Renaissance Astronomy
Test Quiz
1. What types of things do astronomers study?
a. Animals and plants
b. History and philosophy
c. Books and literature
d. Paintings and sculptures
e. Planets and stars
2. What did people think was the center of the universe for nearly 2000 years?
a. The Sun
b. The Moon
c. The Earth
d. The North Star
e. The planet Jupiter
3. What did Galileo do that got him in trouble with the Catholic Church?
a. He invented a telescope that could see the stars
b. He argued that the planets, including the Earth, orbited around the sun
c. He said that there were moons orbiting the planet Jupiter
d. He disagreed with Copernicus
e. He presented a theory on where the light from the Moon came from
4. True or false: When Copernicus explained that all the planets orbited the Sun, pretty much everyone believed him.
a. TRUE
b. FALSE
c.
d.
e.
5. What did Galileo claim was the source of the light of the Moon?
a. It was from an energy source at the middle of the Moon
b. It was from still hot meteors that had crashed into the Moon
c. It was from glowing lichen that grows on the Moon
d. It was sunlight that was reflected off the surface of the Moon
e. It was from fires lit by little green men
6. What astronomer showed that the planets did not need to orbit the sun in a perfect circle?
a. Johannes Kepler
b. Tycho Brahe
c. Galileo
d. Copernicus
e. Aristotle
7. What tool did Galileo greatly improve so it could be used to observe the planets?
a. The microscope
b. The telegraph
c. The telescope
d. The bifocal
e. The pendulum
8. What discovery did Galileo make while studying outer space?
a. That the Moon was covered in craters
b. The moons of Jupiter
c. The phases of Venus
d. Sunspots
e. All of the above
9. What Renaissance astronomer took many precise measurements of the planets over a long period of time and had Johannes Kepler as his student?
a. Galileo
b. Copernicus
c. Ptolemy
d. Tycho Brahe
e. Aristotle
10. True or false: The Renaissance was a time when many great discoveries were made in the field of astronomy.
a. TRUE
b. FALSE
c.
d.
e.
About this quiz: All the questions on this quiz are based on information that can be found on the Renaissance Astronomy page at www.ducksters.com/history/renaissance_astronomy.php.
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