Download The Sky Above: A First Look

The Sky Above: A
First Look
1 videocassette............................................... 17 minutes
Copyright MM
Rainbow Educational Media
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CREDITS
Author and Producer: Peter Cochran
Principal Videography: Dan Duncan
Peter Scheer
Narrator: Randye Kaye
Consultant: Michael Worosz
Our appreciation to Dr. Carolyn Porco,
University of Arizona
Produced for Rainbow Educational Media by
Cochran Communications
Purchase of this program gives the user the right to reproduce or duplicate, in whole or in part, this teacher's guide
and the blackline master handouts that accompany it for the
purpose of teaching in conjunction with this video. This
right is restricted for use only with this video program. Any
reproduction or duplication in whole or in part of this guide
and the blackline master handouts for any purpose other
than for use with this video is prohibited.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ...................................................................4
Program Summary......................................................... 5
Objectives...................................................................... 7
Review Questions.......................................................... 7
Activities........................................................................ 9
Glossary....................................................................... 11
Bibliography................................................................ 13
Web Sites..................................................................... 14
Related Rainbow Videos for Young Students............. 14
Appendix A: The Planets and Sun............................... 15
Appendix B: Major Planetariums................................ 18
Script............................................................................ 20
INTRODUCTION
Young students have a natural curiosity about their environment. This environment includes what they see in the
sky. The Sky Above: A First Look provides an informative
and entertaining overview of what is in outer space. Students learn that there are more stars in the universe than
grains of sand on all Earth's beaches. They are shown how
the moon reflects light and why it seems to change shape.
They come to understand the distinction between what they
can see with their eyes alone and what can be seen with the
help of a telescope. They explore the solar system and the
variety of planets that orbit the sun. Finally, they gain
appreciation of the process of exploration and discovery, a
process in which they can take part.
The video incorporates photographs taken by space probes,
sophisticated animation and graphics, an interview with an
astronomer actively involved in sending spacecraft to other
planets, and demonstrations by students.
Grade Level: The program is designed for grades one
through three.
PROGRAM SUMMARY
The program begins by showing several students looking
through a telescope at the night sky. The program defines
the sky as everything above Earth's surface. It introduces
the things most obvious to the students: the stars, planets,
sun, and moon.
The video explains that many of the stars we see are part of
the Milky Way. The Milky Way is a galaxy that has about
200 billion stars. There are at least a hundred billion
galaxies in the universe, and most have at least 100 billion
stars. To give a tangible sense of how many stars there are,
the video shows a student looking at sand on a beach and
explains that there are more stars in the universe than there
are grains of sand on all of Earth's beaches.
The program describes how one star is much closer and
easier to study than the others: the sun. The program
explains that the sun provides heat and light and makes life
possible.
The sun also marks the passage of time by determining our
days and nights. The program explains that while it may
seem that the sun is moving across the sky, what really is
happening is that Earth is rotating. To make this point
clearer, the video shows a student turning a globe that has a
light shining on it from one side.
The program also briefly explains that a year is the amount
of time it takes Earth to orbit the sun. A student swings a ball
on a string to demonstrate how the sun exerts a force
(gravity) on Earth. Then the program describes how the
Earth is only one of several planets orbiting the sun and
briefly describes each of the nine planets. Among other
things, it notes that Jupiter is the largest planet and Pluto the
smallest.
Student viewers are then asked to guess what size Earth,
Jupiter, and Pluto would be if the sun were the size of a
basketball. The teacher here has the opportunity to pause
the video. When the program resumes, students show how, if
the sun were the size of a basketball, Earth would be the size
of a peppercorn, Jupiter would be about the size of a ping
pong ball, and Pluto would be smaller than the head of a pin.
Using the same props, students demonstrate how far Earth,
Jupiter, and Pluto would be from the sun.
The video next shows how powerful telescopes, including
the Hubble Space Telescope, are tools that help us explore
the planets. It describes how spacecraft make it possible to
explore the planets up close.
The video introduces Carolyn Porco, an astronomer in
charge of imaging for the Cassini spacecraft sent to Saturn.
