1 Open the cereal box at the top and stick the white card SOLAR VIEWER to the inside at the bottom. This will be the viewing area. You should NEVER look directly at the Sun, but 2 Remove the two small tabs using this viewer you’ll at the top of the box and cut be able to see our closest 4cm from each end of the star safely. You’ll need: two larger flaps. Cereal box, white card or 3 Fold the remaining flaps paper (same size as base together and stick with tape, of box), foil, tape and pin. leaving two rectangular holes A and B. A. Foil 4 Place the foil over hole A and secure with tape. 5 Carefully pierce the middle B. Look of the foil with a pin – be sure in here to make only a small hole! 6 Stand with your back to the Sun, allowing the light to enter though the pin hole. 7 Look in through hole B and see an image of the Sun on FACTS ABOUT THE SUN the bottom of the box! Gravity: 28 (Earth = 1) Planets: 8 in orbit CARD 1/9 Mass: 333,000 (Earth = 1) See the Big Size: 110 times wider Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ than Earth stargazing You’ll need: A shallow dish at least 30cm square, flour, cocoa powder, pebbles of METEOROID, METEOR various sizes. Warning: This OR METEORITE? can get messy! Meteoroids are pieces 1 of dust or rock floating Fill the dish with 3-4cm through space. If they of flour. enter the Earth’s 2 Sprinkle a little of the atmosphere and start cocoa on the surface. to burn up, they become (This will make the impacts a meteor (or shooting more visible.) star). If they hit the ground 3 Pick out one of the smallest without burning up, pebbles and drop it (not craters are formed and throw) from eye level into they become meteorites. the flour to make a crater. Here’s how to make your own crater! 4 Next drop a medium-sized pebble from the same height. What is different about the crater formed? 5 Now drop the largest pebble from the same height. 6 Compare the craters made FACTS ABOUT MERCURY by each pebble. Gravity: 0.38 (Earth = 1) Moons: 0 CARD 2/9 Mass: 0.055 (Earth = 1) See the Big Distance from Sun: 0.4 AU Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ (Astronomical Unit) stargazing Planet / Sheets from Sun / Sheets from previous object / LOO ROLL SOLAR Object SYSTEM Mercury / 3.6 / 3.6 / Peppercorn Make a scale model of the Solar System using Venus / 6.7 / 3.1 / one sheet of loo roll as Cherry tomato 10,000,000 miles! Earth / 9.3 / 2.6 / 1 The first sheet is the Sun. Cherry tomato 2 Unroll 3.6 sheets, here is Mars / 14.1 / 4.8 / Blueberry Mercury! Use a picture of Jupiter / 48.4 / 34.3 / the planet or suggested Watermelon object to mark the place. Saturn / 88.7 / 40.3 / 3 Roll out 3.1 more sheets Large grapefruit (6.7 in total) – this is Venus. Mark the spot! Uranus / 178.7 / 90 / Apple Neptune / 279.7 / 101 / Lime 4 Keep going until you get all the way to Neptune.

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Mercury Venus Mercury Earth Venus Mars Earth Mars PeppercornMercuryMercuryMercuryMercuryCherryMercury tomatoVenus VenusVenusVenusVenusCherry tomato Earth EarthEarthEarthBlueberryEarth Mars MarsMarsMarsMars Peppercorn Cherry tomato Peppercorn Cherry tomatoCherry tomato BlueberryCherry tomato Blueberry PeppercornPeppercornPeppercornPeppercornPeppercornCherry CherrytomatoCherryCherryCherry tomato tomato tomato tomato Cherry CherrytomatoCherryCherryCherry tomato tomato tomato tomato BlueberryBlueberryBlueberryBlueberryBlueberry

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Watermelon Large grapefruit Apple Lime Pea

Jupiter Jupiter JupiterJupiterJupiterJupiterSaturnJupiter Saturn Uranus Saturn SaturnSaturnSaturnSaturnUranus Neptune Neptune UranusUranusUranusUranusUranus Pluto Pluto NeptuneNeptuneNeptuneNeptuneNeptune Pluto PlutoPlutoPlutoPluto FACTS ABOUT VENUS Watermelon Watermelon WatermelonWatermelonWatermelonWatermelonLargeWatermelon grapefruit Large grapefruit Apple Large grapefruitLargeLargeLargeLarge grapefruit grapefruitApple grapefruit grapefruit Lime Lime Apple AppleAppleAppleApple Pea Pea Lime LimeLimeLimeLime Pea PeaPeaPeaPea Gravity: 0.9 (Earth = 1) CARD 3/9 Moons: 0 See the Big Mass: 0.815 (Earth = 1) Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ Distance from Sun: 0.7 AU stargazing 1 Can you see the eight main stars in Orion (Fig 1)? HOW DARK IS YOUR SKY? If you can see Orion, try Light pollution can be a counting the stars you problem because it makes can see around the eight it difficult to see the stars. main stars. You can work out how dark 2 Can you see our galaxy the your sky is by looking for Milky Way (Fig 2)? two features in the night This means your skies are sky. Use the charts in very dark! the Star Guide on the Stargazing website to help 3 Try this again when visiting find them. You’ll need a another location and clear night to try this. compare the results. 4 Visit bbc.co.uk/stargazing 1 2 and follow the link to Dark Sky Discovery to find your nearest dark sky site. You can even nominate your area! FIG 1: ORION FIG 2: MILKY WAY

