Astronomy. Astronomy: The study of the moon, stars, and the other objects in space. Space: All the area beyond the Earth s atmosphere.

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1 Astronomy Astronomy: The study of the moon, stars, and the other objects in space. Space: All the area beyond the Earth s atmosphere. EARTH'S MOVEMENT IN SPACE Rotation: the Earth spins on its axis (rotates on its axis) One complete rotation takes 24 hours, or one day. It is the rotation on the Earth s axis that gives us day and night. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west(it moves clockwise) Revolution: the movement of one object around another object. The Earth revolves around the sun. One complete revolution takes 365 ¼ days (one year). Orbit- the path an object takes as it revolves around another object. Angle of insolation- the angle at which the sun s rays strike Earth. The smaller the angle of insolation, the more direct the rays of the sun and the warmer the temperature. CAUSING CAUSING

2 Elliptical orbits- the in our solar system have an orbit (not perfect circles) and move in a counterclockwise direction around the sun. Axis- The that passes through the of the at the North and South. The tilt of the Earthʼs axis is 23.5 degrees. The tilt of the Earthʼs axis is what gives us our four seasons. Solstice- two days of the year (June 21 and December 21) when the noon sun is directly overhead. Equinox- the two days of the year on which the Earth is not tilted toward or away from the sun, the Earth gets an equal amount of daylight and darkness. Vernal Equinox- equinox- March 21 Autumnal equinox- equinox- September 23 During winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, we are tilted away from the sun. Therefore, we receive the indirect rays of the sun so our temperatures are cooler.

3 MOTIONS OF THE MOON The moon revolves around the Earth on its own orbit. It takes about one month to revolve around the Earth. The moon's orbit is tilted. The same side of the moon always faces the Earth. The moonʼs light is reflected sunlight. PHASES OF THE MOON Phases of the moon are the different shapes of the Moon you observe from the Earth. The phases depend on how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces the Earth. We see the part that is not blocked by the Earth. The circle shape changes because of the movement of the moon on its orbit. waxing moon the moon increases in size, waning moon the moon decreases in size waxing gibbous first quarter COLOR IN THE MOON! waxing crescent full moon waning gibbous EARTH third quarter new moon waning crescent You can't see it in the sky!

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5 Eclipse- when the moonʼs shadow hits the Earth or the Earthʼs shadow hits the moon. SOLAR ECLIPSE In a solar eclipse the moon is between the earth and the sun. The moon's shadow hits the Earth and blocks the sunlight. It is a new moon. It is observed in the daylight. It gets dark during the daytime and it is dangerous to look at the sun during a solar eclipse. EARTH NEW MOON SUN LUNAR ECLIPSE In a lunar eclipse the earth is between the sun and the moon. The shadow of the Earth blocks the moon. It is observed during a full moon. The moon changes throughout the night. It gets red also. You can see all the phases of the moon in one night! FULL MOON EARTH SUN The moon's effect on ocean tides. Tides- the rise and fall of water every 12.5 hours. Q: What causes the oceanʼs tides? A: Gravity between the Earth and Moon. Gravity pulls the moon and the Earth toward each other. The point of the Earth that is closest to the moon will have a high tide. The opposite point on the Earth will also have a high tide because the Earth is slightly pulled toward the moon, too.

6 THE GREAT SPACE RACE In the 1960ʼs the United States and Russia were in a competition to reach the moon first. This became known as the Great Space Race. In the beginning, the Russians had been much more successful than the U.S. However, due to a large accident (an explosion on the Russian launching pad, which killed many Russian scientists) the U.S. was able to move ahead and be the first to put a man on the moon The first satellite, name Sputnik is launched by the USSR Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space Astronaut Alan Shepard becomes first American in space Gemini mission puts two Americans into space Gemini 10, Ed White performed first space walk Apollo 1, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffey are killed on launch pad in a fire Apollo 8, first mission to orbit the moon Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, American astronauts, walk on the moon. Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon Spaces probes, Voyager 1 and 2 are launched on the journey to the outer planets. Much of the date we have today is from these spacecrafts. No humans on the spacecrafts The first space shuttle, called Columbia, takes flight Mir, Russia's permanent space station goes into orbit The world's first orbiting telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, goes into orbit The first section of the International Space Station, an orbiting space laboratory goes up. Astronauts from different countries work together.

