Earth Science Terrms to know
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- Besides the stars, What 7 heavenly bodies were ancient astronomers able to obeserve?
- The sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
- What is the name of the ancient theory of the universe that states that the earth is at the center and all the heavenly bodies revolve around it.
- The Geocentric, or Ptolemaic, theory.
- What person in the second century A.D. is most noted for his work.
- Ptolemy
- What did the astronomer call the transparent spheres in his theory?
- Deferents
- Some astronomers beieved the planets moved in circular loops within their spheres. What are the loops called?
- Epicycles
- What position do the sun, moon, earth, planets, and stars occupy according to the heliocentric theory?
- the sun at the center, then Mercury, Venus, Earth(with its moon revolving around it)Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
- Who was the first person to seriously question the accuracy of the geocentric theory?
- Copernicus.
- How did Copernicus explain why birds in flight would not be left behind if the earth in rotating.
- The atmosphere is dragged along with the earth as it rotates.
- In his book "The Revolation", how did Copernicus answer the skeptics' argument that if the earth revolved arounf the sun, the nearer stars would seem to shift their positions among the more distant stars?
- by explaining tthat the stars were too far away for the shift to be evident.
- Who developed the three laws of planetary motion?
- Kepler
- What observations did Galileo make of Venus, Saturn and jupiter with his new invention, the telescope?
- Phases of Venus, the protruding rings of Saturn, and the four largest moons of Jupiter.
- Who developed the law of gravation?
- Newton.
- Why did the Roman Catholic church oppose the heliocentric theory?
- Because the theory said that the planets revolved around the sun and not around the earth; or, it violated official church rules.
- Who claimed he could harmonize the science of the of the ancient Greek philosophers with Christianity?
- Thomas Aquainas.
- Why was Kepler not satisfied with the circle he calculated to fit most of the observed locations of mars.
- Tycho, who recorded the positions of Mars, was considered one of the most accurate astronomical observers of all time. Kepler felt that even though only two positions were a little aberrant with his calculations, it still was not good enough because of Tycho's accuracy at observing things.