CHALLENGE #1 - Sun and Earth

    One exciting thing about being so close to the South Pole is getting to experience the Sun in a different way.

    That got me thinking. So, I decided to host my first challenge and it’s all about the Sun and Earth.

    Here it is!

    What do you know about the Sun and Earth:

    Throughout history, people have held very different beliefs about the solar system.

    When I was young, there were nine planets in our solar system – now there are eight. Did the scientist ‘get it wrong’ or did they ‘make a mistake’? Not necessarily. Science is constantly changing, and therefore our definition of what we ‘know’ about science must change with it. Scientists have learned so much in the last few centuries. This knowledge has challenged and changed what we commonly accept to be true.

    Sun and Earth challenge
    Take the Sun and Earth challenge! Image credits: Sun - NOAA; Earth - NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring, images merged, text added

    Take the challenge!

    Are you up for it?

    Read the paragraph below. But be careful, I’m going to try to trick you. Let’s see if you can catch any of my errors.

    • Earth is the center of the solar system. We can tell that is true because every morning when the Sun rises, we can see the Sun move around Earth. Throughout the day, the Sun continues to move across the sky, and Earth stays still. The Sun and Earth are always exactly a million miles apart from each other. Seasons change because the Sun is tilted, and as it moves around Earth, the tilt makes it further away from Earth in winter and closer to Earth in summer. Earth is coldest at the Equator, an imaginary line around Earth that runs through the North and South poles.

    Earth and Sun
    The Sun and Earth system. Image Credit: NASA

    Was that right?

    This is tricky stuff. So you tell me, did I get it right?

    Send your corrections to me at – alex.eilers [at] memphistn.gov

    Best of luck!

    Check back at the end of the month to find the answers!

    Author
    Date

    Comments

    jad hamze

    in the paragraph your info was wrong because the earth spins around the sun and the sun is the center of our solar system

    Alex Eilers

    Thanks so much for your comment!
    Keep looking - I bet you can find more!

    And if you would, please e-mail your answers to me at alex.eilers@memphistn.gov

    We don’t want to give away the answers (wink, wink) ;-)

    Thanks again,

    Ms. Alex

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