The Earth makes one revolution around the Sun in 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes 9 seconds. This circulation period is called stellar year. The path of the Earth around the Sun (Earth's orbit) is close in shape to a circle, but slightly elongated. Such geometric figure called ellipse and has two axes - major and minor, perpendicular to the major axis. Both of them intersect at the center of the ellipse. The sun is not at the center of the orbit, but at one of its foci, that is, at one of the special points located on the major axis, relatively close to the center. The semi-major axis (i.e., half of the major axis) of the orbit is the average distance of the Earth from the Sun and is equal to 149.6 million km. The focus of the orbit is 2.5 million km away from its center. Therefore, throughout the year, the distance of the Earth from the Sun periodically changes from 147.1 million km (at the very beginning of January) to 152.1 million km (at the very beginning of July). The closest point in the Earth's orbit to the Sun is called perihelion, and the most distant aphelion. The earth's axis is inclined to the plane of the orbit at an angle of 66 0 33'. When revolving around the sun, the direction earth's axis does not change - it remains parallel to itself

The dark areas are young plains called seas that are made of basalt. Basalt flooded and flooded the region created by a powerful lunar collision with an asteroid or comets. The clear areas are mountainous areas, which are mountains erected as a result of blows. The lunar surface is covered with fine soil called "regolith", which is the result of continuous bombardment of lunar rocks by small meteorites. Scientists have suggested that the moon was created by the collision of Earth with Mars.

One theory is that shrapnel from this collision was thrown into space where gravity merged. This led to the formation of our natural satellite. Gravity pulls the Moon into sea tides on Earth. The closer to our planet, the greater the effect. The time between high tides is about 12 hours and 25 minutes.

The geographical consequence of the annual rotation of the Earth is the change of seasons, which is also due to the constant tilt of the earth's axis. If the earth's axis did not have an inclination, then during the year on Earth the day would be equal to the night, the equatorial regions would receive the most heat, and it would always be cold at the poles. The seasonal rhythm of nature (the change of seasons) is manifested in a change in various meteorological elements of air temperature, its humidity, as well as in a change in the regime of water bodies, the life of plants and animals, etc.

Phases or changes appearance The moon depends on its position relative to the position of the sun. When it is between the Sun and the Earth, its side facing us is dark. As it roams its orbit to the east, its brighter side is visible from Earth and is said to be "approaching". More precisely, the phase of the New Moon is called the “waking crescent” because at this moment we see no more than a quarter of the moon. After the first quarter, we see a quarter of the moon, so we have a phase of "arriving noise". As the Moon continues its revolution around our planet, the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Earth is in the middle.

The position of the Earth relative to the Sun on the days of the solstices and equinoxes (Figure 1.2)


Fig.1.2

The unlit part of the Earth is shaded

June 22 is the summer solstice. The sun's rays are incident perpendicular to earth's surface at latitude 2З 0 27 of the Northern Hemisphere. North of this parallel, the Sun is never at its zenith. The day is longer than the night. At a latitude of 66°33', the Sun does not set below the horizon for a whole day. This is a polar day. North hemisphere lit better, gets more heat. There is summer.

The face of the moon, pointing towards us, is now fully illuminated. As our natural satellite moves further in its orbit, its illuminated portion becomes visible to us, which is why we say the Moon is "lower" when it enters its next phase. After the “falling hump” phase, it enters the “third quadrant”, where again we see it from our planet as half dark and half light.

As it completes its circuit around the Earth, the Moon enters the "falling crescent" just before the start of the cycle. Expression " dark side of the moon" usually refers to a page that we cannot see from Earth. The cycle around the Earth takes our natural satellite about 29 days. One rotation of its axis takes almost exactly the same amount of time. Therefore, we always see the same side of the Moon from Earth. But this part of it is not really the "dark side", but rather the "reverse side". The moon, which we cannot see from Earth, receives as much sunlight as what we see.

December 22 is the winter solstice. The sun's rays fall perpendicular to the earth's surface at a latitude of 23 0 27 'of the Southern Hemisphere. During this period, it is better illuminated than the Northern one, it receives more heat, it is summer there. To the south of the southern tropic, the length of the day increases: on the southern polar circle it is 24 hours, on south pole- six months. At this time, it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, daylight hours are short. At the Arctic Circle on December 22, the Sun does not show above the horizon at all. Here is the polar night, which lasts 24 hours, and at the North Pole - almost half a year.

September 23, March 21 - the days of the autumn and spring equinoxes. The sun is at its zenith above the equator. To the north and south of the equator, the height of the Sun decreases. The plane of the light-dividing line passes through the earth's axis and divides the earth in half. On everything globe day equals night.

