Preview

Compare and Contrast of the Sun and Moon

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1422 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Compare and Contrast of the Sun and Moon
Running Head: THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF THE SUN AND THE MOON

The Similarities and Differences of the Sun and the Moon
Kelsey Linder
Marion Technical College

The Similarities and Differences of the Sun and the Moon The solar system is one of the very first things that a child will learn about in school. Children will learn why there is night and day, why there are seasons, the different shapes of the moon, and all of that important stuff that is too easily forgotten, as time progresses. But whether one retains the basic knowledge of Earth’s sun and moon or not, the facts (similarities and differences) of these two celestial objects, are still very important. Without these facts, science would not be the same, nor would it have nearly the same amount of innumerable breakthroughs that it has today. To fully understand the similarities of Earth’s sun and moon, one must first be aware of their differences. It is easiest to start with the basics and then build on those basic facts with more details, just how one learned back in elementary, middle and high school. The sun can basically be described as a yellow, dwarf star and has more mass than all of the planets, asteroids, and moons in the solar system (the Milky Way) combined. The sun is so big, in fact, that it would take about 333,000 Earths to equal the mass of the sun. While, moon on the other hand, is smaller than the Earth and is thought to be a large mass of dense material (Furto, 2013). After scientists performed a couple of bombings on the moon, the scientists found that the moon rings, almost like a bell, which has caused some people to speculate that the interior of the moon is hollow and metallic (Recomparison). This is also another way that the sun and moon differ, since it is common knowledge that the sun is, basically, a big ball of hot, glowing gases, and not a, potentially, hollow mass of ringing material. Yet another difference between the sun



References: Cain, F. (2008, August 20). The Sun and the Moon. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://www.universetoday.com/17109/the-sun-and-the-moon/ Furto, S. (2013, April 19). Sun and Moon Compare and Contrast. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://prezi.com/bm0lxntpss_b/sun-and-moon-compare-and-contrast/ Georgia State University. (n.d.). Tides. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tide.html Recomparison. (n.d.). Sun vs. Moon. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://recomparison.com/comparisons/101069/sun-vs-moon/

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Half the moon is always lit by the sun, but the amount of this lit half that we see depends on the moon’s position in its…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A. What do you notice about the Moon’s shadow? The Sun..... In this case the shadow of the Earth falls upon the Moon, making it dark.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thursday November 29, 2012: The moon rose tonight at 7:40 PM. As I began to observe, I noticed that the moon has a distinct red-orange tint to it. It appears to have some sunlight reflecting off of its surface. The moon at this point measures at roughly 1 ¼ inches in diameter on the measuring stick.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    INT1 Task 1

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Our Solar System INT1 TASK 1 The Evolution of our Solar System • Observations of the stars, sun, and planets appearing to revolve around the Earth, which seem to be at motionless, lead ancient astronomers to believe the Earth was the center of the solar system. • Claudis Ptolemy’s version of the Geocentric Model was the most widely accepted and recognized example of the Geocentric Model. • Nicolaus Copernicus published a book on his theory of a heliocentric system, the book, De revolutionibus orbium coelstium, puts the Sun at the center of the Solar System with planets revolving around it. It also pointed out that the Earth was in motion and that motion could explain the Retrograde motion of the planets.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An overview of the principles of astronomy as related to the Solar System for non-science majors. An optional three hour weekly lab will be offered coincident with this course.…

    • 2629 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gravitational Lab - Phet

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As it gets closer to the right side of the sun, the moon seems to speed up. As it moves farther away from the sun, it slows back down. This is due to both gravitational pull and orbital velocity.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Oceanography Chapers 9-11

    • 2689 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Explain why the Sun's influence on Earth's tides is only 46% that of the Moon's, even though the Sun is so much more massive than the Moon.…

    • 2689 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When considering energy, temperature, and composition, the two bodies could not be more different. The sun is composed of 92.1% hydrogen and 7.8% helium. Its energy is produced by a continuous nuclear process, and reaches temperatures of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit in the outer photosphere. The moon, on the other hand, is made up of layers, much like Earth’s. The lunar core contains metallic iron with traces of sulfur and nickel. The mantle is largely composed of the minerals olivine, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene. The crust contains oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum. Elements such as…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Science Vocabulary

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    11. Eclipse- the movement of one solar system object into the shadow of another object.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lunar phase (or Moon phase) refers to the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. One half of the lunar surface is always illuminated by the Sun (except during lunar eclipses), and is hence bright, but the portion of the illuminated hemisphere that is visible to an observer can vary from 100% (full moon) to 0% (new moon). The boundary between the illuminated and unilluminated hemispheres is called the terminator.The lunar effect is a theory which overlaps into sociology, psychology and physiology suggesting that there is correlation between specific stages of the Earth 's lunar cycle and deviant behavior in human beings. It is a pseudoscientific theory, however. The claims of a correlation of lunar phases to human behavior do not hold up under scientific scrutiny. Over the past 30 years, even more evidence has emerged to stress that this is pseudoscience. The theory is sometimes also referred to as the Transylvanian hypothesis or the Transylvanian effect in scholarly literature.The notion behind the lunar effect has fascinated many behavioralists and warranted many experiments and studies. Most experiments, however, have found no correlation between the variables and, thus, refuted the theory.There are some studies which have results the researchers claimed supported the theory. For example, a study concluded that schizophrenic patients…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Solar system consists of nine major planets, the Sun, at least sixty planetary satellites (moons), uncountable amount of asteroids and comets that all span an immense distance (“solar system” n.pag.)…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Olson, Donald W, Russell L. Garrett, and Jennifer L. “The Moon and the Boston Massacre.” Sky & Telescope Mar 1998: 65-69. PerAbs. FirstSearch. Williamsville High School Lib. 23 October 2007. <http://firstsearch.oclc.org>.…

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sun Moon and Talia

    • 1873 Words
    • 8 Pages

    A princess doomed to sleep forever until true loves first kiss... that is how the story goes right? That assumption would be wrong. The classic story of Sleeping Beauty has been around for hundreds of years. The general idea of the story has remained unchanged but the "how" of the story has evolved over the last 300 years. From the original works of Giamattista Basile, The Brothers Grimm to Walt Disney, authors have slowly changed the tale for the public, allowing them to fall in love more easily with the cursed princess.…

    • 1873 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    During my practicum I observed a 5th grade science class that was studying the solar system. The class began with the teacher asking the students what they know about the solar system. Many students raised their hands and responded to the question when called on. After a few minutes of inquiring the teacher proceeded to show the students the solar system using the Solar System Scope on the Smart board. The classroom environment was filled with anticipation of actually getting to see what the solar system looks like. The students enjoyed seeing and feeling the effect of being in space where they could get a closer look at the planets. It was great to see a lot of enthusiastic and eager students. After showing the students how the solar system…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Optics flickered towards the west a smile drawing itself upon the lips of the male. He adored moons such as this, known readily in the ancient world as the harvest or wolf moon, the circular orb in the sky shown such as this only twice per year; once in the spring and once in the fall during the equinox consisting of exactly 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. Such moons were both a blessing and a curse, for though they granted better light in which to hunt by it also meant the prey was able to see the predator with increased ease as there were fewer shadows in which to stalk. But it did not matter for this turn of the tables would only last so long before it moved in favor of the predator once again. When the moon was…

    • 1661 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays