Space Flashcards
What is the order of the eight planets?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
What do you call an object that orbits a planet?
A moon.
What is meant by a light year?
The distance light travels in one year.
Why do we have day and night?
The Earth spins on its axis.
Why do we have seasons?
The Earth’s axis it titled. As we orbit the Sun, if we are tilted towards the Sun, the rays are concentrated making it hotter.
What happens at a new moon?
The Sun is behind the moon, so no moon is visible in the sky.
How is a new moon different to a lunar eclipse?
You see the side of the Moon that is not lit by the Sun when you see a new moon but in an eclipse the Moon is in the shadow of the Earth.
When you see a new moon, the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun. When you see an eclipse the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun.
Why do planets and moons orbit in circles?
They feel a gravitational force, that constantly changes their direction.
