What is Astronomy?

ATL Skill: Research

IB Learner Profile: Inquirer
Key Concept: Form, Function

Assignment # 1:

Search the Internet, books, or other resources. Find information on three Astronomers. Write a paragraph
about each one describing how they helped our understanding of the Universe.

Here is a useful website with a lot of info about astronomers:

http://www.allaboutspace.com/subjects/astronomy/glossary/Astronomers.shtml

Make sure you write this in your own words.

That’s easy. Astronomy is the study of Outer Space. Why should we study Outer Space?

We study Outer Space because we are part of it. That’s right. You are part of outer space, everything is. We
live on Earth. Earth is part of Outer Space. The Earth circles the Sun. The Sun is a star, and just like all the
other stars, it is part of Outer Space.

Lets talk about how Astronomy became a science.

400 years ago humans began to really understand the Universe. Before then, many people thought the
Universe was a giant glass ball which circled the Earth. They thought the stars were holes in the glass where
light from heaven could shine through and that everything in the Universe circled around the Earth. In 1609, a
man named Galileo changed the way humans believed the Universe worked.

Galileo used a telescope and for the first time saw what the Universe really was. The most important thing he
saw was that Jupiter had moons. This meant that everything did not circle the Earth. Galileo could prove to
others that there were things that circled Jupiter.

We often call Galileo the first great scientist. Since his time there have been many more great scientists. Each
of them has contributed to our knowledge about the Universe.
 The Birth of The Solar System

ATL Skill: Research

IB Learner Profile: Inquirer
Key Concept: Form, Function
Apply a range of resources to locate information and use essential references.:
Answer the following questions:

1. Which planet is the biggest?

2. Which planet is the smallest?
3. What are the names of the moons of Mars?
4. What does Uranus mean?
5. Which planet has a giant storm, which is at least 300 years old?
6. Which planets have rings?
7. Which moon has active volcanoes?
8. What is the name of the largest asteroid?
9. Which asteroid has its own moon?

Do you know where you live? You might live in a house or an apartment, a trailer or a log cabin. Your home is
part of a larger community, such as a country. Some of you live in the United States, some live in South
America as well as many other places around the world. These different nations are all part of the same world.

All of us live on the planet Earth. But guess what, it goes even further. The Earth is part of a larger community.
This community is called the Solar System. There are nine planets in our Solar System all together. Their
names are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Here is a sentence which you should memorize. The first letter of each word is the same letter as the first letter
of each planet.

My Very Eager Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas.

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

All the planets except for Mercury and Venus have a system of moons. Think about that, nine planets circle the
Sun. Most of those planets have moons which circle them. That is a lot of worlds. There are over 60 known
worlds in the Solar System.

The only difference between a planet and a moon is that a planet circles the Sun while a moon circles a planet.
Everything else about them is similar. 7 of the moons in our Solar System are even bigger than some of the
planets. There are planets with atmospheres, volcanoes and even oceans.

Where did all these worlds come from?

Our Solar System probably started the same way other planetary systems begin: As a giant cloud of g as and
dust called a nebula. Over millions of years the cloud’s gravity caused the dust and gas to fall toward its center.

Over time, that swirling disk of gas and dust formed clumps. The largest clump was at the center. Many smaller
clumps were scattered about, circling the large center one. Eventually, the center clump became so large and
hot that it ignited to start its life as a star. The smaller clumps became the planets, moons, comets and
asteroids.
 Galaxies
ATL Skill: Research
IB Learner Profile: Inquirer
Key Concept: Form, Function
Apply a range of resources to locate information and use essential references.:
Task: In your own words, describe what you think a galaxy is.

So far we have seen that everything in the Universe is structured and organized, from the moons which orbit
the planets, to the Solar System itself where everything orbits the Sun. The force responsible for this
organization is gravity.

The power of gravity causes matter to attract, pulling together into stars, worlds, and planetary systems. Once
we leave the Solar System, does this complex organization end? No, it does not. This same gravity that makes
the Solar System’s worlds orbit the Sun, causes billions of stars to clump together orbiting in giant circles
around a common center. These collections of stars and gas are called galaxies.

Think of a galaxy as a giant Solar System. Instead of planets circling a sun, there are stars and dust clouds
circling the center. In the Solar System the Sun’s strong gravity holds onto the planets. It can do this because it
is much bigger than the planets are. What do you think might be in the center of a galaxy that could be big
enough to hold onto all the stars?

The answer is a very complicated one. At the center of most galaxies we find two important things that hold
onto the galaxies’ stars. Firstly, there are many, many stars packed in tightly. If you look at a picture of a
galaxy, often the center glows very brightly. This is caused by the glow of so many stars so close together.
Secondly, most galaxies also have what is called a supermassive black hole in their centers. These black
holes can contain as much matter as a billion stars, but all of that matter is squished up into a space smaller
than a pinhead.
ATL Skill: Research
IB Learner Profile: Inquirer
Key Concept: Form, Function
Understand how to use and identify main ideas and key words in investigations
Astronomy Dictionary
Below is a list of useful Astronomy words. These big words were created by scientists to explain what happens
in Outer Space. It is useful to know these words, but you don’t have to memorize them all in one big chunk.
That would ruin all the fun. Rather, learn these Astronomy words one by one as you explore and learn about
our Universe. If you see a word you don’t know, come here and look it up, and hopefully it will stay in your
memory.

Word
Defination
Asteroid
A rock, or Minor Planet orbiting the Sun.

Astrology
A belief that links the positions of the stars and planets to human destinies. It has no scientific background.

Astronomical Unit
The distance from the Earth to the Sun. Usually written AU.

Atmosphere
The gaseous area surrounding a planet or other body.

Atom
The smallest particle of any element.

Axis
An imaginary straight line on which an object rotates.

Black Hole
A region of space around a very small and extremely massive object within which the gravitational field is so
strong that not even light can escape.

Comet
A small, frozen mass of dust and gas revolving around the sun.

Constellation
A grouping of stars which have been given names by ancient astronomers because of the way they look.

Density
The compactness of matter.

Eclipse
When our view of one object in the sky is blocked by either another object or the Earth’s shadow.

Electron
Negative particle which orbits an atom.

Galaxy
A group of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity.

Light Year
The distance which a ray of light would travel in one year. This is about 6,000,000,000,000 (6 trillion) miles.
Mass
How much matter an object contains. It is not the same as weight, although an object’s mass does help
determine how much it will weigh.

Meteor
A shooting star, observed when a particle of dust enters into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Meteorite
An object from Outer Space, such as a rock, that falls into the Earth and lands on its surface.

Meteoroids
Any small object in Outer Space, such as dust or a rock.

Milky Way
Our Galaxy. (The word “Galaxy” actually means milky way in Greek).

Minor Planet
Asteroid

Molecule
A group of atoms linked together.

Nebula
A cloud of gas and dust.

Orbit
The path one object takes around another.

Ozone
An area in the Earth’s upper atmosphere which absorbs many of the lethal radiations coming from space.

Planet
An object moving around a star.

Proton
The center of an atom is made up of one or more protons. It has a positive charge.

Revolve
When something is moving in a circle around another object, such as the way the Moon Circles the Earth, it is
said to revolve around that object.

Rotate
When an object spins it is said to be rotating.

Satellite
A small object orbiting a larger one. There are many electronic objects that orbit the Earth.

Solar System
The system of planets and other objects orbiting the star Sol, which happens to be our Sun.

Star
A self-luminous object that shines through the release of energy produced by nuclear reactions at its core.

Supernova
A super bright explosion of a star. A supernova can produce the same amount of energy in one second as an
entire galaxy.