# data[].attributes.body
The relations with the Earth, Sun, and Moon are important in many different ways

# data[].attributes.headline
3.How does the angle of the Sun vary with latitude and how does this affect heat distribution on Earth?

# data[].attributes.subject
3.How does the angle of the Sun vary with latitude and how does this affect heat distribution on Earth?

# data[].attributes.body
The angle of the solar radiation (the sun) influences seasonal temperatures of locations at different latitudes. When the sun's rays strike earth's surface near the equator the solar radiation is more direct. When solar radiation is concentrated over smaller surface areas. High latitudes make the solar radiation smaller, which causes energy to spread over larger areas of the surface and cooler temperatures. Since the angle of the radiation varies depending on the latitude, surface temperatures on average are warmer at lower latitudes and cooler at higher latitudes. ( Even though higher latitudes have more hours of the daylight during the summer months.)

# data[].attributes.headline
5.How do the Sun, Moon, and Earth interact to create Earth’s tides?

# data[].attributes.subject
5.How do the Sun, Moon, and Earth interact to create Earth’s tides?

# data[].attributes.body
The sun is the center of the solar system. The earth revolves around the sun. The moon revolves around the Earth. Depending on the position of the moon and its gravitational pull depends on the how, low, spring or neap tides.

# data[].attributes.headline
7. What are some of the Earth science sub-specialties that are dedicated to the Sun-Moon-Earth system?

# data[].attributes.subject
7. What are some of the Earth science sub-specialties that are dedicated to the Sun-Moon-Earth system?

# data[].attributes.body
Some sub-specialties are just dedicated to this system. A sub-specialty is astrology or meteorology

# data[].attributes.headline
1. How does the Sun produce energy to heat the Earth and how does the energy travel to the Earth

# data[].attributes.subject
1. How does the Sun produce energy to heat the Earth and how does the energy travel to the Earth

# data[].attributes.body
The sun produces energy because the Sun is basically a massive fusion reaction. This is where a cloud of gases and particles collapsed under gravity. This made the start of processes like hydrogen collects in the center and makes solar energy. This process makes nuclear fusion which lets out a large amount of energy which forms light and heat. All this energy starts from the core and goes to the outer layer which is called the photosphere. Then the energy goes in to the solar system and reaches Earth's atmosphere where it filters the Sun's UV rays.

# data[].attributes.headline
6.What is the solar eclipse ? What properties of the Sun, Moon , and Earth orbits cause these to happen infrequently? 

# data[].attributes.subject
6.What is the solar eclipse ? What properties of the Sun, Moon , and Earth orbits cause these to happen infrequently? 

# data[].attributes.body
A Solar Eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. The Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon.

# data[].attributes.headline
4.What are the major theories of the lunar formation and their major evidence? Which is most widely accepted today and why?  

# data[].attributes.subject
4.What are the major theories of the lunar formation and their major evidence? Which is most widely accepted today and why?  

# data[].attributes.body
In history, people have suggested that the earth was spinning too fast, and a piece broke off. The gravitational to the center of the earth is keeping the moon near our planet.

# data[].attributes.headline
8. What careers in the scientific community would require knowledge/ understanding of the Sun-Moon-Earth system? 

# data[].attributes.subject
8. What careers in the scientific community would require knowledge/ understanding of the Sun-Moon-Earth system? 

# data[].attributes.body
Some careers would be an astrologist or meteorologist. People who work at NASA would have to understand the knowledge of this system.

# data[].attributes.headline
2. How does the Earth's tilt around the sun create seasons and what are solstices and equinoxes?  

# data[].attributes.subject
2. How does the Earth's tilt around the sun create seasons and what are solstices and equinoxes?  

# data[].attributes.body
Earth's axis is titled at an angle of 23.5 degrees which means Earth is always pointing to one side as it does around the sun. They varying amount of sunlight around the Earth determines which season is occurring on Earth. If the Earth leans towards the sun it is summer and if it is leaning away then it is winter because due to the lack of sunlight. Equinoxes is when the Earth is not pointing near or away from the sun. (spring and fall). A solstice is where the earth points away or to the sun. (Winter and Summer)

# data[].attributes.body
- The sun has been shining for over 4.6 billion years
- The sun's core temperature is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit
- The moon is one sixth the size of Earth
-The moon has very little gravitational pull so it is harder to walk on than Earth

# data[].attributes.body
Source #1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There is a reason life that Earth is the only place in the Solar System where life is known to be able to live and thrive. Granted, scientists believe that there may be microbial or even aquatic life forms living beneath the icy surfaces of Europa and Enceladus, or in the methane lakes on Titan. But for the time being, Earth remains the only place that we know of that has all the right conditions for life to exist.

