Phases of the Moon and Planets - Avery Casey

Phases of the Moon and Planets

Avery Casey

Part 1: Phases of the Moon

     In this part of the experiment, students used a light source and styrofoam model of the Moon to investigate the phases of the Moon and inferior/superior planets.

New Moon

Waxing Crescent 

First Quarter

Waxing Gibbous

Full Moon

Waning Gibbous

Third Quarter

Waning Crescent

1) A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks sunlight over a portion of the Earth. What phase must the Moon be in during a solar eclipse? New Moon

2) A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks the Sun's light from the Moon. What phase must the Moon be in during a lunar eclipse? Full
Part 2: Where is the Moon in the Sky?

3) When will the Moon rise if the phase is 1st quarter? Noon

4) When will the Moon rise if the phase is full? 6pm

5) When will the Moon be on your meridian if the phase is 3rd quarter? 6am

6) If the Full Moon is just setting in the west, what time of day is it? 6am

7) When will the Moon be on your meridian if the phase is new? Noon

8) If the Full Moon is just setting in the west, what time of day is it? 6am

Part 3: The Moon's Rotation

9) Of the two different procedures you used, in which one does the Moon rotate with respect to the Sun? The First one

10) Given the fact that the 'man-in-the-Moon' is always pointed toward the Earth, which procedure must describe the Moon's actual motion around the Earth? The second procedure

11) From the Earth's point of view, is the "dark" side always the same as the "hidden" side of the Moon? No, during the new moon, the illuminated side of the Moon is the side opposite Earth, so the dark side is the side we see.

Part 4: Phases of the Planets

12) Do both inferior and superior planets have the same phases? No, while inferior planets exhibit a full range of phases similar to the moon superior planets only exhibit gibbous and full phases.

Phases of inferior planets

Phases of superior planets

13) At what phase do you think a superior planet will be the brightest? A superior planet will be brightest at opposition or the "full" phase. 

Part 5: End of Lab Questions

14) Does a lunar and solar eclipse occur every time the Moon completes an orbit? No, because the Moon's orbit is tilted relative to the Earth's orbit.

15) The Moon orbits the Earth once every 27.3 days yet a Full Moon only occurs about every 29 days. Why are these different? The Moon completes its orbit around the Earth in 27.3 days but because of the Earth's movement around the Sun it has not finished a full cycle until it reaches the point in its orbit where the Sun is in the same position.

16) If you were on a spaceship, following the Earth-Moon system (but not orbiting), would you always see the same side of the Moon? No

17) In the Earth-centered model of our solar system, Venus is always nearly between the Earth and the Sun. If this were true, what phase would never occur for Venus? The Full phase

18) Can a superior planet ever be seen at midnight? Yes

19) List the inferior planets: Mercury and Venus

20) List the superior planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

21) List 3 things that you learned in this lab: Although I had learned the phases of the Moon previously, this lab connected them visually, allowing me to memorize the phases much better. In addition, I learned about inferior and superior planets and using the moon to tell time.
22) What was the point to this lab? To better understand the phases of the Moon and planets.