Saved Bookmarks
| 1. |
Explain(a) Why there are no lunar eclipse and solar eclipse every month? (b) Why do we have seasons on earth? |
|
Answer» (a) If the orbits of the Moon and Earth lie on the same plane, during full Moon of every month, we can observe lunar eclipse. If this is so during new Moon we can observe solar eclipse. But Moon’s orbit is tilted 5° with respect to Earth’s orbit. Due to this 5° tilt, only during certain periods of the year, the Sun, Earth and Moon align in straight line leading to either lunar eclipse or solar eclipse depending on the alignment. (b) The common misconception is that ‘Earth revolves around the Sun, so when the Earth is very far away, it is winter and when the Earth is nearer, it is summer’. Actually, the seasons in the Earth arise due to the rotation of Earth around the Sun with 23.5° tilt. Due to this 23.5° tilt, when the northern part of Earth is farther to the Sun, the southern part is nearer to the Sun. So when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere experience winter. |
|