Planetarium Fact Sheet 6Th – 8Th Grade
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Planetarium Fact Sheet 6th – 8th Grade (Based off of CPALMS 8th grade Learning Criteria) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles AU – Astronomical units = 92.3 million miles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction • This is what it currently looks like in Fort Walton Beach. Are there any stars out now? o Yes! We just can’t see them because of the Sun & Light Pollution. • How do scientists study objects in space? o Telescopes to see into space, Rovers to collect samples, satellites can help us communicate all over the world, predict weather patterns, or make our radios, televisions & phones work. We are also using the Planetarium to create a model of what space looks like. (5.10) • I am now going to turn off the Sun & make it night time, so we can see better. • Can anyone see the Milky Way? What is the Milky Way? o The Milky Way is the name of the Galaxy that we live in. It looks like a giant spiral, and our Solar System resides in one of the arms of this spiral. Scientists believe that there are as many as 250 billion stars in the Milky Way. (5.2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun • The Sun is a star. It is estimated to have been shining for about 5 billion years and will live another 5 billion years before it becomes a red giant, and then a white dwarf. • Is it a big, medium or small star? o Medium! The star Antares is 1,000 times bigger than our sun! o How big is the Sun compared to Earth? Diameter of Sun – 1,392,000km, Diameter of Earth - 12,756km. You could line up 109 Earths across the face of the Sun. (5.1) • The distance from the Earth to the Sun = 92.3 Million Miles. (5.1) • The Earth rotates around the sun because of its gravitational pull. o How long does it take the Earth to rotate around the sun? 365 days or 1 year. o How does this impact our seasons? (5.9) • The Sun’s surface burns at about 10,000 degrees. (5.6) 1 • The Sun is made up of gasses on fire - mostly hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. (5.6) • Solar Flares – A sudden flash of increased brightness on the sun, usually near the surface or close to a sunspot group. • Sunspots – Cooler, darker areas on the Sun’s surface that we can see. These are temporary spots, and will usually appear in pairs. o Prominence – This is a blast of gas shooting from a sunspot that can arc out for hungers of thousands of miles. (5.6) • What does the sun provide for our planet? o Solar Energy: Almost all energy on Earth is Solar Energy. We also use Geothermal Energy, which comes from inside of Earth. • Gravity – A force that tries to pull objects towards each other. Gravity is also the force that holds orbiting planets in place. Newton realized that the reason why the planets orbit the sun (heliocentric) is connected to why objects on Earth fall to the ground when we drop them. The Sun’s gravity pulls on the planets, just as the Earth’s gravity pulls things down to the ground. (5.4 / 5.8) o All orbits in space are the shape of an ellipse – it’s like a circle that has the sides squished in. The Sun’s gravity keeps all of the planets orbiting around it, making these ellipses. (5.3) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mercury • How do we name the planets? o All of the planets (except for Earth) are named after gods from Roman and Greek mythology. Many of these planets were named by the Romans thousands of years ago. • Mercury is named after the Roman messenger to the gods – Mercury (Roman) / Hermes (Greek). He is also the god of travel, commerce (money) and theives. It’s thought that Mercury was given this name because it moves so quickly through the sky. • Mercury’s date of discovery is unknown. The first culture to mention it was the Sumerians around 3,000 BC. • Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun - 36 million miles. (5.1) • A year is how long it takes a planet to orbit around the sun. How long is a year on Earth? Since Mercury is so close to the Sun, it has the shortest years. o A year on Mercury = 88 Earth Days. • A planet’s day is the time it takes the planet to spin once on its axis. Mercury rotates very slowly compared to Earth, so a day on Mercury is much longer than a year. o One solar day (from noon to noon on the planet’s surface), it would take 176 Earth Days. 2 • Mercury is the first of the four Terrestrial planets. These are the Rocky, Inner planets are are closest to the sun. They are made of rocks & metals. • Mercury is the smallest of all the planets (diameter: 4,879 km. Earth is 12,742 km). • Mercury is the most cratered planet in the Solar System. Unlike many other planets which “self-heal” through natural geological processes. These are caused by numerous encounters with asteroids and comets. • Does Mercury have any Moons or Rings? o No! Why? The Gravitational Pull from the Sun would destroy them. o If there’s a shadow on Mercury – What makes that Shadow? We do! Earth! We see Mercury & Venus in Phases, just like the Moon because they are between us and the Sun. • Mercury is the second hottest planet in our Galaxy. Venus is the hottest planet, which is where we’re going next….. Venus • Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty (Aphrodite in Greeky mythology). This is because Venus is so luminous & bright. It is the second brightest object in the night sky. Only the Moon (& Sun in the daytime) are brighter. o In fact, it was originaly thought to be a star. Venus is so bright it can be seen during daytime on a clear day (magnitude btw -3.8 to -4.6). • Venus is also known as the Morning Star and the Evening Star. o Early civilizations thought Venus was two different objects (Phosphorus and Hesperus by the Greeks, and Lucifer and Vesper by the Romans). This is because when its orbit around the Sun overtakes Earth’s orbit, it changes from being visible after sunset to being visible before sunrise. (5.8) o Mayan astronomers made detailed observations of it as early as 650 AD. • Just like Mercury, Venus does not have any moons or rings due to the Gravitational Pull of the Sun. • Just like Mercury & Earth, it is a Terrestrial planet, and it is thought to be made up of a central iron core, rocky mantle and silicate crust. • Venus is also known as “Earth’s Twin,” or “Earth’s Future.” It is about the same size as the Earth. The big difference is that it is the hottest planet in our Solar System. The surface temperature on Venus can reach 880 degrees. o This is because the Sun’s energy warms the planet, but it can’t get out because it is blocked by Venus’ very thick atmosphere. The heat becomes trapped and builds up to extremely high temperatures. This creates Greenhouse Gases. 3 o How to reduce Greenhouse Gases (Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Fuel Emissions, Factories): Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; Turn off heat/AC when you’re not at home; Buy energy efficient products; Plant a tree; Turn lights/TV/everything off when not using it; Eat less red meat; Encourage others to conserve. • A day on Venus (solar day) = 117 Earth days. A year on Venus = 225 Earth days. • Venus rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets. This means that Venus is rotating in the opposite direction to the Sun, this is also known as a retrograde rotation. o A possible reason might be a collision in the past with an asteroid or other object that caused the planet to alter its rotational path. • The Russians sent the first mission to Venus. The Soviet Union’s Venera 3 was the first man-made craft to land on Venus in 1966. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earth ● The Earth is the only planet that is not named after a Greek or Roman god. We don’t know how the Earth got its name, but it is derived from the Anglo Saxon word “Erda,” which means ground. ○ If you go back further, some theorize that Earth is named after the Norse Goddess, Jorth (Jörð), who was personification of Earth, and Thor’s mom. Odin mated with Jorth, because he wanted a son who would be strong on Earth (not just in Asgard) and gave birth to Thor. Odin kept the true identity of his mother hidden from Thor. ● The Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun, & Rocky/Terrestrial (like Mercury & Venus). ● The Earth is the only planet in our solar system that has a large amount of liquid water. About 74% of the surface of Earth is covered by liquid or frozen water. Because of this, people sometimes call it "Blue Planet." (5.2 / 5.3) ○ Because of its water, Earth is home to millions of species of plants and animals. ● The Earth’s atmosphere provides oxygen that humans need and carbon dioxide that plants need. It also helps filter out the harmful rays from the sun. (5.2 / 5.3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Moon ● The Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun, and the 1st planet to have a moon. We have only have one moon, but she is very large (about 1/4 the size of Earth).