Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
the Galaxy.
13) The distance from the Sun to Earth does not vary throughout the year.
14) The Sun's principal outputs consist of the solar wind and radiant energy.
15) A solar maximum is a period during which sunspots are numerous.
16) The electromagnetic spectrum only shows the wavelengths associated with solar radiation.
17) The electromagnetic spectrum of radiant energy travels in waves at the speed of light in all
directions from the Sun.
18) Auroras are associated with massive bursts of solar wind called coronal mass ejections.
19) The Sun emits radiant energy composed almost entirely of ultraviolet and gamma-ray
wavelengths.
20) Auroras are mainly visible at lower latitudes, from the equator to about 15° N/S.
21) Shorter wavelengths tend to have a lower frequency.
22) The correct order for wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, from shortest to longest is:
X-rays, infrared, radio waves, visible light, and ultraviolet.
23) The Sun's radiant energy is composed primarily of visible light and infrared wavelengths.
24) The Earth radiates energy primarily in the ultraviolet wavelengths.
25) Intercepted solar energy is called insolation and is measured as the solar constant at the top
of the atmosphere.
26) The magnetosphere deflects the solar wind toward Earth's two poles.
27) The amount of the solar energy received by a given location varies depending upon the
season.
28) All points on Earth's surface experience the subsolar point at some moment during the year.
29) The solar constant varies by latitude.
30) The Sun's height in the sky above the horizon is termed its altitude.
31) Seasonality involves the variability of both daylength and the altitude of the Sun.
38
32) The speed of the Earth's rotation is fasted at the poles.
33) Rotation is Earth's motion on its axis; revolution is its motion about the Sun.
34) The Earth's rotation is gradually slowing.
35) Earth's axis is tilted 23.5° from a perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic.
36) The Earth's axial alignment varies throughout the year.
37) Earth rotates east to west, or clockwise, when viewed from above the North Pole.
38) The subsolar point is at the Tropic of Cancer on December 21.
39) All places on Earth experience the same daylength on March 21.
40) The Sun is directly overhead north of 23.5° north latitude twice a year.
41) The June solstice marks the beginning of the Southern Hemisphere's winter.
42) Twilight is the period of diffused light that occurs before sunrise.
43) On the northern hemisphere's summer solstice, areas above Arctic Circle are completely
within the circle of illumination.
44) The subsolar point's maximum latitude is 47° N/S.
45) The beginning of the Northern Hemisphere spring occurs when the subsolar point is at the
Tropic of Cancer.
46) The sun rises at the North Pole on the March equinox and remains over the horizon for the
following six months.
47) Lower latitudes experience the greatest seasonal variation throughout an average year.
48) The uneven distribution of insolation at the thermopause is caused by Earth's curvature, with
only the subsolar point receiving sunlight from directly overhead.
49) The seasons are caused by the changing amounts of energy received at Earth as a result of
Earth's elliptical orbit.
50) Earth's spherical shape is not a factor with regards to seasonality.
51) While seasonality can affect humans, humans cannot affect seasonality.
52) Longer falls and earlier springs caused by climate change have lengthened the growing
season in the United States.
1) Why is the light year a useful unit of measurement for astronomical distances?
2) Describe the causes and consequences of the uneven distribution of insolation.
3) Describe the radiation emitted from both the Sun and the Earth in terms of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
4) How does the daily insolation received at the top of the atmosphere vary annual from lower to
higher latitudes.
5) Define these terms: thermopause, insolation, solar constant, subsolar point.
6) Explain the significance of each of the equinoxes and solstices.
7) What primary factors determine the seasons on Earth?
8) What is the circle of illumination and the importance thereof.
9) For where you live, how do daylength and the Sun's altitude vary throughout the year?
10) Why are seasonal changes less noticeable near the equator than at mid-latitudes?
11) Draw and label a diagram of the Earth-Sun relationship for the four seasons. Include the
average distance from Earth to the Sun, the location of the subsolar point for each seasonal event,
and the name and date for each of the solstices and equinoxes.
12) Discuss ways in which anthropogenic climate change affects seasonality.
