Renaissance Astronomy Quiz

What types of things do astronomers study?

• Animals and plants

• History and philosophy

• Books and literature

• Paintings and sculptures

• Planets and stars

What did people think was the center of the universe for nearly 2000 years?

• The Sun

• The Moon

• The Earth

• The North Star

• The planet Jupiter

What did Galileo do that got him in trouble with the Catholic Church?

• He invented a telescope that could see the stars

• He argued that the planets, including the Earth, orbited around the sun

• He said that there were moons orbiting the planet Jupiter

• He disagreed with Copernicus

• He presented a theory on where the light from the Moon came from

True or false: When Copernicus explained that all the planets orbited the Sun, pretty much everyone believed him.

• TRUE

• FALSE

What did Galileo claim was the source of the light of the Moon?

• It was from an energy source at the middle of the Moon

• It was from still hot meteors that had crashed into the Moon

• It was from glowing lichen that grows on the Moon

• It was sunlight that was reflected off the surface of the Moon

• It was fires lit by little green men

What astronomer showed that the planets did not need to orbit the sun in a perfect circle?

• Johannes Kepler

• Tycho Brahe

• Galileo

• Copernicus

• Aristotle

What tool did Galileo greatly improve so it could be used to observe the planets?

• The microscope

• The telegraph

• The telescope

• The bifocal

• The pendulum

What discovery did Galileo make while studying outer space?

• That the Moon was covered in craters

• The moons of Jupiter

• The phases of Venus

• Sunspots

• All of the above

What Renaissance astronomer took many precise measurements of the planets over a long period of time and had Johannes Kepler as his student?

• Galileo

• Copernicus

• Ptolemy

• Tycho Brahe

• Aristotle

True or false: The Renaissance was a time when many great discoveries were made in the field of astronomy.

• TRUE

• FALSE