Place in Space

By Taylah Williams

What is a light year?

StarsQ1:The fastest thing that we know of is light which travels at a speed of 186,000 miles or 300,000 kilometres per second in empty space. Light can travel about seven times around Earth in one second. Astronomers use the speed of light to measure how far away things are in space. They use light years. A light year is the distance that light can travel in one year. In one year light travels about 9,460,000,000,000 kilometres. So, this distance is 1 light-year.

StarsWhat is a galaxy

Q2: A galaxy is a system of stars, dust, and gas held together by gravity. Our solar system is in a galaxy called the Milky Way. Astronomers have photographed millions of galaxies through telescopes. The most distant galaxies ever photographed are as far as 10 billion to 13 billion light-years away. Galaxies range in diameter from a few thousand to a half-million light-years. Small galaxies have less than a billion stars. Large galaxies have more than a trillion.

Arp’s GalaxyBaade’s galaxy a and b

StarsWhat is the nearest star apart from the sun visible star to the

earth?

Q3:Sirius is the nearest visible star to earth, also known as the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky. Its name comes from the Greek word for scorching.

StarsIn order of brightness the three brightest stars seen from Australia

Q4:#1 Sirius:Sirius is the nearest visible star to earth, also known as the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky. Its name comes from the Greek word for scorching.

#2 Canopus: Named either for an ancient city in northern Egypt or the helmsman for Menelaus, Canopus is the second brightest star in the sky.

#3 Rigel Kentaurus: Rigel Kentaurus, also known as Alpha Centauri, is the third brightest star in the sky. Its name means foot of the centaur.

Second-largest constellation in sky. Bright star Spica. Cluster of galaxies. Bright quasar.Second-largest constellation in sky. Bright star Spica. Cluster of galaxies. Bright quasar.

Zodiac Constellation.

Q6:Second-largest constellation in sky. Bright star Spica. Cluster of galaxies. Bright quasar.

Stars

Spica star

StarsWhat is a star? What is a star made of?

Q5: A star is ball of hydrogen and helium with enough mass that it can sustain nuclear fusion at its core. Our sun is a star, but they can come in different sizes and colours.

Bibliography

http://space.about.com/od/stars/tp/brighteststars.htmhttp://www.kidsastronomy.com/academy/lesson110_assignment2_1.htmhttp://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/stars/what-is-a-star/http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/galaxy_worldbook.htmlhttp://homepage.mac.com/kvmagruder/bcp/zodiacal/zoo.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/question94.htm