Moon
How many days are required for the Moon to complete a cycle of phases from one full Moon phase to the next?
29.5 days.
Most of the energy in the Earth's atmosphere comes from...
radiation from the Earth and insolation from the Sun
The average temperature of planets does what when increasing in distance to the Sun?
Decreases with greater distance from the Sun.
The orbiting motion of the Earth is best described as...
revolution.
The best evidence for Earth's rotation is...
the Focault Pendulum.
The same side of the Moon will always be visible to the observer because of...
the Moon's rotation on its axis is similar to its orbit around Earth. (The period of revolution and period of rotation are the same).
As seen from New York State, the noon Sun is...
never directly overhead.
Which member of the solar system has a diameter of 3.48 x 10^3 kilometers?
Earth's Moon.
The Earth has fewer impact crater than Mercury because of the...
destruction of meteorites in the Earth's upper atmosphere.
The motion of a Foucault pendulum provides evidence that Earth...
spins on its axis.
Compared to the density of terrestrial and Jovian planets, the density of the Moon is...
higher than Jovian planets and lower than terrestrial planets.
To a observer located at the Equator, on which date would the Sun appear to be directly overhead at noon.
The equinoxes ( September 21 and March 21)
The planets known as "gas giants" include Jupiter, Uranus and...
Saturn.
The actual shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun is best described as...
An ellipse. (0.017)
The tilt of the Earth on its axis is a cause of the Earth's...
seasons.
Eclipses do NOT occur each time that the Moon revolves around Earth because the Moon's...
the orbit of the moon is tilted relative to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.
A student in New York State observed that the altitude of the Sun at noon is decreasing each day. During which month could the student have made these observations?
October.
Which planet's orbital shape (eccentricity) would be most similar to Jupiter's orbital shape (eccentricity)?
Uranus (0.047)
The Earth reaches its greatest orbital speed when its...
distance from the sun decreases in winter. (Perihelion)
Major ocean and air currents appear to curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere because...
Earth rotates on its axis.
At which two Moon phases will the difference in height between high tide and low tide most likely be the greatest.
Full Moon and New Moon.
At noon on which date would the observer cast the longest shadow?
December 21st
Compared to Jupiter and Saturn, Venus and Mars have greater...
higher densities
longer rotation at the equator
shorter periods of revolution
A comparison of the age of Earth obtained from radioactive dating and the age of the universe based on galactic Doppler shifts suggest that...
the solar system and Earth formed billions of years after the universe began.
The apparent change in direction of a Foucault pendulum is caused by...
the perspective of the observer.