8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

1/8

Space and Its

MysteriesTopic Summary

Science Department10 November 2009

S&IM, Page 1

8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

2/8

Gravity

S&IM, Page 20

10

20

30

40

Mercury

VenusEarth MoonMars

JupiterSaturn

UranusNeptune

Pluto

On Earth, we are used to gravitykeeping things held down. But, gravity

also keeps moving in circles (or nearly circles - an oval shape called an

ellipse). Earths gravitykeeps the moonand our satellites in orbit.

The Suns gravitykeeps theEarth and the other planets in orbit. The

gravityof our Milky Waygalaxykeeps our Sun and thebillions of

otherstars together.

Mass & Weight

8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

3/8

S&IM, Page 3

ThisistheMars

roverwhich

roamsaroundthesurfaceofmars,

collectingsamples,doi

ngtests...

andsendingsignalsbacktoan

orbitingsatellite...

...whichsendsthembacktosci

entistsonEarth.These

satellitescanalsotakemeasurementsandphoto

softhe

surfaceofplanets.Thisisacra

teronMars.

Telescopesareusedforlookingatplanets,moons,asteroids

comets,oursun,otherstarsandgalaxies.Thebiggestandbest

areabovethecloudlevelinremoteplaceswithgooddarknightskies.

Radiotelescopesallowastronomer

stoseethroughdustclouds

(nebulae).Theyarealsousedforlisteningforradio

signalsfrom

possibleintelligentlifeintheSETIprogram

Someroboticcraftlandbutdontmoveabout. Theyarecalledlanders.

TheHubbleSpacetelescopeorbitsabout400kmabovethe

Earth. Itgetsgreatviewswithno

streetlight,badweatherorpollutiontogetintheway.

We dont have to always go somewhere to find out about it.Here are someof the ways that scientistscan find out

How we know so much stuff...

8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

4/8

S&IM, Page 4

Cometsareballsoficeand

rockthatgoroundthe

suninovalpathscalledel

lipses.Theseare

generallysmall,sayafew

tensofmetresacross

andaboutthesamesizea

sthesmallest...

...moons. OurMoonisquite

bigasfarasmoonsofplanets

inthesolarsystemgo.

HeresourEarth,withour

moontoscale.ButEarthis

...

Nextaregalaxies,eachacollectionofthousandsofmillionsofothersuns,whichwecallstars,heldtogetherbygravity

Therearehundred

sofbillionsof

galaxiesin...theUniverse

Whats bigger than what?...

...Asteroids,whichca

nbesmallorbiglum

psof

rockuptoafewtens

ofkmwide.Wefind

most

inoursolarsyste

mbetweenMarsand

Jupiter,

sprinkledinabelt. Onehitting

theEarth

probablykilledthed

inosaursoff.

Asteroidsaresmalle

rthan...

onlyoneof8otherplanetsgoingrounda

much,muchbiggerstar,whichwecallourSun.Sofar,thisistheSOLAR

SYSTEM...comets,asteroids,moons,

planetsand1star,theSUN.

8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

5/8

8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

6/8

S&IM, Page 6

Life Cycle of Stars

8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

7/8

S&IM, Page 7

Are we alone?...

8/9/2019 Space & Its Mysteries Summary

8/8

S&IM, Page 8

How did it all get started?