Out of this World Space 13.1 Intro to Space

What is Space like? Space is cold, dark, and very empty. Scattered here and there throughout the emptiness are stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and dust. People have spent years looking up at the sky and studying the things in space. First they looked with their eyes, then with telescopes. Today people can travel to space aboard space shuttles, and spacecraft to other planets and moons.

What do you know about Space? What do you see when you look up at the night sky? Do you listen to news reports about space missions? Have you ever visited a planetarium? Make a list of the things you know about space, the planets, the Moon, and the Sun.

What do you want to know? What other planets are made of? How hot is the Sun? How do astronauts live in space? Make a list of questions you have about space.

How will you find out? You are going to build models and do hands-on explorations that will help you discover answers to many of your questions.

Safety Never look directly at the Sun. You can permanently damage your eyes. Scientist Galileo Galilei went blind after observing the Sun with his telescope. Sunspot Loops in Ultraviolet

The Universe The Universe is everything that exists, including all matter and energy everywhere. By studying stars, planets, and other objects in the sky, you will learn where Earth is located in the universe.

Astronomy Astronomy is the study of what is beyond the Earth. It is the oldest science. As early as 2000 BC, Babylonians were using the sundial, the oldest known instrument for telling time. The shadow of the sundial correlates with the Sun’s position in the sky and hence with the time of day.

13.1 Intro to Space

13.1d Planetary Motion