Download Effects of surface features of the Sun

8-4.1 Summarize the characteristics and movements of objects in the solar system (including planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and
meteors)
Planets revolve around the sun
1.
Position from the sun
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
2. Size
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Jupiter is the largest planet followed by Saturn
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Pluto (no longer a planet) is the smallest planet followed by Mercury
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Inner Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are smaller (with the exception of Pluto – no longer a planet)
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Outer Planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto – no longer a planet) are generally largest
3. Composition
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Inner planets are made mostly of rock and metal
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Outer planets are made mostly of gas
4. Ability to Support Life
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Earth – because of liquid water
Moons revolve around planets
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Most moons are rocky and covered with craters
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Not all planets have moons
Asteroids revolve around the sun
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Rocky bodies that orbit in a region called the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter)
Comets revolve around the sun
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Made of gas, dust, and ice
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Long, elliptical revolutions
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Produce a streak referred to as a tail when they are close to sun
Meteoroids move within the solar system
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Chunks of rock
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Meteors produce streaks of light (shooting stars)
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Meteorites land on Earth
8-4.2
Summarize the characteristics of the surface features of the Sun: photosphere, corona, sunspots, prominences, solar
flares
8-4.3 Explain how surface features of the sun may affect Earth
Layers of sun’s atmosphere
1.
Photosphere – visible part; densest; sunspots (cooler areas) form here
2. Chromosphere – reddish; can be seen during an eclipse; prominences (loops in gas) can form here
3. Corona – like a halo; can be seen during an eclipse; gives off solar wind
Surface features
1.
Sunspots – areas of the sun that are cooler
2. Prominences – huge, looping gas eruptions
3. Solar flares – explosions of hot gas when prominences connect
Effects of surface features of the Sun
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Magnetic storms disrupt radio, telephone, and television signals
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Auroras form when these particles cause gases in the atmosphere to glow
8-4.4 Explain the motions of Earth and Moon and the effects of these motions (day, year, phases of the moon, eclipses, tides)
8-4.5 Explain how the tilt of Earth’s axis affects the length of the day and the amount of heating on Earth’s surface, thus causing
the seasons
A.
Tides – caused by moon’s gravity; there are 2 high tides and 2 low tides every 24 hours
1.
Spring Tides – when sun, moon, and earth are aligned (during new and full moons); higher than normal high tides and lower
than normal low tides
Draw a diagram:
2.
Draw a diagram:
Neap Tides – when moon is in 1st or 3rd quarter phase; high tides are lower and low tides are higher
B. Rotation – planet spinning on its axis; Earth’s rotation is 1 day or 24 hours
C. Revolution – time it takes for a planet to orbit around the sun; Earth’s revolution is 1 year or 365 ¼ days
D. Solar Eclipse- occurs when Moon passes between Earth and sun; Moon blocks sunlight from reaching part of earth
Draw a diagram:
E. Lunar Eclipse – occurs when Earth passes between sun and moon and casts a shadow on the moon
Draw a diagram:
F.
Seasons (including angle of sun’s rays and its effect on earth) – caused by the earth’s tilt; a tilted axis means that sun’s rays will
strike more directly during the summer
***Distance has nothing to do with seasons – we are actually closer to the sun during our winter – it’s the tilt that counts!
G. Phases - depends on how much of the sunlit side of the Moon faces Earth
Draw the position of the moon during each phase new moon, waxing crescent, first
quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, waning crescent)
8-4.6
8-4.7
8-4.8
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8-4.9
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Explain how gravitational forces are influenced by mass and distance
Explain the effects of gravity on tides and planetary orbits
Explain the difference between mass and weight by using the concept of gravitational force
Gravity – the force that holds the solar system together
The force of gravity depends on masses of the 2 objects attracting one another and the distance between them.
As mass increases, gravity gets stronger.
As distance increases, gravity gets weaker.
Inertia (an object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest) also keeps and object in orbit.
Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object.
Weight is a measure of the force of gravity on something.
Gravity is not constant from place to place…gravity is less on the moon than Earth so weight is less on the moon but mass is the same.
Recall the Sun’s position in the universe, the shapes and composition of galaxies,
and the distance measurement unit (light year) needed to identify star and galaxy locations.
The Sun is a star in the Milky Way galaxy located in a spiral arm about two-thirds of the way from the center of the galaxy.
