Spinning Earth, circling Moon
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What you will learn
By the end, you can explain day, night and the year from the Earth's movements, and order the planets from the Sun.
Emil in London is eating breakfast. At the same moment his cousin in New Zealand is going to bed. One Sun, one Earth: how can it be morning and night at once?
Read the explanation
The Earth spins once every 24 hours. The side facing the Sun has day; the side facing away has night. At the same time the Earth travels around the Sun in a huge loop called an orbit. One orbit takes a year: about 365 days. The Moon orbits the Earth about once a month, shining only with reflected sunlight.
- The Sun seems to cross the sky, but really the Earth is turning.
- The Sun, Earth and Moon are roughly ball-shaped (spheres).
- Eight planets orbit the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.