In class, we tested this out by making little models of the system of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. The Sun was a flash light/UV light, the Earth a Styrofoam sphere and the moon a smaller Styrofoam sphere on a tooth pick. Because Luka (my partner) and I were tired of holding a second Styrofoam ball on a stick, we stabbed the Earth so that when it was upright (well, at a 21.5 degree angle) the moon could appear above the north pole if you looked at it from the side. We then set the Earth on a ruler and held the UV light 30 cm from the Earth. While doing this, we slowly rotated the Earth and observed the moon. We looked at it from above and saw that at each 1/4 or a rotation, it would appear differently. We concluded this is how we see different phases. When the moon is "in between" the Earth and Sun, it would appear as a New moon. On Earth, we would just see (if you could) a dark circle. A quarter way around, we would see the left side of the moon being dark. That phase is called "first quarter". A quarter later, it would be full moon. This is because the moon isn't circling around the equator directly. It's at an angle, there fore the sun hits the side of the moon we're looking at directly. Another quarter and its now vise-verse of the first quarter, and the right side's in the dark. The next quarter? It's the New Moon again! The entire cycle takes 29 days and 11 hours. The cycle itself is called a Lunar Month.
However, sometimes the moon does a weird thing. It passes directly/indirectly between the Sun and Earth. This causes it to make a wonderful phenomenon known as a solar eclipse. A solar eclipse appears as if the moon was eating the sun in the sky, when really the moon is just between the Earth and the direct rays of the sun. Being the range of emotions it is, this has caused many cultures of the past to ask why and make stories, which has caused actions of history. In ancient China whenever there was an eclipse all the Chinese soldiers would fire flaming arrows towards the sun to relight it. An eclipse even post-phoned a war because both armies thought that fighting would anger the sun god and so they decided to let him "cool off" (heh heh). Even though eclipses are cool, you should NEVER look at them directly. Even though most of the sun has been blocked out, you still see the edges and that's DANGEROUS to look at, even with sunglasses. Best to wear solar eclipse glasses ESPECIALLY MADE FOR THE OCCASION. Now, you may be wondering "if it goes directly/indirectly between the sun on one side, does it do the same on the other and what does it look like?" Well those are called lunar eclipses. They basically look as if the Earth had thrown red watercolor paint at the moon and had a laughing fit with it (search it up in Google images if you want to know specifically). The reason it's red is because the Sun gives off reddish light, and when the light bends around the Earth it throws red color the most (and because the sun is mainly red in color). Thankfully these are safe to look at without damaging your eyes. They are also a lot more common than the Solar type.
Where does the moon get it's light?
Believe it or not, the moon gets its light from the sun. It simply reflects the suns rays, and that's how we see it each night. However, because it orbits, we see the suns rays hit the moon from various perspectives. When the moon is in between the sun and the earth indirectly, that's when we get a moonless night, or a "new moon". When it is on the other side, however, the sun hits it directly with no obstacles in its way and we get an "old moon". The transitions between these two major phases create the effect of appearing to disappear or grow because we only see that fraction of the suns rays.
Now, to listen to some music...
Alex, this is a very creative blog post. What news article did you read this from? I like how you included music from YouTube. :) Remember, you need to have a reflective paragraph, as well as the link to the article.
ReplyDelete