FACTS ABOUT EARTH Gravity: 1 CARD 4/9 Moons: 1 See the Big Mass: 1 Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ Distance from Sun: 1 AU stargazing 4 Pace out the distance to the next star in Orion and WALK AMONG place another bag here, THE STARS with another lit tealight. 5 Using tealights, brown When you have completed paper bags and some all eight stars, stand back sand or soil, you can and admire Orion! recreate a constellation 6 Try using the Stargazing on the ground. LIVE Star Guide from the ! Adult supervision is website to create more recommended. constellations. 1 Go outside and choose a dark spot – a slight slope is 2 steps 2 steps good too. 2 Fill your bags with enough 3.5 steps sand to weigh them down. 2.5 steps 3 Place a tealight in one 3 steps bag on top of the sand 3 steps and light it. 3 steps

ORION FACTS ABOUT MARS Gravity: 0.38 (Earth = 1) Moons: 2 – Deimos and CARD 5/9 Phobos See the Big Mass: 0.107 (Earth = 1) Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ Distance from Sun: 1.5 AU stargazing 4 Adjust the aperture: If you can, set the camera’s PHOTOGRAPH THE f-number to the smallest possible (this lets in NIGHT SKY more light). Most digital cameras are 5 capable of capturing basic Set the zoom: Make sure shots of the stars. you are zoomed out to the fullest extent. 1 Use a tripod or rest your 6 camera on something solid Adjust the sensitivity: to stop camera shake. Higher ISO number = more sensitivity and easier to 2 Set the focus: Turn off capture faint objects. (If the autofocus as it won’t work ISO is set too high you may well in the dark, and set the get digital ‘noise’, which can focus to infinity. (∝) ruin your picture.) 3 Refine the focus: Point For more advice, download our your camera at a bright star guide to photographing the and adjust the focus until it night sky from bbc.co.uk/ looks sharp. stargazing

FACTS ABOUT JUPITER Gravity: 2.64 (Earth = 1) Moons: 64 known – the largest are Ganymede, CARD 6/9 Callisto, Io and Europa See the Big Mass: 318 (Earth = 1) Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ Distance from Sun: 5.2 AU stargazing 1 Remove the lid from the empty tube and pour in two MAKE YOUR OWN teaspoons (10ml) of water. ROCKET! 2 Drop half a tablet into the Rockets need fuel to power canister and close the them through the Earth’s lid sharpish! atmosphere. Here’s how 3 Quickly place the rocket on to make a simple rocket a flat surface CAP SIDE powered by carbon DOWN and STAND BACK dioxide. You’ll need: at least 2 metres. A tube of fizzy vitamin 4 After 10 seconds, your rocket tablets (or film canister), should launch into the sky! water, eye protection. 5 If not, leave it for at least 30 ! Children should be seconds before retrieving it. supervised for this activity. Wear eye protection and go outside – it can get sticky! Fizzy vitamin

Cap down FACTS ABOUT SATURN Gravity: 1.16 (Earth = 1) Moons: 62 confirmed, including Titan and CARD 7/9 Enceladus See the Big Mass: 95 (Earth = 1) Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ Distance from Sun: 9.6 AU stargazing around Polaris and never set below the horizon. MINI PLANETARIUM 3 Use yellow dots to create Make your own guide to seasonal constellations the night sky and stay (whose visibility vary with dry! You’ll need a dark six the time of year) and join panel umbrella, sticky the stars with the long thin white and yellow dots, stickers and label. long thin stickers. 4 Once complete, you can 1 Open your umbrella. use your mini planetarium The centre represents to help you stargaze! the North Star (Polaris). 2 Use the diagram to help Pisces mark out constellations

with white dots to create Cassiopeia Ursa Minor, The Plough Sagittarius Gemini and Cassiopeia. These are Ursa Minor Polaris circumpolar constellations,

which appear to rotate The Plough

Virgo

FACTS ABOUT URANUS Gravity: 0.89 (Earth = 1) UMBRELLA MINI PLANETARIUM Moons: 27 known, including Titania, Oberon, CARD 8/9 Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda See the Big Mass: 14.5 (Earth = 1) Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ Distance from Sun: 19.2 AU stargazing 1 Cut the card into three pieces that each measure HOOP ATMOSPHERE 2.5cm x 13cm. GLIDER 2 Tape two of the pieces Scientists are looking at together into a hoop. new ways to explore other Make sure you overlap planets, and some probes the ends to help make a have been designed to good hoop shape. glide through the planetary 3 Use the last strip to make atmosphere. Try making a smaller hoop. your own gliding probe! 4 Tape the hoops to the ends You will need: A drinking of the straw, as shown. straw (non-bendable), an index card or sheet of stiff 5 Launch your glider into the paper and a ruler. planetary atmosphere and watch it glide!

FACTS ABOUT NEPTUNE Gravity: 1.14 (Earth = 1) Moons: 13 known, CARD 9/9 including Triton See the Big Mass: 17 (Earth = 1) Picture, visit bbc.co.uk/ Distance from Sun: 30 AU stargazing