Section 1 - The Earth In Space Flashcards
What causes day and night on Earth?
It happens because of the rotation of the earth on its axis.
How does the tilt of the Earth’s axis, combined with Earth’s revolution, cause the occurance of seasons?
The axial tilt causes unequal distribution of light and heat on the Earth’s surface.
What does the word solstice mean?
The word solstice comes from two Latin words meaning sun and stop. It refers to the time when the sun seems to stop moving higher in the sky each day.
What does the word equinox mean?
The word equinox comes from Latin and means equal night. At the equinoxes day and night are of equal of length all over the world.
How are the words solstice and equinox related to the position of the Earth’s axis?
On the solstice, the axis is tilted toward the sun in one hemisphere and away from the sun in the other. On the equinox, the axis is not tilted toward the sun in either hemisphere.
What is the magnetosphere?
The magnetosphere is the region of space around the Earth that is affected by the Earth’s magnetic field.
What are the Van Allen radiation belts?
The Van Allen radiation belts are two doughnut shaped regions of charged particles formed when the Earth’s magnetosphere traps some of the particles in the solar wind.
What causes an aurora?
Collisions cause the atmospheric particles to give off visible light, producing an aurora.
Describe the Earth’s axis.
The Earth’s axis is an imaginary line from the North Pole through the center of the Earth to the South Pole.
How long does it take the Earth to rotate once on its axis?
About 24 hours
The Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of ___________.
23 1/2 degrees
