SOL Prep

Celestial Motion and Patterns

Virginia SOL AS.5

Investigate and understand the predictable and observable patterns produced by celestial objects in the Solar System.

Study AS.5 with SOL PrepBack to Earth Science II Astronomy

What students need to be able to do

  • Explain the effects of the relative positions of Earth, moon, and sun.
  • Predict the path of the moon, sun, stars, and constellations as they move across the sky daily and seasonally based on various locations, times, and dates.
  • Compare the strengths and limitations of astronomical coordinate systems (horizontal system, ecliptic system, equatorial system, and galactic coordinate system).
  • Locate and identify celestial objects using coordinate systems.
  • Develop and use a model to explain sidereal, solar, and synodic time and predict the effects on daily changes in the rise time, set time, and transit of stars.
  • Develop and use a model to explain retrograde motion of planets.