Advanced Astronomy HOCPP 1088 Published: January, 2007 Original Copyright July, 2006

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2 Thank you for your purchase from In the Hands of a Child Your Premiere Lapbook Provider since 2002!! Advanced Astronomy HOCPP 1088 Published: January, 2007 Original Copyright July, 2006 Authors: Katie Kubesh Niki McNeil Kimm Bellotto For information about other products available from In the Hands of a Child Call or visit our website at Entire contents of this Project Pack 2007 In the Hands of a Child Pierce Street Coloma, MI Permission is hereby granted to the individual purchaser to reproduce student materials in this project pack for noncommercial individual or classroom use only. In the Hands of a Child gives permission for one copy of all written material to be copied and or printed. Classroom teachers have permission to reproduce one copy for each student in class. Members of co-ops or workshops have permission to reproduce one copy for up to 10 children per unit. Reproducible graphics may be reprinted as many times as needed. Permission is not granted for school wide or system wide reproduction of materials. Printed in the USA. 2

3 Table of Contents Guide Page 8 The Universe Page 8 Galaxies Page 8 Stars Page 9 Nebulas Page 11 Supernovas Page 12 Black Holes Page 13 Dark Matter Page 14 Our Solar System Page 14 Astronomers Page 20 History of Astronomy Page 22 Exploring Space Page 23 Space Agencies Page 25 Solar System Facts and Figures Page 27 Vocabulary Page 29 Activity List Page 31 Activity 1 Page 35 Activity 2 Page 38 Activity 3 Page 43 Activity 4 Page 44 Activity 5 Page 45 Activity 6 Page 47 Activity 7 Page 51 Activity 8 Page 53 Activity 9 Page 54 Activity 10 Page 56 Activity 11 Page 58 Activity 12 Page 60 Activity 13 Page 63 6

4 Activity 14 Page 66 Activity 15 Page 69 Activity 16 Page 75 Activity 17 Page 78 Activity 18 Page 80 Activity 19 Page 83 Activity 20 Page 85 Activity 21 Page 87 Activity 22 Page 92 Activity 23 Page 94 Activity 24 Page 96 Activity 25 Page 98 Activity 26 Page 100 Folder Instructions Page 103 Sample Pictures Page 104 7

5 Astronomy Astronomy is the scientific study of the stars and other objects in space. When you look out into space what exactly is out there? No one knows for sure. What we do know is that space is home to planets, suns, moons, stars, galaxies, asteroids, comets, and black holes the universe. The Universe Look into the sky and what do you see? The stars, planets, galaxies, and everything in between all make up the universe. Everything that exists makes up the universe. Scientists believe the universe is made of 4% ordinary matter, 23% dark matter, and 73% dark energy. Galaxies A galaxy is a group of stars, planets, gas, and even dust that are all bound together by gravitational forces. Scientists estimate there are over 100 billion galaxies in our universe. All of the stars that we can see in the sky from earth belong to our galaxy, The Milky Way. There are three basic types of galaxies, 1) spiral, 2) elliptical, and 3) irregular. 1. Spiral galaxies are disc-shaped with a bulge in the middle. The stars in the central bulge are older and new star formations are located on the spiral arms, which are full of dust and gas. 2. Elliptical galaxies have a smooth, oval shape. They vary in size and are usually yellow-red in color. 3. Irregular galaxies, also called asymmetrical, have distorted shapes. Two larger galaxies colliding with each other usually form irregular galaxies. Timeline ~2000 BC: First solar-lunar calendars used (Egypt and Mesopotamia) ~280 BC: Aristarchus suggests the Earth revolves around the Sun. He provides first estimated distance between the Earth and the Sun (Samos/Alexandria) ~240 BC: Eratosteses measures the circumference of the earth with surprising accuracy (Cyrene, now Libya) ~130 BC: Hipparchus develops the first accurate star map and star catalogue with over 850 of the brightest stars (Greece) 45 BC: Julian calendar, a solar calendar, introduced to the Roman Empire (Roman Empire) 140: Ptolemy suggests geocentric theory of the universe in famous work Mathematike Syntaxis. (Greece) 813: Al Mamon founds the Baghdad school of astronomy (Iraq) 1054: Chinese astronomers observe supernova in Taurus (China) 8

