Stars and Galaxies

The Sun is ___________.

• very hot compared to other stars

• very large compared to other stars

• small compared to other stars

• medium-sized compared to most other stars

Answer explanation

Even though it is a medium-sized yellow star, the sun appears much larger than other stars because it is so much closer to Earth.

Match the following

• a star in the center of our solar system

• the Sun

• huge balls of hot, glowing gases

• the Milky Way

• everything that exists

• the universe

• our home galaxy

• galaxies

• massive systems of stars, dust, and gas

• stars

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

Put the following in order from smallest to largest.

• universe

• moon

• Earth

• most stars

• galaxy

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

The color of a star can tell us about its temperature.

Put the following star colors in order from the hottest to the coolest.

• white

• blue

• red

• yellow

The Sun is ________ compared to most of the other stars that we can see in the night sky.

• small

• medium-sized

• large

• massive

Answer explanation

The stars in the night sky appear to be much smaller than the sun because they are further away... much further.

How many stars are in our solar system?

• None. All of the stars we can see are not actually in our solar system.

• one

• thousands

• billions

Answer explanation

Although there are billions and trillions of stars in the universe, the sun is the only star in our solar system.

Why does the Sun appear much larger than other stars?

• The Sun has a different shape than other stars.

• The Sun emits more light than other stars.

• The Sun is much closer to Earth than other stars.

• The Sun is in fact much larger than the other stars.

Answer explanation

The sun appears larger than other stars because it is much closer to Earth than other stars.

Approximately how long does light from the Sun take to reach Earth?

• 8 seconds

• 8 minutes

• 8 hours

• 8 days

Answer explanation

The sun is approximately 93 million miles away from Earth. Light travels around 11 million miles per minute. Therefore it takes approximately 8 minutes for the sun's light to reach Earth.

The next closest star, Proxima Centauri, is 5.88 trillion miles away from Earth. That is about 63,000 times further away than the sun. It takes more than a year for light from Proxima Centauri to reach Earth.

How are stars formed?

• Stars are formed when gravity causes clouds of gas and dust in space to squeeze together.

• Stars are generated from the heat of comets and other celestial objects that orbit the sun and other stars.

• Stars are created by aliens visiting Earth.

• Stars are formed from volcanic eruptions on planets.

Answer explanation

Stars are formed when gravity causes clouds of gas and dust in space to squeeze together. These particles are squeezed together under great pressure. Over time, energy stored in the particles is released as heat and light. A star is born.

Stars are (a)   distributed in space. They are found together in groups of billions of stars called (b)   .

• not evenly

• galaxies

• evenly

• constellations

Answer explanation

Stars are NOT evenly distributed in space. They are found together in groups of billions of stars, called galaxies.

Constellations are a group of a small number of stars that form a pattern.