Celestial Patterns
The Moon has a certain number of phases that are named. How many are named?
8
This objects revolves around Earth every 29.3 days
The Moon
On Earth, during the Autumnal and Vernal Equinoxes, the Sun's direct rays are over this imaginary line, making the nights and the days each 12 hours long.
The Equator
Our Sun is only described as an intermediate star, why does it look so big compared to other stars that so more massive?
It's really close to Earth
Stars can be classified in three ways.
Color, size and brightness.
This phenomena happens every 24 hours
The Earth spin once on its axis and we get day and night
When the moon's lighted side is growing bigger, it's called ____________________
A waxing moon
On Earth we experience day and night when the planet rotates into and out of the Sun's light. Describe the direction our planet is rotating.
counter-clockwise
The sun is located in this part of our solar system.
the center
Name a famous star that is in a fixed location (doesn't rise or set like all the others).
Polaris, the North Star
This cycle has four very important dates with unique weather qualities.
seasons
Where would you need to be to see the moon look the same in all of its 8 phases?
In Space, or outside of the Earth, Moon, Sun system
When a rock from Space lands on Earth it is called this_________________
A meteorite
When the Sun casts a very long shadow on a sundial, describe where the Sun is in the sky in order to make the shadow long
It is low in the sky
What effect does the distance from Earth have on the Apparent Magnitude of a star
The closer the star is the brighter it will appear.
The Earth rotates on an axis from the west to the east. This movement of the Earth makes the Sun, Moon and Stars appear to be rising in the _______and setting in the _________.
rising in the east and setting in the west
What moon phase comes between the Sun and Earth
New Moon
This season on Earth has longer days, sometimes 15 hours long, with the sun directly overhead. Describe the season opposite this one.
Short days with the sun shining low and indirectly on us.
There is no oxygen in space to have fire, yet Stars burn. Name the electrically charged fast moving atom responsible for this phenomena.
Plasma
Shooting stars are not stars at all. They are actually called.
Meteors
This cycle begins in a dense cloud of gas and dust and ends some billions of years later sometimes in a black hole and sometimes as a White Dwarf
The Life Cycle of Stars
What is the special kind of rotation that limits our view of the moon to one side
synchronized rotation
The Earth has four seasons as it revolves around the Sun. Name the cause of this phenomena and the two effects.
The cause is the Earth's axial tilt.
1. The effects are the hemispheres receive different amounts of direct and indirect sunlight
2. There are more or less hours of sunlight (or solar energy hitting an area)
The Earth follows an orbit around the Sun in a fixed amount of time each year. How long is that?
365.25 days
The actual brightness of a star is its___________
absolute magnitude