The Sun and the Seasons

Front

What is rotation?

Back

Rotation is the spinning of a planet on its axis. For example, Earth rotates once every 24 hours.

Front

What is revolution?

Back

Revolution is the movement of a planet around the sun in an orbit. For example, Earth takes about 365 days to complete one revolution around the sun.

Front

What is a sunspot?

Back

A sunspot is a dark spot on the sun's photosphere that is associated with magnetic storms.

Front

What are faculae?

Back

Faculae are bright clouds of gas on the sun's surface that usually accompany sunspots.

Front

What is the axis of a planet?

Back

The axis is an imaginary line around which a planet rotates.

Front

What is solar wind?

Back

Solar wind is the continuous flow of electrically charged particles from the sun that reaches Earth's atmosphere.

Front

What is the photosphere?

Back

The photosphere is the visible surface of the sun that emits light.

Front

What is the chromosphere?

Back

The chromosphere is a layer of the sun's atmosphere above the photosphere, visible during a solar eclipse.

Front

What is the corona?

Back

The corona is the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, visible during a total solar eclipse.

Front

How does the tilt of Earth's axis affect seasons?

Back

The tilt of Earth's axis causes different parts of the Earth to receive varying amounts of sunlight throughout the year, leading to the seasons.