Name___________________________________ Science Chapter 2 Planets and Stars Lesson 3 What Can We See in the Sky?

y? Vocabulary page 83 STAR A huge ball of superheated gases. SUN The star at the center of our solar system. CONSTELLATION A pattern of stars that form an imaginary picture or design in the sky. GALAXY A huge system of gases, dust, and many stars. UNIVERSE Everything that exists in space. The Sun and Other Stars page 86 The sun is a star and is the LARGEST object in our solar system. It is the source of most of the ENERGY on Earth without it, LIFE could not exist. The sun is made up of GASES, mostly hydrogen and helium. The sun sometimes has dark spots called SUNSPOTS on its surface. They do not give off as much heat and light as the rest of the suns surface. The red streams and loops are solar flares which are GASES that shoot out from the sun.

Both sunspots and solar flares last only a few DAYS. Page 87 Among all those stars, the SUN is average. It is YELLOW, of medium size, medium brightness, and medium heat. Scientists classify stars by: 1) COLOR Blue, white, yellow, orange and red The color of a star is a clue to its surface TEMPERATURE Blue are the HOTTEST and red are the COOLEST. The sun is BETWEEN the hottest and coolest. 2) BRIGHTNESS This depends on two factors: 1. How far it is from EARTH 2. How BRIGHT it actually is Stages of a stars existence: 1) FIRST SPINNING OF CLOUDS OF DUST AND GAS 2) NEXT, A SQUEEZED TOGETHER MASS 3) FINALLY A CHANGE OF THE MASS INTO HEAT ENERGY AND LIGHT AS A STAR. Groups of Stars page 88 Groups of stars can be classified as: 1) CONSTELLATIONS 2) GALAXIES A constellation is a group of stars that form an imaginary PICTURE in the sky. The Big Dipper belongs to a group of stars known as URSA MAJOR

Constellations are helpful because their patterns serve as LANDMARKS in the night sky. A GALAXY is a huge system of gases, dust, and stars. Galaxies contain billions of STARS. Our sun is on the edge of the MILKY WAY Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy is only one of the millions of galaxies in the _UNIVERSE. Galaxies are in many SHAPES. The Milky Way is a SPIRAL galaxy. Some galaxies are barred, some look like balls or EGGS, and some have no regular shape. CONSTELLATIONS are made up of stars in our own galaxy. Seasonal Star Positions page 89 Each day, it appears that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. However, what is actually moving is EARTH. The POSITION of the stars appear to change with the seasons too. This is due to Earths movement also. As Earth revolves around the SUN, we see different parts of space at different times of the year. Where you LIVE determines which constellations you will see. Watching the Sky page 90 ANCIENT people named the constellations. The Italian astronomer, GALILEO GALILEI was one of the first people to use a telescope to study the planets and stars. To the unaided eye, PLANETS look like stars. Planets seen through a telescope shine with STEADY light, unlike stars that are faint and twinkle. JUPITER is among the brightest objects in the night sky.

Which planets can be seen without a telescope? MERCURY VENUS MARS JUPITER Planets and Stars page 91 Stars do actually MOVE through space. Why did the early Greeks call the planets wanderers? Because the planets appear to MOVE among the stars.

SATURN

CRCT Practice 1. Which words BEST describe the sun? A. Small star B. Medium-size star star

C. Large star

D. very large

2. Which statement is true? A. Planets shine with a steady light, while stars twinkle B. Stars are the brightest objects in the night sky C. Unlike stars, planets are easy to see because they glow with heat energy D. Planets do not move in the sky, but stars do.