Questions and Answers Section

a) What will happen if the earth stops rotating on its axis ?

 If suddenly Earth stopped spinning , the atmosphere would continue moving at 1100
mph at the equator . Land masses would be wiped clean of anything not attached to
bedrock . However , if it happened over billions of year this would not be the case . If
spinning stopped completely you would get ½ year daylight and ½ year night . The
different temperature situation would change wind patterns so that air would move
from the equator to the poles rather than parallel to the equator like they are now .
Other affects include the degradation of Earth’s magnetic field and perceptions in the
sun’s motion .

b) What will happen if the earth slowly on its axis ?

 Days and nights would be longer and our weight would be more . if it was slower then
one full rotation would take more than 24 hours , thus making days and nights longer .
Our weight would be more , because as the Earth’s gravity and the centrifugal force
would be more as gravity would remain constant but centrifugal force would decrease
. There would also be a temperature change as each hemisphere (Eastern and
Western) would get more time to warm up from the Sun’s rays .

c) Why there are planets that have 2 or more moons ?

 Most planets form when the title chunks of rock in the solar system started to come
together and form larger and larger planets . If these planets were close to asteroid
belts , you may get more moons because those asteroid will be captured by the
planets . So, planets like Mars who has two moons , or Pluto who has five moons ,
often those are near asteroid belts and they have few more moons than some of the
 from outside our solar system . Some of these objects came in , in an early
bombardment period and smashed into the Earth . And that’s what frmed our moon .
Why some planets have many moons is basically because of their size . The planets in
our solar system that have more moons are the large planets such as Jupiter , Saturn ,
Uranus , and Neptune . They’re so big that they can collect a lot of moon . If comets
swing by them , they can sometimes absorb comets they can grab asteroids and there is
more left behind that swirled around the planet and it left more moons . We can look at
the number of moons in the solar system . Mercury has zero moons and is close to the
Sun . Venus has zero moons , also close to the Sun . Earth has our one , which was
probably a large impact that came from farther out . And Mars has two moons . All of
these planets very close to that great , big Sun and the Sun absorbed most of those
objects . Mars probably has two because there’s a big asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter . Jupiter has large 50 , the largest planet . Saturn , second largest planet , has 53 .
Uranus also very large , 27 . Neptune , farthest away has 14 , And then , there’s another
kind of rocky asteroid belt called the Kuiper belt , Pluto out there has five . Just because
it was near those little rocky leftovers , so it could grab some of them . So , why do some
planets have more moons than others it is mostly because of their size , the larger
planets have more moons .

d) If you are on the moon , explain your observation about the shape of
earth.
 If I were on the near side of Moon , the Earth would always be in the sky . And if I were
on the far side , I’d never see it . If I were standing on the Moon , looking up , I’d see
the Earth , hanging in the sky forever or for however long my robot body holds out . It
would go through phases , like the Moon , moving from total darkness , though
quarter illumination . Full Earth , and back again . But the features on the Earth would
 be changing . The face of the Earth would be illuminated , and I’d see the entire planet
turning throughout the day and I could use it to cheat on Geography tests . It wouldn’t
be totally dark on the night side because “humans” . I’d see those beautiful blobs of
stringy light on the shadowed parts of the Earth . Our Moon follows an elliptical path
around the Earth, getting as close as 363,000 km and as far as 405,000 km . This
means the Earth would get bigger and smaller in the sky . As Earth is much larger than
the Moon , it would take up 13 times as much area . The Earth wouldn’t actually hang
motionless in the sky . We see lunar libration from our perspective which lets us peek
around the corner of the Moon . But from the Moon , we’d see the Earth move back
and forth in the sky over 27 days .

e) Does earth look like it has phases if you observe from the moon ?
 As seen from the moon , the Earth waxes and wanes – just as the moon does as seen
from our world . I know that one side of the moon always faces us . So , I’d would have
to be on that side to see any Earth at all . But from any part of the Moon’s near side , I
could see Earth wax and wane – just as the Moon does as seen from our world , at any
given time , I can see varying portions of that lighted half – or various phases of the
Earth or Moon .
 The phases are always the reverse of each other . When we see the moon as nearly
full , any moon people would see a slim crescent Earth . When we see a completely full
moon , the Moon , Earth and Sun are in a line – with Earth in the middle . Then people
on the moon wouldn’t see Earth at all because it’d be hidden in the sun glare .
 Also consider the moon’s slow rotation . The moon to rise and set as seen from Earth
not because of the moon’s motion – but because Earth spins once a day on its axis .
Because one side of the moon always faces us , from most places on the Moon , Earth
doesn’t appear to rise or set . Instead , from a given point on the moon’s near side , I’d
always see Earth hanging in my sky . Meanwhile , the Sun would rise and set once each
month – each time the Moon spun once on its axis , thereby keeping that single face
turned toward Earth . So from any spot on the moon , day and night would sweep over
you once a month .