Dr. Porco describes how she became interested in astronomy and why she is excited about her role in the Cassini
mission.
The program then explores the moon, the body in space
closer by far to Earth than any of the planets. It briefly
demonstrates how the moon's light is reflected light, and
why the phases of the moon occur. Students reinforce this
point by demonstrating how light from a lamp reflects off a
ping pong ball.
The video shows how astronauts have visited the moon,
and Dr. Porco then speculates that humans will visit Mars
and other places in the universe.
A brief summary concludes the video.
OBJECTIVES
After viewing the program, students will be able to:
- describe the solar system and the characteristics of some of
the planets.
- describe the sun and explain that it is Earth's source of
heat and light.
- describe what stars and galaxies are.
- explain how the moon reflects light and why it appears to
change shape.
- describe how we explore the universe with the help of
telescopes and spacecraft.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is the sky?
The sky is everything above us.
2. What is outer space?
Outer space is everything beyond Earth's atmosphere.
3. What is the universe?
The universe is everything there is. It includes both the
Earth and everything away from Earth.
4. What is a galaxy?
A galaxy is a large group of stars.
5. In what galaxy is the sun located? The
sun is located in the Milky Way.
6. Why does it seem like the sun moves across the sky?
Earth turns or revolves one complete turn each day.
1. As the planets orbit the sun, what keeps them from
flying away?
The sun has a force called gravity that keeps the
planets in their orbits.
8. What makes up our solar system?
The video explains that the solar system includes the
sun and the planets that orbit the sun. Some students
may also know that the solar system includes other
bodies that orbit the sun such as asteroids and comets.
9. Why is the moon so bright at night? It
reflects light from the sun.
10. Why does it seem that the moon changes shape? As the
moon orbits Earth, we see the moon's reflected light
differently.
11. What is an astronomer?
An astronomer is a scientist who studies the planets
and stars.
ACTIVITIES
1. Planetariums
Many schools are close to a planetarium. Planetariums
often have shows that are geared to young audiences.
Their exhibits appeal to people of all ages.
Arrange for a class trip to a planetarium. Appendix B is a
list of some of the larger planetariums, and there are
many smaller ones as well.
2. Comets and Meteors
Comets and meteors are bodies in the night that students
may also see. While comets are rare, their appearances
can be spectacular as the recent Hale-Bopp comet demonstrated.
Meteors are far more common. On a clear night students
may be able to observe meteors about once every 10
minutes. Sometimes they occur as often as twice a
minute. Such events are called meteor showers. You can
find out when meteor showers will occur by calling a
planetarium or consulting an astronomy magazine.
To observe meteors, students and a supervising adult
should go to a dark, high place. It is best to be as far from
artificial light as possible. Students should bring a blanket
and a flashlight covered with red cellophane. The
cellophane will reduce the glare from the flashlight.
Ask students to record how many meteors they observe
and at what times.
3. Solar System
Students can research and report on one part of the solar
system. Their report could focus on the sun, a planet, or a
moon such as Jupiter's Io or Saturn's Miranda.
Students can work in teams. As part of their reports, they
can make posters and/or construct models of their subjects. Each student or team can then present the report to
the whole class.
Appendix A of this guide contains data on different parts
of the solar system.
4. Observing the Planets
Many local newspapers have a "Stargazer's Guide.".
Refer to it to determine when and where students can
spot various planets.
5. Size of the Planets Relative to the Sun
The video asks students to guess the size of Earth,
Jupiter, and Pluto if the sun were the size of a basketball.
Determining ratios and scale are beyond the abilities of
students this age. The point is just to have them guess.
The video then shows students demonstrating the relative sizes of the planets and their distances from the
basketball-size sun. This segment is modeled after The
Thousand-Yard Model or The Earth as a Peppercorn
by Guy Ottewell. This pamphlet can be obtained from
the Astronomical Workshop, Furman University,
Greenville, S.C. 29613.
Using this pamphlet as a guide, your students can
duplicate the demonstration in the video and include all
the planets.
