AST 3043
Test 3, Fall 2007
1
QQ Copernicus was especially unhappy about which of 
the following features of the Ptolemaic models?
AA S 1 (1) the equant, which violated the principle 
of uniform circular motion 
(2) the epicycles having no actual objects at their 
centers, just empty space 
(3) the eccentric deferents not having the Earth at 
their centers, just empty space
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

2
QQ The true significance of Copernicus's work is 
that it 
AA S 1 (1) paved the way for a correct understanding 
of the Solar System and the planets' orbits by 
putting the Sun at the center (sort of)  
(2) presented a greatly simplified model for the 
planetary system which convinced everyone by its 
beauty
(3) proved that the Earth rotates around an axis 
and revolves around the Sun
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

3
QQ The unsigned preface to On the Revolutions, 
which characterized the work as purely hypothetical, 
was written by 
AA S 1 (1) Osiander
(2) Rheticus 
(3) Copernicus
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

4
QQ The first set of planetary tables based on the 
Copernican system was the 
AA S 1 (1) Prutenic Tables of Reinhold 
(2) Rudolphine Tables of Kepler 
(3) Ermlandic Tables of Copernicus
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

5
QQ Tycho Brahe's measurements of the "new star" 
of 1572 showed that 
AA S 1 (1) its geocentric parallax was smaller than 
the Moon's making it farther away, contrary to 
Aristotle
(2) its geocentric parallax was the same as the 
Moon's, meaning that it shared the Moon's orbit, 
contrary to Aristotle 
(3) its geocentric parallax was smaller than the 
Moon's making it closer, in agreement with 
Aristotle
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

6
QQ The accuracy of the positional measurements 
made by Tycho and his assistants at Uraniborg and 
Stjerneborg was 
AA S 1 (1) considerably better than Walther's 
and far better than those of the later Greeks 
(2) only slightly better than Walther's and 
somewhat better than those of the later Greeks 
(3) the best of any naked-eye observations, 
including those of Hevelius
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

7
QQ The innovation which Tycho introduced in 
connection with the sextant (not the nautical 
instrument) was to 
AA S 1 (1) reverse the sighting direction so that 
two observers could sight simultaneously in two 
directions rather than have one observer trying 
to do it
(2) change the design so that it used a curved 
angular scale instead of a straight one 
(3) add a mirror so that a single observer could 
sight in two directions simultaneously
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

8
QQ The work in which Kepler first tried 
(unsuccessfully) to figure out the physics 
behind the planetary motions was his 
AA S 1 (1) Astronomia nova or New Astronomy
(2) Mysterium cosmographicum or Cosmographic 
Mystery
(3) Harmonices mundi or Harmony of the World
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

9
QQ The size of a planet's orbit is given by the 
AA S 1 (1) semimajor axis a, usually in 
astronomical units
(2) eccentricity e, a pure number with no units
(3) eccentricity e, usually in astronomical units
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

10
QQ According to what is today known as Kepler's Second 
Law of planetary motion (actually his first), a given 
planet moves slowest in its orbit around the Sun at 
AA S 1 (1) aphelion
(2) perihelion
(3) apogee
(4) perigee
(5) NVA
(5) NVA

11
QQ The planetary tables whose accuracy, far exceeding 
that of the Alfonsine Tables because they used a 
basically correct form (the ellipse) for planetary orbits, 
did much to persuade scholars that the Copernican theory 
was correct were the 
AA S 1 (1) Rudolphine Tables 
(2) Prutenic Tables
(3) Alexandrine Tables
(4) NVA
(5)NVA

12
QQ Which of the following was one of the discoveries 
described by Galileo in Sidereus nuncius (The 
Starry Messenger)?
AA S 1 (1) Jupiter has four moons 
(2) Venus shows the same phases as the Moon 
(3) Saturn is surrounded by a ring
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

13
QQ The Copernican theory was first officially declared to 
be heretical by the Roman Catholic Church 
AA S 1 (1) in 1633, as a result of Galileo's trial 
following publication of his book Dialogues on the 
Two Great World Systems
(2) in 1616, at the time of Galileo's meeting with 
Cardinal Bellarmino, when he was instructed not to 
"hold or defend" the theory (and maybe more)
(3) in 1543, when On the Revolutions was originally 
published
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

14
QQ The lasting significance of Galileo's last two 
books, the Dialogues and the Discourses, 
as a part of the Copernican Revolution is that they 
AA S (1) finished off Aristotelian physics as an 
obstacle to acceptance of Copernicus
(2) proved that Copernicus was correct about the 
Earth's rotation and revolution 
(3) set back acceptance of Copernicus by drawing 
the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

15
QQ The attempt to understand nature by carrying 
out experiments and making observations to be 
used to extract general principles is termed the 
AA S 1 (1) inductive method
(2) deductive method
(3) scientific method
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

