DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

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1 DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA AST-3043 Exam # 1 - Test Form A Section 0486 Fall, 2011 Periods: T5-6/R6 September 29, 2011 Special Code 05 Dr. Haywood Smith NAME (PRINT): Last, First, I The scores for this exam will be posted on the website of your instructor. Due to student privacy laws, the scores will be posted by the five digit code found in the upper left corner of each page. Each exam has a UNIQUE code number. However, other Astronomy sections use this exam format and may use the same exam code numbers. IT IS THEREFORE IMPORTANT THAT YOU MAKE SURE THAT THE SCORE YOU READ BELONGS TO YOU. The instructor s name and the exam number will be clearly marked on each exam score listing. As you turn in your exam, tear off this page and save it for future reference. It will aid you in finding your score when the exam scores are posted. Also, should you have any questions about the exam after it is graded, the loss of this page will make it difficult to find your exam and delay possible ( but unlikely ) changes to your grade. Should you have any questions, this page MUST be brought with you as a means of identification.

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3 DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA AST-3043 Exam # 1 - Test Form A Section 0486 Fall, 2011 Periods: T5-6/R6 September 29, 2011 Special Code 05 Dr. Haywood Smith NAME (PRINT): Last,First,I SIGNATURE: On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this examination. My signature above indicates my compliance with this statement. DIRECTIONS: (1) Print name on this page and sign it also (NO NAME = NO SCORE). (2) Code on the Answer Sheet: (IF INCORRECT, SCORE = ZERO) A. Name, UFID No., & Section No. (PROOF THIS VERY CAREFULLY). B. Test Number See the top of your exam pages. (Use spaces on answer sheet for this 5-digit number.) (3) Use a Black No. 2 pencil to record answers Do not use ink. (ONLY ANSWERS RECORDED ON ANSWER SHEETS WILL BE SCORED.) (4) Answer ALL questions ONE answer is correct per question. (Scoring formula = number of correct answers DO NOT LEAVE BLANKS.) (5) Use margins or back of exam question pages for all scratch work. (6) Turn in all exam materials at the end of exam, INCLUDING THE EXAM QUESTION SHEETS. Put figure sheets (if provided with the exam) inside the question sheets. Hand in Green Answer Key SEPARATELY. >>>>> BEFORE YOU TURN IN YOUR EXAM <<<<< Have your student I.D. ready. Show the EXAM to the Proctor so she/he can check the exam code. NOTE: The answer NVA found in some questions means NOT A VALID ANSWER. If you give this response, you may consider that question will be graded automatically WRONG on your test. Your exam consists of 38 questions and begins on the next page. You may start as soon as you have carefully read and UNDERSTOOD the above instructions. You have a total of 50 minutes.

4 1. The celestial equator is the (1) imaginary circle midway between the celestial poles (2) Sun s apparent path around the celestial sphere (3) imaginary circle running through the zenith and the E and W points on the horizon 2. At the Earth s North Pole the stars (1) move parallel to the horizon, neither rising nor setting (2) rise and set at a right angle to the horizon (3) rise and set at some oblique angle to the horizon 3. The changes in the Sun s rising and setting points and where it crosses the celestial meridian over the course of the year are evidence that the Sun moves (1) north and south with respect to the celestial sphere (2) east and west with respect to the celestial sphere (3) both north-south and east-west with respect to the celestial sphere 4. The term heliacal rising refers to (1) first appearance before sunrise after an object has been invisible near the Sun (2) last appearance after sunset preceding the object s being passed by the Sun and invisible (3) an object rising and setting when the Sun does

5 5. Newgrange s alignment together with the finding of human remains inside suggests a connection between (1) winter solstice, death, and rebirth (2) summer solstice, death, and rebirth (3) the equinoxes and death 6. The Hopi Soyal ceremony occurs around the time of (1) the winter solstice (2) the summer solstice (3) New Year (Jan. 1) 7. The 19-year Metonic cycle for fitting together the tropical year and the synodic month is an example of (1) intercalation by rule (2) empirical intercalation (3) annualization 8. Our division of the day into 24 hours originated with the (1) Egyptian decans used to divide the nighttime (2) the Mayan vigesimal number system (3) Inca ceque system

6 9. At Ballochroy the distance from the megalith to the mountain is 19 miles, while the distance from the center of Stonehenge to the Heel Stone is several hundred feet. What can one infer about the relative precision of the two alignments? (1) Ballochroy is more precise (2) Stonehenge is more precise (3) the precisions are about the same 10. The altitude of the celestial pole in the observer s sky is equal to (1) the observer s latitude (2) the observer s longitude (3) 90 degrees minus the observer s latitude 11. The approximate date on which the Sun is farthest north of the celestial equator is (1) June 21 (2) Dec. 21 (3) [depends on whether one is in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere] 12. Which ecliptic coordinate is measured eastward from the vernal equinox along the ecliptic? (1) celestial longitude (2) right ascension (3) celestial latitude

