Private Universe

What are my best understandings about?            ((Classroom Exploration))


1. How the phases of the moon occur?
The moon is in constant orbit around the Earth. Due to the tilt in the axis of the Earth, the sun reflects light off of different portions of the moon. There are four phases of the moon:waning, waxing, full and new.
*The sun reflects light off the moon's surface depending on where the moon is in orbit around the Earth; creating different amounts of of surface showing towards the sun and to the Earth.

2. What causes the seasons?
This also depends on the orbit of Earth and it's tilt of the axis. When the Northern Hemisphere/pole is leaning towards the sun at most, in it's rotation, the Northern Hemisphere experiences summer and the Southern Hemisphere is then experiencing its winter. This goes vice versa for when the Southern Hemisphere/pole is at most facing the sun, the Southern Hemisphere is then experiencing summer while the Northern Hemisphere experiences winter. Spring and Autumn occur during the transitional periods between full leanings.

3. What causes a lunar eclipse?
When the sun gets in between the orbit of the moon and the Earth so we are unable to see the moon. ((BAD WORDING!))
*When the moon passes directly behind the Earth and is in direct alignment with the Earth and sun so that the sun is unable to illuminate the moon.


Notes about astronomy:
Galileo argued that the Earth is in the middle saying the sun is in the middle. This is called the heliocentric theory.
In OUR universe, the sun appears to be unmoving. The northern hemisphere faces the North Star: Ursa Major. We always tilt pointing toward it. Takes one year for Earth to orbit the sun.
The Earth's axis is 23.5 degrees.
Four imaginary lines on Earth: Equator, Prime Meridian, Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn.
Prime Meridian is made up by humans, irrelevant to science.
The tropic lines are the points on the Earth where the south (Capricorn) gets direct sunlight: the Winter Solstice. Tropic of Cancer is north.
Equator/Equinox: Equal days of sunlight and night.
Moon: The moon appears to rise in the East and set in the West. When the moon is directly between new and full, we call it the quarter moon and then in between full and new is three-quarter moon. Waxing= getting bigger, waning=getting smaller.
Solar eclipse is when the moon is in direct alignment between the sun and the Earth, so parts of the Earth cannot see the sun.
The moon's orbit is in a slight tilt enough to create eclipses.
"Once in a blue moon" = 2 full moons in a month
Pluto go booted because of its size as well as it does onto fall into the Solar Systems' orbital plane in agreement with the Sun.

*I will actually learn science in its entirety once I teach it.