What is the unit for the average distance between the Earth and the Sun?
1AU
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What distance does 1AU reflect?
1.496 times 10(power 8) km
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What are the four terrestrial planets? Why?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. - Similar to the Earths's rock types
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What are the 4 gas giants?
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
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What is another name for "gas giant"?
Javian planets
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What are the conditions on the 4 gas giants?
Very cold due to the reduced insolation from the Sun.
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What is the speed of light?
300,000 km s-1
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How many hours does it take for sunlight to reach pluto?
5.5 hours
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What is the diameter of the Earth?
12756km
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What is the diameter of the Sun?
1.4 times 10(power 6) / 140,0000
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How much space does all the matter in the solar system take up?
Less than a trillionth
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What is the difference between the geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system?
Geocentric= Earth at the centre. Heliocentric= Sun at the centre.
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What is the Copernican model?
Earth is one of many planets circling the Sun. The Earth has a daily rotation, annual revolution and tilting on its axis.
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What is Kepler's 1st law?
e=0 a planet has a very circular orbit. If e=0.99 the shape of orbit is more eliiptical. (e=eccentricity - how eliptical an orbit is)
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Describe the Earth's orbit in terms of e.
e=0.017- almost circular
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Which planets have orbits that are not close to the eliptical plane?
Mercury (inclined at 7 degrees); Pluto (inclined at 17 degrees)
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What is insolation?
The quantity of incoming solar radiation per unit area of the Earth's surface
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Why do the poles receive less insolation than the equator?
Sunlight on the equator is direct (parallel to the Earth) and due to the Earth's shape the equator is closer to the Sun. Insolation at the poles is oblique and diffuse (covering a larger area.
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How much more energy does the equator receive than at the poles?
2.5 times more energy annually
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What are the Milankovitch cycles?
3 cyclic variations that affect the solar energy reaching the Earth. /"Pacemakers of the global climate cycles."
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How often does the Earth's orbit eccentricity change ?
Every 100,000 years
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How often does the Earth's tilt in degrees change and by how much?
Every 41,000 years. From 21.5 degrees- 24.5 degrees.
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How often does the Earths axis wobble change?
Every 23,000 years
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What is the current axis tilt of the Earth?
23.6 degrees
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Why does the Earth's tilt create seasons?
Amount of radiation recieved by different latitudes varies over the year. This changes the average daily temperature and precipitation giving seasons.
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What is the name of the boundary between where the Earth is in light or shadow?
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