6 Individual galaxies are usually found in groups called clusters. The Local Group is the cluster that the Milky Way belongs to. Also in the Local Group is the larger spiral galaxy Andromeda and smaller satellites including the Large and Small Magellenic Clouds. Clusters are either regular or irregular. Regular clusters have a well-defined spherical shape with a central core. Irregular clusters do not have a central core or a welldefined shape. Superclusters are chains of galaxies that have about twelve clusters. The Local Supercluster that we belong to is centered on Vigor. About 90% of all galaxies are located in a system of superclusters that form a network throughout space. Stars Stars, like our sun, are huge globes of very hot gas. They produce huge amounts of energy that is given off as heat and light. Bright stars form patterns, called constellations. There are currently eighty-eight recognizable figures in the sky in the form of constellations. Some of those include: Andromeda, one of the queens of the winter sky, is easy to find on any clear November or December night. Look high in the northern part of the sky and you should see it. According to mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Casseopeia. She was considered one of the most beautiful of the goddesses. 1120: Construction of observatory in Cairo began (destroyed in 1125 AD due to crimes committed by the owner) (Egypt) 1259: Observatory built for Nasir al- Din al-tusi, a famous Persian astronomer. The observatory, built upon a flattened hill, was named Maragha observatory. The observatory included an extensive library and many instruments set up in the open air (Iran) 1420: Observatory built at Samarkand in central Asia by Ulugh BegUlugh Beg ( ), noted astronomer. The observatory was a 3-story building, but also contained instruments that were outdoors. Ulugh Beg's observatory produced astronomical tables that included a catalogue of over 1,000 stars. Beg is remembered as one of the most important observational astronomers of the 15th century (Central Asia) 1543: Copernicus publishes heliocentric theory of the Universe (Poland) 1572: Tycho Brahe discovers super nova in the constellation Cassiopeia 1603: Bayer designation of stars, assigning Greek letters to stars (still in use today) introduced by Johann Bayer (Germany) 1608: Hans Lippershey, a Dutch spectacle maker invents the telescope (Netherlands) 9

7 Orion, the mighty hunter, gets its name from Greek mythology s Orion, the hunter. Orion is the largest constellation in the sky. The pattern of stars that form this constellation look like a hunter holding a club. Three stars in the middle make a belt, and the Orion Nebula is in the form of a sword that hangs from the belt. This constellation is one of the most recognizable ones in the sky. Straddling the celestial line, observers from both the southern and northern hemispheres can see it. Northern observers see Orion best in the winter, and southern observers see it more clearly in the summer. Scorpius, the Deadly Killer, can only be seen in its entirety during the months of July, August, and September (of the northern hemisphere). Its head starts to rise above the southern horizon in June and by September just the tail shows as Scorpius dips below our horizon. At that time, Scorpius is visible for those living in the southern hemisphere. According to legend and mythology, Scorpio spent most of his time trying to kill the great hunter Orion, but they were located on opposite sides of the sky. The stories vary on whether Scorpio was successful or not. Some star formations are not official constellations, but are called asterisms. Asterisms are recognizable star patterns and often belong to bigger formations of constellations. A great example of an asterism is the Big Dipper: One of the first things we learn to identify in the sky is the Big Dipper. This asterism is part of the constellation Ursa Major. Shaped like a large dipper in the sky, it is easiest to see this asterism in the summer. A natural compass, the Big Dipper rotates around the north sky pole in a circumpolar orbit. The North Star, also called Polaris is not at exact North on a compass, but it is 1609: Galileo first uses the telescope for astronomical purposes. He discovers 4 Jovian moons, craters on the moon that orbits Earth, and the Milky Way Galaxy (Italy) 1609: Kepler s First and Second Laws of Planetary Motion introduced. Late in the year, he announces his Third Law of Planetary Motion in his book, Harmonice Mundi (Harmony of the World) (Germany) 1656: Christian Huygens discovers rings on Saturn and the fourth satellite of Saturn, called Titan. Later that year, he discovers markings on Mars (Netherlands) 1666: Polar ice caps on Mars noted by Cassini (Italy) 1668: First reflecting telescope invented by Sir Isaac Newton (England) 1669: Geminiano Montanari discovers the star Algol is not steady in brightness, making it the first variable star (Italy) 1675: Danish astronomer Ole Romer measures the speed of light while in France (France) 1675: Cassini discovers the rings around Saturn are split into two parts. Today, astronomers call it the Cassini Division (France) 1687: Sir Isaac Newton publishes his theory on universal gravitation in his work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Many believe this to be the start of Modern Astronomy. 10