Read the Solar System: Match the Alignment and Clue
Solar-system questions often give one recognition clue and one alignment clue. Handle them separately before choosing an option.
Planets, stars and eclipses is the central idea in this question pattern. Identify the condition in the stem before applying the method below.
Keep the Sun, Earth and Moon positions separate
Position and motion create the observed pattern
Rotation explains day and night; revolution changes Earth’s position around the Sun. Eclipses and phases depend on the viewing geometry.
Use the planet clues
Venus is known as the morning/evening star. Saturn has rings made mainly of ice, dust and rock. Jupiter is the fastest-spinning planet.
Draw the eclipse line
A lunar eclipse needs Sun–Earth–Moon alignment: Earth lies between the Sun and Moon, so Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon.
OlympIQ exam lens
- ✓Underline the unique planet clue.
- ✓Draw Sun, Earth and Moon in a line.
- ✓Identify whose shadow causes the event.
A Moon shadow on Earth is a solar eclipse, not a lunar eclipse.
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