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GLOSSARY
astronaut: person trained for space flight. astronomer:
scientist who observes celestial bodies. Cassini: spacecraft
launched in 1997 to orbit Saturn. Earth: third planet from
the sun. galaxy: large system of stars.
gravity: force of attraction exerted by a celestial body such as
Earth or the sun on objects near or at its surface.
Jupiter: fifth planet from the sun.
Mars: fourth planet from the sun.
Mercury: planet closest to the sun.
moon: satellite revolving around a planet. The satellite of
Earth.
Neptune: usually the eighth planet from the sun.
observatory: place equipped with a powerful telescope.
orbit: path of an object around another object. To go
around something.
phase: one of the shapes of the moon as perceived from
Earth.
planet: large body orbiting the sun.
Pluto: smallest and usually most distant planet from the
sun.
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Saturn: sixth planet from the sun.
solar system: the sun together with the nine planets and
other celestial bodies that orbit the sun.
star: hot, gaseous celestial body that gives off light.
sun: star at the center of our solar system. universe:
everything that exists. Uranus: seventh planet from
the sun. Venus: second planet from the sun.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Apfel, Necia H. Voyager to the Planets. NY: Clarion
Books, 1991.
Ardley, Neil. The Outer Planets. NY: Schoolhouse Press,
Inc., 1988.
Cattermole, Peter. Earth and Other Planets. NY: Oxford
University Press, 1995.
Discovery Channel. Night Sky. NY: Discovery Books,
1999.
Henbest, Nigel. The Planets: Portraits of New Worlds.
London: Penguin Books, 1994.
Lippincott, Kristen. Astronomy. NY: Dorling Kindersley,
1994.
Morrison, David. Exploring Planetary Worlds. NY: Scientific American Library, 1993.
Ottewell, Guy. The Thousand-Yard Model, or The Earth as a
Peppercorn. Greenville, SC: Astronomical Workshop,
Furman University, 1989.
Simon, Seymour. Jupiter. NY: William Morrow and Company, 1987.
___. Mars. NY: William Morrow and Company, 1987.
___. Saturn. NY: William Morrow and Company, 1987.
___. The Sun. NY: William Morrow and Company,
1987.
___. The Universe. NY: Morrow Junior Books, 1998.
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WEB SITES
There are many web sites devoted to astronomy. Below are a
few sites to start with. These have links to many other
sites.
Astronomy Magazine
http://www.kalmbach.com/astro/astronomy.html
Hubble Heritage Project
http://heritage.stsci.edu
NASA
http://www.NASA.gov.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Sky and Telescope
http://www.skypub.com
RELATED RAINBOW VIDEOS
FOR YOUNG STUDENTS
Air: A First Look
Earth: A First Look
The Fabulous Five: Our Senses
Magical Mother Nature: The Four Seasons
Magnets: A First Look
Plants: A First Look
Water: A First Look
Weather: A First Look
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APPENDIX A: THE PLANETS AND THE SUN
Mercury
Diameter at equator: 4878 km Average
Temperature (C): +350 Distance to sun
(million km): Max: 69.7
Min:45.9
Period of Revolution (year): Period
of rotation: 58.65 days
Venus
Diameter at equator: 12,012km Average
Temperature (C): +480 Distance to sun
(million km): Max: 109
Min: 107.4
Period of Revolution (year): 224.7 days
Period of rotation: 243.16 days
Earth
Diameter at equator: 12,750 km Average
Temperature (C): +22 Distance to sun
(million km): Max: 152
Min: 147
Period of Revolution (year): 365.26 Period of
rotation; 23 hr. 56 min 4 sec. Moon: Moon
Mars
Diameter at equator: 6787 km Average
Temperature (C): -23 Distance to sun
(million km): Max: 249
Min: 207
Period of Revolution (year): 686.9 days
Period of rotation: 24 hr. 37 min 27 sec
Moons: Phobos, Deimos
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Jupiter
Diameter at equator: 143,884 km Average
Temperature (C): -150 Distance to sun
(million km): Max: 816
Min: 741
Period of Revolution (year): 11.86 years Period of rotation:
9 hr. 50 min 30 sec Moons: Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea,
Thebe, Io, Europa,
Ganymede, Callisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara,
Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae, Sinope
Saturn
Diameter at equator: 120,536 km
Average Temperature (C): -180
Distance to sun (million km): Max: 1507
Min: 1347
Period of Revolution (year): 29.46 years
Period of rotation: 10 hr. 39 min.
