Our Place in Space

Our Place in Space

What makes up the universe?

Open Ended

What makes up the universe?

Earth is one of eight planets that orbits the sun, which is star.

• A star is a celestial body made of gas that emits its own light.

• A celestial body is any natural object outside of Earth's atmosphere.

• The universe is space and all the matter and energy in it.

Open Ended

Name as many planets as you can remember OR tell me what your favorite planet is and why.

1 in 100 billion (or more!!)

• Stars are grouped together into galaxies.

• A galaxy is a large collection of stars, gas, and dust.

• Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is just one of MANY galaxies in the universe.

Earth has just the right combination of conditions to support life.

Open Ended

Describe 2 to 3 factors that make our planet habitable.

Our Solar System

• A solar system is a collection of large and small bodies that orbit our central star, the sun.

• Ours has eight bodies called planets; a spherical body that orbits the sun.

• (Typically planets are larger than other celestial bodies)

The Terrestrial Planets

• Orbit nearest the sun.

• Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

• Rocky, dense, and relatively small.

The Gas Giants

• Orbit furthest from the sun.

• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

• Thick, gaseous atmospheres; small rocky cores; ring systems of ice, rock, and dust.

On December 21, 2020 , Jupiter and Saturn won’t be truly close together in space. They’ll appear near each other along our line of sight from Earth. (This is called "conjunction" and won't happen again until 2040.)

Moons

• Smaller bodies that orbit planets.

• Earth has one moon, but Jupiter has more than 60!

Other Bodies

• Dwarf planets (e.g. Pluto), comets, asteroids, and meteoroids.

• Altogether there are about a trillion small bodies in the solar system.

Stars

• Large celestial body composed of gas that emits its own light.

• Almost entirely hydrogen and helium.

Constellations

• Patterns of stars

• NOT all the same distance way

Orion Nebula

Nuclear fusion in the core emits energy.

• Produces heat, light, wind, and other forms of radiation.

• Stars can be "Earth-sized" to 1,000 times the size of our sun.

Galaxies

• Large collection of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity.

• Our solar system is in the Milky Way galaxy.

• Thought to be a spiral galaxy...but we're not sure!

There are other types of galaxies.

• Elliptical

• Irregular

How Big is BIG?

• Distances in the universe are so big that astronomers use the speed of light.

• A light-year is the distance light travels through space in one year.

• 300,000 km/s or 9.5 trillion km in one year.

• 670,616,629 mph!!

How is the structure of the universe like soap bubbles??

• Clusters of galaxies along thin "walls".

• Voids inside "bubbles" that take light hundreds of millions of years to cross.

Multiple Choice

Which of these is NOT part of the universe?

• Light

• Sound

• Energy

• Celestial Bodies

• all of these are part of the universe

Multiple Choice

Which is the correct order of size from smallest to largest?

• moon, planet, solar system, galaxy, universe

• planet, moon, solar system, galaxy, universe

• universe, galaxy, solar system, planet, moon

• it all depends on which ones we're talking about

Multiple Choice

A large collection of gas, dust, and stars. (one is shown here)

• Solar System

• Constellation

• Galaxy

• Nebula

Multiple Choice

A smaller celestial body that orbits a planet.

• asteroid

• moon

• comet

• meteoroid

Multiple Choice

In our solar system there are _ planets.

• 7

• 8

• 9

• 10

Multiple Choice

The four terrestrial planets are

• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Mars

• Mercury, Mars, Neptune, and Venus

• Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn

• Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Multiple Choice

The gas giants are

• Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn

• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

• Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter

• Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn

Multiple Choice

True or False: A planet can have more than one moon.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which of these celestial bodies does NOT orbit the sun?

• planet Earth

• a meteor

• a comet

• the Moon

Multiple Choice

What is the term for a meteoroid that has hit Earth's surface?

• comet

• meteor

• meteorite

• space debris

Multiple Choice

A "shooting star" is actually a

• comet

• meteor

• meteorite

• asteroid

Multiple Choice

A pattern of stars in the sky.

• stellar connect-the-dots

• solar system

• constipation

• constellation