Archeoastronomy

2500 years ago the pole star was Thuban, Alpha Draconis. Why is this not the pole star any more?

• Because the Earth is rotating

• Because Polaris moved across the celestial sphere to take its place

• Because the Earth wobbles as it rotates

• Because people hadn't invented compasses back then

What do we call the wobble of the Earth?

• Precession

• Procession

• Possession

• Poseidon

How long does one wobble of the Earth take?

• 1000 years

• 15000 years

• 26000 years

• 67000 years

The Great Pyramid has 4 star shafts. One theory is that these pointed to the transit points of four important stars 2500 years ago. The spirit of the dead pharaoh would be directed towards these stars. What is meant by a transit point?

• When a star goes across the Moon

• When two stars orbit one another

• When a star crosses your upper meridian

• When a star crosses your lower meridian

Thuban and Kochab were two of a number of stars known as "the imperishable ones": stars that never die. Why would they be called this?

• Their brightness didn't change

• They were bright red in colour

• They were supernovas

• They were circumpolar

Orion and Sirius represented Osiris and his consort Isis. What is special about the star Sirius?

• It is circumpoar

• It is the brightest star in the night sky

• It is in the middle of Orion's belt

• It is actually a planet

When certain stars appeared at dawn this signaled special times in the year, e.g. the flooding of the Nile. Who would be particularly interested in the timing of the flood?

• Butchers

• Astromoners

• Farmers

• Pharaohs

What celestial feature are the three pyramids of Giza thought to represent?

• The Pleiades

• Taurus

• The summer triangle

• Orion's belt

Ptolemy was a Greek astronomer who lived in Egypt when it was part of the Roman Empire. He came up with the idea that the planets orbit the Earth with orbits that include epicycles. What are epicycles?

• Smaller circles within the larger circles of the orbit

• Rings around the planets

• Orbits of moons around planets

• Orbits to explain the motion of the Sun around all planets

Which of these astronomical distances is the largest?

• A light year

• An astronomical unit

• A kilometer

• A parsec