This quiz is designed to test your knowledge of the topic “Ecliptic. Movement of the Sun and the Moon. Time and Calendar”. Test work is designed for 10-15 minutes and contains 5-6 questions that require knowledge of the material of 1-2 paragraphs. These questions can also be used for an oral frontal survey of students. Questions of independent work aimed at the formation of skills required by the program, as well as to monitor their degree of formation and the level of knowledge of students on the main issues of astronomy course.
Test work 2
Theme: “Ecliptic. The movement of the Sun and the Moon. Time and Calendar”.
Questions:
1. What is the ecliptic?
2. Why do star charts not show the positions of the planets?
3. In what direction is the apparent annual motion of the Sun relative to the stars?
4. What causes the midday altitude of the Sun to change throughout the year?
5. What causes the position of the sunrise and sunset points to change throughout the year?
6. What is the celestial sphere?
7. How can the geographic latitude of an observation site be calculated?
8. At what points do the ecliptic and the celestial equator intersect?
9. What is the upper culmination of a luminary?
10. What is the lower culmination of a luminary?
11. What period of time is called a sidereal or sideric month?
12. What interval of time is called the “synodic month”?
13. In what direction does the visible motion of the Moon occur in relation to the stars?
14. What is the minimum time interval between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?
15. The moon is visible in the last quarter. Could there be a lunar eclipse in a week? Explain the answer.
16. Why don’t eclipses of the Moon and Sun occur every month?
17. A lunar eclipse was observed yesterday. When can we expect the next solar eclipse?
18.In the evening after sunset, you observed the narrow sickle of the Moon. Will it be wider or narrower the next day?
19. Which total eclipse (solar or lunar) is longer? Why?
20. A lunar eclipse was observed yesterday. Could a solar eclipse occur in three months? Explain the answer.
21. When does a total lunar eclipse occur?
22. When does a private eclipse of the moon occur?
23. When does a solar eclipse occur?
24. How would the Moon have to revolve around the Earth so that one half of the Moon would never be illuminated by the Sun?
25. What is the difference in shape between the Moon’s morning sickle and evening sickle?
26. What is a calendar?
27. What is the basis of the solar calendar?
28. What would be the ratio of solar time to sidereal time if the Earth rotated in the opposite direction to the actual direction of its rotation?
29. How would the length of a solar day change relative to sidereal time if the Earth rotated relative to the Sun at the same speed but in the opposite direction?
30. Why does the day of the vernal equinox not always fall on March 21?
Answers:
1. The circle of the celestial sphere through which the apparent annual motion of the Sun occurs is called the ecliptic.
2. The planets move from constellation to constellation.
3. The apparent annual motion of the Sun relative to the stars occurs in the direction opposite to the diurnal rotation of the celestial sphere.
4. Due to changes in the Sun’s declination.
5. The position of the points of sunrise and sunset changes due to changes in the Sun’s deсlination.
6. The celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere centered at an arbitrary point in space. Only angular measurements are possible on the celestial sphere.
7. Measuring the midday altitude of the Sun and knowing its declination on that day you can calculate the geographical latitude of the place of observation.
8. Ecliptic and equator intersect at the points of vernal and autumnal equinoxes where the Sun is respectively at the days of vernal and autumnal equinoxes when the duration of day is equal to the duration of night.
9. At sunrise and sunset the Sun’s altitude is h=0°. Maximum height of the luminary is when it crosses the celestial meridian over the point of the south. This phenomenon is called the upper culmination.
10. When the luminary has a minimum height above the horizon, we speak of a lower culmination.
11. The period of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth in a star-bound reference system is called a sidereal month (27.3 days). For every 24 hours, the Earth moves about the stars by 13°.
12. The interval of time between two consecutive identical phases is called a synodic month.
13. In the direction opposite to the diurnal rotation of the celestial sphere.
14. It is equal to the time interval between a new moon and a full moon, i.e. approximately two weeks.
15. The lunar eclipse occurs at the time of the full moon. In this case, there will be a new moon in a week, so there will be no eclipse.
16. The plane of the lunar orbit is tilted to the plane of the Earth’s orbit.
17. The nearest solar eclipse can be expected in two weeks when there is a new moon.
18. This is the waxing Moon. The sickle will become wider.
19. A total lunar eclipse is longer. It takes a considerable amount of time for the Moon to pass through the entire Earth’s shadow, whereas the Moon’s shadow, which is smaller, passes through a given point on the Earth more quickly.
20. It can’t, because the periods when eclipses occur are repeated about half a year apart.
21. When the Moon enters the cone of the Earth’s shadow cast by the globe illuminated by the Sun as it moves around the Earth, a total lunar eclipse occurs.
22. If only part of the Moon is immersed in the Earth’s shadow, a partial eclipse of the Moon occurs.
23. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is on a new moon, and a lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon is on a full moon.
24. It would have to revolve around the Earth progressively, not revolving around its axis.
25.The Moon’s morning sickle has a bulge to the left (resembling the letter “C”). The Moon is 20 To 50o to the west (right) of the Sun. The evening sickle of the Moon is convex to the right. The Moon is 20 to 50o east (left) of the Sun.
26. The system of counting long intervals of time, according to which a certain length of months, their order in a year, and the initial moment of counting years, months, their order in a year, and the initial moment of counting years are called calendars.
27. The solar calendar is based on the tropical year, a period of change in the seasons of the year during which the Sun returns to the point of the vernal equinox.
28. A solar day would be shorter than a sidereal day.
29. Since there would be one more solar day than stellar day in a year, the duration of each solar day would be 24h / 366 ≈ 4m shorter than stellar.
30. Because the time interval between the vernal equinoxes, a tropical year, contains the full number of days (365,2422), and calendar years contain an unequal number of days (leap year 366, non-leap year 365).
There are five questions in each option.
Variant 1: 1; 6; 11; 16; 21; 26.
Variant 2: 2; 7; 12; 17; 22; 27.
Variant 3: 3; 8; 13; 18; 23; 28.
Option 4: 4; 9; 14; 19; 24; 29.
Option 5: 5; 10; 15; 20; 25; 30.
Criteria and norms of marks for the answer:
The grade “excellent” is given if the student showed a full volume, high level and quality of knowledge on these questions, owns the culture of communication and scientific presentation skills, establishes a connection between theoretical knowledge and ways of practical activity: clearly, accurately and logically answers the questions asked.
A grade of “good” is given if the student presented the material logically and scientifically, but does not fully determine the practical relevance of theoretical knowledge: does not express his point of view on the issue, could not give a sufficiently complete answer to the questions posed.
A grade of “satisfactory” is given if the student made substantial errors in the disclosure of the question, does not correlate theoretical knowledge and its own practical activity, has difficulty in answering most questions.
Assessment “unsatisfactory” is put, if the student showed weak theoretical and practical knowledge, made gross errors in the disclosure of the question, could not answer the questions.
