Chapter 1

Earth, Moon, and

Sun

Section 1.1
Earth in Space
Days & Years
The ancient egyptians were among the first to
study the stars. They noticed the bright star
Sirius in the morning sky shortly before seasonal
floods.
astronomy- the study of the moon, stars, & other objects in space

It was thought that the Earth stood still & that

the sun and moon were moving around the Earth

 Rotation:
axis- the imaginary line that passes through Earths center & the North
and South Poles
the northern axis points to Polaris (North Star)
rotation- the Earth spinning on its axis
Earths rotation on its axis causes the day & night
as the Earth rotates eastward, the sun appears to move westward
across the sky
it takes 24 hours for the Earth to complete one full rotation on its axis

 Revolution:
revolution- the movement of an object around another object
it takes one year (365 days) for the Earth to complete one full
revolution around the sun
orbit- the Earths path as it revolves around the sun; Earths orbit is an
oval shape

 Calendars:
Egyptians counted the days between the first appearance of
the star Sirius (365 days) creating one of the first calendars
Earths actual orbit is 365 1/4 days creating every 4 years a
leap year which has 366 days (February gains a day giving
it 29)
early cultures used moon cycles as a kind of calendar with
the time between one full moon and the next being about
29 1/2 days called moonths
Egyptians created 12 months with 30 days each with an
extra 5 days that were just there
The Romans borrowed the Egyptian calendar, made some
changes & it became the calendar we use today

 Seasons on Earth
there are 4 distinct seasons on Earth:winter, spring, summer, & autumn
(fall)
at the equator, sunlight hits the Earth directly (constant warm weather);
closer to the poles, sunlight hits the Earth on an angle spreading it out
over a greater area (cooler weather the further from the equator you go,
until it turns very cold at the poles)

Earths Tilted Axis:

it the Earths axis was straight up & down, the weather
would remain fairly constant throughout the year
Earth has seasons because its axis is tilted as it
moves around the sun
the Earths tilt is 23.5 degrees from vertical; as the Earth
moves in its orbit it is pointed toward the sun for part of the
year & away from the sun for the other part of the year
when the north end of the Earths axis is pointed toward the
sun, the Northern Hemisphere has summer; when the axis
is pointing away, the Northern Hemisphere is having winter
seasons are not affected by the Earths distance from the
sun

 Earth in June:
the north end of the Earths axis is pointing directly toward the sun with
the noon sun directly overhead at 23.5 degrees north latitude
latitude- a measurement of distance from the equator expressed in
degrees north or south (the equator latitude is 0 degrees & the North
Pole 90 degrees North)
the hemisphere tilted toward the sun has more hours of daylight heating
the Earths surface more than any other time of the year (summer)
summer in the Northern Hemisphere means that it is winter in the
Southern Hemisphere & visa versa

Earth in December
the south end of the Earths axis is pointing directly
toward the sun with the noon sun directly overhead at
23.5 degrees south latitude
the Southern Hemisphere is having summer; Northern
Hemisphere is having winter
Both June & December
solstice- 2 days each year, the noon sun points directly
to 23.5 degrees south or north; the 2 longest days of
the year
23.5 degrees south is the winter solstice & 23.5
degrees north is the summer solstice in the Northern
Hemisphere

Earth in March & September:

equinox- occurs only 2 days out of the year & halfway
between the each solstice where neither hemisphere is
tilted toward or away from the sun & means equal night
where the amount of daylight & night are the same
vernal equinox- (spring equinox) occurs around March 21 &
marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere
autumnal equinox- occurs around September 23 & marks
the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere
seasonal changes affect living things; in the fall, the plant
life dies off, birds fly to warmer climates, & some animals
become dormant entering hibernation; in the spring plants
begin to grow, the birds return, & animals awaken from
hibernation

Section 1.2
Phases, Eclipses, & Tides
the moon is Earths closest neighbor out in space at 384,400
kilometers out in space or 30 Earths lined up in a row
the moon revolves around the Earth as the Earth revolves around
the sun
The positions of the moon, Earth, & the sun cause the phases of
the moon, eclipses, and tides.

 Motions of the Moon:

as the moon revolves around the Earth it rotates on its own
axis; its orbit similar to Earths as a flat oval
the moon takes about 27.3 days to orbit around the Earth; it
also takes 27.3 days to complete one revolution on its own axis
causing a moon day & a moon year to be the same length of
time
the near side of the moon always faces Earth & the far side
of the moon always faces away from Earth & is never seen

Phases of the Moon:

the moon does not produce its own light, instead it
reflects the light from the sun
phases- the different shapes of the moon when seen
from Earth
the moon has 8 phases and goes through the whole set
once a month
What Causes Phases?
phases are caused by changes in the relative position
of the moon, Earth, & sun
The phase of the moon you see depends on how
much of the sunlit side of the moon faces Earth.

