Science Teaching: Astronomy

satellites

objects or bodies that orbit other objects, can be natural or artificial

navigation satellite

work with ground based devices to calculate the precise location of an object
Global positioning System (GPS)

weather satellites/observation satellites

monitor conditions on Earth
severe weather monitoring
wildfire detection and monitoring
cloud formation monitoring

communication satellites

send information to different parts of the world"
telephones, internet, tv

astronomical satellites

orbit outside Earth’s atmosphere to gather data about outer space
telescopes that gather information about distant celestial bodies
spectrometers that allow scientist to determine which elements are present in the stars

International Space Station

spacecraft that orbits Earth
contains a lab for scientific research
incorporates coking stations for other space vehicles

Hobby-Eberly

an optical telescope that uses spectrographs to search for planets outside our solar system, study other galaxies and look for black holes

Keck Telescopes

a pair of optical and infrared telescopes build to resist the effects of gravity, a turbulent atmosphere and temperature changes

South African Large Telescope

an optical telescope studying supernovas, black holes and other space events

Atacama Large Millimeter Array

a radio wave telescope that is used to obtain information abou tyoung planets

Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope

a radio wave telescope that is searching for pulsars, neutral hydrogen and extraterrestrial intelligence

extraterrestrial telescopes

located outside Earth’s atmosphere to observe space phenomena that can’t be seen from Earth

Hubble Space Telescope

telescope that views deep space objects in visible, ultraviolet and near infrared light

Chandra X-ray Observatory

x-ray telescope designed to detect emissions from hot regions of the universe

Spitzer space telescope

an infrared telescope that focused on nearby and distant space objects

STEREO mission

two telescopes designed to orbit and study the sun in 3D

Planck observatory

telescope designed to observe cosmic microwave background

Lobster Eye Imager for Astronomy

a wide field Xray telescope

AstroSat

a telescope that observes stars simultaneously in Xray, visible and UV

Spektr-RG

a telescope that plots xray sources in the universe

James Webb Space Telescope

an infrared telescope that can see farther in the infrared than Hubble- designed to observe objects too far away to see with Hubble

Euclid Telescope

a telescope that orbits between the Sun and Earth that is designed to collect data on dark matter and dark energy

Earth tilt

23.5 degrees on its axis

Why do different parts of the Earth have different amounts of daylight during the year?

the tilt of the earth changes how sunlight hits different regions throughout the year, changing the length of daylight

seasons occur because…

the angle of the Earth’s axis…
uneven heating: direct vs indirect sunlight
hours of daylight

summer solstice

June 21st- beginning of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere
most sun at tropic of cancer
N. hemisphere receives more heat and daylight than S. Hemisphere

Which of the following locations will receive less than 12 hours of daylight on the June solstice?
a) North Pole
b) equator
c) NYC
d) Sydney, Australia

d) Sydney, Australia

autumnal equinox

september 23- beginning of astronomical fall in the Northern Hemisphere
both hemispheres receive similar amounts of heat and the same 12 hours of daylight

Which of the following describes how the amount of sunlight changes between the September equinox and the month of October at locations north of the equator?
a) The amount of sunlight decreases and then begins to increase. 
b) The amount of sunlight remains the same.
c) The amount of sunlight decreases.
d) The amount of sunlight increases.

c) The amount of sunlight decreases.

winter solstice

December 22- beginning of astronomical winter in N. Hemisphere
most sunlight at tropic of Capricorn
southern hemisphere receives more heat and daylight than N Hemisphere

vernal equinox

March 21-beginning of the astronomical spring in the N hemisphere
both hemisphere receive similar amount so f heat and daylight

meteorological winter momnths

December, January, Februrary

meteorological spring months

march, april maym

meteorological summer

june, july, august

meteorological fall

september, october, november

Tides (ocean)

the rising and falling sea levels due to Earth’s rotation and the gravitational pulls by the sun and moon

how does the moon affect tides?

moon’s gravity causes bulges, pulling water from other areas toward the side of the Earth closest to the moon
moon’s gravity also pulls the earth towards the moon, leaving deeper water on the far side of the Earth-experience high tide

high tide

location on the Earth closest to where the moon is

spring tides

even larger tides than high tides due to both the moon and sun lining up
occurs every 2 weeks during full moons and new moons

neap tide

smaller tides due to sun and moon on opposite sides of earth

ocean waves caused by…

wind blowing across the ocean’s surface- energy transfered from the wind

ocean wave movement

circular

storm surge

extra high waves will push water up onto shore and cause flooding when wind is very strong

tsunamis

massive waves that build in heigh as they move towards shore due to underwater earthquakes and volcanoes

tidal bore

surge of water that pushes up a river channel like a big wave flowing upstream

full moon

sun is on th eopposite side of earth

new moon

when the sun and moon are one same side of Earth

Which of the following phases of the moon might appear if the Earth, Sun, and Moon were arranged as seen?

