The Earth in Space and The Solar System

The Earth in Space and The Solar System

Introduction
In the past, people used to talk about
the earth, it was said to be flat in space but later on said is the
spherical.  People also wondered whether it was the only planet in
the universe.  Some also had various amusing stories about the moon
of the earth.  But today, scientists have discovered vital facts
about the earth, the planets as a whole, the moons, and other planetary bodies.
In this  analysis or postwe
shall learn the components of the solar system, the causes of day and night,
the different seasons, and eclipses .

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  The solar  System                                                                                                            The solar system consists of a star
surrounded by planets and other celestial objects, in 1995 astronomers found a
planet orbiting a distant star like our sun.  Since then, other solar
systems have been found, but what is not clear to astronomers is whether there
is life in any of these other solar systems.      
 The sun is a star, because
it glows at the time, giving of its own light and hear.  It is
stationary.  The nine planets spin on their axes and revolve found
the sun, each on its own orbit.
 The Sun
 The Earth in Space and The Solar System

 The sun is a huge mass
of hot glowing gases.  It is
made up mostly of hydrogen gas and helium gas.  It gives out heat at about 5.500OC
on its surface.  The sun
looks small because it is far away from our planet.  Its diameter is about 1,360000
kilometers.  The average
distance from the earth to the sun is about 150 million kilometers

The sun’s gravity
holds the earth and other planets in their orbits. The sun is one of the
billion stars in our galaxy.  A
galaxy is a large group of stars.
 The sun is very
important to all lives on earth.  Almost
all the energy on earth can be tested back to the sun.  Heat from the sun makes the earth warm
enough for life.  Both
plants and animals make use of the  sun’s
energy to live and grow directly and indirectly.  When plants use sunlight energy to
make food, they release oxygen which animals use for respiration. Briefly
speaking, the sun’s light and heat influence all of the objects in the solar
system, and allow life to exist on or planet (earth) 
Planets 
The Earth in Space and The Solar System

A planet is a round
body in space that moves round a star.  Our
solar system has weight major planets, and a small dwarf planet.  The major planets according to their
position from the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune, while the dwarf planet, which some astronomers think should not be
called a planet, is Pluto.

In this my review and
report, i am technically  going to look at some of these planets
Mercury
 The Earth in Space and The Solar System
 Mercury is the closest
planet to the sun.  It is
made up of iron. Mercury is the smallest of the rocky or terrestrial planets
that include Venus, earth and Mars.  It
has a trace of an atmosphere and no moon of its own.  It takes Mercury 88 days to orbit the
sun.   It is the second
hottest planet after the sun.  Did
you wonder why it should be the second hottest when it is the closest to the
sun? We will find out later
 Venus

