The Earth with its Sun.
Click on image for full size
Aris Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. 1994
The Earth's Orbit
Like all planets in our solar system, the Earth is in an elliptical
orbit around our Sun. In Earth's case, its orbit is nearly circular, so
that the difference between Earth's farthest point from the Sun and
its closest point is very small. Earth's orbit defines a
two-dimensional plane which we call the
ecliptic.
It takes roughly 365 days for the Earth to go around the Sun once.
This means that the Earth is rushing through space around the Sun at a
rate of about 67,000 miles per hour! The time it takes for the Earth
to go around the Sun one full time is what we call a year.
The combined effect of the Earth's orbital motion and the tilt of its rotation axis result in the seasons.
You might also be interested in:
The Earth's orbit is in the shape of an ellipse (a stretched out circle), so that sometimes the Earth is closer to the Sun than at other times. Is this the cause of the seasons? You can imagine that if
...more
Scientists use fancy words to describe things sometimes. The Earth doesn't orbit the Sun in a perfect circle. So, there is a point when the Earth is closest to the Sun and farthest from the Sun. Scientists
...more
There are some basic ideas that you find in many kinds of science. We have grouped these "starting points for science" into three areas: space, time, and matter. On one hand, "space" is the term we use
...more
People have been living in North America for a long, long time. The first people to live there were the Native Americans. They didn't have clocks or calendars so they watched tides, the Sun, the Moon,
...more
Man has always observed the sky. By watching the Sun and Moon, early man could tell what season was coming next. They had to know this to be able to farm and hunt. Archeoastronomy started in the 1960's
...more
The stones of Carnac, France, are very famous because there are a lot of them and because they are so old! The oldest stones found in Carnac are from about 4,500 B.C. That's older than the stones at Stonehenge!
...more
You may have heard of the lake called Loch Ness, where people think they've seen the Loch Ness monster. Near Loch Ness there are three giant stone tombs you may not have heard of...they are called the
...more
Cuzco is a city in Peru. It was the capital of the ancient Inca Empire. In ancient times, Cuzco was the center of the Inca road network which was made up of about 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of roads
...more
