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Our Solar System
The Sun
Observe the sun at different
wavelengths of the EM spectrum
Two Kinds of Motion
Rotation
Explore a model of Earth's
daily rotation.
Revolution
Explore a model of Earth's
yearly revolution around the sun.
Why the Earth has seasons
 Is it because Earth is closer to the sun in the summer, and farther
away in the winter?
NO!
 Is it because the Earth revolves around the sun?
NO!
It’s all about the tilt of the Earth’s axis. When one hemisphere is tilted
toward the sun, it gets more direct sunlight, and the season is
summer. The opposite occurs in winter.
Northern
hemisphere is
tilted toward
sun, so it’s
summer
there.
Northern
hemisphere is
tilted away
from sun, so
it’s winter
there.
Click here to see an animation of Earth’s orientation toward the sun at
different times of the year.
Phases of the Moon
Moon
phases
Click here to see an animation
of a solar eclipse.
Click here to see an
animation of a lunar eclipse.
HIGH and
low
tides
 Gravity pulls on the Earth with different
levels of strength. The parts closer to the
moon are pulled on harder than those
parts further away.
 A Tidal Bulge (High Tide) is produced on
the side of the Earth DIRECTLY below the
moon. Another is produced on the EXACT
opposite side of the Earth.
 The bulge under the moon is produced
due to gravity "stretching" the water,
pulling it toward the moon. The bulge
produced on the opposite side of the Earth
is made because the moon tries to pull the
Earth out from under the water!
 Tides are caused by gravity pulling on the Earth’s bodies of water and upon the
Earth itself.
 There are 2 gravitational bodies that affect the tides: the sun and the moon.
 The moon is much closer to the Earth than the sun is, so it has a much greater
influence upon the tides.
 Notice that when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are all in a line (Full and New Moon
phases) the high tides are MUCH higher than at other times. These are called
SPRING TIDES.
 When the Moon and Sun are at right angles to each other (First and Third Quarter
Moon phases) the high tides are lower than at other times. These are called NEAP
TIDES.
View auroras
are terrestrial planets (made of rock and metal)
are gas giants
Oops! Pluto’s not a
planet any more!
X
X
Click on the link below for a simulation
of the huge distances between planets in
the solar system.
Space travel in our solar system
The universe is mostly empty
space. Even in a "crowded"
region like our solar system, the
distances between planets are
so vast that they are difficult to
imagine. This animation
simulates a voyage from the sun
past all nine planets. The
animation shows each planet's
average distance from the sun.
At the speed of today's fastest
spacecraft (~20 km/second), it
would take almost ten years to
travel this distance.
Even at the speed of light, the
trip would last 5 1/2 hours.
In this animation, the apparent
speed of the viewer is over 300
times the speed of light.
cool Mars website
Comets
Orbital data from Voyager III, Carina
Software
A comet is a small body that orbits the sun. It consists of a
nucleus (rock, dust, ice),
coma (atmosphere of dust and gas around the nucleus), and
tail (stream of dust and gas that points away from the sun).
Comets have a very elliptical orbit.
Comet animation
Life Stages of a Star
Life stages animation
The Milky Way Galaxy
Examine
the Milky
Way
Galaxy at
different
scales.
Observe different types of galaxies
Formation of the solar system
Observe the
view of the
night sky
from the
same
location
over the
course of a
year.
Photos from Hubble
Space Telescope