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Study Guide – Astronomy Part 1
1.) What causes day and night on Earth? Earth’s rotation
2.) Exactly how long is and Earth day? 24 hours
3.) Exactly how long is an Earth year? 365.25 days
4.) What happens during an Earth Year? The Earth revolves around the Sun
5.) What is a leap day and why do we need leap days? An extra day added to February
every 4 years. It makes up for the 0.25 extra days that it takes the Earth to orbit the
Sun
6.) When was the last leap day? When is the next one? Feb 29, 2012 – Feb 29, 2016
7.) When is the Earth closest to the Sun? January
8.) When it is summer here, what season is it in other parts of the world? Which other
parts? Winter in the southern hemisphere
9.) How is the tilt of a solar panel important to the way it works? It collects more energy if
it is tilted directly at the Sun
10.)
How does the tilt of Earth affect the way it is heated? Direct sunlight causes
summer
11.)
How much is the Earth tilted on its axis? 23.5 degrees
12.)
Name 3 ways that the tilt of the Earth and its orbit around the Sun impact Earth
daylight hours, sun angle, and seasons
13.)
What is the maximum sun angle in Mt Pleasant? What day is this and how many
daylight hours are there on that day? 80.6 degrees. June 21, 14 hours & 19 minutes.
14.)
1/6
If you visited the Moon, what would change: mass or weight? Weight would be
15.)
What two things affect the force of gravity between two objects? Mass and
distance
16.)
What force causes tides? Gravity from Sun and Moon
17.)
What type of tide causes the highest high tides and the lowest tides? Spring tide
18.)
What causes these tides? Combined gravity of the Sun and Moon
19.)
What are neap tides and what causes them? Least extreme tides caused by the
Sun and Moon pulling at right angles
20.)
What is happening on the opposite side of Earth when the tide is high here?
Another high tide
21.)
What are the 8 phases of the Moon (in order)? New, waxing crescent, 1st quarter,
waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, 3rd quarter, waning crescent
22.)
What causes us to see the phases of the Moon? Our viewing angle from Earth
only lets us see part of the lit half of the Moon
23.)
How does a solar eclipse occur? The moon blocks out the Sun for some parts of
the Earth
24.)
How is a lunar eclipse different than a solar eclipse? Lunar is when the Earth casts
a shadow on the Moon, Solar is when the Moon casts a shadow on Earth
25.)
Which kind of eclipse can be seen by the most people and why? Lunar. Everyone
on the nighttime side of Earth can see it – solar is only a tiny shadow on Earth. Lunar
are also more common because the Earth’s shadow is bigger
26.)
What are the shadows of an eclipse called? Umbra (full) & penumbra (partial)
27.)
What phases of the moon are associated with each type of eclipse? Solar – New;
Lunar - Full
28.)
How can the surface features of the Sun affect the Earth? Solar flares and CMEs
can send harmful particles to Earth that can destroy satellites
29.)
Define photosphere – surface of Sun that produces light
30.)
Corona – outer layer that you see during an eclipse
31.)
Sunspot – dark area that is cooler
32.)
Prominence – reddish loops of gas
33.)
Solar Flare – explosions that occur when the loops in sunspot regions connect
34.)
Where in the Milky Way galaxy is the Sun located? On the outer edge of one of
the arms
35.)
How big is the Sun compared to Earth? 110 times the diameter – 1 million times
the mass
36.)
How big is the Sun compared to other stars? average
37.)
How far away is the Sun from the Earth (in AU and in km)? 150 million km – 1AU
38.)
What forces cause the planets to travel in ellipses around the Sun? Gravity and
inertia