quadrature using orbital periods (Earth's and planet's) |
|
|
Term
QQ The person responsible for getting Copernicus to write up his researches on planetary models was |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The real significance of Copernicus's book On the Revolutions was that it |
|
Definition
reintroduced the idea of a heliocentric universe and presented arguments for it |
|
|
Term
Religious opposition to Copernicus's book On the Revolutions initially came from |
|
Definition
Protestants who believed it contradicted the plain meaning of Scripture |
|
|
Term
Tycho Brahe used observations of the "new star" of 1572 to prove that contrary to Aristotle, things do change in the superlunary region. What did he measure -- or try to measure -- to show this |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
At his second observatory, Stjerneborg, Tycho Brahe located his main instruments underground instead of on upper floors as he had at Uraniborg. His reason for doing this was |
|
Definition
to place them on solid ground and shield them from wind, which reduced vibration |
|
|
Term
Kepler's Cosmographic Mystery was the book which first presented |
|
Definition
his idea for "explaining" the distances of the planets from the Sun using the regular solid figures |
|
|
Term
Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion, the so-called Law of Areas, states that |
|
Definition
an imaginary line from the Sun to a given planet sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals |
|
|
Term
The size of a planet's elliptical orbit is given by its |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Galileo's discovery that Venus goes through all the same phases as the Moon |
|
Definition
demonstrated that the Ptolemaic model for Venus couldn't be correct, regardless of whether it was placed closer than the Sun or farther away |
|
|
Term
Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons was a boost to the Copernican theory at the time because |
|
Definition
it eliminated the argument that the Moon would be left behind if the Earth orbits the Sun |
|
|
Term
Which of the following books marked the beginning of modern observational astronomy when it first appeared? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The new approach to natural philosophy (science) based on experimentation and observation as well as its emphasis on practical application of the knowledge thus gained was advocated by |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
The first of the scientific societies was the |
|
Definition
Accademia dei Lincei (Academy of the Lynx-Eyed) |
|
|
Term
Journal des Savants (or Scavans) was |
|
Definition
the research journal of the French Academy of Sciences |
|
|
Term
The pendulum clock first became a precision instrument because of |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Four medium-sized moons of Saturn were discovered by |
|
Definition
G. D. Cassini = Cassini I |
|
|
Term
The size of the astronomical unit was first estimated fairly closely (although not with high accuracy) by Cassini and Picard using direct measurement of |
|
Definition
the geocentric parallax of Mars at opposition |
|
|
Term
The approximate date of Hipparchus was |
|
Definition
|
|