One of the reasons for this is because the Earth lies within our Sun's Habitable Zone (aka. "Goldilocks Zone"). This means that it is in right spot (neither too close nor too far) to receive the Sun's abundant energy, which includes the light and heat that is essential for chemical reactions. But how exactly does our Sun go about producing this energy? What steps are involved, and how does it get to us here on planet Earth?

The simple answer is that the Sun, like all stars, is able to create energy because it is essentially a massive fusion reaction. Scientists believe that this began when a huge cloud of gas and particles (i.e. a nebula) collapsed under the force of its own gravity - which is known as Nebula Theory. This not only created the big ball of light at the center of our Solar System, it also triggered a process whereby hydrogen, collected in the center, began fusing to create solar energy.

Technically known as nuclear fusion, this process releases an incredible amount of energy in the form of light and heat. But getting that energy from the center of our Sun all the way out to planet Earth and beyond involves a couple of crucial steps. In the end, it all comes down to the Sun's layers, and the role each of them plays in making sure that solar energy gets to where it can help create and sustain life.

The core of the Sun is the region that extends from the center to about 20-25% of the solar radius. It is here, in the core, where energy is produced by hydrogen atoms (H) being converted into molecules of helium (He). This is possible thanks to the extreme pressure and temperature that exists within the core, which are estimated to be the equivalent of 250 billion atmospheres (25.33 trillion KPa) and 15.7 million kelvin, respectively.

The net result is the fusion of four protons (hydrogen molecules) into one alpha particle - two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle that is identical to a helium nucleus. Two positrons are released from this process, as well as two neutrinos (which changes two of the protons into neutrons), and energy.

The core is the only part of the Sun that produces an appreciable amount of heat through fusion. In fact, 99% of the energy produced by the Sun takes place within 24% of the Sun's radius. By 30% of the radius, fusion has stopped almost entirely. The rest of the Sun is heated by the energy that is transferred from the core through the successive layers, eventually reaching the solar photosphere and escaping into space as sunlight or the kinetic energy of particles.

The Sun releases energy at a mass-energy conversion rate of 4.26 million metric tons per second, which produces the equivalent of 38,460 septillion watts (3.846×10 ²⁶ W) per second. To put that in perspective, this is the equivalent of about 9.192×10 ¹⁰ megatons of TNT per second, or 1,820,000,000 Tsar Bombas - the most powerful thermonuclear bomb ever built!

Radiative Zone:
This is the zone immediately next to the core, which extends out to about 0.7 solar radii. There is no thermal convection in this layer, but solar material in this layer is hot and dense enough that thermal radiation is all that is needed to transfer the intense heat generated in the core outward. Basically, this involves ions of hydrogen and helium emitting photons that travel a short distance before being reabsorbed by other ions.

Temperatures drop in this layer, going from approximately 7 million kelvin closer to the core to 2 million at the boundary with the convective zone. Density also drops in this layer a hundredfold from 0.25 solar radii to the top of the radiative zone, going from 20 g/cm³ closest to the core to just 0.2 g/cm³ at the upper boundary.

Convective Zone:
This is the Sun's outer layer, which accounts for everything beyond 70% of the inner solar radius (or from the surface to approx. 200,000 km below). Here, the temperature is lower than in the radiative zone and heavier atoms are not fully ionized. As a result, radiative heat transport is less effective, and the density of the plasma is low enough to allow convective currents to develop.

Because of this, rising thermal cells carry the majority of the heat outward to the Sun's photosphere. Once these cells rise to just below the photospheric surface, their material cools, causing their density increases. This forces them to sink to the base of the convection zone again - where they pick up more heat and the convective cycle continues.

At the surface of the Sun, the temperature drops to about 5,700 K. The turbulent convection of this layer of the Sun is also what causes an effect that produces magnetic north and south poles all over the surface of the Sun.

It is also on this layer that sunspots occur, which appear as dark patches compared to the surrounding region. These spots correspond to concentrations in the magnetic flux field that inhibit convection and cause regions on the surface to drop in temperature to compared to the surrounding material.

Photosphere:
Lastly, there is the photosphere, the visible surface of the Sun. It is here that the sunlight and heat that are radiated and convected to the surface propagate out into space. Temperatures in the layer range between 4,500 and 6,000 K (4,230 - 5,730 °C; 7646 - 10346 °F). Because the upper part of the photosphere is cooler than the lower part, an image of the Sun appears brighter in the center than on the edge or limb of the solar disk, in a phenomenon known as limb darkening.

The photosphere is tens to hundreds of kilometers thick, and is also the region of the Sun where it becomes opaque to visible light. The reasons for this is because of the decreasing amount of negatively charged Hydrogen ions (H ⁻), which absorb visible light easily. Conversely, the visible light we see is produced as electrons react with hydrogen atoms to produce H ⁻ ions.

