Earth's Cycles
The amount of time it takes for Earth to make one full trip around the Sun.
One year
The approximate length of time for one full cycle of the Moon’s phases.
About 1 month or 29.5 days
This happens to the gravitational pull between Earth and a spacecraft as the craft travels to the edge of the Solar System.
It decreases
The Sun
Before it was a Solar System, it was a giant cloud made of these two things
Gas and dust
This movement of the Earth causes day and night.
Rotation around its axis
The percentage of the Moon that is always illuminated by the Sun, regardless of the phase we see.
50%
If a satellite orbiting Earth slows down, it will begin to do this.
Move closer to Earth
The name of the galaxy we live in.
The Milky Way
These tools help astronomers by providing closer views of space objects, making distant planets more visible.
Telescopes
This feature of the Earth causes the changing seasons.
The tilt of the Earth
This motion is the primary cause of the Moon's changing phases as seen from Earth.
Orbiting the Earth
On planets of the same size, the one with more mass has _____ gravity.
Greatest (or More)
The name of the "rocky" planets.
Mercury, Mars, Earth, and Venus
This is what happened to almost all of the mass in the original spinning disk of gas and dust.
It turned into a star
Earth's tilt causes more _____ in the summer than in winter.
Daylight
In a diagram where the Moon is positioned directly between the Sun and Earth, this specific event could occur.
Solar Eclipse
The Sun is not stationary; it performs this motion within our galaxy.
It orbits the center of the Galaxy
Name the "Gas Giants"
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
These allow for the exploration of distant places by traveling to and imaging objects like the moon Titan.
Spacecraft
During winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth's North Pole is pointed in this direction relative to the Sun.
Tilted away from the Sun
If there is a New Moon on Oct 9 and Nov 6, this is the phase the Moon would be in on Oct 24.
Full Moon
This force pulled a cloud of gas and dust together to form a spinning disk.
Gravity
If Earth is modeled by a 0.5 cm pea, a basketball (23.9 cm) would best represent this planet.
Jupiter
These space objects were formed from the "leftover" gas and dust in the disk that didn't become part of the Sun.
Planets and moons