 Venus 
Venus is the second
planet form the sun.  It
makes Venus 225 days to orbit the sun   It
also spins around its axis.  (An
axis is an imaginary line going through a planet from top to bottom).  It is takes our planet (Earth) to spin
of turn once every 24 hours.  That
of Venus much slower.  It
takes Venus 243 earth days just to turn once.
Venus is made up
mostly or rocks, and has an atmosphere.  (An
atmosphere is a layer of air that surrounds a planet) the atmosphere is thick
and consists mainly of carbon dioxide gas.   It is very hot on Venus. The
atmosphere on the surface is about 462Oc, the carbon dioxide is the atmosphere
of Venus traps too much heat from the sun.This makes Venue too hot for
anything to live them .The ancient Romans called Venus “The morning Star” or
The Evening Star because it is the brightest body in the sky apart from the sun
and moon.  It  no moon of its own.
 Earth
 Earth is one of
the planets that Earth is one of the planets that Earth is one of the planets
that Earth is one of the planets that Earth is one of the planets that Earth is
one of the planets that Earth is one of the planets that Earth is one of the
planets that circle around the sun.  From
outer space, it appears like a big blue ball, with swirling while clouds
floating above blue oceans.   About
75%  of the earth’s surface  is covered by water
(hydrosphere), which is essential to life. The rest is land (lithosphere)
Earth has the right
condition to support life. It
is neither too cold nor too hot.  It
is also endowed with an atmosphere (glasses) which can support life.The earth has only one moon with which
it revolves round the sun.  Before
now, was thought that the earth was flat, but it has since been established
that it is spherical in shape, such that when you move from any point on its
surface and travel in a straight line you will eventually come back to that
point.   
 Earth’s atmosphere
 The earth’s
atmosphere is the layers of air that envelope the earth.   The earth’s atmosphere can be
developed into four layers.  These
are as follows:
1.  Troposphere:   It is the layer of the atmosphere that
is closest to the earth.  It
extends to about 16km above the earth’s surface.   This layer is where most of our
weather occurs.
2.   Stratosphere:  It is compose of light gases and
extends to about 50km above the earth surface.   This layer also contains Ozone,
which is capable of    repelling
some of the dangerous radiations from the sun back into space.
3.    Mesosphere:   The layer of atmosphere from 50
to 90 km above is called Mesosphere, and has a marked decrease in temperature.
4.    Ionosphere:  This layer extends above 90km.  In this region, the temperature begins
to rise.  The beginning of
the layer is called thermosphere, because of the high temperature reached, and
the region beyond the thermosphere is called Exosphere.
How does earth moves in space?
 The Earth in Space and The Solar System
 The earth
carries out two types of movement.  One
of the movement is Spinning  on
its axis. The earth axis is imagining line that goes through the north pole and
the south pole.   The
axis is slightly tipped, leaning to one side.   This type of movement is called rotation.  The other type of movement is called
path around the sun, which is slightly oval shaped.   This oval shape causes the
earth’s distance from the sun to change during a year and is called revolution.
 Rotation of the
earth
 The sun is a
stationary body.   This
means that it does not move.   The
rotation of the earth makes it appear as if the sun is moving.   The earth rotates and complete
one rotation on its axis every 24 hours.   The rotation of earth on its
axis causes day and night.   How?  As the earth turns, half of the earth
faces the sun, and it will be day time in places that fall on this part, while
it will be night on the half part facing away from the sun.   
  Earth Revolution round the sun
 The earth also
revolves round the sun, aside from rotating on its axis.   It takes the earth 365¼ days to
make revolution.  The
movement of earth round the sun is elliptical (oval shape) in shape.  The earth is at different distances
from the sun at different time that is  at
some point,  it maybe closer
and while at some time it may be far away form the sun.   
 The different
position of the earth from the sun at different point dictate the climate
conditions such as daily temperature,   rainfall,
wind and humidity.   Another
reason why the earth has different season is because of the tilt orbit of its
axis.  For one part of the
year,   the top half of
the earth (the northern hemisphere, tipped towards the sun.   Then it will be summer in that
part while it is winter in the half  of
the earth (the southern hemisphere).
During another part of
year. The bottom part of the earth (the southern hemisphere) is tipped towards
the sun and it is winter in northern hemisphere that is tipped away.   During spring, the hemispheres
are tipped neither toward nor away from the sun.   Each periodic change in this
climate is known as the season.    
In Nigeria, we do not
have season like one described above because we are in equator.   The equator is an imaginary line
around the earth’s middle.  The
equator never tips far from the sun, it is neither too cold nor too hot.  For places at the equator like
Nigeria, through out the earth.  
 The Moon
 The moon is a
natural satellite.   A
satellite is any object that revolves round  a planet.  Our planet (Earth) has only one moon.  Some planets have no moon at all,
while others planets have more than one moon.  Earth’s
moon is a slightly egged shape ball and is composed mostly of Rock and metals.   It is the second brightest
object after the sun.   It
does not produce any light of its own but shine by reflecting the light from
the sun.   
The moon moves in a
elliptical orbit around earth. It completes one revolution in 27 days, 7 hours,
43 minutes.  However, for
the moon to go from one phase to the next similar phase, as seen from the
earth, requires 29 days.  This
period is called the lunar month.
 It was first
thought that the surface of the moon was filled with oceans.  But now, scientists are sure that
there is no water on the moon.  The
surface is rugged because it has no atmosphere. The moon is the only place in
space that humans have visited. 
Eclipses
Imagine what happens
if the day suddenly turns completely dark for a period of time.  The moon can also go dark in a similar
way at night.  Each of such
sudden dark periods during daylight is known as an eclipse.  Eclipse occur when the path of
sunlight is blocked either by the earth or the moon.
 A shadow is an
impression that is formed when an opaque object blocks the path of light.   Depending on the source of
light, the shadow may be total or partial
An extended source of
light will produce two types of shadows umbra (total) and penumbra (partial).
 Eclipse of the
sun

 The Earth in Space and The Solar System
The sun is an example
of an extended source of light. An extended source of light produces rays. So
it produces two types of shadows when it is blocked by an opaque.  (An opaque is one that will not allow
light to pass through it).
An eclipse of the sun
is also called a solar eclipse.  It
occurs when the moon gets directly between the earth and the sum as it orbits.
Two types of shadows, total and partial may now fall on the earth or parts of
it. At the period, the earth or parts of it will not see the sun for sometime
during the day, until the moon moves and of that point.
 Another eclipse
of the sun, which may occur, is the annular eclipse.  This occur wine the moon is far away
from the earth than usual, so that it casts a smaller shadow on earth that blocks
out only the center of the sun.  So,
only a partial shadow falls on the earth at this period.

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 Photo Credit :
www.themes.com,  www.artist-3d.com, Nasa.org