Astronomy
Astronomy is the study of objects and phenomena is space! It is one of the most mysterious branches of science because, although space has been so easily observable since the beginning of humanity, there is so much that we don't know.
Like other branches of science, astronomy has many different fields of study. Some scientists study our solar system and the sun. Others study stars in our galaxy. Then there are scientists who look so deep into space they are basically looking at the beginning of the known Universe! The limits of scientific study in astronomy are seemingly endless! It's our turn to dive in now! Consider this discovery course and "Quick Introduction" to astronomy. We will be looking at the scale of our solar system and the universe, learning how to navigate the sky and looking into notable constellations (star patterns) in our night sky. |
The Scale of the Universe
The universe is huge! So much bigger than our minds can even comprehend.
We can think about the universe, and the parts of it, using something a bit more familiar. The Earth, where you and I live, can be thought of like the home that you live in. Our Earth is located in the solar system, which can be compared to the neighborhood that you live in. Our solar system is just one star system amongst billions in our milky way galaxy which is like the city where you live. The milky way galaxy is in close proximity to other galaxies called a local group which is similar to cities located within the same state or country. And finally, all of these local groups exist in the observable universe which can be compared to the world that we live in here on Earth. To get some perspective on just how big just our solar system is, it would take a human 10 years to get to Pluto on the fastest rocket EVER built. And the closest start is 6,000 times FURTHER than that. |
Click the link for the "Scale of the Solar System" activity. Save a copy to your Drive then follow the instructions to complete the activity.
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Navigating the Sky
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Navigating the sky is not too different from navigating here on Earth. On earth we have latitude and longitude, which is a coordinate plane that tells us where on Earth things are. When observing the sky we use right ascension (which is like longitude) and declination (which is like latitude).
There is a another system of navigation that we use to help us from our specific perspective. This is called Azimuth and Altitude. Azimuth is the angle around the horizon starting at 0 degrees which is directly north. Altitude is the angle above the horizon where directly overhead is 90 degrees. |