Lunar Lore
It is estimated that the Moon is between 3.8 and 4.6 billion years old; making it roughly the same age as this planet it orbits.
What is Earth?
During this specific type of eclipse; the Moon moves directly into the shadow cast by the Earth.
What is a lunar eclipse?
While it looks like the cosmos moves around us; it is actually due to Earth's 24-hour spin on its axis; a motion known by this term.
What is rotation?
Unlike the outer gas giants; the inner planets are dense; rocky; and classified by this term because they formed close to the Sun from elements that resist vaporization.
What are terrestrial planets?
Astronomers estimate that our entire universe began with the Big Bang approximately this many billion years ago.
What is 13.7 billion years?
This is the scientific term for the moon phases where the visible sunlit portion appears to grow larger each night.
What is waxing?
If you are standing on Earth and find that the Sun is completely blocked from your view by the Moon; you are experiencing this type of eclipse.
What is a solar eclipse?
The cyclic change of our seasons is caused by a combination of Earth's orbital path around the Sun and its axis being fixed at this specific angle of tilt.
What is 23.5 degrees?
Most of these rocky space bodies are found orbiting in a vast "belt" situated comfortably between Mars and Jupiter.
What are asteroids?
High-mass stars end their lifecycles in a massive Type II explosion known as this; before collapsing into either a neutron star or a black hole.
What is a supernova?
Because the Moon's orbital and rotational periods are exactly equal; we experience this phenomenon; causing us to always see the same side of the Moon.
What is synchronous rotation?
When the Sun; Earth; and Moon form a perfectly straight alignment; it produces these tides; which feature the highest daily tidal ranges.
What is a spring tide?
This physics experiment; consisting of a heavy weight swinging on a long wire; provides direct visual evidence that the Earth is actively rotating beneath it.
What is a Foucault pendulum?
As these icy bodies approach the heat of the Sun; they develop a distinct head and tail; due to solar winds; their tails always point in this direction.
What is away from the Sun?
Low-mass stars (like our own Sun) eventually expand into Red Giants; shed their outer layers into a Planetary Nebula; and ultimately fade into this dense; cooling stellar remnant.
What is a white dwarf?
To complete a full lunar month—going through one complete cycle of all its phases—the Moon takes approximately this many days.
What is 29.5 days?
These lower-range tides occur when the Sun and Moon pull at right angles (90 degrees) relative to the Earth.
What is a neap tide?
Occurring around June 21st; this event marks the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere; when the Sun reaches its zenith directly over the Tropic of Cancer.
What is the summer solstice?
If a piece of space debris enters Earth's atmosphere and creates a brilliant streak of light; it's called a meteor; if it survives the burn and strikes the ground; its name changes to this.
What is a meteorite?
The primary evidence that our universe is expanding comes from observing this specific Doppler shift effect in the light traveling from distant galaxies.
What is a red shift?
This widely accepted theory states that the Moon formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago following a massive collision between Earth and an object of this planet's relative size.
What is a Mars-sized object?
Neap tides occur during two specific phases of the moon cycle; name both of them.
What are the First Quarter and Third Quarter moons?
Meaning "equal night;" these two dates in March and September occur when the Earth's axis is perpendicular to the Sun's rays; giving almost exactly 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night globally.
What are the equinoxes (Vernal/Spring and Autumnal)?
Our entire solar system originally condensed from a massive; spinning; collapsing interstellar cloud composed entirely of these two components.
What are dust and gas?
Abbreviated as CMBR; this faint; uniform glow detected from all directions in deep space represents the remaining thermal "afterglow" left behind by the Big Bang.
What is Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation?