Solar Path
This motion of Earth causes the Sun to appear to rise in the east and set in the west each day.
What is the Earth's rotation?
This motion causes the Moon to shift eastward relative to the background stars each night.
What is the Moon's orbit?
Planets change position relative to background stars because they are doing this around the Sun.
What is orbiting?
This motion of Earth causes stars to appear to move across the sky during the night.
What is the Earth's rotation?
This is a recognized pattern of stars used to map the sky.
What is a constellation?
This feature of Earth explains why the Sun’s path across the sky changes throughout the year.
What is the Earth's axial tilt?
This term describes the Moon when its illuminated portion is increasing.
What is waxing?
This imaginary line marks the apparent path of the Sun across the sky.
What is the ecliptic?
This star appears nearly stationary in the Northern Hemisphere sky.
What is Polaris?
This is the difference between a constellation and an asterism.
What is that a constellation is an official region of the sky, while an asterism is an informal star pattern?
During this season, the Sun reaches its highest noon altitude in the Northern Hemisphere.
What is summer?
The Moon rises about this much later each day due to its orbital motion.
What is 50 minutes?
Planets remain close to the ecliptic because the solar system formed mostly in this shape.
What is a flat disk?
This term describes stars or constellations that never set below the horizon.
What is circumpolar?
This constellation is commonly used for navigation because it contains the North Star.
What is Ursa Minor?
Shadows are shortest at this time of day because the Sun is highest in the sky.
What is noon (solar noon)?
Careful observation of the Moon over weeks reveals repeating patterns called these.
What are the lunar phases?
This apparent backward motion of a planet puzzled early astronomers.
What is retrograde motion?
Long-exposure photographs show stars moving in circles because of this Earth-based effect.
What is rotation on Earth's axis?
These constellations lie along the ecliptic and are associated with the Sun’s yearly path.
What are the zodiac constellations?
By tracking the Sun’s position along the horizon, observers can predict these two daily events.
What are sunrise and sunset?
This type of month measures the Moon’s orbit relative to the background stars and is about 27.3 days long.
What is the sidereal month?
Retrograde motion occurs because Earth does this relative to other planets in its orbit.
What is passes them (or overtakes them)?
Circumpolar stars are especially useful for navigation because they do this all year long.
What is remain visible all year?
Different constellations are visible in different seasons because Earth is doing this.
What is orbiting the Sun?