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S6E1 Where do we live in the Universe, Milky Way, and our Solar System?
1. Between 15-20 billion years ago the Universe began expanding out of an enormous explosion scientist called the
Big Bang theory.
2. From largest to smallest, order the following (1 is largest -4 is smallest):
__4___ The Sun
__3__ Our Solar System
__2___ The Milky Way
__1__ The Universe
3. What is a galaxy? A huge group of single stars, star systems, star clusters, dust, and gas bound together
by gravity.
4. What does an elliptical galaxy look like? Round or flattened ball; smashed circle
5. The Milky Way Galaxy is just one of billions of galaxies in the universe.
6. Our Solar System is a single star system, but is located in the Milky Way Galaxy which contains other single
stars, double stars, star systems, and dust & gas.
7. How do the planets stay in orbit around the sun? Gravity and inertia combine to keep the planets in orbit.
8. The mass (size) of an object and the distance between objects determine the force of gravity.
9. Gravity is in control of the rest of the motion in the solar system.
Why can’t we see the spiral shape of the Milky Way Galaxy from Earth? We are located on the Orion’s arm, a spiral
arm, of the Milky Way Galaxy.