1. THE MOON

2. Definitions Year – time that a planet takes to go around the sun once. Revolution – motion of a body orbiting another body in space Prograde rotation – counterclockwise spin of a planet or moon as seen from above the planet’s North Pole (rotates in the same directions as the sun’s rotation), EARTH

3. Retrograde rotation – the clockwise spin of a planet or moon as seen from above the planet’s North Pole. Venus, Uranus Greenhouse effect – carbon dioxide traps thermal energy from sunlight, causes surface temperatures to increase Gas Giants – planets that have deep, massive atmospheres rather than hard rocky surfaces like those of the inner planets

4. Satellites – natural or artificial bodies that revolve around larger bodies such as planets. All planets, except MERCURY and VENUS have satellites. Phases – change in the sunlit area of one celestial body as seen from another celestial body. Eclipse – an event in which the shadow of one celestial body falls on another

5. Measuring Distance in Space Astronomical Unit – the average distance between the Earth and the Sun Using the speed of light – light travels at about 300,000 km/s in space In 1 second, light travels 300,000 km. In 1 minute, light travels nearly 18,000,000 km – LIGHT MINUTE 1 AU = 8.3 light minutes

6. Astronomical Unit – the average distance between the Earth and the Sun

7. Solar System Divided into two main parts Inner solar system contains four planets that are closest to the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) More closely spaced Terrestrial planets Dense and rocky

8. Inner Planets

9. Outer system contains 4 planets farthest from the sun. (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) Composed mostly of gas GAS GIANTS Pluto is now considered a satellite of Neptune – It’s not composed of gas – is small, dense and rocky

10. The Outer Planets

11. Why did the Earth have such good fortune? It’s just at the right distance from the Sun Warm enough to keep most of its water from freezing Cool enough to keep its water from boiling away Liquid water is a vital part – all living things depend on

12. The surface of bodies that have no atmosphere preserve a record of almost all of the impacts that the bodies have had.

13. LUNAR ORIGIN 3 possible explanations for the moon’s formation: 1.Moon was a separate body captured by Earth’s gravity 2.Moon formed at the same time and from the same materials as the Earth 3.The newly formed Earth was spinning so fast that a piece flew off and became the moon

14. When a moon rock was brought back, scientist found that the composition of moon was similar to that of the Earth’s mantle. CURRENT THEORY – large, Mars- sized object collided with Earth while Earth was still forming. Collision was so violent that part of the Earth’s mantle was blasted into orbit around Earth to form the moon.

15. Origin of the moon IMPACT EJECTION FORMATION

16. Basic Moon Stats 384,000 Km away 3476 km in diameter (1/4 of Earth) Density 3.3 g/cc Mass is 1/80 of Earth Gravity is 1/6 of Earth

17. Basic Moon Stats Temp varies from -175 C to 100 C!!! Age is similar to Earth No Atmosphere or water Revolves once every 27.3 days Rotates once every 27.3 days Blue Moon – 2 full moons in one month (1)

18. Exploration of the Moon Apollo Moon Landing Project Neil Armstrong walked on moon in 1969 Ended in 1972 Humans haven’t been back since

19. Perigee-moon is closest to Earth Apogee-moon is furthest from Earth

20. PerigeeApogee 356410 km 406700 km 5% Variation in distance from Earth!

22. PHASES OF THE MOON The different phases are due to its changing position WAXING – sunlit fraction that we see is getting BIGGER (lit on the RIGHT) WANING – sunlit fraction that we see is getting SMALLER (lit on the LEFT)

23. PHASES OF THE MOON

24. Total amount of sunlight that the moon gets remains the same – Half the moon is always in sunlight Because the moon’s period of rotation is the same as its period of revolution – on Earth you always see the same side of the moon

25. PHASES OF THE MOON

27. Does the Moon Rotate? We always see the same side of the Moon – it’s rotation and revolution are equal Synchronous Rotation

28. The Moon and The Tides

29. Neap Tide Neap Tide-A weaker than average tide due to the conflicting gravitational forces of the sun and moon

30. Spring Tide Spring Tide-A stronger than average tide due to the gravitational forces of the sun and moon working together (3)

31. ECLIPSES When the shadow of one celestial body falls on another, an eclipse occurs.

32. SOLAR ECLIPSE SOLAR ECLIPSE – happens when the moon comes between Earth and the sun and the SHADOW OF THE MOON FALLS ON PART OF THE EARTH Only occurs during NEW MOON PHASE

33. SOLAR ECLIPSE - we see some portion of the Sun's disk covered or 'eclipsed' by the Moon.

34. Solar Eclipse

35. During a total solar eclipse, the disk of the moon completely covers the disk of the sun.

36. Total Solar Eclipse

37. LUNAR ECLIPSE Happens when earth comes between the sun and the moon and THE SHADOW OF EARTH FALLS ON THE MOON Only occurs during FULL MOON PHASE Because the moon’s orbit is elliptical, the distance between the moon and the Earth changes

38. Lunar Eclipse

39. The shadow of the Earth falls on the moon Which gives the moon a reddish tint

40. Lunar Eclipse

41. Annular Eclipse – type of solar eclipse During an annular eclipse, the disk of the moon does not completely cover the sun During a total solar eclipse the disk of the moon does completely cover the sun – only the corona is visible

42. annular eclipse

43. Total Solar Eclipse

44. Orbit of the Moon The moon’s orbit around Earth is tilted about 5º relative to the orbit of Earth. This is why there aren’t solar and lunar eclipses every month

45. Tilt of the Moon’s Orbit Tilt is enough to place the moon out of Earth’s shadow for most full moons and Earth out of the moon’s shadow for most new moons.