astronomy

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astronomy
By Bernie Ridall
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Billions of years in the making, the solar
system is one of the most mysterious topics of
study. As far back in recorded history as we can
go, people have been looking up, trying to
understand the Universe. In modern times, we
can research an almost endless amount of
documentation on the subject of Astronomy, but we
have only just scratched the surface of what is
out there. In this study, we will take a
quick trip around our own solar system. We now
have the technology to reach out and touch our
closest neighbors and get a close up view of what
used to be just a point of light in the sky.
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In the lower right hand corner of your screen are
buttons to help you on your journey.
This button will take you to the previous slide
This button will take you to the main menu
This button will take you to the next slide
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Section one
The Sun
The Terrestrial Planets
Section two
The Jovian Planets
Section three
Links to the internet
Return To Title
Take The Test
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The Sun
At the center of our solar system is the Sun.
It is the closest star to Earth and is 93 million
miles away, or as astronomers say,one
astronomical unit. At 109 times the Earths
diameter, it is still small in comparison to some
super giant stars. It is powered by
nuclear reactions, using Hydrogen for fuel.
Scientist estimate that the Sun is about 5
billion years old and has enough Hydrogen to last
at least another 5 billion years.
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• There are three primary parts to the Suns
  surface
• The Photosphere
• The Chromosphere
• The Corona

The Photosphere is the visible surface of the
Sun. The Chromosphere lies above the Photosphere
and is a layer of gas that is about 1,000 times
less bright than the Photosphere. Because it is
not as bright as the Photosphere, we can only see
it during a solar eclipse. The Suns atmosphere
above the Chromosphere is called the Corona. It
has temperatures between 500,000 and 2,000,000
Kelvin. The Corona is so hot, it causes what is
called solar wind. This is what causes the
Auroras that light up in the northern and
southern skies.
Temperature conversions
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The Terrestrial Planets

• Terrestrial planets are Earthlike. They are
  dense, small and rocky.

• These planet include
• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
• Mars

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Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to our Sun. Its
average distance to the Sun is 5.79 x 107 km.
Temperatures can reach 800 F on the surface
because of its close distance to the Sun.
Mercury looks a lot like our Moon because it is
heavily cratered. It also has no natural
satellites (moons) or an atmosphere.
Scientific notation
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Venus
Next on our journey is Venus. It is only 5
smaller than the Earth. Its average distance to
the Sun is 1.082 X 108 km. Venus has a surface
temperature of 882 F. It is often referred to as
the morning star. Its atmosphere is 96 carbon
dioxide, and has no natural satellites.
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Earth
Latest studies have proved that there is life on
this planet. It has an average distance to the
Sun of 1.495979 X 108 km. Otherwise known as,
one astronomical unit. There is an atmosphere
of mostly Nitrogen and Oxygen. 71 of the Earth
is covered in water.
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Mars
Now that we know that 1 AU or, one astronomical
unit, is the distance from Earth to the Sun, we
can measure Mars distance to the Sun as 1.5237
AU. The atmosphere is much like the one on
Venus, it is 95 carbon dioxide, but very dense.
Mars has two natural satellites.
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The Jovian Planets

• Jupiterlike planets with a large diameter and
  low density.

• These planet include
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune
• Pluto

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Jupiter
Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all the
other planets combined. It is a giant ball of
nitrogen-based gases. It has 16 named natural
satellites. Its average distance to the Sun
is 5.2028 AU.
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Saturn
Saturn is most famous for its rings. Although it
is not the only planet with rings, they are the
most visible. Saturn is almost as large as
Jupiter, but has less than 1/3 the mass. In a
large enough ocean, Saturn would float. It has 22
natural satellites, the most interesting one
being Titan, one of only two in the solar system
that has an atmosphere. Its average distance
from the Sun is 9.5388 AU.
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Uranus
Uranus is pretty boring compared to the other
planets. Its average distance to the Sun is
19.18 AU. It has a heavy-element core, then
mostly ice and rock, and the outer layer is
hydrogen and helium. It has 15 natural Satellites.

