INTRODUCTION What is astronomy? Astronomy consist of a lot of things that make up our such as: the nine planets, asteroids, meteorites, the moon and the sun. Astronomy is also a fascinating hobby that can be followed by anyone. You do not need to be, as some people seem to imagine, ^aEUR~mathematically-minded^aEURTM, in order to start, or even to become a very experienced observer. Yet astronomy is one of the few hobbies where not only can you gain great enjoyment, but if you feel want to can very easily make observations of great scientific value.
WHAT I KNOW I know that astronomy is getting more popular by the day since the comet came and all those people got killed. But that really did not have anything to do with astronomy, so I am not going to get into that. To me astronomy is really cool. If you have a telescope and it is a clear night you can see different constellations such as: Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Hercules, Pegasus, Perseus there are many more that is so cool. But it is even cooler to look up and see them in the sky. To do all of that you first have to be in the correct place.
What you can do first is look for the north star, when you find that then you are all set. If you cannot find it just simply face north and look for the brightest star in that direction. If you still cannot find it buy a compass then hopefully you will find it. If you still cannot find it ask somebody, I made no grantee that you would find it these ways.
That is really all I know about astronomy, but after this paper I bet you I will know a whole lot more. PG. 1 THE SUN The Sun is a huge, bright sphere that is mostly made up of gas that is about 5 billion years old. The Sun is the closest to the Earth, it is 145 million km distant (this distance is called an Astronomical Unit).
The next closest star is 300, 000 times further away. There are probably millions of similar stars in the Milky Way galaxy (and even more galaxies in the Universe), but the Sun is the most important to us because it supports life on Earth. The Sun^aEURTMs power causes the seasons, the climate, the currents in the ocean, Th. circulation of the air, and the weather in the atmosphere. The Sun is some 333, 400 times more massive than Earth (mass = 1. 99 x 10 kg), and contains 99.
86% of the mass of the entire solar system. It is held together by gravitational attraction, producing immense pressure and temperature at its core (more than a billion times that of the atmosphere on Earth, and a density about 160 times that of water). At the core the temperature is 16 million degrees K, which is sufficient to sustain the fusion reactions. Wow, is that hot or what? I think its hot myself. Because the sun is gaseous, it rotates faster at the equator than at the poles. The sun^aEURTMs surface known as the photosphere’s just the visible 500 km-thick layer from which most of the Sun^aEURTMs radiation and light finally escapes, and is the place where sunspots are found.
Above the photosphere lies the chromosphere that may be seen briefly during total solar eclipse as a reddish rim, caused by hot hydrogen atoms, around the Sun. Temperature steadily increases with altitude up to 50, 000 K, while density drops to 100, 000 timeless than in the photosphere. Above the chromosphere lies the corona (^aEURoecrown^an in proportion to the size of the planet, stretching millions of miles into the solar system. Electrical activity in Jupiter is so strong that it pours billions of watts into Earth^aEURTMs own magnetic field everyday. Jupiter is endowed with 16 moons, a ring system, and an immense, complex atmosphere. Its atmosphere bristles with lightning and swirls with huge storm systems, including the Great Red Spot, a storm that has persisted for at least 100-and perhaps as long as 300-years.
Some scientist theorize that beneath the atmosphere there is no solid mass at the center of Jupiter, but that the planet^aEURTMs unique temperature and pressure conditions sustain a core whose density is more like liquid or slush. The Voyagers^aEURTM 1979 encounters with Jupiter provided us with startling, beautiful imagery, revealing thousands of features never before seen. Swirling multicolored turbulence surrounded the Great Red Spot. Rising plumes and spinning eddies formed and dissipated, suggesting a strong source of heat bubbling up from within the planet.
The Voyager flybys witnessed a total of nine spectacular volcanic eruptions, the first time any such geologic activity had been seen outside of the Earth. The Voyagers also revealed a thin ring around Jupiter. Composed of three bands, the ring is optically dark, suggesting it is made up of impact debris. PG. 7 On October 18, 1989, NASA launched the Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter. Galileo will investigate the chemical composition and physical state of Jupiter^aEURTMs atmosphere; will characterize the morphology, physical state, and dynamic properties of the Jovian satellites; and will analyze the structure and physical dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere.
