  Young children, students, and adults may have alternative ideas about the
motion of the Sun and stars as we observe them in the sky. However, a good
understanding of this apparent motion is essential as a starting point to study
more advanced astronomical concepts, especially when these include astronomical
observations. In this paper, we describe the development and validation of the
apparent motion of Sun and stars (AMoSS) test, which can measure to what extent
students have insight into the apparent motion of the Sun and stars. We propose
a framework that allows one to compare students' understanding of the specific
aspects of these apparent motions in relation to the time of the day, time of
the year, and the observer's latitude. For each of these aspects, we designed
test items for both the Sun and the symmetric apparent motion aspect of the
stars. The reliability and validity of the test are established by analyzing
answers of both secondary school and university students and by presenting the
questions to a panel of experts. We report on the design and validation process
and present the final version of the test.
