Light Year Web Search 1.13.12
Part 1: Measuring the Speed of Light
1. Name the different astronomers that had a hand in creating the theory and then proving the speed of light.
Galileo tested a lantern experiment to measure light, but the light moved too fast and his experiment failed. Ole Roemer watched Jupiter and its moon closely. Heinrich Hertz generated electromagnetic waves to find the speed of light.
2. What is the speed of light?
How quickly light travels at a certain distance. About 300,000 kilometers/second.
3. Critical Thinking: Why don't we use light years on Earth?
Because Earth is too small to measure in light years.
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/waves_particles/lightspeed_evidence.html
Part 2: What is a Light Year
1. What is a light year?
A light year is the distance light travels in one year.
2. A light year is a measure of ______?
A. Time
B. Distance
C. Mass
3. Why do astronomers use light years instead of miles?
Because in space, miles are too small to measure.
4. What other units of distance do astronomers sometimes use?
They sometimes use the Astronomical Unit (AU) which measures the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Used in our solar system.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html
Part 3: Light-Travel Time and Distance
1. How fast does light travel?
Light travels at 299,792 kilometers/second.
2. How long does it take light from the Sun to reach Earth?
It takes 8.32 light minutes.
3. We see stars exactly as they are at the same moment we look at them.
True False
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/universe/duguide/app_light_travel_time_dista.php
1. Name the different astronomers that had a hand in creating the theory and then proving the speed of light.
Galileo tested a lantern experiment to measure light, but the light moved too fast and his experiment failed. Ole Roemer watched Jupiter and its moon closely. Heinrich Hertz generated electromagnetic waves to find the speed of light.
2. What is the speed of light?
How quickly light travels at a certain distance. About 300,000 kilometers/second.
3. Critical Thinking: Why don't we use light years on Earth?
Because Earth is too small to measure in light years.
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/waves_particles/lightspeed_evidence.html
Part 2: What is a Light Year
1. What is a light year?
A light year is the distance light travels in one year.
2. A light year is a measure of ______?
A. Time
B. Distance
C. Mass
3. Why do astronomers use light years instead of miles?
Because in space, miles are too small to measure.
4. What other units of distance do astronomers sometimes use?
They sometimes use the Astronomical Unit (AU) which measures the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Used in our solar system.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html
Part 3: Light-Travel Time and Distance
1. How fast does light travel?
Light travels at 299,792 kilometers/second.
2. How long does it take light from the Sun to reach Earth?
It takes 8.32 light minutes.
3. We see stars exactly as they are at the same moment we look at them.
True False
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/universe/duguide/app_light_travel_time_dista.php