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Go to Imagine the Universe! (A site for ages 14 and up.)
Constellations can be a useful way to help identify positions of stars in the sky. Constellations have imaginary boundaries formed by "connecting the dots" and all the stars within those boundaries are labeled with the name of that constellation. However, keep in mind that constellations are not real objects; they are just patterns as seen from ...
1. Review the difference between a star, a constellation and a galaxy. 2. Read several short examples of myths explaining constellations. There are several short myths on-line in the Universe activity section of StarChild.
Who figured out the Earth is round? Answer: It has actually been known that the Earth was round since the time of the ancient Greeks. I believe that it was Pythagoras who first proposed that the Earth was round sometime around 500 B.C. As I recall, he based his idea on the fact that he showed the Moon must be round by observing the shape of the ...
May 14, 2018 · StarChild is a learning center for young astronomers ages 5-13 to learn about the solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and the universe beyond. Use the links above to explore the site's topics. If you are looking for something a bit more advanced (ages 14+), then head on over to Imagine the Universe!
We call that star the "North Star" since it sits in the direction that the spin axis from the northern hemisphere of Earth points. At present, the star known as Polaris is the North Star. However, Polaris has not always been the North Star and will not always be the North Star.
Eris: A Dwarf Planet. Eris, the largest known dwarf planet, was first detected in data collected in October of 2003. It was not identified until January of 2005. Mike Brown and his team of astronomers discovered what was considered to be the 10th planet while doing observations at the Palomar Observatory in California.
The Hubble Space was named after Edwin Hubble, an astronomer whose contributions to astronomy include a classification system for galaxies and the Hubble Constant. The Hubble Constant defines the relationship between a galaxy's distance from the Earth and the speed with which the galaxy is moving away from the Earth.
One night in 1572, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe saw what he thought was a brilliant new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. (We now know he was observing a supernova.) In 1604, a second supernova was observed. These discoveries caused scientists to seriously question Ptolemy's theory that all stars were contained in an outermost sphere of the universe that never changed. In 1609, Italian ...
What causes a "falling star"? Answer: A "falling star" or a "shooting star" has nothing at all to do with a star! These amazing streaks of light you can sometimes see in the night sky are caused by tiny bits of dust and rock called meteoroids falling into the Earth's atmosphere and burning up. The short-lived trail of light the burning meteoroid produces is called a meteor. Meteors are ...
