Stars and the Solar SystemSISSI Workshop

8-4-2015

Darlene SmalleyPlanetarium Program Director

DarleneS@usca.edu

Emmy’s Moon and StarsEmmy looked out her window and saw the Moon and stars. She wondered how far away they were.

Which answer best describes the location of the stars that Emmy sees out her window ?

Probe adapted from:Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Vol. 2, NSTA Press, pg. 177

A. There are no stars between the Earth and Moon.

B. One star is between the Earth and Moon.

C. A few stars are between the Earth and Moon.

D. There are many stars between the Earth and Moon.

E. Many stars are between the Moon and the edge of our solar system.

Credit: http://apod.nasa.gov/

Darkness at Night Probe

A. Andy: “The clouds come in at night and cover the Sun.”B. Becca: “The Earth spins completely around once a day.”C. Chris: “The Sun moves around the Earth once a day.”D. Danika: “The Earth moves around the Sun once a day.”E. Ethan: “The Sun moves underneath the Earth at night.”

Which friend has the best reason for why the sky is dark at night?

Probe adapted from:Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Vol. 2, NSTA Press, pg. 171

Five friends were wondering why the sky is dark at night. This is what they said: Credit: billyhumphrey.com

Sort Celestial Object CardsBy Size1. Pluto2. Moon3. Earth4. Saturn5. Sun6. Pleiades7. Whirlpool Galaxy8. Hubble Deep Field

What is it?1) Dwarf planet

Definitions of Planet and Dwarf Planet

Characteristic Planet Dwarf Planet

Is in orbit around the Sun X X

Has sufficient mass to be nearly round X X

Is not a satellite X X

Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit X

Has NOT cleared the neighborhood around its orbit

X

Five Current Dwarf Planets

Sort Celestial Object CardsBy Size1. Pluto2. Moon3. Earth4. Saturn5. Sun6. Pleiades7. Whirlpool Galaxy8. Hubble Deep Field

What is it?1) Dwarf planet2) Earth’s satellite3) Rocky planet4) Gas planet5) Star6) Hundreds of stars7) Billions of stars8) Thousands of galaxies

Sort Celestial Object Cards

1. Earth2. Moon3. Sun4. Saturn5. Pluto6. Pleiades7. Whirlpool Galaxy8. Hubble Deep Field

By Distance

Why can’t we photograph the Milky Way?

We are in it and can’t go beyond it!The farthest we’ve sent a spacecraft is just beyond our solar

system, about 12,250,000,000 miles away. Do you know what spacecraft that is? How long has it been in space?

NASA art of Milky Way

Distance and Light TimeLight travels about 186,000 mi. or 300,000 km. per sec.

A "light-year" is the distance light travels in a year.

Similarly, the distance light travels in a second is a "light second,” how far light moves in a minute is a “light minute,” etc.

Light Time Actual Distance (average)

Moon to Earth 1.3 sec. 240,000 mi.Sun to Earth 8 min. 93,000,000 mi.Sun to Saturn 80 min. 890,000,000 mi.Sun to Pluto 5.5 hr. 4,000,000,000 mi.Sun to Proxima Centauri 4.2 yr. 26,000,000,000,000 mi.

Modeling the Solar System

1. What is the solar system?

2. How are models and scale related?

3. Can we make a solar system model that uses the same scale for diameter and distance?

Planets in order from the Sun

My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants

Models and Scales

Model Name Model Scale

Rocket 1 inch = 36 feet

Quadrangle Map 1 inch = 2,000 feet

Globe 1 inch = 660 miles

Solar System 1 inch = 100,000 miles

Measured distance x Scale = Real distance

Length of Rocket: 10 inches x 36 feet/inch = 360 feet

Distance on globe from South Carolina to southern California 4 inches x 660 miles/inch = 2,640 miles

Modeling the Solar System

1. Order the major objects in solar system by size

2. Use balls in the scale of 1 inch = 100,000 miles

3. Put balls the proper distances apart• Count paces or steps instead of inches• If a pace = a yard, how many inches is that?• Using our scale, how many miles does a pace equal?

1 step = 36 inches x 100,000 miles/inch = 3,600,000 miles!The biggest steps you’ll ever take!

Planet Chart

Planet or Dwarf Planet

Paces from previous planet

Paces from Sun

Miles from Sun

Diameter in miles

Model diameter in inches

Mercury 3,000

Venus 7,500

Earth 7,900

Mars 4,200

Jupiter 89,400

Saturn 74,800

Uranus 31,800

Neptune 30,800

Pluto 1,400

Scale for Diameter and Distance: 1 in. = 100,000 mi.1 pace = 1 yard = 3,600,000 mi.

Using this scale, Sun is 8.5 inches in diameter

10

199

267

4014

13595

247112

496249

777281

1019242

36,000,000

Planet Chart

Planet or Dwarf Planet

Paces from previous planet

Paces from Sun

Miles from Sun

Diameter in miles

Model diameter in inches

Mercury 10 36,000,000 3,000

Venus 9 19 7,500

Earth 7 26 7,900

Mars 14 40 4,200

Jupiter 95 135 89,400

Saturn 112 247 74,800

Uranus 249 496 31,800

Neptune 281 777 30,800

Pluto 242 1019 1,400

Scale for Diameter and Distance: 1 in. = 100,000 mi.1 pace = 1 yard = 3,600,000 mi.

Using this scale, Sun is 8.5 inches in diameter

Modeling Earth, Moon and Sun

1. Get out playdough : )

2. Make models of the Earth and Moon in scale with this “Sun”

3. Cut a piece of black yarn to represent the distance between the Earth and Moon

4. Place your Earth and Moon models on your table at opposite ends of your piece of yarn

If this 40-inch ball represents the Sun, how big should the Earth and Moon be?

Model of Earth, Moon and Sun

Scale of 1 inch = 20,000 miles– Sun’s diameter is over 800,000 mi.: Model is 40-43 in. – Earth’s diameter is about 8,000 miles: Model is .4 in. – Moon’s diameter is about 2,000 miles: Model is .1 in. – Ave. Distance Earth to Moon is 240,000 miles: Model is 12 in.

How far away should the Sun model be?

Other Useful Model Scales • Scale of 1 inch = 2,000 miles

– Earth: 4 inches– Moon: 1 inch and 10 feet from Earth– Sun: 400 inches and 4000 feet from Earth

• Scale of 1 inch = 100,000 miles– Earth: .08 inch– Moon: .02 inch and 2.4 inches from Earth– Sun: 8.5 inches and 26 yards from Earth– Other planets from .01 to .9 inch

Walk the Solar System LessonThousand Yard Model

Do “Sky Time” Activities

Form a circle inside circle of zodiac constellations • Become Earth! Investigate how Earth’s motions cause

the apparent motion of the Sun and other stars.

• Investigate seasons by tilting as Earth does. Discover how latitude effects seasons while longitude effects time of day.

• Investigate Moon phases and eclipses using balls on pencils to represent the Moon.

Teacher Resources

• For Kinesthetic Astronomy lessons and assessments by Dr. Cherilynn Morrow and Michael Zawaski, go http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/Sky_Time.pdf