It helped them keep track of time and seasons, and it was used by some cultures for navigation.
What practical value did astronomy offer to ancient civilizations?
based on everyday ideas of observation and trial-and-error experiments
Scientific thinking is _________.
the seven naked-eye objects that appear to move among the constellations
The names of the seven days of the week are based on _________.
used to keep lunar calendars approximately synchronized with solar calendars.
The Metonic cycle is
developed a model of the solar system that made sufficiently accurate predictions of planetary positions to remain in use for many centuries
Ptolemy was important in the history of astronomy because he _________.
they were the first people known to try to explain nature with models based on reason and mathematics, without resort to the supernatural
The ancient Greeks get a lot of attention for their contributions to science because _________.
A model designed to explain what we see in the sky while having the Earth located in the center of the universe.
What do we mean by a geocentric model of the universe?
An Earth-centered model of planetary motion published by Ptolemy
What was the Ptolemaic model?
create a detailed model of our solar system with the Sun rather than Earth at the center
The great contribution of Nicholas Copernicus was to _________.
observe planetary positions with sufficient accuracy so that Kepler could later use the data to discover the laws of planetary motion
The great contribution of Tycho Brahe was to _________.
Stellar parallax
Which of the following was not observed by Galileo?
The focus of an ellipse is always located precisely at the center of the ellipse.
Which of the following statements about an ellipse is not true?
The force of attraction between any two objects decreases with the square of the distance between their centers.
Which of the following is not one of, nor a direct consequence of, Kepler's Laws?
make specific predictions that can be tested through observations or experiments
Scientific models are used to _________.
a theory
In science, a broad idea that has been repeatedly verified so as to give scientists great confidence that it represents reality is called _________.
Astrology played an important part in the development of astronomy in ancient times, but it is not a science by modern standards.
Which of the following best describes how modern astronomers view astrology?