Solar System Flashcards
What phase of the moon does a lunar eclipse occur on?
A lunar eclipse occurs on a full moon when the Moon passes through earth’s shadow from behind
What shadow causes a lunar eclipse?
The Earth’s penumbra or umbra
What phases of the moon does the solar eclipse occur on?
A new moon
What shadow causes a solar eclipse?
The moons umbra or penumbra
Umbra
The darker regions of the shadow
Penumbra
The lighter region of the shadow
What shape are the orbits of the planets?
The orbit shapes of the planets are ellipses which are ovals or flattened circles
What is the most common theory of how the Solar System was formed?
The most common theory that people say happened was the Big Bang theory. They say that a huge bang occurred and all of the planets were formed.
Rotation
Spin on its axis
Revolution
The movement of one object around another, such as the Earth around the Sun
What type of galaxy is our galaxy?
Our galaxy is a spiral galaxy and it’s name is the Milky Way
Gravitational pull of the galaxy
The thing that keeps our galaxies together is called gravitational pull of galaxies. This pulls them and keeps one and other together
Order of the planets
Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
Position of the moon for each phase
The new Moon is between the Sun and Earth then everything else follows. Also, the full moon is lined up in a straight line with the Sun and Earth
Description of Moon phases
New Moon (not illuminated), Waxing Crescent (toenail shaped becoming more illuminated), First Quarter (half lit up and a quarter way gone around its orbit), Waxing Gibbous (almost to a full moon), Full Moon (all illuminated), Waning Gibbous (getting less illuminated, Third Quarter (half lit up left side illuminated), Waning Crescent (back to a new Moon again)
Waxing
The moon is gradually becoming more illuminated
Waning
The moon is becoming less illuminated
Moons rotation
It rotates around the Earth and it takes 29.5 days (more 27.32) days to change from the first to the last phase
Moons revolution
The moon rotates around the Earth on its axis and it takes 29.5 days
Why do we see the same surface of the moon?
We only see the same surface of the moon because the moon rotates on its axis (rotation) at the exact same rate as its revolution
Direct and Indirect Sunlight Seasons
Direct sunlight’s season is called Summer, and Indirect Sunlight’s season is called winter
Length of Earth’s rotation
The Earth’s rotation takes 24 hours or 23 hours and 53 minutes to complete
Length of Earth’s revolution
The length of Earth’s revolution is 365.26 days
Causes of the Seasons
The cause of seasons is earths tilt on its axis. We get indirect and direct sunlight causing seasons.
