Observing the Earth and its Moon Describe the position of earth, the moon, and the sun during the course of a day or month.  Describing various forms of technology used in the observing Earth and its moon

The History of Observing Objects from Afar Navigators began experi- menting with ways to observe the stars and planets during the nineteenth century.

An aerial photo of Boston taken in 1860 is believed to be the first successful image of the earth from the sky.

During the American Civil War, balloons were lifted during battles to see the placement of enemy troops.

During the First World War, unarmed observation planes took off with cameras strapped to the undercarriage.

Another example to obtain long-range photographs was to attach a camera to a pigeon.

As technology progressed, it became possible to use orbiting satellites. The United States launched its first weather satellite, TIROS 1, in 1960.

GOES (Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite) orbit the earth at the same rate that the earth rotates. It always sees the same area of the earth and stays at the same point over the equator.

POES (polar orbiting environmental satellite) scans the earth from north to south. As the earth rotates on its axis, the satellite is able to scan an area farther to the west with each pass.

Scientists use the information that they acquire from space for geology studies, agriculture studies, meteorology, etc.

The moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. Observing the moon can be accomplished by using a variety of instruments ranging from the naked eye to large telescopes Moon as seen with the naked eye Moon as seen with a pair of binoculars Moon as seen through a telescope