Sunday, February 5, 2012

8-2 Science/Week of February 6th

Current Science

Red Auroras over Australia! This is a result of last week's solar flare outburst from the Sun.  Red Auroras occur due to oxygen atoms in the lower atmosphere getting charged up by the solar radiation.
Take a close look at the objects in the sky - would the night sky in the southern hemisphere be different than the sky we are seeing?  Explain your reasoning.

Check out the Moon's movements through one complete Moon Phase cycle - 29.5 days; what do you notice about how the Moon revolves around the Earth?  

One complete Moon Phase Cycle "Lunation"


Upcoming

Our busy solar system!  The thin blue lines represent the orbits of the main planets - red dots indicate Earth-crossing asteroids- green dots are asteroids in the asteroid belt - blue squares indicate comets, and blue dots represent asteroids that follow Jupiter around!

Our Week:

This week we will be taking a look at how the Sun is moving through space bringing the solar system with it.  We will also learn about the huge distances in space and how they are measured.

Monday:  1. Give back last quiz and homework - go over  2. Finish up Tides' Graphing questions - turn in graph with data/question packet  3.  "Our Sun and distances in space"  4.  Homework for the week: use the links below of visualizations of the Solar System and the Universe to complete the question sheet handed out in class - due Friday!


Tuesday:  1. Review for Wednesday's Quiz - "Phases, Eclipses, and Tides...Oh My!"  
2.  Our Sun and distances in space - cont'd


Thursday:  1.  Solar System Walk Lab Act. Solar System Walk Information

Friday:  1.  Distances in Space homework due!  2. Finish SS Walk Lab - due Monday, 2/1


Question of the Week

Pictured above is Comet Garradd rocketing through our solar system.  Garradd is about 12.5 light-minutes from the Earth. 1) If one light-minute is approximately 18 million kilometers, how far away from the Earth is this comet?  2) What do you think a 
light-minute is, exactly?
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2012 at 5:10 PM

    the Earth ia about 225 million kilometers away from the comet and I think a light minute is how far light can travel in a minute.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2012 at 7:10 AM

    The Earth is 225 million kilometers away from the comet. A light minute is how much distance light can travel in a minute [18 million kilometers :)]

    ReplyDelete
  3. lspringer101February 7, 2012 at 8:37 AM

    the earth ia about 225 million kilometers away from the comet spotted. I think that a light minute is how far the speed of light can travel in one minute, so that comet is pretty far away

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2012 at 10:17 AM

    Comet Garradd is approximately 225 million kilometers away from Earth. I think that a light minute is the distance that light travles in one minute which would be approximately 18 million kilometers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 8, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    The earth is about 225 million kilometers away from the comet. One light minute is how far light can travel in one minute.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2012 at 5:45 AM

    The comet spotted is approximately 225 million kilometers away from the Earth. One light minute is how far light can travel in one minutes, about 18 million kilometers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2012 at 7:13 AM

    Comet is 225 million kilometers away.One light minute is traveling at light speed for one minute.

    ReplyDelete

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