1. Discovering the Universe
A Multimedia Project by Dennis Culver
Table of Contents
Credits

2. Table of Contents
Planets
Stars
Galaxies
Moons
Other

3. Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
Comparison Graph

4. Mercury Mercury is the first planet from the Sun
36 million miles from the Sun
The daytime temperature can get up to 800°F and °F at night
Takes 88 days to go around the Sun
Surface is rocky and covered in craters
Back to Planets Menu

5. Venus Back to Planets Menu Venus is the second planet from the Sun
67 million miles from the Sun
Daytime temperatures can reach 900°F
Has strongly acidic rain
Venus spins in the opposite direction of Earth
A day is longer than a year on Venus
Back to Planets Menu

6. Earth Earth is the third planet from the sun
About 93 million miles from the Sun
Only planet with liquid water
Takes 365 days to revolve around sun
Only planet that has life forms
Back to Planets Menu

7. Mars The fourth planet from the Sun 142 million miles from the Sun
Known as the Red Planet
Takes 687 days to go around the sun
The surface is very dusty and contains iron
Back to Planets Menu

8. Jupiter The fifth planet from the Sun 483 million miles from the Sun
The biggest planet in our solar system
Made mostly of gas
Famous for its “Red Spot,” which is actually a storm
Over 1,000 Earths could fit inside it
Back to Planets Menu

9. Saturn The sixth planet from the Sun 887 million miles from the Sun
Has many visible rings made of dust and rock
Nine times wider than Earth
Made mostly of gas
Back to Planets Menu

10. Uranus The seventh planet from the Sun
1,784 million miles from the Sun
Has vertical rings
Spins on it’s side
Made mostly of gas
Back to Planets Menu

11. Neptune The eighth planet from the Sun
2,800 million miles from the Sun
Many storms on the surface
Made mostly of gas
Has the fastest winds of any planet in our solar system, reaching 1,200 miles per hour
Back to Planets Menu

12. Pluto The ninth planet from the Sun
2,750-4,583 million miles from the Sun
Smallest planet in our solar system
Very cold surface
Some say it is too small to be a planet
Back to Planets Menu

13. Comparison Graph
Back to Planets Menu

14. Stars Yellow Dwarf Red Dwarf Red Giant Blue Giant Super Giant
White Dwarf
Brown Dwarf
Neutron Star

15. Yellow Dwarf Star The sun is a yellow dwarf Younger type of star
One million Earths could fit into a star this size
Extremely small compared to other stars
Back to Stars Menu

16. Red Dwarf Star Most common type of star Small Very faint
Cool surface temperature compared to other stars
Back to Stars Menu

17. Red Giant Star Stars of this type are very old
20 times bigger than the sun
Usually orange in color
Much brighter than our sun
Back to Stars Menu

18. Blue Giant Star A very huge star Very hot
Burns helium, the type of gas in balloons
Extremely bright
Much of the light energy they give off cannot be seen by our eyes
Back to Stars Menu

19. Super Giant Star Largest known type of star
Some could be as large as our entire solar system
Very rare
Eventually become black holes
Back to Stars Menu

20. White Dwarf Star Small and hot The remains of a red giant star
About the size of Earth, but much heavier
Very compacted star
Back to Stars Menu

21. Brown Dwarf Star Not very bright Too small to create much energy
Not very hot
A smaller type of star
Back to Stars Menu

22. Neutron Star Very compact stars About 12 miles wide
Has same amount of mass as the sun
Are created after a supernova occurs
Can cause objects called pulsars
Back to Stars Menu

23. Galaxies
Spiral
Active
Irregular
Lenticular
Elliptical
Cluster

24. Spiral Galaxies Our galaxy is a spiral galaxy
A third of all galaxies are spiral
Has two or more curved arms made of stars
Contains billions of stars
Back to Galaxies Menu

25. Elliptical Galaxies Shaped like an oval or circle
Contain old red stars
Stars are not as closely packed as other galaxies
Many different sizes
Back to Galaxies Menu

26. Irregular Galaxies No real shape Stars and other objects are scattered
The smallest type of galaxy
Caused by other nearby objects disturbing the gravity or by colliding galaxies
Young galaxies
Back to Galaxies Menu

27. Lenticular Galaxies Shaped like a lens
Have little material inside them
Contain older stars
Similar to spiral galaxies, except no arms
Back to Galaxies Menu

