Study Guide Questions for Astronomy Test 1
1. Define rotation. Spinning on axis
2. How long does it take Earth to rotate 360 degrees? ~24 hours, 1
day, 23 hours 56 minutes
3. How many degrees does Earth rotate each hour? 15
4. Which direction does Earth rotate? West to east
5. What cycle does Earth’s rotation cause? Day/night
6. What would be different if Earth rotated faster? Shorter
day/night cycle ( < 24 hours)
7. What about slower? Longer day/night cycle ( > 24 hours)
8. How many degrees does each time zone cover? 15
9. Which direction is it to a later time zone? East
10. Define revolution. Orbiting around another object
11. About how long does it take Earth to complete one revolution?
365 days
12. Explain why we have leap years. An Earth year actually takes
365.25 days, so a whole extra day is added once every 4 years
13. How many degrees is Earth’s axis tilted? 23.5
14. What would be different if Earth’s axis were not tilted at all? No
seasons (no seasonal changes in daylight hours, sun angle,
temperature)
15. What if Earth’s axis were tilted more? More extreme seasons
16. What are the two reasons for seasons? Tilt and revolution
17. How are the seasons different in each hemisphere? They are
opposite
18. How is the North Pole tilted on the June solstice? Toward the
sun
19. What about the December solstice? Away from the sun
20. Describe the sun’s path on the summer solstice. Highest and
longest
21. What about the winter solstice? Lowest and shortest
22. What length of daylight does the Arctic Circle/North Pole
receive on the June solstice? 24 hours
23. What about the December solstice? 0 hours
24. What percent of the moon’s surface is always lit up? 50 (half
faces the sun, half faces away)
25. About how long is a lunar cycle? 29.5 days or 1 month
26. What motion causes the lunar cycle? Moon’s revolution around
Earth
27. List the order of phases starting with new moon. New, waxing
crescent, 1st quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous,
3rd/last quarter, waning crescent
28. What causes tides? Gravitational force of the moon and sun
29. When do spring tides occur? New and full moon
30. What about neap tides? 1st and 3rd/last quarter moon