1. STARS Position of the Stars Stars during the night Distance Brightness
Composition (what they are made of)
Stars during the season
Movement of the Stars

2. STARS Our solar system and stars belong to the milky Way galaxy
Planets, moons, asteroids & other satellites do not “twinkle” as they reflect light
Stars twinkle because they are so far away their light is a mere pinpoint by the time it reaches us and our atmosphere refracts it
Our solar system and stars belong to the milky Way galaxy
There are stars visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere

3. Composition of Stars STARS (what they are made of) Hot Gases
Hydrogen turns into helium in a nuclear reaction
Nuclear reaction produces enormous amount of heat and light

4. Distance STARS Stars are light years away
A light year is a measure of distance (how far light travels in a year – about 10 trillion km)
The sun is our closest star - it takes 8 min for the sun’s light to travel to earth.
Next closest star (Proxima Centauri) is 4 light years away and other stars are hundreds of light years away

5. STARS
Brightness
Measurement of a star’s brightness is referred to as “magnitude”
The lower the magnitude measure (number) the brighter the star appears

6. Position of Stars STARS
The earth’s axis points north toward Polaris, the North Star
Nearing the horizon is located a belt of twelve constellations of the zodiac

7. Movement of the Stars STARS Movement of Movement of Stars during
The seasons
Movement of
Star during
The night

8. Movement of Stars during the night
Polaris hardly moves at all because its location (aligned with earth’s axis)
Circumpolar constellations move counter clockwise around the North Star (Big Dipper, Little Dipper & Cassiopeia)
Other constellations rise in the East and set in the West
Happens because the Earth rotates on its axis

9. Movement of Stars during the Seasons
We see different constellations during different seasons (depending on the time of year)
This is because Earth is orbiting around the sun
The sun blocks the stars behind it from our view