IQ

• Solar eclipses can happen only near New Moon.

• A. - True• B. - False

IQ

• A. True. New Moon is the correct answer!

• A solar eclipse occurs when the Sun is blocked by the Moon. This can only happen when the moon is between the Earth and the Sun, which is New Moon.

IQ

• Lunar eclipses can only happen at:

• A. New Moon• B. First quarter• C. Full Moon• D. Third quarter

IQ

• C. Full Moon is correct.• A lunar eclipse occurs when the

Earth blocks the Sun’s light from the Moon. This can only happen when the Moon is opposite the Sun as seen from the Earth - that is, the Earth is between the Sun and Moon. That happens only at Full Moon!

This is the image of Jupiter used for the upcoming quiz about eclipse geometry. There are TWO “eclipses” going on and the sun would “disappear” were you in either spot.

IQ

• The planets known to the Greek astronomers of 50 BC were:

• A. Only the Earth - and it wasn’t really known if Earth was a planet

• B. The Earth and Moon• C. Earth, Venus and Jupiter• D. Mercury, Venus, Mars,

Jupiter and Saturn

IQ

• D. The Greeks knew of five “wanderers:” Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Earth wasn’t really known to be a planet.

IQ

• The Full Moon always rises at:

• A. Midnight• B. Sunset• C. Sunrise• D. It is always in the

sky

IQ• B. Sunset is correct.• The phases of the moon

refer to the pattern of illumination on the hemisphere facing Earth. Full Moon occurs when the entire hemisphere is illuminated, which can only occur when the Moon is directly opposite the Sun as seen from the Earth. The full moon must rise just as the sun sets.

IQ• This silver-nosed

gentleman, a Danish astronomer, made precise visual observations that started a scientific revolution. He was:

• A. Bradford Smith• B. Harlan J. Smith• C. Tycho Brahe• D. Steve Smith• E. Homer Smith

IQ

• C. Tycho Brahe.• Tycho made observations

from his observatory, Uraniborg, on the island of Hven off the Danish coast.

• (As a young man, Brahe lost the tip of his nose in a duel, so he wore a silver prosthetic forever after.)

IQ

• Polaris (the North Star) just happens to be near the Earth’s rotation axis.

• A. - True• B. - False

IQ

• The answer is A. True.• Polaris just happens to be

near the pole. As time progresses, the Earth’s precession will move the rotation axis away from Polaris.

IQ

• The sun appears in the zenith from Albuquerque:

• A. On the summer solstice• B. On the winter solstice• Only when the sun is

farthest from the Earth• Never!

IQ

• D. Never!• The sun can appear

directly overhead, in the zenith, only if one lives within 23.5° of the equator. The latitude of ABQ is 32°, so the sun can never be directly overhead.

IQ

• Astrology is a science.• A. - True• B. - False

IQ

• B. False is the correct answer.

• Astrology does not use the scientific method to verify its techniques and predictions. Principally because of the Earth’s precession, the constellations and sky signs of astrology no longer match the true positions of astronomical objects.