7 SPACE TRAVEL Space Station- A laboratory that is in space and astronauts can live there for short periods of time. Satellite- Any natural or artificial object that revolves around another object in space. Moons are natural satellites. Space Shuttles- Developed by NASA to bring astronauts back and forth between Earth and space. Since 1981, these are the main way astronauts travel to space. They are used to bring equipment to the International Space Station. They take off like a rocket and land like an airplane, they are reused, unlike the rockets made in the 60' and 70's. Saturn V Rockets- These carried astronauts to the moon, but were very expensive and could not be used again. These were known as multi-stage rockets. G-Force- The force you feel pushing you back when a shuttle heads into the sky. The body feels up to 3 times heavier. Zero Gravity- when there is no gravity- you become weightless Weightlessness: 1. can cause space sickness 2. muscles and bones become weak and start to deteriorate 3. effects eating, drinking, sleeping (you must make accommodations) Re-entry- Space craft drops down from orbit at approximately 25,000 miles per hour. Space craft is covered with a heat shield or it would burn up.

8 Solar System - Includes the Sun (solar), planets and all other objects that revolve around the sun. Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto- A dwarf planet as of August 2006 My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles! (Pluto is not a planet anymore!) Sun- A star, made of hydrogen and helium gases. It is our closest star. It is about 93,000,000 miles or 150,000,000 from Earth. The diameter is about 1.4 million km. The temperature is about 9,900ºF or 5,500ºC. It is an average sized star. Scientists believe it is about 4.6 billion years old. Nuclear fusion- The process by which hydrogen atoms join together to form helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy. Comet- A ball of ice and dust whose orbit is a long,narrow ellipse. Comets can be seen for days, weeks, or even months, they have a tail. Asteroids- Objects revolving around the sun that are too small and to numerous to be considered planets. Asteroid Belt- The region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where many asteroids are found. Meteoroid- A chunk of rock or dust in space that usually comes from asteroids or comets. Meteor- Meteorite- A streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth's atmosphere. A meteoroid that has hit Earth's surface.

9 Stars in the Universe Stars- Huge balls of hot gases that appear small because they are so far away. Astronomers classify stars by their brightness, temperature, size and color. Constellation - A group of stars that form a pattern in the sky. Light Year - the distance light travels in one year (about 6,000,000,000,000 miles) Astronomers use light years to measure a stars distance from Earth. Starlight is a mixture of many different colors. The colors of the spectrum: R O Y G B I V red orange yellow green blue indigo violet Spectroscope An instrument used to measure light. Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram This graph shows the relationship between brightness and temperature Red stars- cooler Blue stars- hotter Yellow star- medium temperature- about 6,000º C Life Cycle of Stars Nebula- Gas and dust spread out in a very large volume. Protostar - Gravity pulls the particles of hydrogen and dust (Nebula) together to form a cloud. (Nuclear fusion starts.) Nuclear fusion can take place for billions of years. The center of the star shrinks and the outer part of the star expands. All stars eventually become Redgiants or Supergiants Redgiants become white dwarfs and eventually die out and turn into black dwarfs. Supergiants become Super Novas and they either turn into neutron stars or black holes.

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11 Galaxies and the Universe Galaxy - It contains hundreds of billions of stars The Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy in which our solar system is located. Galaxies are classified by their shape. Spiral galaxies - have the shape of twin spirals Elliptical galaxies - look like flattened balls Irregular galaxies - do not have a regular shape Universe - All of space and everything in it. Big Bang Theory All the matter and energy in the Universe was once together. Then, about billion years ago, an explosion- the BIG BANGhurled the matter and energy in all directions. Gradually, galaxies were formed that are still moving apart today.