Earth and the Sky
All of the planets in the solar system orbit the sun, but in which plane do most of them orbit?
All of the planets orbit the Sun in approximately the same plane
What causes retrograde motion?
An inner planet passing an outer planet
How does Earth's revolution around the Sun affect our view of the stars at night?
Each night the stars begin in a different position in the sky right after sunset. Stars in the East begin higher and stars in the West begin lower. As the year progresses some stars completely disappear from view while others become visible at night that weren't earlier in the year.
Why does Earth have seasons?
Earth rotates on a tilted axis such that each hemisphere is pointing towards the sun for one half of the year and away from the Sun during the other half.
Earth not only spins on its tilted axis, but also wobbles in a manner similar to the motion of a spinning top. The change in direction of Earth's axis of rotation in space is called...
Precession
Which is NOT a significant reason that Summer is warmer than Winter.
That Summer hemisphere is closer to the Sun
What is retrograde motion?
The motion of planets from east to west relative to the stars over several nights
How do the planets appear to move in the sky?
The planets seem to move around the sky, changing their position relative to the stars with the inner planets moving very rapidly compared to the outer planets.
What changes do we see in the stars as a result of the changing direction of Earth's axis of rotation over time?
The time of year in which we see certain stars and constellations changes over the course of many years. The North star used today (Polaris) is different from the one seen by ancient Egyptians, and the pole star thousands of years from now will be different as well. The months in which the Sun passes through each constellation of the zodiac is different from the months it passed through them thousands of years ago.
The elevation angle of the Celestial Pole from your location is equal to your ______.
latitude