The data obtained from Galileo will undoubtedly revolutionize our understanding of the complexities of Jupiter and the Jovian system. SATURN ROMAN GOD OF AGRICULTURE Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, is one of the five planets visible from Earth without a telescope. Since the 17 th century, when Saturn^aEURTMs dazzling, complex ring system was first observed by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, the planet has stood as a symbol of the majesty, mystery, and order of the physical universe. Over the past 20 years, we have discovered that Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune also have rings; however, Saturn^aEURTMs ring system is most extensive and brilliant. Although the origin of the rings is unknown, scientists hope to uncover clues by studding the planet^aEURTMs history.
Alternate jet streams of east-west and west-east circulation can be traced in the motions of the cloud tops; the speed of these jets streams reach as much as 1, 000 miles per hour, and are responsible for the banded appearance of the clouds. The atmosphere consists mostly and helium. The planet^aEURTMs atmosphere also features storms structures similar to Jupiter^aEURTMs famous Great Red Spot. Today we know Saturn to have 7 major ring divisions and 18 moons. The rings may be the remnants of moons destroyed by tidal interaction with Saturn^aEURTMs gravity.
They may include remnants of comets that passed too close to Saturn and were likewise. PG. 8 destroyed. Of the 18 known moons, Titan-the largest-has held the attention of scientists most. A bit larger than Mercury, Titan is shrouded by a thick nitrogen atmosphere that might be similar to what Earth was like long ago URANUS ROMAN GOD, FATHER OF THE TITANS In 1781, English astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, at first mistaking it for a comet. After observing Uranus^aEURTM path among the stars, astronomers determined that Uranus^aEURTM orbit extends 19 times father from the Sun than Earth^aEURTMs orbit.
Although the diameter of the planet is four times greater than that of Earth, at this distance it appears in the sky as a faint disk spanning one-thousandth of a degree, making it barely visible to the unaided eye only on clear, dark nights. Early astronomers observed that the orbits of the four then-known Uranian moons were tipped 98 degrees relative to the planet^aEURTMs orbit around the Sun. These satellites, as well as Miranda (a Uranian moon discovered in 1948), and 10 small inner moons discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986 (bringing the total number of Uranian moons to 15), all lie in Uranus^aEURTM equatorial plane. Tipped Uranus behaves as a giants top as it spins on an axis almost in the plane of the orbit. This motion leads to extreme seasonal variations in what sunlight is available. Over the period of 1 Uranian year (84 Earth years), the polar regions of the planet got through four seasons, as on Earth, which perpetual sunlight in the summer, and total darkness in the winter.
Periods of alternating day and night are interspersed in the spring and fall. PG. 9 Today, we know that the dimly lit Uranian system consists of a planet surrounded by a flat system of rings and satellites. Bits of debris are concentrated into thin rings that orbit the planet between 1.
4 and 2. 0 Uranian radii, with the tiny moon Cordelia orbiting inside the brightest, outermost ring. Nine other small moons, with diameters ranging from 13 to 15 percent the size of our Moon, revolve around the planet at distances from 4 to 15 radii, or one-third to one-and-a-half times the distance between Earth and our Moon. Because no mission are currently being planned to return to Uranus, future information will need to be gained using ground-based or Earth-orbiting facilities. NEPTUNE ROMAN GOD OF THE SEA Astronomers discovered Neptune as a result of their efforts to understand the orbit of Uranus. When Voyager 2 flew within 5, 00 km of Neptune on August 25, 1989, the planet was the most distant member of the solar system from the Sun.
(In 1999 Pluto will once again become the most distant planet. ) Neptune orbits the Sun every 165 years, and is the smallest of the solar system gas giants. Searches for ^aEURoering arcs, ^aEUR.