The energy emitted from the photosphere then propagates through space and reaches Earth's atmosphere and the other planets of the Solar System. Here on Earth, the upper layer of the atmosphere (the ozone layer) filters much of the Sun's ultra-violet (UV) radiation, but passes some onto the surface. The energy that received is then absorbed by the Earth's air and crust, heating our planet and providing organisms with a source of energy.

The Sun is at the center of biological and chemical processes here on Earth. Without it, the life cycle of plants and animals would end, the circadian rhythms of all terrestrial creatures would be disrupted; and in time, all life on Earth would cease to exist. The Sun's importance has been recognized since prehistoric times, with many cultures viewing it as a deity (more often than not, as the chief deity in their pantheons).

But it is only in the past few centuries that the processes that power the Sun have come to be understood. Thanks to ongoing research by physicists, astronomers and biologists, we are now able to grasp how the Sun goes about producing energy, and how it passes that on to our Solar System. The study of the known universe, with its diversity of star systems and exoplanets - has also helped us to draw comparisons with other types of stars.

We have written many articles about the Sun and Solar Energy for Universe Today. Here is What Color is the Sun?, How Far is Earth from the Sun?, some Interesting Facts About the Sun, and one about the Characteristic of the Sun.

For those who are interesting in the truly speculative and futuristic, here's Could We Terraform The Sun?, and Harvesting Solar Power from Space.

For more information, check out NASA's Solar System Exploration Guide on the Sun, and here's a link to the SOHO mission homepage, which has the latest images from the Sun.

Astronomy Cast also has some interesting episodes about the Sun. Listen here, Episode 30: The Sun, Spots and All, and Episode 320: Layers of the Sun.

atmosphere, convective zone, Nuclear fusion, photosphere, radiative zone, solar energy, solar power, sun, sun's core, ultraviolet radiation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Does The Sun Produce Energy? - Universe Today

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There is a reason life that Earth is the only place in the Solar System where life is known to be able to live and thrive. Granted, scientists believe that there may be microbial or even aquatic life forms living beneath the icy surfaces of Europa and Enceladus, or in the methane lakes on Titan.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Seasons, the Equinox, and the Solstices

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In northern OH/northwest PA, the maximum daily temperature occurs nearly 3 weeks later in mid July. Just as the warmest part of the day usually occurs several hours after noon, when the sun is highest in the sky, so too does the warmest part of the summer lags the summer solstice.

# data[].attributes.body
slide 8

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Earth, Moon, and Sun By: Alexis, Gianna, Jude, Aidan, and Cody Question 4 4. What are the major theories of lunar formation and their major evidences? Which is most widely accepted today and why? Answer: A theory is that the moon was taken from Venus or another planet that has a smaller gravitational pull then Earth Question 1 1.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Angle of Solar Radiation and Temperature

The angle of incoming solar radiation influences seasonal temperatures of locations at different latitudes. When the sun's rays strike Earth's surface near the equator, the incoming solar radiation is more direct (nearly perpendicular or closer to a 90˚ angle). Therefore, the solar radiation is concentrated over a smaller surface area, causing warmer temperatures. At higher latitudes, the angle of solar radiation is smaller, causing energy to be spread over a larger area of the surface and cooler temperatures. Because the angle of radiation varies depending on the latitude, surface temperatures on average are warmer at lower latitudes and cooler at higher latitudes (even though higher latitudes have more hours of daylight during the summer months).

The University of Nebraska's Daylight Simulator is a simulation showing daylight and nighttime regions on Earth throughout the day and year.

Click Image to load Flash

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Florida Center for Environmental Studies (CES) Climate Science Investigations of South Florida.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Much of the astronomical data pertaining to the sun, moon and stars is fascinating but requires an advanced understanding of scientific principles to fully comprehend. When put in layman's terms, however, there are some interesting and fun facts about the sun, moon and stars that can broaden your understanding of the universe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The moon may have made life as we know it possible here on Earth, but it's also full of mysteries. We don't even know its exact origins.

Wondering about the moon is a pastime that has been enjoyed by scientists, philosophers and artists throughout history. Galileo was the first scientist to point out that the moon has a landscape similar to Earth's.

Over time, other scientists have posited a variety of theories about what the moon is and where it came from. From mostly debunked hypotheses to the current prevailing theory, scientists have debated several scenarios, each of which might explain our moon, but none of which are without flaws.

1. Fission theory

The fission theory suggests that, at one point, the Earth was spinning so fast that part of it spun off to form the moon. (Photo: Festa/Shutterstock)

In the 1800s, George Darwin, the son of Charles Darwin, suggested that the moon looked so similar to the Earth because at one point in Earth's history, Earth might have been spinning so fast that part of our planet spun off into space but was kept tethered by Earth's gravity. Fission theorists posit that the Pacific Ocean might be the site where the would-be moon material came off of Earth. However, after moon rocks were analyzed and introduced to the equation, they largely debunked this theory because the moon rock compositions differed from those in the Pacific Ocean. In short, the Pacific Ocean is too young to be the source of the moon.