 The Cycles of the Phases:

at new moon, the lit side of moon is not facing the Earth, so from
Earth no moon is seen
as the moon revolves around the Earth it appears to grow,
from the right side to the left, with more & more of it becoming
visible until it if fully lit (full moon)
from one full moon to the next it takes about 29.5 days
The 8 phases of the moon in order are: New Moon, Waxing
Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning
Gibbous, Third Quarter, Waning Crescent

see page 26 in book for pictures & details (on quiz

& test!)

Eclipses
the moon rarely goes directly between the Earth & the sun
because its orbit around the Earth is slightly tilted with
respect to Earths orbit around the sun
When the moons shadow hits Earth or Earths shadow hits
the moon, an eclipse occurs.
eclipse- occurs when an object in space comes between
the sun an a third object, and casts a shadow on that
object
there are 2 types of eclipses: solar (sun) eclipse & lunar
(moon) eclipse

 Solar Eclipse
solar eclipse- occurs when the moon passes between Earth & the sun,
blocking the sunlight from reaching Earth
Total Solar Eclipse:
umbra- the darkest park of the moons shadow is cone-shaped
the cone of the umbra is very narrow on the face of the Earth so that
only people in the umbra experience a total solar eclipse
during a total solar eclipse, the sky is dark, you can see the stars, & the
solar cornea (the faint outer atmosphere of the sun)
Partial Solar Eclipse:
penumbra- a lighter shadow cast by the moon & is the larger part of the
overall shadow

in the penumbra, people only see a partial eclipse; since part of the
sun is still visible, it is not safe to look directly at the eclipse

 Lunar Eclipse
lunar eclipse- occurs at a full moon when Earth is directly between the
moon and the sun
the Earth blocks the suns light from reaching the moon making the
moon look dark from Earth
Total Lunar Eclipse
when the moon is in the Earths umbra, there is a total lunar eclipse
a lunar eclipse can be seen anywhere on Earth that the moon is visible
Partial Lunar Eclipse
Earth, the moon, and the sun are not in a line creating a partial lunar
eclipse
the moon passes partly into the umbra of the Earths shadow

 Tides
tides- the rise & fall of water, about every 12.5 hours
What Causes Tides?
gravity- the attractive force between two objects; its magnitude depends on
their masses and the distance between them
Tides occur mainly because the differences in how much the moon
pulls on different parts of the Earth
as the Earth rotates, the moon pulls water toward the point on Earth closest
to the moon; the 2 tides (on opposite sides of the globe) occur because the
difference in the force of gravity from one place to another
High Tides
water from one place is pulled more strongly toward the moon due to
gravity than another, but due to the Earths rotation, that location changes
throughout the day

 The Tide Cycle

at any one time there are 2 places with high tides and 2 places
with low tides n Earth
as the Earth rotates the high tide stays on the side facing the
moon & the second high hide is on the opposite side of the Earth
the tides rotate in a 25 hour cycle

 Spring & Neap Tides

the suns gravity also pulls on the Earth & once a month the sun, Earth,
& moon are in a line so that there gravities pull in the same direction
spring tide- the combined forces of the sun & moons gravity produce a
tide with the greatest difference between high & low tide
spring tides twice a month , one at full moon & one at new moon
neap tide- when the sun & Earth are at right angles with each other, as
well as the angle between the Earth & the moon is a right angle
neap tides happen 2 times a month, one at first quarter moon & one at
last quarter moon

 Local Tide Effects

the shape of the coastline effects whether or not a place has regular
tides
on the seashore there is an intertidal zone, that is under water at high
tide but is dry land during low tide
many animals & sea creatures live in the intertidal zone like sea stars,
barnacles, clams, & oysters

Section 1.3

Rockets & Satellites

How Rockets Work

Blast off!!!

