Download Earth`s Place in Space

The Solar System and
Beyond
Earth’s Place in Space
Earth-Centered Model
• Early Greek
scientists
thought the
planets, the sun,
and the moon
circled around
the Earth.
• Everything
revolved around
the Earth.
Dead Guy #1
Nicolas Copernicus
• Copernicus - was
the 1st to develop
the sun-centered
model of the solar
system.
Dead Guy #2
Galileo Galilei
• Galileo - found
more evidence to
support the suncentered model
by using a
telescope.
Dead Guy #3
Johannes Kepler
• Kepler –
discovered that
the planets orbit
was not circular
but elliptical.
Solar System
Scale
BIG
Universe
l
Galaxy
l
SMALL
Solar System
Milky Way Galaxy
Formation of Universe
Big Bang Theory –
• Beginning of the
Universe
• 14 billion year
old
• Explosion of
expanding
matter
Formation of the Solar System
Our sun and solar
system formed
from a cloud of
gas, ice, and
dust.
Formed 5 billion
years ago.
Slowing rotating
in space.
Solar System
Large clumps
collided and
grew in size.
Larger clumps
became
planets.
Red Shift
Hubble space
telescope

Spectral lines in light
shifted towards the red
end of spectrum
Doppler effect

When object moves
away from you waves
are stretched out
Earth’s Rotation
Earth spins around an
imaginary line called
an axis
Rotation – the
spinning of Earth on
its axis
1 time every 24 hours
Rotation
Sun appears to
be moving in the
sky
Sun rises in east
Sun sets in west
Causes night and
day
Earth’s Revolution
Orbit – the path of
Earth’s movement
Revolution – the
path Earth travels
as it moves
around the Sun
1 year
Earth’s Orbit
Perihelion – point in
orbit closes to sun

147 million km’s
Aphelion – point in
orbit farthest from sun

152 million km’s
Seasons
Earth’s axis is
tilted
The tilt of
Earth causes
seasons
Why?
Seasons
Part of Earth tilted
towards Sun –
more direct
sunlight

Summer
Part of Earth tilted
away from Sun –
less direct
sunlight

Winter
Seasons
Longer days in
summer.
Sun is higher on
horizon.
Spring and Fall?
Equinox – sun
appears to cross
celestial equator
Solstice – sun is as
far north or south
from equator
Moon Phases
Luna
Moon revolves
around Earth
Once every 27.3 days
Moon looks different
at different times
WHY?!
Moon Phases
Lunar phases are
created by changing
angles (relative
positions) of the
earth, the moon and
the sun, as the moon
orbits the earth.
Moon Phases
Looks different at
different time of the
month.
Moon phases – the
change in
appearance of the
Moon from Earth
Moon Phases
Light from Moon
is reflected from
the Sun
Waxing – looks
to be getting
larger
Waning – looks
to be getting
smaller
Moon Facts
Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, a Geological Surveyor, who educated the Apollo mission
astronauts about craters, never made it into space himself, but it had always been
one of his dreams. He was rejected as an astronaut because of medical problems.
After he died, his ashes were placed on board the Lunar Prospector spacecraft on
January 6, 1999, which was crashed into a crater on the moon on July 31, 1999. The
mission was to discover if there was water on the moon at the time, but it also served
to fulfill Dr Shoemaker's last wish.
When Neil Armstrong took that first historical step and said "That's one small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind" it would not have occurred to anyone that the step
he took in the dust of the moon was there to stay. It will be there for millions of years
because there is no wind on the moon. That is, assuming the downdraft from the
Command Module upon takeoff back into space didn't destroy the print. Buzz Aldrin
reportedly saw the American flag, much further away, blow over during launch.
Nevertheless, any footprints made by the famous astronauts undisturbed by takeoff
are, in fact, there to stay.
When Alan Sheppard was on the moon, he hit a golf ball and drove it 2,400 feet,
nearly one half a mile.
Moon Facts
In a survey conducted in 1988, 13% of those surveyed believed that the moon is made of cheese.
The multi layer space suits worn by the astronauts to the moon weighed 180 pounds on earth, but
thirty pounds on the moon due to the lower gravity.
Apollo 15 was the first mission to use a lunar rover. The top speed that was ever recorded in this
4-wheeled land vehicle was 10.56 miles per hour.
The moon rotates at 10 miles per hour compared to the earth's rotation of 1000 miles per hour.
The dark spots we see on the moon that create the image of the man in the moon are actually
craters filled with basalt, which is a very dense material.
The moon is the only extraterrestrial body that has ever been visited by humans. It is also the only
body that has had samples taken from it.
Eclipses
Solar Eclipse – Moon
appears to be
blocking out the Sun
Sun – Moon - Earth
Eclipses
Lunar Eclipse
– Earth blocks
sunlight from
reaching the
Moon
Moon – Earth
- Sun