Sky Science
THE SUN
Did you know that the sun is just a medium sized star? It formed 4.6 billion years ago and it is only in the middle of its life. The earth relies on the sun to keep our planet alive, by helping with photosynthesis and keeping us warm. The sun can reach temperatures of 27 million degrees, so the heat can reach all the way to Neptune and Uranus.
PLANET
The planet Mercury got it's name from the Roman god Mercury ( also known as Hermes in Greek form ). Mercury is the smallest of the planets, and has a very cratered surface. The surface of Mercury can reach up to 427 degrees celsius. Mercury does not really have much of an atmosphere, so there is nothing to trap the heat. At night the temperature can reach down to 173 degrees celsius. Mercury orbits around the sun in 88 Earth days. That is a year on Mercury. 56 of these days are daytime.
Venus:
Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love also known as Aphrodite in Greek form. Venus is the second planet away from the sun and is also the hottest planet. The planet is extremely dry because of the planet's heat, any liquid will melt away. Venus can reach temperatures of 475 degrees celsius. Another reason why Venus has a terrible surface and atmosphere is because of the poisonous clouds.Many people think that Venus is our sister planet.
Earth:
Go look outside!;)
Mars:
Mars is named after the Roman God Mars ( also known as Ares in Greek form ). Mars is also known as the red planet, is the 4th planet closest to the sun. The planet orbits 24.2 km per second and has a surface temperature of -23 degrees. On Mars, 1 year is the same as 686.98 days on Earth and 1 day is the same as 24.6 days on Earth. Mars has a dusty and dry surface. The dark spots people used to think were water or lakes are volcanoes that made many people believe that Mars is an alien planet.
Jupiter:
Jupiter is named after the Roman God Jupiter ( also known as Zeus in Greek form ). Jupiter is the 5th planet away from the sun and is also the biggest planet in our solar system. The planet is very large, so large you could fit up to 1000 Earths inside. Jupiter's mass is also a lot heavier than Earth's, the mass of Jupiter is 318 times heavier. Many people find Jupiter's colours very interesting, but, believe it or not, Jupiter's colours are caused by storms. When observing Jupiter in a photo you may come across a red spot. This red spot is a storm that has been raging for hundreds of years.
Saturn:
The planet Saturn is named after the roman god Saturn ( also known as Cronus ). Did you know that Saturn is the second biggest planet in our Solar System? But their 9 rings make a huge difference! Even though the rings are thin, they reach out 273 266 km wide! That's what makes it the biggest planet. The rings are made up of trillions of icy crystals that are held up by the moons of Saturn. There are 53 moons of Saturn, the biggest being Titan. Titan is the second biggest moon in our Solar System. But out of those 53 moons, 18 are named, and 9 are unofficial. Although Saturn is pretty cool, us humans can't live on it yet. They can't even set foot on it! Saturn is so gaseous we wouldn't be able to live on Saturn for more than 5 minutes. Saturn is a gas planet, it's 97% hydrogen, 3% helium, and 0.05% methane. It would be quite cool to live on Saturn, but some people might not like it because you weigh more on Saturn! Even though humans can not set foot on Saturn, many robots have like: Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Cassini. Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture (Kronos in Greek god form). Saturday is also named after Saturn. Galileo found Saturn in 1610 with a telescope.The Climate in Saturn is quite windy! There are strong winds coming out of speed of about 800 kmp. Also Saturn has a very strong magnetic field. It's the most dense planet in our Solar System. The length of 1 day on Saturn is 10 hours and 39 minutes, which is the time period of 1 full rotation around the sun. And the length of 1 year in saturn is 29.5 Earth years, (which is one full rotation around the sun.)
Uranus:
Uranus in named after the Roman god Uranus ( also know as Ouranus ).
Did you know that the planet is the 3rd biggest planet? Well, not only is it the 3rd biggest it is also the coldest. The average temperature is around
224 degrees Celsius. Believe it or not, Uranus is also a gas planet and one year on Uranus is the same as 84 Earth days! The planet has 27 moons and all of them are named after either William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope.
Moon Phases
There are 7 moon phases which are the, waxing crescent, the 1st quarter, the waxing gibbous, the full moon, the 3rd quarter, the waning crescent and the new moon. The full moon occurs every 29.5 days, in between that all the other moon phases happen. This month the full moon will happen on the 23rd and the new moon has already happened and it was on the 8th. Moon phases are created from the sun rays reflecting on the moon. A good way to remember the moon phases is “light from the right and leaves from the left”
Some people just think that the moon is there telling us that it's time to go to bed. But without The Moon, we wouldn't get its gravity. Without The Moons gravity Earth would have massive earthquakes, massive floods, and our nights would be half the size that they are now. I wouldn't like that! The Moon also controls the ocean tidal waves, and balances out the Sun's gravity. Without the Moon, the Earth would rotate a lot faster, making the wind 100 mph 24/7. These excessive winds wouldn't allow us to live.
Constellations
Did you know constellations turn as the seasons pass! Constellation are a group
of a lot of stars that make a picture in the night sky of a mythological creature. To find the constellations it is like a game of connect the dots. As time passed more and more constellations appeared in the sky. In 1925 the sky adapted 88 constellations. The constellations in the southern hemisphere just recently got named because these specific constellations were not visible to places like Africa and Europe. Some of the constellations, were even made up of extra stars because these stars didn't make up any of the other constellations that were already made. Constellations got their names from Greek mythological creatures. When you look up in the night sky you can point them out (when it is a clear night). Also on a dark clear night over 1000 stars are visible in the sky.
Names of Common Constellations
- Big Dipper
- Cepheus
- Cygnus
- Orion
- Gemini
- Aries
- Capricorn
- Hercules
- Ursa Major
- Ursa Minor
- Leo
- Aquarius
- Pisces
- Taurus
- Cancer
- Scorpio
- Virgo
- Libra
- Ophiuchus
- Sagittarius
Thank you!!!!
ReplyDelete