1. The Scale of the Universe Notes
Test – Thursday 2/9/2017
2/16/2017

2. Astronomy
The study of stars, planets, galaxies… everything in space

3. NOT ASTROLOGY
Fortune telling
The zodiac

4. Regular Telescope

5. Really BIG, really expensive telescope

6. Hubble Space Telescope

7. Distances in the universe can be measured in two ways

8. Light Year
The distance that light can travel in a year TRILLION kilometers
*** The speed of light is
670,616,629 mph
300,000,000 meters
in 1 second
*** A light year is a unit of DISTANCE
NOT TIME!!!

9. Light Year Fun Facts
You could travel from the Earth to the Moon in 1.3 light SECONDS

10. Light Year Fun Facts
You could travel from the Earth to the Sun in 8 light MINUTES

11. The most distant space probe, Voyager 1, was about 17 light-hours away from the Earth as of December Even though it is traveling about 38,000 mph, it will take about 17,500 years to reach one light-year. Before 2015, this will become the first manmade object to leave the Solar System.

12. Light Year Fun Facts
Proxima Centuari, the nearest star, is about 4.22 light years away.

13. Light Year Fun Facts
The center of our galaxy is about 26,000 light years away.
You are here

14. Astronomical Unit (AU)
The distance from the Earth to the Sun
About 150,000,000 km

15. AU Distances from the Sun
Mercury AU
Venus – 0.72 AU
Earth – 1 AU
Mars – 1.52 AU
Jupiter – 5.20 AU
Saturn – 9.54 AU
Uranus – AU
Neptune – AU
AU Distances from the Sun

16. Because distances are often so large in space, they are often expressed in scientific notation.

17. Scientific Notation 240,000 2.4 X 105 = 9.46 X 1015 1 Light Year =
9,460,000,000,000,000 m

18. Relative Size Objects that are closer appear larger
Objects that are farther away appear small.

19. Relative Distance
Distance in reference to a certain point.

20. Astronomers calculate relative distance using parallax

21. Parallax
The apparent change in position of an object when you look at it from different places.

24. Universe
All of space and everything in it

25. The Universe is made up of BILLIONS of galaxies!

26. *** There are over 100 Billion galaxies in the universe!
Galaxy
A huge system of stars, star systems, dust, and gas held together by gravity.
*** There are over 100 Billion galaxies in the universe!

27. A galaxy is made up of BILLIONS of stars

28. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way
The Milky Way has 300 Billion Stars

29. The Milky Way as seen from Earth

30. Nebula A large cloud of gas and dust in space
New stars can form inside Nebulae
The Helix Nebula

31. The Witch Head Nebula

32. The Red Spider Nebula

33. The Horsehead Nebula

34. Cat’s Eye Nebula

35. Eagle Nebula

36. Jellyfish Nebula

37. Solar System (AKA – Star System)
A star and all of the planets and other objects that revolve around it.

38. Galaxy vs. Solar System

39. Our solar system is made up of the sun, planets, and ALL other objects that orbit the sun

40. The parts of a solar system can include…

41. Star
Made of gases (H & He) and produces its own light & heat through nuclear fusion

42. A group of stars that appear to form a pattern in the sky is a constellation
Examples: Big/little dipper, Draco

44. Planet 1)An object that orbits a star
2) Is large enough to have become rounded by its own gravity

45. Our solar system has 8 planets
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, & Neptune

46. A good way to remember this…
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.

47. Dwarf Planet
A spherical object that orbits the sun, but has NOT cleared the area of its orbit.

48. There are also 5 dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake

49. Moon An object that orbits a planet.
A planet can have many moons, one moon, or no moons

51. Comet Small body of ice, rock, & dust that orbits the sun.
Has a “tail” because the sun’s heat melts ice, & creates gas
Halley’s Comet – 1986
Will return in 2061

52. Comet Hale-Bopp

53. Comet Lovejoy – December 2013

54. Asteroid Large rocky object that orbits the sun.
Asteroids make up the Asteroid Belt which is found between Mars & Jupiter.

55. Meteor
Piece of dust, rock, or debris that travels through space.

56. Meteor
Meteors are sometimes called “shooting stars” but they are not stars
They glow when they are passing through the atmosphere, because of friction

58. Everything in the universe has gravity.
The amount of gravity that an object has depends on its mass and distance from other objects

60. The sun has the most gravity in our solar system
Large-mass planets have more gravity than smaller-mass planets
Your weight on other planets

61. Remember… Weight – The amount of gravity (changes)
Mass – The amount of matter (doesn’t change)

62. Planets and stars are formed by accretion, gravity bringing material together

63. Small planet – little gravity Pulls in more dust, ice, & gas
Grows to be a Large planet – More gravity
Pulls in more dust, ice, & gas