7 13. The full Moon should set approximately at (1) 6 a.m. (2) midnight (3) noon (4) 6 p.m. 14. When the Moon s ascending node is on top of the vernal equinox, the Moon will pass through its (1) major standstills (2) minor standstills (3) solstices 15. Which of the following suggested astronomical connections for Stonehenge is definitely not currently accepted? (1) use of the Aubrey holes to predict eclipses (2) alignment of the center and the Heel Stone with summer solstice (midsummer) sunrise (3) alignment of the station stones with solstice sunrises and sunsets 16. The Torreon at Machu Picchu has an alignment towards the northeast that is essentially the same as that of the main axis of the Coricancha. What alignment(s) is/are involved? (1) June solstice sunrise and Pleiades rise (2) rise of the Collca (3) antizenith sunrise

8 17. Mars has its retrograde motion around the time that it is at (1) opposition (2) greatest eastern elongation (3) conjunction 18. We know that the Maya understood the relationship between Venus s synodic period and the 260-day "sacred year" because (1) it appears in a table in the Dresden Codex (2) the mathematics is worked out in the Codex Mendoza (3) it is carved on a pyramid at Chichen Itza 19. Which of the following types of alignments does the Bighorn Medicine Wheel have? (1) stellar (2) lunar (3) planetary 20. The regular astronomical phenomena such as the calendar were the responsibility of which branch of the Chinese astronomical bureau? (1) lifa (2) tianwen (3) hsiu

9 21. Kidinnu (known to the Greeks as Cidenas) has been identified as the person who devised (1) the zigzag approximation for the variable motion in longitude (2) the broken zigzag approximation to describe the Moon s motion in latitude (3) the sexagesimal number system used by the Babylonians 22. The date of antizenith passage of the Sun, which was associated with the alignment from the center of Cuzco to the stone columns on the western skyline, could have been identified by the Inca by (1) marking where the Sun rises on the day it passes through the zenith and then noting when it sets exactly opposite (2) waiting six months after the Sun passes through the zenith (3) calculating using spherical trigonometry 23. Which of the following is a superior planet? (1) Jupiter (2) Earth (3) Venus 24. The instrument that could be used to tell the time of day as well as the Sun s altitude was the (1) gnomon (2) zenith tube (3) trilithon

10 25. The hippopede was introduced by Eudoxus to represent what? (1) retrograde motion (2) precession (3) daily motion 26. Comets are a phenomenon in the upper level of Earth s atmosphere according to Aristotle because (1) they change, whereas everything in the superlunary region is immutable (2) they move in straight lines instead of in circles (3) they have a large geocentric parallax 27. Aristarchus is noteworthy in part for having (1) first proposed a heliocentric theory of the Universe (2) first determined, rather accurately, the Earth s circumference (3) compiled an early star catalogue 28. The first reasonably close value for the Moon s geocentric parallax (and the first distance of a celestial body) was obtained by (1) Hipparchus (2) Ptolemy (3) Aristarchus

11 29. In the Greek way of reckoning (with respect to the Earth), a superior planet s period of revolution around its epicycle is (1) its synodic period (2) its sidereal (orbital) period (3) the sidereal year 30. The "guest star" of 1054 AD, whose appearance was recorded in the Chinese records but not in European ones, was what we now know as a (1) supernova (2) ordinary nova (3) comet 31. Which of the following had its origins in the Babylonians sexagesimal number system? (1) 60 minutes in an hour (2) 24 hours in a day (3) 100 cents in a dollar 32. The totally dark part of the Moon s shadow is called the (1) umbra (2) penumbra (3) peninsula

12 33. The saros is (1) a pattern of eclipse series over a period of slightly more than 18 years (2) a very rare grouping of three eclipses in the same eclipse season (3) an instrument used by the Babylonians to measure the angular separation between objects in the sky 34. The object at the center of the cosmos according to Philolaus, a disciple of Pythagoras, was the (1) central fire (not the Sun) (2) Earth (3) counter-earth 35. The actual size of the Earth, as distinct from its relative size compared to the Sun and Moon, was first determined by (1) Eratosthenes (2) Aristarchus (3) Ptolemy 36. The most controversial aspect of Ptolemy s models was (1) the equant, which violated uniform circular motion (2) the absence of a physical body at the center of the epicycle (3) the eccentric circle with no physical body at the center

13 37. Which of the following instruments was used for measuring the ecliptic coordinates of objects? (1) zodiacal armillary sphere (2) equatorial armillary sphere (3) triquetrum 38. The approximate date of Hipparchus was (1) 150 BC (2) 150 AD (3) 350 BC

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