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Earth, Moon, and Sun
Table of Contents
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Introduction
Our Solar System
Our Sun
Earth
Moon
Solar Eclipse
Lunar Eclipse
Introduction
For thousands of years, people
believed that the Earth was the
center of the universe. Copernicus,
Galileo, and other scientists
determined that the Earth and other
planets revolved around the Sun.
Our Solar System
Our solar system consists of the Sun and all
the bodies that orbit it, including eight
planets, their moons, asteroids, and comets.
Our Solar System
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the rocky Inner Planets.
The Asteroid Belt is occupied by rocky objects like asteroids and dwarf planets.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the giant gaseous Outer Planets.
The Kuiper Belt is home to icy objects and some dwarf planets like Pluto.
Click here for animation of the Solar System’s movement..
Comparing Sizes of Planets
Our Sun
Galaxies are huge
groups of
millions or billions or
even trillions of stars.
Our Sun is a star
located in the spiralshaped Milky Way
galaxy.
Our Sun
Our Sun is a star at the center of
the Solar System.This gigantic ball of
gas has a nuclear furnace at the
center which produces the light and
heat that allows life to exist on Earth.
The Sun is about five billion years
old, and it has enough energy left to
shine for another five billion years.
Our Sun
The Sun is much larger than
anything else in the Solar System.
The Sun’s diameter is about 109
times that of the Earth’s. In other
words, about 109 Earths could
stretch across the middle of the Sun.
Over 1 million Earths could fit inside
the Sun.
Source: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970518a.html
The Earth
• The Earth is the third
planet from the Sun.
• It has one natural
satellite, the Moon.
• Click here for
animation comparing
Earth to the Moon,
Jupiter, and the Sun.
Rotation
• The Earth rotates around
its axis once a day
(approximately 24 hours.)
• The part of Earth that is
facing the sun is in light
(day), and the part that is
facing away from the sun
is in dark (night.)
• Click here for animation.
NOTE: This animation requires
Adobe Shockwave.
NIGHTFALL IN
USA
Still
daylight in
California.
Chicago
The biggest concentration of
lights (from top to bottom)
are the cities of Boston,
New York, Philadelphia and
Washington.
Dallas
Puerto Rico
Houston
Miami
Revolution
• The Earth revolves
around the Sun once a
year.
• Click here for animations
of rotation and revolution.
Moon
The Moon is Earth’s only natural
satellite. Most scientists believe
that the moon was formed when
a large piece of rock about the
size of Mars crashed into Earth
and blasted a huge amount of rock
into space. Over a long period of
time, these rocks condensed
together to form the Moon.
The Moon
Moon lit by Earthshine
Moon lit by reflected sunlight
• The moon does not make any light of its own. It
shines by reflecting sunlight.
• Sometimes the moon is lit by earthshine, which
is sunlight reflected off Earth.
• The moon takes about 28 days,one lunar month,
to orbit the Earth.
• It also takes about 28 days to revolve around its
axis.
The Moon
• As the Moon revolves
around the Earth, its
appearance seems to
change. This is due to
the way sunlight
reflects off the moon’s
surface, which varies
depending on the
position of the Sun and
Moon.
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Click here for the current Moon phase.
Solar Eclipse
Our Solar System has a
remarkable coincidence.
The Sun’s diameter is
roughly 400 times larger
than the Moon’s, but the
Sun is about 400 times
farther away than the
Moon is. So both objects
appear to be about the
same size when viewed
from Earth.
Solar Eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon gets between the
Sun and the Earth. Because they are about the same
size, the Moon blocks out the Sun’s light. This can only
happen during a new moon phase,
Click Here for Solar Eclipse video from NASA
Solar Eclipse
Lunar Eclipse
• A lunar eclipse occurs
when Earth gets
between the Sun and
the Moon during a full
moon phase.
• The shadow of the
Earth makes the
appearance of the
Moon seem reddish.
Lunar Eclipse
Click Lunar Eclipse , then “Eclipse Preview”
to view eclipse video for February, 2008