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Neptune
Neptune spins vertically on its axis, causing
the fastest winds in the solar system, up to
1,000 mph. Its average distance to the Sun is
30.0611 AU. It has 8 natural satellites. Triton
is the only other natural satellite that has an
atmosphere.
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Pluto
Pluto is as far from the Sun as anyone would want
to be. Its average distance to the Sun is 39.44
AU. Although, it is on a very ecliptic orbit and
can be as far from the Sun as 49.24 AU and as
close as 29.64 AU. Occasionally, Pluto is closer
to the Sun than Neptune. Not much is known about
this planet because it is so far from Earth.
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It has been a very long journey to the outer
reaches of our solar system. Hopefully it was fun
and educational. So collect your thoughts and
prepare to take a short exam on the material you
just traveled through.
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Question 1
What determines the length of one astronomical
unit?
A
The distance between the Earth and the Moon.
B
The distance between the Sun and Pluto.
C
The distance between the Sun and the Earth.
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Question 2
How many natural satellites in our solar system
has an atmosphere?
A
Two Triton and Titan .
B
Three the Moon, Atlas and Phoebe.
C
All of them except two.
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Question 3
What is the difference between the Terrestrial
planets and The Jovian Planets?
A
The Jovian planets are larger and lower density.
B
The Terrestrial planets are smaller and more
dense.
C
The Jovian planets have people living on them.
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Wrong answer!
In astronomical measurements, the universe is a
big place. Try a little bigger.
Hit the back button to try again
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Wrong answer!
It has to be a measurement that we can accurately
measure. Try a little smaller.
Hit the back button to try again
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Correct ! You got it!
Click the button to go to the next question.
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Wrong answer!
You know the Moon dont have an atmosphere.
Hit the back button to try again
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Wrong answer!
You know the Moon dont have an atmosphere.
Hit the back button to try again
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Correct ! You got it!
Click the button to go to the next question.
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Wrong answer!
Hit the back button to try again
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Wrong answer!
Earth is the only know planet with people living
on it.
Hit the back button to try again
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Correct ! You got it!
Click the button to go to the title page for the
next student.
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http//pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome.htm
http//www.jackstargazer.com/
http//www.astronomy.com/
http//www.nineplanets.org/
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Temperature conversions C ( F 32)/1.8

F ( C X 1.8)32
K C
273 Fahrenheit Celsius
Kelvin 212 F 100 C
373 K boiling water 98 F
37 C 310 K body
temp. 68 F 20 C
293 K room temp. 32 F
0 C 273 K freezing
water -459.7 F
0 K absolute zero
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Scientific notation This is a way of
writing large numbers without using half of the
page just for zeros. For example
43,000,000,000,000 km has enough zeros to make
you get dizzy. In scientific notation it is
easier to write this number as 4.3 X 1013 km.
105 100,000 104
10,000 103 1,000 102
100 101 10 100
1 10-1
0.1 10-2 0.01
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The Moon
The moon is unique in the solar system in that it
is so large relative to the Earth. As you watch
the Moon go through its phases, starting with it
completely dark, they are in this order
Completely dark --- New Moon ¼ light
--- Waxing Crescent ½ light ---
First Quarter ¾ light --- Waxing
Gibbous Completely lit --- Full ¼ dark
--- Waning Gibbous ½ dark ---
Third Quarter ¾ dark --- Waning
Crescent
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The Aurora
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and the
Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) are a magnetic
solar phenomena. The Sun emits solar wind that
carries ionized Hydrogen particles into space,
and the Earths magnetic poles attract them.
The amazing light shows can be predicted by
keeping track of the solar flares.
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Galaxy
Earth
Total solar eclipse
Aurora from space
Space walk
Aurora from space