Essential question:
How does the motion of the moon explain phases and eclipses?
Where does all light in space come from?
stars!
What are stars?
Why can we see planets and the moon at night?
They reflect light from the closest star (sun)
Why do we see phases of the moon?
Rotation vs. Revolution
Rotation- to turn
Revolution-to go around
the elliptical motion of a body as it orbits another body in space
Moon Phases
The moon REVOLVES around the Earth once every 29 days.
Half the moon always reflects sunlight. Its position determines how much of that half we can see from Earth.
Full moon- we see the whole reflecting side
New Moon-we see none of the reflecting side
Still Fuzzy About Phases?
Watch this demonstration that you can try at home that shows why we see different phases of the moon as it orbits the Earth.
What is an eclipse?
Blocking of light by a celestial body
Why don’t eclipses happen very often?
SOLAR ECLIPSE: “sun is covered”
(rarest to see)
Where is the light coming from?
THE SUN
What is blocking the sun?
THE MOON
What a solar eclipse looks like from space
On Earth
On Jupiter
LUNAR ECLIPSE:
“moon is covered”
Where is the light coming from?
THE SUN
What is being blocked by shadow?
THE MOON
What is blocking the light?
THE EARTH
What a lunar eclipse looks like from Earth
Which is the solar eclipse?
1
2
Which is the solar eclipse?
Solar eclipse
Lunar eclipse
1
2
The end!