Topic 5 - Solar System observation Flashcards
Why does the Sun follow an annual path called the ecliptic?
Because Earth takes one year to orbit the Sun, the apparent position of the Sun takes one year to make a circuit of the ecliptic
Why does the motion of the planets take place in the Zodiacal Band?
Because of the inclinations of the planets’ orbits to the ecliptic, the planets appear never to move out of a stretch if sky, which we call the Zodiacal Band
What is the First Point of Aries?
The point at which the Sun crosses the Celestial Equator moving South to North along the Ecliptic
What is a superior conjunction?
When any planet is on the other side of the Sun to you
What is an Inferior Conjunction?
When Mercury or Venus is between Earth and the Sun
What is Opposition?
When a superior planet is blocked from the Sun by Earth
What is Elongation?
When an inferior planet is at its optimal viewing point in its orbit, the point on the inferior planet’s orbit at which the Earth creates a tangent across the orbit
What is a Transit?
When a celestial body passes directly between a larger celestial body and an observer
What is an Occultation?
When one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer
