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The
Traveling Exhibit
Science Background
Part A: INTRO & Our Place in Space
prepared by Dr. Cherilynn Morrow for the Space Science Institute
Boulder, CO
The Questions Behind the Exhibit
Are we alone?
Where do stars and planets come from?
What would life elsewhere be like?
The Big Ideas
We are developing extraordinary
new tools, techniques, and insights
for exploring the age-old question
of whether there is life beyond
Earth.
Our search for habitable worlds and
signs of life in our galaxy is guided
by our study of how stars and
planets form & our understanding
of life on Earth.
Welcome to the
Exhibit
The science background is organized by EXHIBIT AREA:
 Our Place in Space (Powers of 10 display)
 Search for Life
 Star & Planet Formation
 Planet Quest Dome
straight back
to the left
to the right
straight back
A. Our Place in Space
KEY QUESTIONS:
What and where are we in the cosmos?
Could there be other planets like Earth out there?
3. Stars and star systems orbit
the centers of galaxies
1. Moons
orbit planets
4. Galaxies orbit each
other in clusters.
2. Planets orbit stars
Can You Fill in the Blanks?
Click for Answers
Exploring the Structure of the Universe
Before entering the exhibit, fill in the blanks using the following key words.
galaxy
Universe
100 billion
orbit
Earth
solar system
Jupiter
moon
planets
star
Sun
The Sun is a _________
Our
star located at the center of our __________________.
solar system
home, called __________,
Earth is one of 9 planets that orbit around the _________.
Sun
Earth has one _________
moon that orbits around it each month, showing different
phases. Some planets have many moons that ___________
orbit around them.
________________
is the largest planet in the Solar System and has 64 moons!
Jupiter
Our sun is one of about _______________
100 billion stars contained in the spiral
_____________
we call the Milky Way. Astronomers are now discovering
galaxy
Jupiter-sized ____________
planets that orbit around some of those distant stars. Outer
space is even bigger yet because the Milky Way is only one of an estimated 100
billion (100,000,000,000) galaxies in the ______________!
Universe
Astronomy Games: Fill-in-the-Blank
Copyright 2000 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
Our Place in the Solar System
Earth is one of 9 PLANETS* in our SOLAR SYSTEM.
The planets orbit a central STAR we call the SUN.
Jupiter
Mercury
Saturn
Mars
Venus
Earth
Neptune
Uranus
Can you name the other planets?
Hit <RETURN> for answers
Rocky terrestrial planets
of the inner solar system.
Gas & ice giant planets
of the outer solar system.
Influenced by the gravity of Jupiter & Neptune, icy
comets from the outer solar system likely delivered
important ingredients for life to the young Earth
environment (e.g. water and carbon compounds).
*The exact number depends on whether we call objects like Pluto “planets”.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.
• Jupiter is a gaseous world without a solid surface.
• Jupiter has twice the mass of all the other planets combined.
• Jupiter is 10 times the diameter of Earth.
• A thousand Earths would fit inside Jupiter.
Artist’s concept of 3 “extra-solar planets”
In the past decade, we have begun to detect the presence of Jupiter-sized
worlds in orbit around other stars in our Milky Way galaxy.
The Goldilocks Effect
Venus
“Too Hot”
Earth
“Just Right!”
Mars
“Too Cold”
Earth is in our solar system’s “habitable zone”
where liquid water can exist on the surface.
Earth-sun distance
not to scale
• A hundred Earths
would fit across the
diameter of the Sun.
• A million Earths
would fit inside the
volume of the Sun.
The Sun is the ONLY star in the SOLAR SYSTEM.
Earth is the ONLY
planet in our solar
system where we
know for sure that
life has evolved.
Our Place in the Galaxy
• The Sun is the only star in the
SOLAR SYSTEM, but it is one of
over 100 billion stars in the
GALAXY we call the Milky Way.
• Our solar system is located
about 2/3 of the way out from
the galaxy’s center.
Artist’s Concept of our Milky Way Galaxy
• Astronomers think that most of
the stars in the Milky Way galaxy
could also have planets orbiting
around them. These are called
“extra-solar planets”.
The term “Milky Way” is used in two ways.
For purposes of this presentation, we mean the whole galaxy.
1. “Milky Way” = our entire galaxy of 100
billion stars.* Our whole solar system
orbits once around the galaxy’s center
every 225 million years or so.
* The image above is of another spiral galaxy that
may be a lot like our own Milky Way. It would not be
possible to make such an image of our own galaxy
from within it. This galaxy is called NGC 4414.
2. “Milky Way” = the band of light and
dust that stretches across a dark night
sky.* This is just a portion of one of the
spiral arms that we can see from Earth.
* The image above is a long exposure photograph,
showing much more contrast than we would see with
our naked eye. To the eye, the “Milky Way” looks
like a faint, whitish band with a few dark patches.