Tropics- geographical parallels that are 23 ° 27 'to the north (northern, or Tropic of Cancer) and south (southern, or Tropic of Capricorn) from the equator. On the day of the summer solstice (21-22 June) the Sun is at its zenith for places lying on the northern tropic, On the day of the winter solstice (21-22 December) the sun is at its zenith for places lying on the southern tropic.

arctic circles- geographic parallels that are 6°33' to the north and south of the equator are the boundaries of the zones of polar nights and polar days. In the Northern Hemisphere, on the day of the winter solstice (December 21-22) to the north of the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not rise, on the day of the summer solstice (June 21-22) it does not set. AT southern hemisphere on the day of the winter solstice (December 21-22) south of the Antarctic Circle, the Sun does not set, on the day of the summer solstice (June 21-22) it does not rise. The number of days during which the Sun does not rise or set increases with approach to the poles, where the duration of polar nights and days is half a year.

Geographic poles- North and South - the points of intersection of the axis of rotation of the Earth with the earth's surface, All the earth's meridians converge to the poles. There is no division into days and nights at the poles, since the Sun does not fall below the horizon for about six months (polar day) and does not rise for about six months (polar night).

polar night the period when the Sun does not appear for a day above the horizon is observed from the Arctic Circle, where (lasts 1 day) to the pole, where it lasts up to 178 days.

polar day the period when the sun does not fall below the horizon for many days. The farther from the Arctic Circle to the pole, the longer the polar day.

Year- a period of time equal to the period of revolution of the Earth around the Sun.

According to the tropics and polar circles on Earth, they distinguish lighting belts, which were formed as a result of the annual revolution of the Earth around the Sun with a constant inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of the orbit. There are five such belts in total; hot, two moderate and two cold. The boundaries of the belts are the tropics and the polar circles.

The hot belt is located between the northern and southern tropics. The sun is at its zenith above the equator on the equinoxes (March 21 and September 23), above the northern tropic - on the day of the summer solstice (June 22), above the southern tropic - on the day of the winter solstice (December 22).

The length of day and night in this zone varies very little during the year, and at the equator day is always equal to night.

Two temperate zones are located between the tropics and the polar circles. The sun is never at its zenith. The length of day and night varies with latitude. At the same time, it depends on the time of year.

Two cold belts are located north of the Arctic Circle and, respectively, south of the South. Within them, the Sun is not at its zenith.

The earth has magnetic field acting on the magnetic needle of the compass. The magnetic field is represented by closed curved lines - they are called magnetic lines of force, they converge at two almost opposite points on the earth's surface - magnetic poles far from the geographic poles of the earth. The South Magnetic Pole is located in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, near the northern coast of Victoria Island (Canada, 96°W and 71°N); The north magnetic pole lies in the Southern Hemisphere, in the Pacific Ocean, near the coast of Antarctica (150° E and 70° S). Both poles continuously move (drift) on the earth's surface at a speed of about 5 km per year.

solar system- is a collection celestial bodies, consisting of planets moving around the Sun, their satellites, asteroids, comets and meteoroids.

The enormous size of the solar system makes it difficult to study already discovered planets and discovery of new ones.

Classification of the planets in astronomy and in astrology differs.

AT Astronomy distinguishes two main classes of planets : large and small (asteroids)

In the solar system, there are 9 most major planets with its satellites and many small (over 2300) planets, several tens of thousands of comets, a lot of meteoroids and streams of fine dust.

Major planets in their own way physical characteristics are divided into two groups:

inner circle planets solar system- terrestrial planets.(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Pluto)

the planets of the outer circle are the giant planets.(Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).

Large The planets are removed from the Sun in the following order:Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

All planets in the solar system, except for Mercury and Venus, have satellites.

Origin of the planets. The Big Bang Theory"

It is assumed that the planets arose simultaneously (or almost simultaneously) 4.6 billion years ago from a gas-dust nebula, which had the shape of a disk, in the center of which the young Sun was located. This protoplanetary nebula was formed, apparently, together with the Sun from interstellar matter, the density of which exceeded the critical limit. According to some reports, such compaction occurred as a result of a relatively close supernova explosion. The protoplanetary cloud was unstable, it became more and more flat, solid dust particles approached, collided, formed bodies of ever larger and large sizes, and in a relatively short time, 9 large planets formed. Asteroids, comets, meteorites are probably the remnants of the material from which the planets formed.

The structure of the planets

The planets have a layered structure. All planets terrestrial group have hard shells in which almost all of their mass is concentrated. Three of them - Venus, Earth and Mars - have gaseous atmospheres. Mercury has almost no atmosphere. Only the Earth has a liquid shell of water - the hydrosphere, as well as the biosphere. An analogue of the hydrosphere on Mars is the cryosphere - ice in the polar caps and in the ground (permafrost).

