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New YorkEarth and Environmental Science

Astronomy and Earth in Space

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do Earth's rotation and revolution explain the apparent daily and yearly motions of the Sun, Moon and stars?

Explain Earth's rotation and revolution, the evidence for each, and how they produce the apparent daily motion of celestial objects at 15 degrees per hour, including the use of Polaris to find latitude.
A Regents answer on Earth's rotation and revolution: the evidence for each, the apparent daily motion of the Sun, Moon and stars at 15 degrees per hour, Foucault's pendulum and the Coriolis effect, and how the altitude of Polaris gives an observer's latitude in the Northern Hemisphere.
11 min answer →

What shape are the orbits of the planets, and how do we measure how stretched an orbit is?

Calculate the eccentricity of an elliptical orbit using the Reference Tables equation (distance between foci divided by length of the major axis) and relate eccentricity to orbital shape and orbital velocity.
A Regents answer on orbital eccentricity: ellipses and foci, the Reference Tables formula (distance between foci over the length of the major axis), worked calculations rounded to the nearest thousandth, and how eccentricity and the Sun's off-center position affect orbital velocity and apparent solar diameter.
11 min answer →

Why does New York have seasons, and why is the Sun higher and the day longer in summer?

Explain how the tilt of Earth's axis and its revolution change the angle and duration of insolation through the year, producing the seasons, the solstices and the equinoxes.
A Regents answer on insolation and the seasons: why the 23.5 degree axial tilt and Earth's revolution change the angle and duration of insolation, the solstices and equinoxes, the Sun's path across the sky at New York latitudes, and why summer is warm even though Earth is near aphelion.
11 min answer →

How do stars differ, what powers them, and what is the evidence for the Big Bang?

Use the Luminosity and Temperature of Stars diagram to classify stars, describe the Sun and nuclear fusion, and state the evidence for the Big Bang (red shift and cosmic background radiation).
A Regents answer on stars and cosmology: reading the Luminosity and Temperature of Stars (Hertzsprung-Russell) diagram, the Sun as a main sequence star powered by nuclear fusion, star color and temperature, and the red shift and cosmic background radiation as evidence for the Big Bang.
10 min answer →

What causes the phases of the Moon, eclipses and the tides?

Describe the phases of the Moon, solar and lunar eclipses, and the tides as consequences of the motions and gravitational interactions of the Earth, Moon and Sun.
A Regents answer on the Earth-Moon-Sun system: the cause of the Moon's phases, why solar and lunar eclipses are rare, the roughly two-week phase cycle, and how the Moon's and Sun's gravity produce spring and neap tides.
10 min answer →

How are the planets organized, and how does distance from the Sun affect a planet's orbit?

Describe the structure of the solar system and use the Selected Properties of the Planets table and Kepler's laws to relate a planet's distance from the Sun to its period and orbital velocity.
A Regents answer on the solar system: terrestrial versus Jovian planets, gravity as the controlling force, and Kepler's laws used with the Reference Tables Selected Properties of the Planets so that planets farther from the Sun have longer periods and slower orbital velocities.
10 min answer →