“Milky Stars”
Mirrored Room:
part of the
Alien Earths
exhibit
There’d be about a 100
billion crystals. That’s
how many stars in the
whole Milky Way galaxy!
What if we filled this
whole room with
crystals of salt?
“What if we filled this whole room with crystals of salt?”
That’s how many stars in the whole Milky Way galaxy! ~ 100 billion!
Assume the Sun is the size of a large grapefruit:
Q1. About how big would
planet Earth be on this scale?
[Show size with your hands or an
object. <RETURN> for answer.]
A1: About the size of a pencil tip
Q2: On this scale, how far away
would pencil-tip “Earth” be
from the grapefruit “Sun”?
A2: About 15 meters (50 ft) away.
Pluto would be about ½ mile away.
Q3: On this scale, how far
away would the nearest star
in the Milky Way galaxy be?
A3: About 5000 km (3000 miles).
The East-West distance across the US!
Of course, the Sun
is really 10 billion
times bigger than
a grapefruit with a
14 cm diameter.
So in this scale model, the space between the Sun and the
NEAREST STAR in the Milky Way galaxy is like having one
grapefruit on the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, and
another grapefruit on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
Images of spiral galaxies make it seem like stars
are crammed closely together, but in reality
there are vast distances between them.
So Many Stars, So Little Time
At the present time, our technologies enable us to search
around the nearest stars in the Milky Way galaxy (the pink
sphere) for extra-solar planets or signs of intelligent life.
We are searching in a tiny portion of the Milky Way
galaxy, and yet our galaxy is only one of more than
100 billion galaxies in the Universe!
All but 4 specks in this “Hubble Deep Field” image are
entire galaxies, each of them with 100 billion stars.
A. Our Place in Space
SUMMARY
Earth is one of 9 PLANETS that orbit a STAR we call the
SUN [“3rd rock from the Sun”]
The Sun is at the center of the SOLAR SYSTEM and is the
ONLY star in the Solar System.
Our SUN is one of over 100 billion STARS in the GALAXY
we call the Milky Way
We are detecting the presence of Jupiter-sized worlds
in orbit around other stars in our Milky Way Galaxy.
Our GALAXY is one of over 100 billion galaxies in the
UNIVERSE!
Test yourself on
“Earth’s Place in
Space”
by taking a few
minutes to play
TWO ASTRONOMY
GAMES
OR
Skip ahead to
PART B: Star & Planet
Formation
Two Astronomy Games
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
On a sheet of paper, make two columns like the ones below:
Smallest
Largest
“Small and Large”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Two Astronomy Games
“Near and Far”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
Closest
Farthest
[email protected]
Game # 1:
 The next slide will show 9 images
 Order the objects in these images from the smallest
object (number 1) to largest object (number 9). Use the
first column in the table you created.
 Write the letter as well as the name of the object in the
column. This way, you will have a list that you can
consult later.
Are you ready?
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
A. THE SUN
B. EARTH
C. SPACE SHUTTLE
D. THE MOON
E. THE SOLAR SYSTEM
G. MARS
H. A GALAXY
F. BEARS
I. JUPITER
Press ENTER for a HINT
Mars has no oceans and the same
LAND area as Earth
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
The Solution
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
1F. BEARS
4G. MARS
2C. SPACE SHUTTLE
3D. THE MOON
5B. EARTH
8E. THE SOLAR SYSTEM
6I. JUPITER
9H. A GALAXY
7A. THE SUN
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
Game # 2:
 The next slide will show 9 images.
 Order the objects in these images from the object
that is nearest to the surface of Earth (number 1) to
the object that is farthest from the surface of Earth
(number 9). Use the second column in the table you
created.
 It would be best to write the letter as well as the
name of the object in the column. This way, you will
have a list that you can consult later.
Are you ready?
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
B. A GALAXY
A. THE SUN
C. AURORAS
Press ENTER for HINTS
If we see a whole spiral,
it can’t be our own galaxy.
D. THE MOON
Auroras occur in Earth’s
uppermost atmosphere
E. JET AIRPLANE
F. HUBBLE TELESCOPE
The Space Shuttle can visit
Hubble, but not the Moon
G. AN EAGLE
H. STARS OF THE BIG DIPPER
Stars we see are within
the Milky Way galaxy
Two Astronomy Games
I. SATURN
Saturn is 10 times farther
from the Sun than Earth
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
The Solution
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]
G. AN EAGLE
E. JET AIRPLANE
F. HUBBLE TELESCOPE
I. SATURN
Two Astronomy Games
D. THE MOON
H. STARS OF THE BIG DIPPER
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
C. AURORAS
A. THE SUN
B. A GALAXY
[email protected]
These games are available on-line in multiple modalities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
As
As
As
As
you see it here in PowerPoint
a downloadable card game for the exhibit floor
an on-line interactive
a classroom activity
Go to www.alienearths.org.
Click on “Traveling Exhibition” then “Education Program” then
“Activities”
Two Astronomy Games
Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow – Used with permission
[email protected]