Modern Astronomy Quiz

Who made the radical suggestion that the planets orbit the sun and not earth?

• Galileo Galilei

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Johannes Kepler

• Tycho Brahe

In which year did Nicolaus Copernicus make his suggestion about the planets orbiting the sun?

• 1599

• 1609

• 1576

• 1543

Which astronomer was able to determine the position of 777 fixed stars accurately?

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Galileo Galilei

• Tycho Brahe

• Johannes Kepler

Who was born to a poor German family and studied at the University of Tübingen?

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Tycho Brahe

• Johannes Kepler

• Galileo Galilei

Which law of planetary motion describes that the actual path followed by the planets was elliptical?

• The Law of Orbits

• The Law of Harmonies

• The Law of Equal Areas

• The Law of Ellipses

Who discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter?

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Galileo Galilei

• Tycho Brahe

• Johannes Kepler

Which astronomer proposed that the orbits of planets about the Sun are largely elliptical?

• Isaac Newton

• Johannes Kepler

• Tycho Brahe

• Nicolaus Copernicus

Which model of the universe suggested that the planets orbit the sun and not earth?

• Ptolemic Model

• Newtonian Model

• Copernican Model

• Tychonic Model

Which discovery of Galileo helped weaken support for the Ptolemic model?

• Lunar Craters on the Moon

• Sunspots on the Sun

• Elliptical Orbits of Planets

• Circular Orbits of Planets

What is Kepler's first law of planetary motion?

• The Law of Equal Areas

• The Law of Ellipses

• The Law of Harmonies

• The Law of Orbits