Moons: Pan, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus,
Janus, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Telesto, Calypso,
Dione, Helene, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, Phoebe
Uranus
Diameter at equator: 51,118 km Mass
(relative to Earth): 15 Density (relative to
water): 1.3 Average Temperature (C); -214
Distance to sun (million km): Max: 3004
Min: 2735
Period of Revolution (year): 84.01 Period of rotation: 17 hr.
14 min Moons: Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida,
Desdemona,
Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Miranda, Ariel,
Umbriel, Titania, Oberon
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Neptune
Diameter at equator: 50,538 km Average
Temperature (C): -220 Distance to sun
(million km): Max: 4537
Min: 4456
Period of Revolution (year); 164.8 years Period of rotation;
16 hr. 3 min. Moons: Naiad, Thalassa, Galatea,
Despina, Larissa, Proteus, Triton, Nereid
Pluto
Diameter at equator: 2445 km Average
Temperature (C): -230 Distance to sun
(million km): Max:: 7375
Min: 4425
Period of Revolution (year): 247.7 years
Period of rotation: 6 days 9 hr. Moon:
Charon
Sun
Diameter at Equator: 1.4 million km
Rotational period: 25 Earth days
Temperature at surface: 10,000 degrees F.
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APPENDIX B: PLANETARIUMS
Adler Planetarium
1300 South Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago, HI 60605
(312)322-0549
Burke Baker Planetarium
One Herman Circle Drive
Houston, Texas 77030
(713) 639-4635
Albert Einstein Planetarium
601 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20560
(202) 357-1686
Fels Planetarium
222 N. 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA 1910
(215) 448-1208
Fernbank Science Center
156 Wheaton Park Dr. NE Atlanta,
GA 30307
(404)378-4311
W.A. Gayle Planetarium
1010 Forest Avenue Montgomery,
AL 36106
(334) 241-4799
Griffith Park Observatory and Planetarium
2800 E. Observatory Road Los
Angeles, CA 9002
(323)664-1191
Hansen Planetarium
15 S. State Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 538-2098
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Hayden Planetarium
81st Street and Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
(212) 769-5100
Charles Hayden Planetarium
Museum of Science
Science Park
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 723-2500
Kelly Planetarium
301 North Try on Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
(704) 372-6261
Miami Space Transit Planetarium
3280 S. Miami Avenue
Miami, FL 33129
(305) 854-4244
Morehead Planetarium
250 E. Franklin
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
(919) 962-1236
Morrison Planetarium
California Academy of Sciences
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 750-7127
Willard W. Smith Planetarium
Pacific Science Center
200 Second Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 443-3648
Strasenburgh Planetarium
Rochester Museum and Science Center
657 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14603
(716) 271-1880
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SCRIPT
Narrator:
It is a clear night in the desert in southern Arizona. Several
students and their teacher set up a telescope to look at the
night sky.
They can see clearly the surface of the moon, with its many
craters. Looking at a different part of the sky, they can see
the planet Jupiter and some of its moons.
Even without a telescope, they can admire thousands of
stars. Like specks of white dust on a black cloth, the stars
fill the sky.
What is the sky?
Students:
The sky is the stars and the planets.
The sky is the moon and sun. The
sky is everything above us.
Narrator:
As soon as astronauts on the space shuttle leave Earth, they
are in the sky.
Part of the sky is the atmosphere, the layer of air that
surrounds Earth.
When the shuttle has passed through the atmosphere, it has
reached outer space, the part of the sky above the atmosphere. Space is made up of the stars and planets, the moon,
the sun, and other things we can see in the sky, and of many
more things that we can't see because they are so far away.
Together, we call the different things that make up both
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Earth and space the universe. The universe is everything
that exists.
