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Dainsie · 01-31-2005, 10:13 PM

You ascend into a completely circular room at the top of the highest tower. The walls are completely made of floor to ceiling windows, except a metre wide section for a fire, giving an almost 360 degree view of the surrounds. Accessible through an almost invisible break is the glass is a wide stone balcony that completely encircles the room. There is a charm around the doorway that stops the stinging wind from entering.

The room is vast, having been expanded by magic. In it stands a very large and magnificent telescope that can reach even the most distant stars, its lenses pointing out through the glass wall, which actually revolves so that it can be turned any direction. On the balcony stand many smaller telescopes on tripods, and inside are about 30 small wooden desks shaped like stars and moons with very comfortable high backed chairs. They are arranged around a large Mahogany desk shaped like a crescent moon, with a similar chair… Professor Dainsie’s desk.

Come on in and get ready for lesson 2!

Starbreeze · 02-01-2005, 11:42 PM

Mithos raises his hand "The Earth is the 3rd planet in distance from the sun, and the 5th largest in diametre."

serenasnape · 02-01-2005, 11:47 PM

Serena raised her hand.
Earth is the third planet in distance from the sun, and the fifth largest in diametre.

Evy · 02-01-2005, 11:54 PM

Evy raised her hand, but was too slow to answer.

Dainsie · 02-01-2005, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FaN#1

Mithos raises his hand "The Earth is the 3rd planet in distance from the sun, and the 5th largest in diametre."

Very good! 2 points.

Now, the Earth and the moon move around the sun on a slightly elliptical orbit, meaning it is not a perfect circle, but a slight oval.

How long is the earth's orbit? How far does it travel around the sun?

RiddleofSlytherin · 02-01-2005, 11:59 PM

Nat raises her hand. "I agree with Mithos and Serena's anwsers: the earth is the third planet from the sun and the fifth largest in diameter."

spacepirate4 · 02-02-2005, 12:01 AM

Amy raised her hand.
"The Earth takes 365 and a fourth days to revolve around the Sun, which is our year, also explaining leaps years with 366 days every four years," Amy answered.

spacepirate4 · 02-02-2005, 12:03 AM

Amy raised her hand again.
"Just a fun fact - the distance of Earth's revolution is 942,000,000 kilometers," she added.

RiddleofSlytherin · 02-02-2005, 12:04 AM

"The earth's approximate orbit is 938,900,000 km. or 583,400,000 mi. long," Nat anwsers again. "But I do not know the distance it travels around the sun."

Starbreeze · 02-02-2005, 12:04 AM

Mithos raises his hand "The Earth's orbit is 365 days and it travels 595 million miles from the sun."

serenasnape · 02-02-2005, 12:09 AM

Earth's average distance from the sun is 149,597,870 km.

Starbreeze · 02-02-2005, 12:11 AM

Mithos raised his hand yet again "Oh sorry Professor then than would be 93 million miles or 149,600,000 km"

She-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Psycho! · 02-02-2005, 12:13 AM

*raise her hand*

I have that the Semi-major axis is 149,597,887 km(1.000 000 11 AU). The Peripelion is 147,098,074 km (0.983 289 9 AU). The Aphlion is 152,097,701 km (1.016 710 3 AU)

Dainsie · 02-02-2005, 12:19 AM

Quote:

RiddleofSlytherin
"The earth's approximate orbit is 938,900,000 km. or 583,400,000 mi. long,"

Thats right, 2 points.

Quote:

Serenasnape
Earth's average distance from the sun is 149,597,870 km.

That was my next questoin! 2 points!

Quote:

Nadia
I have that the Semi-major axis is 149,597,887 km(1.000 000 11 AU). The Peripelion is 147,098,074 km (0.983 289 9 AU). The Aphlion is 152,097,701 km (1.016 710 3 AU)

Very nice! 3 points!

Does anyone know ho fast we travel through space?

RiddleofSlytherin · 02-02-2005, 12:22 AM

"My mistake! The distance of the earth from the sun is 149,503,000 km or 92,897,000 mi. The earth's orbit is aproximately 938,900,000 km or 583,400,000 mi."

serenasnape · 02-02-2005, 12:22 AM

Earth's speed is 18.55 miles per second.

serenasnape · 02-02-2005, 12:24 AM

Or 30 km/sec.

RiddleofSlytherin · 02-02-2005, 12:26 AM

"The earth travels at a speed of about 106,000 km/h or about 66,000 mph along its orbit."

Starbreeze · 02-02-2005, 12:26 AM

Mithos raised his hand "That would be 107,300 km/h or 67,062 miles per hour"

She-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Psycho! · 02-02-2005, 12:27 AM

The Average Orbital Speed is 29.783 km per second. The Max. Orbital speed is 30.287 km/s and the Min. Orbital Speed is 29.291 km/s

Dainsie · 02-02-2005, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serenasnape

Earth's speed is 18.55 miles per second.

Do you have in in km/h?

Dainsie · 02-02-2005, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiddleofSlytherin

"The earth travels at a speed of about 106,000 km/h or about 66,000 mph along its orbit."

Yep thats it. 2 points. Gah! Miles...

Anyways, The earth rotates on its axis once every 23hrs 56mins and 4.1sec, not an exact 24hrs. A point on the equator therefore rotates at a rate of a little more than 1600 km/h (about 1000 mph), and a point on the earth at the latitude of Portland, Oregon (45° north), rotates at about 1073 km/h (about 667 mph).

Now composition. The earth is made up of 5 parts or layers, starting with the atmosphere. What are the other 4?