Chapter 18 Study Guide Flashcards
(24 cards)
Explain the difference between revolution and rotation
Rotation: day cycle
Revolution: year cycle
How long does Earth’s rotation and revolution take what way does it relate to time?
Rotation: 24 hours
Revolution: 365.25
Rotation is about a day, revolution is about a year
What do we all the different shapes of the moon we see? In other words, the Lunar _____
Cycle
How many days long is the Moon/Lunar cycle and in what why does it relate to time?
29.4 and about a month
What is the name of the Moon phase when the Moon is mostly not visible to us?
New Moon
What causes Earth to experience day and night?
The rotation of the Earth and it’s axis
Why do we always see the same side of the Moon?
The Earth rotates faster than the moon does
Name three features of the Moon’s surface
Craters, highlands, and marias
When the North Pole is pointed more towards the Sun, the Northern Hemisphere will experience what season and why?
Summer because we get the direct light
When we experience a New Moon up to a Full Moon, do we see an increasing or decreasing amount?
Increasing
What order do the Earth, Sun, and Moon need to align for a lunar eclipse to occur?
Sun, Earth, Moon
What order do the Earth, Sun, and Moon need to align for a solar eclipse to occur?
Sun, Moon, Earth
What are tides and what is chiefly responsible for tides?
Tides are water from the ocean going onto the shore; the moon
What alignments of the Moon, Sun, and Earth, cause the greatest (highest/lowest aka: Spring) tides?
Sun, Earth, Moon
What is the name of the process at the core of the Sun that produces energy?
Nuclear Fusion
Why does the moon lack an atmosphere?
It’s too small and close to Earth
How does our textbook or my slide define a star?
A big hot ball of gas held together by gravity
Define aurora
A phenomenon that occurs when Earth’s atmosphere is energized by solar winds
Define Sunspot
An area of gas on the Sun that is cooler than the gases around it; sunspots appear as dark spots on the Sun’s photosphere.
Define Solar Wind
Electrically charged mix of protons and electrons that come from the tails of comets
What do we think caused the large craters on the Moon’s surface?
Asteroids and meteors
A day on the Moon is ______ Earth days
22.3
What two factors dictate the strength of gravitational pull?
Mass and distance
True or False: Our Sun is considered average in size relative to other stars?
True