We can see only a very small part of the universe, because
the universe is so big.. .too big even to imagine. Look at the
stars in the night sky. How many stars do you think there
are?
Students:
Thousands?
A million?
Billions!
Narrator:
Even more than that ..far too many stars to count. The stars
we see in the night sky are part of the Milky Way, a galaxy. A
galaxy is a huge group of stars. It is hard to see what the
whole Milky Way looks like from here on Earth, because
we are part of it.
But if we could look at the Milky Way not from Earth, but
from far away, it would look something like this... a huge
disk with most of the stars grouped together in a great mass in
the center. All together, this galaxy has about 200 billion
stars. And the Milky Way is only one of many galaxies in
the universe. Scientists think there are at least a hundred
billion galaxies, most with at least a hundred billion stars.
These are numbers so big it is hard to imagine what they
really mean.
To get an idea of how many stars there are, look at the sand
on this beach.
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Pick up a handful of sand. In a single handful, there are
many thousands of grains of sand.
Now imagine all the sand on all the beaches of the world.
There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of
sand on all Earth's beaches combined.
With our eyes alone, we can see only a very small portion of
all the different stars. The stars we see in the night sky are the
ones that are closest us, but they are still very far away.
There is one star, however, that is much closer, but we don't
see this star at night. Instead it appears at dawn when the sky
becomes light...the sun. As the sun rises above the horizon, it
marks the end of night and the beginning of a new day.
Like other stars, the sun is an enormous ball of hot, glowing
gases. The sun looks much bigger than other stars, but this is
only because it is much closer to the Earth. It is still about 93
million miles or 150 million kilometers away.
The sun not only gives us light, its heat makes life on Earth
possible. Without the sun, Earth would be much too cold
for plants or animals or anything to live on it.
From here on Earth, it may seem that during the day the sun
moves across the sky, rising in the morning and setting in
the evening. But the sun doesn't move like this.
What really happens is that Earth rotates, or turns, like this
globe. A globe is a kind of model or map of Earth. Imagine
this light is the sun. The part of the globe facing the light is
lit, and the part facing away from the light is dark. In the
same way, it is daytime for the part of Earth facing towards
the sun and nighttime for the part facing away.
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If you turn the globe, the part that was in the light becomes
dark, and the part that was dark becomes light. Earth
turns—or rotates—just like the globe. It makes one complete turn every 24 hours...or once a day.
Besides rotating once every day, Earth also orbits or goes
around the sun. It takes one year for Earth to complete one
orbit. Earth orbits like this because the sun has a force,
called gravity, that keeps Earth in its orbit.
The sun's gravity is like the string attached to this ball. As
you swing the ball around, the string keeps the ball from
flying away, just as the sun's gravity keeps Earth from
flying away.
Earth is not the only planet orbiting the sun. There are eight
other planets. Together, the sun, planets, and other smaller
things make up our solar system.
If you could take a tour of the solar system, the planet
closest to the sun would be Mercury and then would come
Venus. Both Mercury and Venus are very hot because they
are so near the sun.
The third planet from the sun is our own planet, Earth. Earth is
often called the blue planet because of its oceans.
Then comes Mars, whose reddish soil gives it its color.
Farther out from the sun comes Jupiter, the largest planet.
Then there is Saturn, which has rings made of millions of
icy bits of rock that orbit the planet.
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Beyond Saturn is Uranus, which also has rings; and then
Neptune, which is very cold because it is so far from the
sun.
Finally, there is Pluto, the smallest planet. Pluto has a moon
that is about half its size. Pluto is so small that if you put
both Pluto and its moon on top of a giant map of the United
States, they would look like this.
In contrast, Jupiter, the largest planet, is more than eleven
times wider than Earth; but even Jupiter is small compared to
the sun.
If the sun were the size of this basketball, how big do you
think Jupiter, Earth, and tiny Pluto would be?
Your teacher may pause the video here to let you think
about this question. Otherwise the program will resume in
ten seconds.
PAUSE
If the sun were the size of this basketball,
Earth would be as big as this peppercorn.