28. Active Galaxies
Called active because they give off large amounts of energy
Could have black holes at their centers
Can give off radio, x-ray, and other waves
Back to Galaxies Menu

29. Cluster Galaxies Contains many galaxies grouped together
Can contain thousands of galaxies
Filled with large clouds of hot gas
Gives off x-rays
Back to Galaxies Menu

30. Moons Earth’s Moon Mar’s Moons Jupiter’s Moons Pluto’s Moon
Saturn’s Moons
Uranus’ Moons
Neptune’s Moons
Comparison Graph

31. Earth’s Moon Earth’s only moon Revolves around the Earth
Causes tides with Earth’s oceans
Has several phases
Covered in craters
Back to Moons Menu

32. Mar’s Moons
Phobos
Deimos
Back to Moons Menu

33. Jupiter’s Moons Adrastea Amathea Callisto Europa Io Ganymede Metis
Thebe
Lida
Himalia
Lysithea
Elara
Ananke
Carme
Pasiphae
Sinope
Many more
Europa
Callisto
Ganymede Io
Back to Moons Menu

34. Saturn’s Moons Atlas Calypso Dione Enceladus Epimetheus Helene
Hyperion
Iapetus
Janus
Mimas
Pan
Pandora
Phobe
Prometheus
Titan
Tethys
Rhea
Talesto
Titan
Rhea
Back to Moons Menu

35. Uranus’ Moons Ariel Belinda Bianca Caliban Cordelia Cressida Desdemona
Juliet
Miranda
Oberon
Portia
Puck
Rosalind
Sycorax
Titania
Umbriel
Ophelia
Ariel
Miranda
Back to Moons Menu

36. Neptune’s Moons Despina Galatea Larissa Naiad Nereid Proteus Thalassa
Triton
Triton
Back to Moons Menu

37. Pluto’s Moon
Charon
Back to Moons Menu

38. Comparison Graph
Back to Moons Menu

39. Other
Black Holes
Supernovas
Asteroids
Comets
Nebulae

40. Black Holes Created when a star dies Has very strong gravity
Sucks in objects and materials from space
Not completely understood
To see a video model of a black hole in action, click here (QuickTime needed)
Back to Other Menu

41. Supernovas Occurs when a star runs out of fuel and dies Huge explosion
Rare in our galaxy
Huge amount of energy released
To see a video model of a supernova, click here
Back to Other Menu

42. Asteroids Big pieces of rock with minerals
Form a belt between Mars and Jupiter
Many different sizes and shapes
Thousands in our solar system
Back to Other Menu

43. Comets Made of dirty ice and dust Well known comet is Haley’s comet
Are far away from the Sun most of the time
Comets can have more than one tail
Back to Other Menu

44. Nebulae Large clouds of dust and gas
Caused by dying stars, what is left over
Gives off light energy
Can form many different shapes
Back to Other Menu

45. Credits Pictures from: Back to Title Page
Sun-
Mercury-
Venus-
Earth-
Mars-
Jupiter-
Saturn-
Uranus-
Neptune-
Pluto-
Back to Title Page

46. Credits Pictures from: Back to Title Page
Planets-
Moon-
Galaxy(title page)-
Stars-
Black hole-
Supernova-
Universe(title page)-
Back to Title Page

47. Credits Pictures from: Back to Title Page
Red giant-
Supergiant-
White dwarf-
Brown dwarf-
Neutron star-
Spiral galaxy-
Back to Title Page

48. Credits Pictures from: Back to Title Page
Elliptical galaxy-
Active galaxy-
Irregular galaxy-
Lenticular galaxy-
Cluster galaxy-
Black hole-
Asteroid-
Comet-
Nebula-
Back to Title Page

49. Credits Pictures from: Back to Title Page
Phobos-
Deimos-
Callisto-
Europa-
Ganymede-
Io-
Titan-
Rhea-
Ariel-
Miranda-
Triton-
Back to Title Page

50. Credits Back to Title Page Information from:
Supernova video-
Black Hole video-
Miles, Lisa and Smith, Alastair. The Usborne Internet Linked Book of Astronomy and Space. Usborne Publishing Ltd. : London, 2001.
Ridpath, Ian. Astronomy: How We View Our Solar System and The Universe Beyond. W.H. Smith Publishers: New York, 1991.
Back to Title Page