2. Capture theory

According to the capture theory, the moon traveled about the solar system before getting stuck in Earth's gravitational pull. (Photo: NASA/JPL/Wikimedia Commons)

The capture theory suggests that the moon originated elsewhere in the Milky Way, completely independent of Earth. Then, while traveling past Earth, the moon got trapped in our planet's gravity. The holes in this theory range from suggestions that the moon would have eventually broken free from Earth's gravity because Earth's gravity would have been massively altered by catching the moon. Also, chemical components of both the Earth and the moon suggest they formed at around the same time.

3. Co-accretion theory

This composite image shows the Earth, the moon and a black hole. The co-accretion theory posits that both the Earth and the moon formed together while orbiting a black hole. (Photo: janez volmajer/Shutterstock)

Also known as the condensation theory, this hypothesis offers that the moon and the Earth formed together while orbiting a black hole. However, this theory neglects an explanation of why the moon orbits the Earth, nor does it explain the difference in densities between the moon and Earth.

4. Giant impact hypothesis

An artist's illustration of two celestial objects colliding in a way that some scientists think the moon came to be. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The reigning theory is that a Mars-sized object impacted with a very young, still-forming Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. The planetary object that impacted Earth has been dubbed "Theia" by scientists because in Greek mythology, Theia was the mother of the moon goddess Selene. When Theia hit Earth, a portion of the planet came off and eventually hardened into the moon. This theory does a better job than others of explaining the similarities in chemical compositions of the Earth and the moon, however it doesn't explain why the moon and the Earth are chemically identical. Scientists have suggested that, among other alternatives, Theia could have been made of ice, or that Theia could have melted into Earth, leaving no separate trace of its own on the Earth or the moon; or Theia could have shared a close chemical composition to Earth. Until we can determine how large Theia was, at what angle it hit the Earth and precisely what it was made of, the giant impact hypothesis will have to remain just that - a hypothesis.

A possible refinement of the giant impact hypothesis was published in Nature Geoscience in 2017. The new study posits that multiple moon- to Mars-sized objects struck Earth, and the debris from these collisions formed disks around the Earth - think Saturn - before forming into moonlets. These moonlets eventually drifted away from Earth and merged to create the moon we know today. The study's authors contend that this multi-impact hypothesis helps to explain the chemical composition similarities. If multiple objects collided with Earth, the chemical signatures between those objects and Earth would even out more as the moon formed than if it had just been a single impact event.

New lunar findings will inform the continued discussion of the origins of the moon. (Too bad we can't simply ask the man in the moon how he got there.)

Bonus: How old is the moon?

Determining the age of the moon has proven to be a complicated endeavor. (Photo: SAENRIT KLINLUMDAUN/Shutterstock)

The age of the moon is the subject of some debate within the scientific community. Some scientists think that the moon formed roughly 100 million years after our solar system formed, while others favor a date somewhere between 150 and 200 million years after the solar system's birth. These dates would put the moon between 4.47 billion and 4.35 billion years old.

A new study published in Science Advances claims to put the controversy over the moon's age to rest. A team of researchers think they have accurately dated the moon at 4.51 billion years old.

The researchers used moon rocks taken from the lunar surface during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 for their study. Most moon rocks astronauts have brought back to Earth are composites of rocks fused together during meteor strikes, and that makes dating them tricky as the different pieces of the rocks will reflect different ages. To get around this, the researchers turned to zicorn, a very durable mineral found in both the Earth's crust and in moon rocks.

"Zircons are nature's best clocks," said co-author Kevin McKeegan, a UCLA professor of geochemistry and cosmochemistry. "They are the best mineral in preserving geological history and revealing where they originated."

McKeegan and lead author Mélanie Barboni focused on the tiny zicorn crystals that contained small amounts of radioactive elements, particularly uranium and lutetium. They isolated when these two elements has decayed to calculate how long the zicorn had formed and used that to provide what they contend is an accurate age for the moon.

This isn't to say that the zicorn-dating approaching is without its own controversy. Speaking to The Verge about the findings, Richard Carlson, the director for the department of terrestrial magnetism at Carnegie Institution for Science, he praised the work but cited concerns about the zicorn approach. Namely, Carlson questions the assumption that the decayed ratios for the uranium and lutetium would be the same in the early days of the solar system as they would be today.

"It's just a very complicated problem they are addressing here, which is why we still don't have a clear answer to such an obvious question as the age of the Moon," Carlson said.

This story was originally published September 2015 and has been updated with new information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The moon may have made life as we know it possible here on Earth, but it's also full of mysteries. We don't even know its exact origins. Wondering about the moon is a pastime that has been enjoyed by scientists, philosophers and artists throughout history.