Jupiter would be only about as big as this ping pong ball,
and Pluto would be smaller than the head of this pin.
This is how artists often draw the solar system in order to fit
the sun and the planets into one picture. In reality, the
distances between the sun and the different planets are
much greater than any picture can show.
If the sun were the size of this basketball, Earth would be
about 25 yards or 23 meters away. Jupiter would be about
125 yards or 114 meters away;
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and Pluto would be about a thousand yards or 915 meters
away.
Even though they are far away, many of the planets can be
seen in the sky even without the help of a telescope. In fact,
after the moon, the brightest object in the night sky is not a
star, but the planet Venus, which can often be seen just after
sunset or before sunrise.
With a telescope, we can see the planets more clearly. With a
small telescope, we can just make out the rings that
surround Saturn.
There are very large telescopes called observatories that
help us see the planets and stars better.
Another kind of telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope,
orbits high above Earth and can observe planets and stars
even more clearly. This is a picture that the HubbleTelescope
took of Saturn.
An even better way to observe the planets is to send
spacecraft to study them up close.
Scientists who study the planets and stars are called astronomers. This is an astronomer named Carolyn Porco.
Dr. Porco:
I became interested in astronomy as a young teenager when a
friend of mine got a telescope for Christmas and we took it
up onto her roof and saw Saturn for the first time. It was a
very thrilling moment for us. We jumped up and down.
You would have thought that we discovered it, it was that
exciting.
25
Narrator:
Carolyn Porco has helped send a spacecraft called Cassini to
explore Saturn. Cassini is scheduled to reach Saturn in the
year 2004. Dr. Porco is head of a team of scientists that is
responsible for obtaining images or pictures of Saturn and
its moons and rings.
Dr. Porco:
What most excites me about having this position is that I
feel like I'm the lead explorer...like I'm the person standing
on the bridge of the ship peering out the window, saying
"land ho" or "here comes another one", and it's a very
exciting position to be in.
Narrator:
The distances in the solar system are so great that it can take
years for a spacecraft launched from Earth to reach another
planet.
There is one place in the sky that is much closer to Earth
than any of the other planets...the moon. We can see the
moon more clearly than anything else in the night sky.
The moon looks very bright, but the moon doesn't give off
its own light, as the sun does. Instead, the moon reflects
light from the sun just like a mirror reflects light.
Sometimes the moon looks like a circle or coin. At other
times it looks like only half a circle or even a thumbnail or
crescent. We call these different shapes phases of the
moon. The moon doesn't really change shape. What happens is that the moon orbits around Earth about once a
month. How the moon appears to us depends on how it
reflects light from the sun as it orbits Earth.
26
To see how this works, shine a light on the ping pong ball
that you've attached to the end of a stick with some putty
or glue. Notice how the light reflecting off the ping pong
ball makes it look different depending on where you stand.
Narrator:
Besides being the brightest and biggest thing in the night
sky, the moon is special for other reasons.
The moon is the only place in outer space that humans have
visited. Between 1969 and 1972, astronauts went to the
moon. They collected samples of rocks to bring back to the
Earth, and they even rode special buggies across its surface;
and they saw Earth from far away, as no other humans have
ever seen it.
Will anybody...maybe even you...ever again leave Earth to
visit other places in the universe? Many people think we
will.
Dr. Porco:
We humans will go to other planets. In fact, we will
probably venture to the planet Mars within the next 25
years, certainly within the next 50. We will have humans
walking on the planet Mars, and that will only be a first step
because eventually we will go to other planets and one day
we will leave the solar system entirely.
Next time you look at the night sky, think about this. Earth
is only one of nine planets in our solar system.
Even the largest of these planets is small compared to the
sun, the center of the solar system.
27
The sun is only of one of billions of stars that make up the
group of stars—or galaxy— known as the Milky Way ;
and the Milky Way is only one of billions of galaxies in the
universe.
The universe is huge beyond imagination,
but every day, we learn more about the universe., .about the
stars and the solar system...
and about the planet Earth, our home. The
End
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