Galaxies are made up of billions of stars and have different shapes –
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elliptical – spherical or flattened disks,
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spiral – a nucleus of bright stars and two or more spiral arms, or
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irregular – no definite shape.
Because distances in space are so great that conventional numbers are too large to work with, astronomers use a unit of measurement
called light year to measure the distance to stars and galaxies in space. The distance in one light year is equal to the distance light travels
in one year.
8-4.10 Compare the purposes of the tools and the technology that scientists use to
study space (including various types of telescopes, satellites, space probes, and spectroscopes).
Telescopes:
 Refracting and reflecting optical telescopes collect visible light, then use convex lenses or mirrors
 Radio telescopes receive radio waves emitted from objects in space, including from very distant stars and galaxies; it can receive
information in any weather and during day or night.
Satellites are placed in orbit around Earth with instruments and telescopes that collect information from space and are not hampered by
Earth’s atmosphere
Space probes contain instruments to collect data and travel out of Earth’s orbit to explore places that would be too dangerous for astronomers
Spectroscopes collect the light from distant stars and separate that light into bands of
different colors
Earth and Space Questions:
1. What is the name of the layer of the sun’s
atmosphere that is the visible surface?
a. chromosphere
b. photosphere
c. corona
d. core
2. What is the name of the dark areas on the sun
that are cooler than their surroundings?
a. prominences
b. solar flares
c. sunspots
d. solar wind
3. Because of the pull of gravity of the sun on
the moving planets, they follow:
a. a straight path through space
b. an inward path toward the sun
c. a circular path around the sun
d. a curved, elliptical path around the sun
4. Higher than average tides occur during what
moon phase(s)?
a. new/full
b. crescent
c. quarter
d. gibbous
5. Which 2 conditions affect the strength of
gravity between 2 objects?
a. color and temperature
b. shape and density
c. mass and distance
d. culture and religion
6. The sun is the most massive object in our
solar system. If the sun were not present,
what would happen to the planets in the solar
system?
a. Their momentum would keep them
going on their same orbits.
b. Their inertia (tendency to stay in
motion) would send them in a
straight line into space.
c. They would collide into the area
where the sun once was.
d. They would explode.
7. The layers of the sun’s atmosphere are the
corona, chromosphere, and _____.
a. photosphere
b. core
c. ozone
c. mesosphere
8.
9. How long does it take for the earth to
revolve completely around the sun?
a. 1 day
b. 28 days
c. 365 ¼ days
d. 410 days
Sun
10. One rotation of the earth causes our:
a. minute
b. month
c. year
d. day
13. What is primarily responsible for tides on
earth?
a. tilt of the earth’s axis
b. motion of earth around sun
c. gravitational pull of moon and sun
d. gravitational pull of nearby planets
16. If an astronaut could travel from planet to
planet, her mass would stay the same. Why
would her weight change from planet to planet?
a. The larger the planet’s mass, the less the
gravitational pull
b. The denser the planet’s atmosphere, the
more weight placed on the astronaut
c. The larger the planet’s mass, the greater the
gravitational pull.
d. There would be no change in her weight.
19. When the entire lit surface is being viewed
from Earth, which phase of the moon is seen?
a. first quarter
b. third quarter
c. new moon
d. full moon
Earth
Moon
During this full moon period, an eclipse
occurred. This eclipse is:
a. solar
b. lunar
11. Seasons are caused by:
a. distance between sun and
earth
b. tilt of earth’s axis
c. revolution rate
d. position of the moon
14. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Only the outer planets have moons.
b. The inner planets consist of gas.
c. The inner planets are larger.
d. The inner planets are denser.
17. Following a full moon, the moon is:
a. waxing
b. waning
20. What is the main reason we can see the
moon in the night sky?
a. The moon reflects sunlight.
b. The moon emits its own light.
c. The moon reflects Earth’s light.
d. The moon is a glowing ball of gas.
12. Which of the following choices describes
the outer planets?
a. close to the sun
b. made of rock and metal
c. more gaseous than inner planets
d. all are relatively small
15. Which of the following places planets in
order of increasing distance from the sun?
a. Mercury, Earth, Saturn, Neptune
b. Earth, Mercury, Saturn, Neptune
c. Neptune, Saturn, Earth, Mercury
d. Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Earth
18. Which statement best describes how the
lengths of the planets’ years compare?
a. Those planets farther from the sun have
longer years.
b. The planets closer to the sun have longer
years.
c. All planets have a similar length of year.
d. Earth has the shortest year among all
planets.