A rocket moves forward when gases expelled from

the rear of the rocket push it in the opposite
direction.
Newtons 3rd law of Physics: For every action
there is an opposite and equal reaction.
the fuel inside the rocket burns creating hot gas
which is then forced out of a narrow hole in the
back of the rocket propelling it upward

Multistage Rockets

early rockets, built in China around year 1000, used

gun-powder for its fuel, but it burned too quickly &
was explosive
American scientist Robert H. Goddard experimented
with liquid fuels finding that they gave off a slow
continuous burn
in 1903, a Russian scientist founded a multistage
rocket with fuel in each section; as the fuel is used up,
the empty section falls off & the next stage is ignited
this style of rocket made possible sending man to the
moon in the 1960s

Moon

Landing

Artificial Satellites

satellite- any natural or artificial object that revolves

around an object in space
October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union (Russia) launched
Sputnik 1, the worlds 1st artificial satellite which
revolved around Earth every 96 minutes
January 1958, the USA launched Explorer 1
April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut,
orbited Earth & became the 1st person in space
since 1957, thousands of artificial satellites & space
stations have been launched & they are used for
communication, navigation, collecting weather data, &
research

Good Job Yuri!

Satellites

satellites give off signals that can be picked

up by small receivers on Earth for many
different purposes
some satellites are in geosynchronous orbitsthey revolve around the Earth at the same
rate that the Earth rotates

these satellites are used to relay television

signals & to map weather patterns
beep beep bloop bleep
(Dont ask use what
the
weather will
be, even we
dont know!)

Space Stations

is a large satellite in which people can live for

long periods of time
1st station was the Russian Salyut in 1971
in 1973 the USA launched Skylab which carried
out telescopes, medical, geological, &
astronomical experiments
the Mir, name meaning peace, (Russian) space
station was launched in 1986
astronauts for 16 different countries cooperated
to build the International Space Station

Space Shuttles

the Saturn V rockets that took men to the

moon in the 1960s & 70s were expensive &
couldnt be reused
in the late 1970s, NASA (National Aeronautics
& Space Administration) developed reusable
space shuttles that could go back & forth
between Earth & space with the first being
launched in 1981
are the main way to get men & equipment to
space & are only designed to orbit Earth
Did I remember to turn off the lights?

Section 1.4

Earths Moon

there is no air or liquid water on the moon

temperatures range from 100C to -170C

the moons gravity is 1/6 of the Earths

The Structure & the Origin of the Moon

moon has the diameter of 3,476 km (little less than the

distance across the US) which is about 1/4 of the Earths
diameter
has a very dense core, but the outer layers are much
less dense
theory of the moons origin is the collision theory: about
4.5 million years ago, an object collided with a molten
Earth taking parts of the object & the molten Earth into
Earths orbit

Looking at the Moon From Earth

ancient Greeks thought the moon was smooth

in 1609, Galileo made his own telescope- putting 2 lenses in
a wooden tube making distant objects appear closer when
viewed
features on the moons surface include craters, highlands,
& marias
Galileo saw that much of the moon was covered in cratersround pits; were created meteoroid impacts & not
volcanoes
the higher portions of the moons surface cast dark
shadows
Galileo saw maria- large, dark, flat areas on the moon which
is the Latin word for seas because he thought that they
were oceans; marias were formed by areas flooded by
molten material billions of years ago
the same side of the moon always faces the Earth

Missions to the Moon

president John F. Kennedy launched the space

program in 1961

Exploring the Moon

between 1964-1972 the US & Russia launched

dozens of rockets to the moon because no one
knew what the surface of the moon was like
when the Surveyor spacecraft landed it showed
that the surface was solid
lunar orbiters took pictures to find a flat surface to
land a rocket on

The Moon Landing

July 20, 1969 the 3 astronauts of Apollo 11 orbited

the moon
Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin got into the Lunar
Module Eagle and descending onto the moon in an
area called the Sea of Tranquility; The Eagle has
landed!
That is one small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind. - Neil Armstrong

On the Surface of the Moon

astronauts took samples of the moons soil to bring back

to Earth to study; 382 kg (840.4 pounds) of samples!

Moon Rock & Moonquakes

much of what scientists have learned about the moon

came from detailed study of the moon rocks gathered
by astronauts
all of the samples were made of a molten material
showing that at one time the moons surface was very
hot
a seismometer was used to detect earthquakes on the
moon; it detected weak moonquakes
astronauts left a piece of equipment on the moon used
to monitor the flow of heat energy from the moons
interior; shows that the moon has almost completely
cooled since its formation

Photographs of the Moon

pictures show that the far (dark) side of the

moon is rougher than the near side & has very
few maria
the American Clementine spacecraft was
launched in 1994 & took filtered pictures of the
moon showing what types of minerals were
present
American Lunar Prospector spacecraft mapped
the entire moon surface from a height of 100 km
finding evidence of ice frozen in the soil near the
moons poles