Download Answers for Observing the Solar System The Greeks called the stars

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Answers for Observing the Solar System
The Greeks called the stars (that followed paths separate from the others) “planets” – which means
“wanderers”. The planets were named officially after Roman gods.
Geocentric – all planets and stars revolve around the Earth.
Heliocentric – Earth and other planets revolve around the sun in a circle.
Copernicus developed a good heliocentric model of the universe, but it was flawed because he
believed that they revolved in a circle.
Galileo discovered that Venus had phases (like the moon) and Jupiter had 4 large moons that revolved
around it. These discoveries proved that not everything orbited Earth. Galileo was ridiculed and put
under house arrest.
Kepler discovered that not only Mars, but all the planets travel in a path in the shape of a flattened
circle, or an ellipse.
Answers for The Sun and Eclipses
1. The sun is made up of about ¾ hydrogen and ¼ helium.
2. The sun is divided into the core, radiation zone, and convection zone.
3. The core is where the sun produces its energy.
4. The energy comes from the process of nuclear fusion.
5. Nuclear fusion is when hydrogen atoms join to form helium.
6. The radiation zone is the middle layer of the sun’s interior that is so tightly packed (dense), it takes
energy almost 100,000 years to pass through it.
7. The convection zone is the outer layer. It is where extremely hot gases move freely traveling towards
the surface then cooling off. Once they cool, they sink back towards the core.
8. Convection is the circular process of the air heating and rising then cooling and sinking.
9. The sun’s atmosphere consists of the photosphere, chromosphere, and the corona.
10. See power points for drawings.
11. The corona and the chromosphere are the only parts visible during a solar eclipse. *The photosphere
is usually what you see when you look towards the sun.
12. A solar wind the part of the corona that extends into space for millions of kilometers until it gradually
becomes a thin line of electrically charged particles.
13. Sunspots: darker spots on the sun’s surface. Prominence: a huge loop of gas that links different areas
of sunspots and is connected to the fluctuations of the sun’s magnetic field. Solar flare: an explosion
of gas from the sun’s surface that releases massive amounts of magnetic energy.
14. An aurora happens when solar winds enter our atmosphere (usually at the poles) creating massive
sheets of color when the charged particles in the solar wind interact with the charged particles in the
earth’s atmosphere. In the northern hemisphere (Aurora Borealis) and in the southern hemisphere
(Aurora Australis).
15. Solar winds interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and create magnetic storms. The storms have the
ability to disrupt radio, telephone, television signals, and can fry circuitry.
16. An eclipse is when an object in space comes between the sun and another object. There are solar and
lunar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes between the sun and the Earth. This
usually happens during a New Moon. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the sun
and the moon. This usually occurs during a Full Moon.
17. See power points for pictures.
Answers to The Electromagnetic Spectrum
1. An electromagnetic wave consists of vibrating electric and magnetic fields that move through
space at the speed of light.
2. An EM wave is a transverse wave.
3. An EM wave carries electrical and magnetic energy. Ex: Light, Radio, Micro, Infrared…
4. EM waves travel through empty space by charged particles. These charged particles create an
electric field and a magnetic field.
5. A charged particle has a positive or negative charge and has an electrical field around it.
6. The speed of light is the distance light travels in one second. 300,000 km/s; 186,000 miles/s
7. The EM Spectrum is made up of the complete range of EM waves.
8. The waves are placed in order of increasing frequency.
9. More
10. EM waves with high frequency are harmful to humans. Gamma, X-ray, and UV are some examples
11. A radio wave has a low frequency and long wavelength. It has low energy. It is used in radios, TVs,
phones, and microwaves.
12. An infrared ray has a lower frequency than visible light. Infra – “before” or “below” and red – the
first color in the visible light spectrum. These are used in heat lamps or technology that is used to
pick-up heat.
13. A thermogram is a picture from an infrared camera.
14. Visible light are EM waves that you can see.
15. White Light
16. *Fix the question – it should say longest wavelength to shortest wavelength. Red has the longest
and Violet has the shortest. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet
17. ROY G BIV
18. UV rays are Waves with more energy than visible light. They are used to help the body make
Vitamin D. However – too much of UV rays will cause skin cancer.
19. X Rays have enough energy to pass through many materials – including skin and other soft tissues.
They cannot pass through bones and some other hard materials. Exposure to excess X Rays can
cause cancer.
20. Gamma rays are the highest frequency waves and thus have the most energy. They can be used to
treat cancer and perform surgeries, but can also damage internal structures of the body.
21. Telescopes are instruments that collect and focus light and other forms of EM radiation.
22. An optical telescope collects and focuses visible light (two types – reflecting and refracting).
23. A radio telescope collects radio waves from objects in space. Can be used for television, radio
broadcasting, phones, etc… **There are also telescopes for all parts of the EM Spectrum.