Day & Night
Why is there day and night?
Because the Earth is rotating around the sun.
What direction does Earth's gravity pull?
Toward the center of the Earth/ down.
What is a star?
A burning ball of gas that creates light and heat.
When are shadows the longest?
In the morning and at night.
Define gravity
An invisible force that pulls objects toward the Earth's center.
How long is a day?
24 hours.
Where is gravity the strongest?
Earth's center/ sea level.
Why is the sun brighter than other stars?
The sun is brighter than the other stars because it is significantly closer to the Earth.
They're long in the morning, short in the middle of the day, and long at night.
Define Orbit
he path an object takes when it travels around another object in space.
What do we call the period of time it takes the Earth to make a full rotation around its axis?
A day
How does every object have gravity?
Every object in the universe has gravity because it has mass, even if it's very small; this means that even you and your pencil are pulling on each other with a gravitational force, although it's too weak to notice!
What happens to the light from stars as it moves through space?
It spreads out and becomes less bright.
What happens to the direction of a shadow as the time goes from AM to PM?
The shadow switches sides.
Define rotation
turning around a central point, like a spinning top or a wheel.
Where does the sunrise and set?
What is the relationship between weight and its gravitational force?
The heavier an object is, the stronger the gravitational force pulling it down towards the Earth.
What is a constellation?
A group of stars that appear to form a picture or pattern in the night sky.
Describe the directional pattern shadows follow in a day.
They're on the west side in the morning and they switch to the east side after noon (They're always opposite of the sun's location).
Define axis
An invisible line around which an object rotates, or spins.
How does the length of day change throughout the year?
The hemisphere that is leaning toward the Sun has summer, with more hours of daylight. The hemisphere that is leaning away from the Sun has winter, with fewer hours of daylight.
How does gravity cause meteors?
Gravity causes meteors by pulling meteoroids into the Earth's atmosphere and accelerating them as they approach the planet.
What are the two ways astronomers measure the brightness of stars?
apparent brightness (how bright a star appears from Earth) and true brightness (how bright a star would appear if it were really close).
Name 4 of the Moon's phases.
Possible answers: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent.
Define new moon
when the moon appears dark from our perspective on Earth.