Basic Astronomy for Junior Kids

By Rhema Mercy

Basic Astronomy for Junior Kids contains Basic Knowledge of Astronomy, Solar System, Planets, Universe, Celestial bodies and various other factors including mysteries related to the Universe for Junior and School going kids. Its a concept to provide basic and fundamental knowledge for children to help and support their academic knowledge  and to improve further more than the ordinary.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rhema Mercy
• Release date: Jun 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223118275

Book preview

Rhema Mercy

All rights reserved – (Updated Edition – 2022- May)

Copyright @2022-@ Rhema Mercy

PRINTED AT UNITED STATES of America

Preface

Basic Astronomy for Junior Kids contains Basic Knowledge of Astronomy, Solar System, Planets, Universe, Celestial bodies and various other factors including mysteries related to the Universe for Junior and School going kids. Its a concept to provide basic and fundamental knowledge for children to help and support their academic knowledge  and to improve further more than the ordinary.

Basic Astronomy for Junior Kids

The Sun and Planets

Solar System  

Sun

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

Universe

Universe Stars Galaxies Black Holes Asteroids

Meteors and Comets Sunspots and Solar Wind Constellations

Solar and Lunar Eclipse

Other

Telescopes Astronauts

Space Exploration Timeline Space Race Astronomy Glossary

Basic Astronomy for Junior Kids

The Solar System

The center of the Solar System is the Sun. The Solar System is made up of the Sun and all the planets, asteroids, and other objects that orbit the Sun.

The Planets

There are eight planets in our Solar System. Starting with the closest to the sun they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The closest four planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) are termed terrestrial planets, meaning they have a hard rocky surface. The furthest four planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are called gas giants. These planets are much larger and their surface is composed of gas elements (mostly hydrogen).

Planets of the Solar System

Other Objects

In addition to the Sun and the eight planets, there are other objects that are part of the Solar System.

Dwarf planets - Dwarf planets are objects similar to planets in the Solar System, however they are defined as not large enough to have cleared their orbital region of other objects. Some of the dwarf planets in the Solar System include Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake.

Comets - Comets are objects made of ice, dust, and rocks that orbit the sun. They often have a visible tail of gas that comes from solar radiation and solar wind. Comets originate from the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud.

Asteroid belt - The asteroid belt is a region between the planets Mars and Jupiter. In this region thousands of rocky objects orbit the Sun. They range in size from tiny dust like particles to the dwarf planet Ceres.

Kuiper belt - The Kuiper belt is a region of thousands of small bodies that exists outside the orbit of the planets. Objects in the Kuiper belt consist of ices such as ammonia, water, and methane.

Oort cloud - The Oort cloud exists much further out than the Kuiper belt. Around a thousand times as far away from the Sun. Up to now scientists have only guessed at the existence of the Oort cloud which they think consists of thousands of small icy objects. The Oort cloud is at the very edge of the Solar System.

Milky Way

The Solar System is part of a bigger grouping of stars called a galaxy. Our galaxy is the Milky Way. The Solar System orbits around the center of the Milky Way.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

GLOSSARY

astronomical unit One astronomical unit (AU) is the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun: roughly 150 million kilometres (93 million miles). Towards the edge of the solar system, the Kuiper Belt (containing dwarf planets) is 30–55 AU from the Sun, while the far more distant Oort Cloud (containing icy objects) is 5,000–100,000 AU from the Sun.

coma Very thin cloud of gas and dust surrounding the heart or nucleus of a comet. The heart is a ball of ice and rock particles, described by American astronomer Fred Whipple as an icy conglomerate, or ‘dirty snowball’. As the comet nears the inner Solar System and is more strongly heated by the Sun, some of the ice and dust is vaporized, creating the coma.

convective zone In the Sun, an area between the radiation zone (nearer the core) and the solar photosphere, through which energy passes by convection. Hotter material rises from the bottom, carrying energy, then sinks again after cooling; the cooling material heats up again as it sinks and then rises once more in a rolling process.

Halley’s Comet Officially known as 1P/Halley, a short-period comet named after English astronomer Edmond Halley, who correctly calculated in 1705 that the comets seen in 1531, 1607 and 1682 were one returning comet and that this comet would return in 1758. Halley is the brightest short-period comet visible to the naked eye and is visible every 75–76 years. It has been known since at least 240BC, was seen during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, and was represented in the Bayeux Tapestry that recorded the conquest. Last seen in 1986, it will appear again in 2061.

Kuiper Belt Doughnut-shaped region in the outer solar system, billions of kilometers from our Sun, containing small bodies and dwarf planets, including Pluto. Because their orbit lies beyond that of Neptune, they are often called ‘trans-Neptunian objects’.

nuclear fusion The combination (fusion) of two atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, accompanied by the release of energy. Nuclear fusion powers the Sun and other active stars.

Oort Cloud Spherical cloud in the outer solar system, far beyond the Kuiper Belt, that could contain up to two trillion frozen bodies. The further reaches of the Oort Cloud mark the limit of the Sun’s gravitational attraction – and so are at the boundary of our solar system. Astronomers believe that most comets originate in the Oort Cloud.

orbital period Time taken for an object to make a complete orbit around another. The Earth’s orbital period around the Sun is one year, or 365.256363 days.

Perseids The meteor shower occurring annually from 23 July to 20 August, so called because the area from which the meteors appear to fall lies in the constellation Perseus. The dust and debris come from the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids are mostly visible in the northern hemisphere.

protoplanetary disc Rotating disc of gas and dust surrounding a newly formed star in a developing solar system. Planets form from the gas and grains of dust.

short-period comet Comet with an orbital period around the Sun of less than 200 years.

solar corona The outer atmosphere of the Sun, not normally visible because it is one million times less bright than the visible solar photosphere. The corona can be seen during a total solar eclipse, when the brightness of the solar disc is blocked by the Moon, or using a coronagraph instrument, which blocks the light coming from the solar disc in order to enable study of the solar atmosphere.

solar photosphere The visible outer layer of the Sun, only