The sun
A quick bio about the star our planet orbits
The sun is in centre of our solar system and it's responsible for all of Earth's weather, climate and day and night. Here are some statistics:
Age: 4.6 Billion Years Type: Yellow Dwarf (G2V) Diameter: 1,392,684 km Circumference at Equator: 4,370,005.6 km Mass: 1,989,100,000,000,000,000,000 billion kg (333,060 x Earth) Surface Temperature: 5500 °C [Spacefacts.com 2015]. |
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The sun's role and relationship with the earth (A quick recap about day, night and seasons).
The sun is the reason that we have seasons and day and night. Seasons occur because of the angle the sun's rays hit the earth, as the earth is on a tilt. Day and night work basically the same, it's just the way that the sun shines on the earth as it rotates. Check out Earth for more.
Eclipses
There are two types of eclipses: Solar and Lunar, both occur as a result of the moon's orbit.
Solar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the earth and the sun, blocking out the light. Partial solar eclipses are more common than whole eclipses. Partial is when the moon only covers a part of the sun, and whole is, well you guess it, when it covers it all. Even on whole solar eclipses, there is still a ring of sunlight left around the moon. It is never safe to look at the sun during any solar eclipses. There are special glasses you can wear if you want to view a solar eclipse. Never risk it! :)
Solar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the earth and the sun, blocking out the light. Partial solar eclipses are more common than whole eclipses. Partial is when the moon only covers a part of the sun, and whole is, well you guess it, when it covers it all. Even on whole solar eclipses, there is still a ring of sunlight left around the moon. It is never safe to look at the sun during any solar eclipses. There are special glasses you can wear if you want to view a solar eclipse. Never risk it! :)
Lunar eclipses
Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into the earth's shadow, and it will only happen on a full moon, however not every full moon. If it is a lunar eclipse you will see the earth's shadow on the moon, and it will glow a kind of red colour.
Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into the earth's shadow, and it will only happen on a full moon, however not every full moon. If it is a lunar eclipse you will see the earth's shadow on the moon, and it will glow a kind of red colour.
The sun's role in the cause of tides on earth.
Tides on Earth occur because of gravitational pull. The force of gravity towards an object depends on the mass and distance. The way tides work is that the gravity from the moon and the sun, they pull the oceans on earth, however the gravity is not strong enough to pull them off completely. Although the sun has more mass than the moon, the sun is further away than the moon and so it's affect on earth's tides is less. Since the Earth rotates on its axis, the oceans bulge at the equator. There are high tides and low tides. The difference in tides is classified into two types of tides: Spring tides and Neap tides. Spring tides happen when the difference between high and low tides is the highest, and they occur when there is a full or new moon, since then the moon is directly in line with the sun making the gravitational pull stronger. Neap tides happen when the difference between high and low tides is the lowest, and they occur when there is a first and third quarter moon, since the pulls contradict themselves. In every day there are 2 high and 2 low tides, because at first there's a low and a high tide and then as the planet turns they move as well.
Animation!
This animation is also on the Earth and Moon page, so it has information about the Earth and moon as well! Enjoy!
References for this page:
EVERGREEN, G. L. M. J., 2015. Science Quest 7. 1st ed. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Nave, R., 2015. Tides. [Online]
Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tide.html
[Accessed 27 August 2015].
Spacefacts.com, 2015. [Online]
Available at: http://space-facts.com/the-sun/
[Accessed 26 August 2015].
Nave, R., 2015. Tides. [Online]
Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tide.html
[Accessed 27 August 2015].
Spacefacts.com, 2015. [Online]
Available at: http://space-facts.com/the-sun/
[Accessed 26 August 2015].