[third] quarter moon

lunar eclipse

moon on far side of Earth (normally a full moon), but in just the right place, the earth blocks the suns rays from hitting the moon’s surface and causes a reddish full moon (blood moon)

solar eclipse

when the moon is between the sun and earth, normally there is a new moon but in just the right position, it block the sun’s rays from reaching the Earth’s surface, obscuring the sun in the sky showing a black spot with sun rays behind it

solar system

the Sun and its orbiting bodies, including planets and comets

sun size compared to Earth

1.3x larger

Dwarf planet

objects that meet some but not all criteria of a planet

asteroid

rocky bodies, smaller than a planet but laerge than 1 meter, in the sun’s orbit

meteoroids

rocks, smaller than asteroids, moving through space

meteors

meteoroids that enter Earth’s atmosphere, may burn up in the atmosphere due to friction

shooting stars

meteors that burn up in the atmosphere due to friction

meteorites

meteoroids that hit Earth’s surface

comets

objects made of ice and dusts, commonly followed by a “tail” of gas and dust

planet

a celestial body that:
orbits around a star
has enough gravity to maintain a nearly round shape
keep its orbit clear of the bodies of similar size

planet orbits shape

ellipse

First planet

Mercury
extreme temperature variations
large iron core
rocky
no real atmosphere
slightly larger than Earth’s moon with ½ Earth’s mass
2/5 AU from sun
orbit: 88 days
rotation rate 59 days

2nd planet

Venus
similar chemical composition to Earth
rocky
dense atmosphere-mostly Carbon
slightly smaller than Earth
¾ AU from sun
orbit: 225 days
rotation rate: 243 days

3rd planet

Earth
only known habitable planet
71% water
1 moon
rocky
atmosphere 78% Nitrogen and 21% oxygen
1 AU from sun
orbit: 365.25 days
rotation rate 23.9 hours

4th planet

Mars “Red Planet”
2 moons
rocky, signs of volcanic activity in last million years
thin atmosphere- mostly CO2
½ Earth’s size but only 1/10 Earth’s mass
1.5 AU from sun
orbit: 687 days
rotation rate: 24.2 hours

5th planet

Jupiter
largest planet
great red spot storm
4 large moons, 91 smaller moons
gaseous planet90% hydrogen, 10% helium, mostly frozen
5.2 AU from sun
orbit: 11.9 years
rotation rate: 9.9 hours

6th planet

Saturn
lease dense planet
complex ring system
146 moons
gaseous
metal core
large atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and ammonium
9.5 AU from sun
orbit: 29.5 years
rotation rate: 10.7 hours

7th planet

Uranus
only planet that spins perpendicular to the orbital plane
faint rings
27 moons
gaseous, rock and ice
19 AU from sun
orbit: 84 years
rotation rate: 17.2 hours

8th planet

Neptune
faint rings
16 moons
gaseous, mostly ice
gives off energy
methane atmosphere, absorbs red light- looks blue
30 AU from sun
orbit: 165 years
rotation rate: 16.1 hours

Dwarf planets (list)

Ceres
Pluto
Haumea
Makemake
Eris

Ceres

a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

Pluto

dwarf planet past Neptune, in Kuiper belt
has 5 moons

Haumea

dwarf planet past Neptune, in Kuiper belt

Makemake

dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt

Eris

most massive dwarf planet in the solar system, in Kuiper belt

where is asteroid belt

between mars and jupiter

where is Kuiper belt

after Neptune

orbital period ____ as a planet gets further away from the sun

increases

planet rotational speed _____ as the planet gets further away from the sun

decreases

retrograde motion

planet’s direction of rotation appears opposite that of Earth

what does the sun orbit

the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy

% of mass the sun is in the solar system

99.9%

Sun composition

73% hydrogen, 25% helium (plasma- ionized gas, due to high temperature)

how is the sun heated

fusion in the core (atoms of hydrogen combine to form helium)

solar wind

a continual flow of charged particles from the sun
creates its own magnetic field
Earth’s magnetic fields directs the solar wind toward Earth’s poles- aurora borealis
protects earth from cosmic radiation

solar flares

produce high energy and particles burst that comes out of the sun in solar wind
associated with sunspots (dark patches in photosphere)

#1?

sun’s core- hottest part

#2?

radiative zone

#3?

convective zone

#4?

photosphere- visible layer of th esun

#5

chromosphere- red layer seen during eclipse

#6

corona- outer atmosphere of th esun

#7

solar flare

Kuiper Belt

donut shaped disc of dwarf planets, short-period comets, asteroids
past Neptune

Oort Cloud

thick, 3D shpere of icy objects, 2000 AU from the sun

Mar’s moons

Phobos
Deimos

Jupiter’s 4 largest moons:

Ganymede
callisto
Io
Europa

Saturn’s largest moons

Titan
EnceladusU

Uranus’ 5 largest moons

Miranda
Ariel
Umbriel
Titania
Oberon

Neptune’s largest moon

Triton