Sky Patterns

This colorful light show is created in the southern hemisphere, when electrically charged particles from the solar wind interact with the Earth's magnetic sphere and atmosphere.

• Aurora Australis

• Aurora Borealis

• Northern Lights

• Southern Lights

This colorful light show is created in the southern hemisphere, when electrically charged particles from the solar wind interact with the Earth's magnetic sphere and atmosphere.

• Aurora Borealis

• Aurora Australis

• Rainbow

Are constellations in the same place at midnight on January 1st and April 1st? Hint...use your star wheel to answer this question.

• Yes

• No

Are constellations in the same place at midnight on January 1st and April 1st? Hint...use your star wheel to answer this question.

• No

• Yes

A list of constellations is shown in the table. Which sequence is correct?

• I, III, IV, VIII

• I, IV, VI, VII

• II, III, V, VIII

• I, III, IV, VII

The point directly over an observer's head is that observer's

• Zenith

• Nadir

• Horizon

• Equator

What is the term for the point directly above an observer on the celestial sphere?

• zenith

• meridian

• azimuth

• altitude

Near the poles, the stars appear to rotate in a circle in the sky and never set. The stars are described as ___

• circumpolar

• equatorial

• transient

• zenithal

What star is known to be Earth's North Pole Star? All other stars appear to revolve around this same star in the northern hemisphere.

• Beetle Juice

• Thuben

• Polaris

• Vega

The color of an aurora depends on which gas is excited by the incoming particles and where that gas is located in the atmosphere. When a particle interacts with either ________ or ________, the excess energy from the interaction results in a burst of light. Oxygen and nitrogen can emit green, red, or blue lights.

• Oxygen, nitrogen

• Hydrogen, helium

• Carbon dioxide, methane

• Argon, neon

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2