What is the difference between a
sidereal month and a synodic month? Which is
longer? Why?
During a lunar eclipse, does the moon
enter the earth's shadow from the east or the west?
Explain why.
What is precession and how does it
affect our view of the sky?
The orbit of a spacecraft about the sun
has a perihelion distance of 0.5 AU and a aphelion of 3.5
AU.
What is the spacecraft's orbital period?
Which planet would you expect to exhibit
the greatest variation in apparent brightness as seen
from the earth? Which planet would you expect to exhibit
the greatest variation in angular diameter?
Explain your answers.
Suppose you have discovered an alien
solar system in which a planet circles a star once every
3 years at an average distance of 9 AU. How does
the mass of this star compare with that of our sun?
(Assuming the planet's mass is negligible.)