Challenging Solar System

Why was it difficult for people to accept a heliocentric concept of the solar system?

• Scientists had no way to explain retrograde motion.

• Scientists did not check or confirm other scientists’ ideas.

• Information was published in Italian and people could not understand it.

• Aristotle was famous and his ideas were supported by religious teachings.

How did the Ptolemaic model differ from other proposed solar system models?

• It said that the planets have epicycles.

• It said that the planets rotate on their axes.

• It said that the planets revolve around the Sun.

• It said that the planets and the Sun revolve around Earth.

What trait do all solar system models share?

• All planets have epicycles.

• The moon orbits Earth.

• The stars rotate around the Sun.

• The planets have a circular orbit around the Sun.

What observation did this geocentric model of the solar system help to explain?

• orbit speed

• the phases of Venus

• retrograde motion

• the rising of the Sun

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

Which describes one way that Aristarchus's explanation of the movement of objects in the sky was different from other scientists' earlier explanations?

• He discovered Venus’s phases.

• He argued that Earth rotates on its axis.

• He explained the concept of retrograde motion.

• He described the epicycles of the planets in the sky.

How did Kepler’s discoveries contribute to astronomy?

• They supported the heliocentric model.

• They established the laws of planetary motion.

• They explained how the Sun rises and sets.

• They made astronomy accessible to people who spoke Italian.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-4

Which event took place during the Copernican revolution, when most people started to believe in a heliocentric model of the solar system?

• Aristotle developed his model of the solar system.

• Copernicus rediscovered Aristarchus’s heliocentric model.

• Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

• Newton’s theories of gravity were dismissed and considered invalid.

In addition to proposing that planetary orbits are elliptical, what other modification did Kepler make to Copernicus’s model?

• Planets closer to the Sun move faster.

• Planets spin in an epicycle while orbiting Earth.

• Venus has phases due to its orbiting of the Sun.

• Earth’s rotation causes the rising and setting of the Sun.

Which correctly lists three scientists who supported the heliocentric model of the solar system?

• Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus

• Copernicus, Ptolemy, Kepler

• Galileo, Kepler, Aristotle

• Kepler, Galileo, Copernicus

Why was Copernicus’s heliocentric model not believed until Galileo and Kepler provided more evidence?

• The model had the moon orbiting Earth.

• The model was against religious teachings.

• The model could not explain retrograde motion.

• The model did not include all eight planets in the solar system.