Elemental composition

The elemental composition of the terrestrial planets differs sharply from the Sun - there is very little hydrogen, as well as inert gases, including helium. The giant planets have a different chemical composition. Jupiter and Saturn contain hydrogen and helium in the same proportion as the Sun. There are more heavy elements in the bowels of Uranus and Neptune. The bowels of Jupiter are in liquid state, except for a small stone core. Saturn by internal structure similar to Jupiter. The structure of the bowels of Uranus and Neptune is different: the proportion of stony materials in them is much larger. Thermal energy, released from the bowels of Jupiter and Saturn, may have been accumulated in the era of their formation.

Typical landforms of the surface of the planets:

Continental blocks and oceanic trenches (Earth, Mars, Venus)

Volcanoes (Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter's satellite Io; of these, they are active only on Earth and Io);

Valleys of tectonic origin ("faults"; there are on Earth, Venus and Mars);

Meteor craters (the most common landform on the surface of Mercury.)

Lunar seas are a typical example of basins;

Formations associated with water, glacial erosion, with the transfer of dust matter by the wind are observed, except for the Earth, only on one more planet - Mars.

Periods of the planets

The German mathematician Johannes Kepler derived three laws describing the orbital motion of the planets. Kepler proved for the first time that all 6 planets known by that time move around the Sun not in a circle, but in ellipses.

Englishman Isaac Newton, discovering the law gravity, significantly advanced mankind's ideas about the elliptical orbits of celestial bodies. His explanations that the tides on the Earth occur under the influence of the Moon proved to be convincing for the scientific world.

The planets are in constant motion. Their position in the sky is constantly changing, and this is caused by the rotation of the Earth and other planets of our system around the Sun.

All planets, including the Earth, revolve around the Sun in the same direction and approximately in the same plane.

The paths in space along which the planets of the solar system revolve around the sun are called orbits. The orbits of all the planets, being elliptical, have one common focus, located in the center of the Sun.

Since the movement of the planets around the Sun is not in a circle, but in an ellipse, during its movement the planet is at different distances from the Sun: more close quarters called perihelion (the planet moves faster in this position), more distant - aphelion (the speed of the planet slows down). To simplify the calculation of the motion of the planets and the calculation average speed their movements, astronomers conditionally accept the trajectory of their movement in a circle. Thus, it is conditionally assumed that the movement of the planets in orbit has a constant speed.

Except forward movement planets in their elliptical orbits around the sun, each of the planets revolves around its own axis.

The planets revolve in their orbits around the Sun at different speeds. The further a planet is from the Sun, the longer the path it describes around it. Some planets do full turn around the sun in more than a human lifetime.

The period of revolution of the planets around the sun:

Mercury - 87.97 Earth days.

Venus - 224.7 Earth days. One day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days, and a year is only 225.

Mars - 687 days (about two years).

Jupiter - 11, 86 (about 12 years old).

Saturn - 29, 16 years old

Uranus - 84.01 years old

Neptune - 164.8 (about 165 years).

Pluto - 248 years. One year on Pluto is 248 Earth years. This means that while Pluto makes only one complete revolution around the Sun, the Earth manages to make 248.

Chiron - 50 years old

Proserpina - about 650 years old.

From previous lectures, you know that it is generally accepted in astrology that the planets do not revolve around the Sun, but around the Earth. However, due to the Earth's own motion in its orbit, the planets pass through the zodiac circle and again find themselves in their original degree in a slightly different period than they make a revolution around the Sun. That is, the astrological period of the planets' revolution is somewhat different from the astronomical period of the planets' revolution around the Sun. Since the astrological period of revolution is not constant, then, to simplify the consideration, it is customary to consider its average value.

Periods of passage of the planets of the zodiac circle.

L Una is the fastest planet. The circle of the Zodiac passes in 27 days and 8 hours. It stays in one sign for about 2.5 days.

The sun travels the entire zodiac in 1 year, staying in each sign for 30 days. Changes from sign to sign once a month around the 22nd or 23rd.

Mercury completes its circle in the Zodiac in 87 days.

Venus transits the Zodiac in 224 days

Mars moves through the zodiac for almost two years, being in each sign for two months.

Jupiter 11 years and 10 months. The year is in one sign.

Saturn passes through twelve signs of the zodiac in 29.5 years, staying in each for three years.

Uranus goes through the circle of the zodiac in 84 years. ATUranus is in each zodiac sign for about 7 years (12 x 7 = 84).

Neptune passes in 165 years.

Pluto moves through the zodiac for 250 years.

For more information about the planets and their classification in read astrology

Why you need to know the classification of the planets.

Astrologers very often use such phrases as "major planets", "distant planets", "trans-Saturn planets", "karmic planets", etc. in their speech and in literary works. etc.

Knowing the classification of the planets, you will understand which planets in particular are in question.