ASSESSMENNT Astronomy

ASSESSMENT
1. What is the ratio of the gravitational force of the Sun on the Earth to the gravitational force of
the Moon on the Earth?

2. If the Earth rotated in the opposite sense (clockwise rather than counterclockwise), how long
would the solar day be?
 The solar day would be 1 degree or 4 minutes which is shorter than the sidereal days.
We will only have 23hours and 52 minutes. It is 8 minutes shorter than the current day.
3. If you look overhead at 6 p.m. and notice that the moon is directly overhead, what phase is it in?
 I have always observed that at 6 p.m. it is sunset. So, if the Moon is overhead, it is on its
first quarter.
4. Which declinations can be observed from the North Pole? the South Pole? The equator? Which
right ascensions can be seen from the above locations each day?
 North Pole- north can be seen
 South Pole- south can be seen
 Equator- all declinations can be seen
 All right ascensions can be seen from every location on the Earth every day.
5. What is the latitude of the North Pole? Why is it impossible to give the longitude? What are the
coordinates in (RA and dec) of the north celestial pole?
 North Pole is 90˚ north latitude
 It is impossible to give the longitude because all longitude lines meet at the pole.
 The RA cannot be determined and the north celestial pole is located at 90˚ north
declination.
6. Suppose that the Earth’s pole was perpendicular to its orbit. How would the azimuth of sunrise
vary throughout the year? How would the length of day and night vary throughout the year of
the equator? at the North and South Poles? Where you live?
 The Sun will always be on the celestial equator. It would rise at 90˚ azimuth every day.
For that reason, each day would be divided into 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of
darkness at all of these locations.
7. You are an astronaut on the moon. You look up, and see the Earth on its full phase and on the
meridian. What lunar phase do people on Earth observe? What if you saw a first quarter Earth?
new Earth? third quarter Earth? Draw a picture showing the geometry.
 The people on Earth observe that it is on its full phase, the Moon, the Earth, and the Sun
are in line.
 First quarter Earth corresponds to third quarter Moon.
 New Earth corresponds to full Moon.
 Third quarter Earth corresponds to first quarter Moon.
8. Explain why some stars in your sky never rise, while others never set – assume that you live in a
northern latitude (between 0˚ and 90˚ north).
 Some stars in our sky never rise because we are not located at the equator. The horizon
is not parallel to the polar axis that is why the stars that have declinations greater than
those equal to our latitude will never set.
9. (a) How does the declination of the Sun vary over the year? (b) Does its right ascension increase
or decrease from day to day?
 Declination of the Sun increases between winter and summer solstice and it decreases
from summer to winter solstice. The Sun moves eastward across the constellation that is
why the right ascension increases from day to day.
10. If a planet always keeps the same side towards the Sun, how many sidereal days are in a year on
that planet?
 If we were standing on the midnight side of the planet, it would take 1 full year for us to
see the same star cross the meridian. A sidereal day is measured relative to the stars.
11. If the lunar day were 12 hours long, what would be the approximate time interval between high
and low tide?
 There are two low tides and two high tides per day so we can divide the length of the
day by 4. The approximate time interval between high and low tide is 3hours.
12. If on a given day, the night is 24 hours long at the North Pole, how long is the night at the South
Pole?
 The South Pole is receiving 24 hours of sunlight. There is no night at the South Pole
when the North Pole is completely at darkness.
13. On what day of the year are the nights longest at the equator?
 The nights at the equator are always 12hours long that is why every night has the same
hours of darkness.
14. How many degrees (˚), arc minutes (΄), and arcseconds (“) does the Moon move across the sky in
one hour? How long does it take the Moon to move across the sky a distance equal to its own
diameter?
 The Moon moves 14˚, 30΄, and 0” every hour.
 Due to the combined motion of the Earth and the Moon, the Moon moves across the
sky a distance equal to its own diameter every 2.1 minutes.
15. From the fact that the Moon takes 29.5 days to complete a full cycle of phases, show that it rises
an average of 48 minutes later each night.

16. What is the altitude of Polaris as seen from 90, 60, 30, and 0 degrees latitude?
 90 degrees latitude is the North Pole it is 90 degrees altitude or the North Star is at the
zenith.
 60 degrees latitude is equal to 60 degrees altitude
 30 degrees latitude is equal to 30 degrees altitude
 0-degree latitude is the equator and the North Star is at 0-degree altitude

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