UNIT ONE Study Guide

1. What is the difference between Astronomy and Astrology?

2. What is the ecliptic?
3. How does the ecliptic change over the course of the year? When is it
“highest” in the sky? When is it “lowest”? Why does it change?
4. What is the difference between zenith and nadir?
5. Why is the Sun never at zenith for us here in NC?
6. What is the zodiac? How is your “sign” determined?
7. How many signs of the zodiac are there? Really? Which one is
“forgotten”?
8. What does stellar parallax mean, and what is it used for?
9. What is the effect of distance from an object on parallax angles?
10. What is the formula for using parallax to calculate distance?
11. What is a “standard candle”? What are examples of standard candles?
12. What is the speed of light in km/sec?
13. What is a light year? How far is one light year?
14. What is a parsec? How many light years are in one parsec?
15. What is an Astronomical Unit (A.U.)?
16. What is an asterism?
17. What are constellations and how do we use them?
18. How many internationally recognized constellations are there?
19. How can you use the names of stars to identify their brightness compared
to other companion stars in the same constellation?
20. What constellation contains the “pole star”?
21. Will Polaris always be our “pole star”? Explain.
22. How can Polaris be used to determine latitude?
23. How can you use the Big Dipper to find Polaris in the night sky?
24. What is precession?
25. What does it mean for constellations to be circumpolar?
26. What do the terms altitude and azimuth mean?
27. What is declination?
28. What is right ascension? What is the Earth’s annual position that we base
this measurement off of?
29. What is the Local Group? What is contained within it?
Know how to use a planisphere, and bring yours to the test