Earth Science By Wyatt Bush
Q and A
How Are Phases Caused?
The moon phases are caused by the position of the moon and the position of the observer. There are 8 moon phases. Waxing is when the moon appears to get larger while waning is when the moon appears to get smaller. People aways get gibbous mixed up with crescent. They are the exact opposite. A gibbous is over half a moon and a crescent is below half. It takes about 1 month for the moon to orbit the earth.
How are the Tides Caused?
Tides are caused by the sun, moon, and earth. The location of the moon and sun determines the high tide and low tide. There are 2 types of tides, neap tides and spring tides. Semidiaurnal ia when there are 2 high tides and 2 low tides. Diurnal is when there are only 1 low and 1 high.
What is a Solar Eclipse?
A solar eclipse is when the moon is directly between the sun and the earth.
The moon will block out the sun from your vision. This only happens once a year. The same with a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse has two parts, penumbra and umbra.
What is a Lunar Eclipse?
A lunar eclipse is when the moon is blocked out by the earth's shadow and will look a reddish tint while in the shadow because of the light rays.
How are the Seasons Caused?
Not the distance from the sun, not the axial tilt, though that does play a big part, it's actually the amount of light on a certain area of the earth. The axial tilt blocks out some of the light in the summer for the northern hemisphere so it's winter for the southern hemisphere. It takes 365 days for the earth to orbit the sun. The equator has NO seasons since it's in the middle of the earth.