16
QQ Experimental philosophy, research carried out 
in an organized fashion to study Nature, and 
practical applications of the knowledge gained 
were advocated by 
AA 1 (1) Bacon    (2) Descartes    (3) Plato 
(4) NVA   (5) NVA

17
QQ Which of the following was formed last?
AA S 1 (1) Academie des Sciences (Academy of Sciences) 
in France 
(2) Accademia dei Lincei (Academy of the 
Lynx-Eyed) in Italy 
(3) Royal Society of London 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

18
QQ The first research journal was 
AA S 1 (1) Journal des Savants in France 
(2) Philosophical Transactions in England 
(3) Acta eruditorum in Berlin
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

19
QQ Saturn's largest moon, Titan, was discovered 
by 
AA S 1 (1) Christiaan Huygens
(2) G. D. Cassini = Cassini I
(3) Galileo
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

20
QQ The geocentric parallax of Mars at opposition, 
which led to a fairly reasonable value for the 
length of the astronomical unit for the first time,  
was measured by Jean Picard observing at Cayenne 
together with 
AA S 1 (1) G. D. Cassini = Cassini I at Paris
(2) Roemer at Paris 
(3) Hevelius at Danzig (Gdansk)
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

21
QQ The speed of light was first determined, using 
eclipses of Jupiter's moons, by 
AA S 1 (1) Roemer   
(2) G. D. Cassini = Cassini I
(3) Christiaan Huygens
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

22
QQ The pendulum clock first became a precision 
instrument that could be used in astronomy, for 
example in measuring right ascension, because of 
the design of 
AA S 1 (1) Christiaan Huygens
(2) Galileo Galilei and his son Vincenzo
(3) Ole Roemer
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

23
QQ Newton's methodology in the Principia was 
AA S 1 (1) a mixture of the inductive and deductive 
methods
(2) purely inductive
(3) purely deductive
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

24
QQ According to Newton's Laws of Motion, an object 
moving in a circle at constant speed 
AA S 1 (1) is acted on by a centripetal force 
which changes its velocity 
(2) is in a natural state of motion and is 
not being acted on by any external force 
(3) is acted on by a constant force
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

25
QQ Which of the following is the form for an orbit 
in the gravitational two-body problem that is periodic? 
AA S 1 (1) ellipse
(2) parabola
(3) hyperbola
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

26
QQ Newton's version of Kepler's Third (Harmonic) Law 
is particularly important because it gives information 
on  
AA S 1 (1) the masses of planets, stars, and galaxies
(2) the orbital periods of planets, stars, and galaxies
(3) the radii of planets and stars
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

27
QQ The tidal force(s) due to the Moon at the Earth's 
surface is/are directed outwards at 
AA S 1 (1) the two points lying on the line that passes 
through the centers of the Earth and the Moon
(2) a circle that is perpendicular to the line that 
passes through the centers of the Earth and the Moon 
(3) the point directly underneath the Moon only
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

28
QQ The regression of the Moon's nodes is caused by 
AA S1 (1) the Sun's tidal forces trying to pull the 
Moon's orbit plane into alignment with the ecliptic 
plane
(2) the tidal forces of the Sun and Moon trying to 
pull the rotating Earth's equatorial bulge into the 
plane of the ecliptic
(3) the "wobble" of the Moon's rotation axis
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

29
QQ If the Earth were prolate, as the French 
originally thought, the length of a degree of 
latitude would 
AA S 1 (1) decrease when going from the Equator 
to the Pole
(2) increase when going from the Equator to the 
Pole
(3) stay the same from the Equator to the Pole
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

30
QQ The fact that the Earth is oblate, as Newton 
had claimed, was first established by the 
expedition led by 
AA S 1 (1) Maupertuis 
(2) Bouguer and La Condamine
(3) Picard
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

31
QQ Halley's idea that the comet which bears his 
name keeps coming back was confirmed by 
AA S 1 (1)  a numerical prediction of its 
reappearance by Clairaut and Lepaute which 
turned out to be correct 
(2) its reappearance after exactly the same   
period of time as before 
(3) telescopic examination of the comet
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

32
QQ The Keplerian or astronomical refractor has 
AA S 1 (1) a convex objective lens and a convex 
eyepiece lens
(2) a convex objective lens and a concave 
eyepiece lens 
(3) a concave objective lens and a concave 
eyepiece lens
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

33
QQ The aberration in which different colors 
are brought to a focus at different distances 
from the objective lens is 
AA S 1 (1) chromatic aberration
(2) spherical aberration 
(3) coma
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

34
QQ The type of reflector having a concave primary 
mirror with a hole in the center and a concave 
secondary mirror that reflects light back through 
the hole to a focus is the 
AA S 1 (1) Gregorian
(2) Cassegrain
(3) Newtonian
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

35
QQ The approximate date of Copernicus is 
AA 1 (1) 1540   (2) 1690   (3) 1620   (4) NVA
(5) NVA