Nicolaus Copernicus

✴ Catholic scientist✴ Called the “Father of Astronomy”✴ Copernicus believed correctly that the earth and planets revolve around the sun

Astronomy•A science that

studies the stars

•People who study the stars are called astronomers

•Do not confuse astrology (false science) with astronomy!

The Stars

★ Stars are found all around the Universe.Stars are found all around the Universe.

★ Earth’s Earth’s rotation rotation makes the stars appear makes the stars appear to move across the skyto move across the sky

★ Stars produce their own lightStars produce their own light

★Planets & moon reflect the light of the Planets & moon reflect the light of the sunsun

★ Movement of Earth’s atmosphere make Movement of Earth’s atmosphere make the stars appear to twinklethe stars appear to twinkle

★The sun is the closest star to EarthThe sun is the closest star to Earth

Basic Star Colors

✴ White

✴ Blue

✴ Yellow

✴ Orange

✴ Red

Constellations✴ Groups of stars

that look like “connect the dot” pictures

✴ Help astronomers describe where heavenly bodies are

✴ Signs (map points)

✴ Time- keepers

Galaxies•Group of stars clumped

together

•Our solar system is in the Milky Way Galaxy

•Most of the stars we can see belong to the Milky Way

•The nearest galaxy to our own is possibly the Large Magellenic Cloud

The Sun

The closest star to earth

So hot that everything is a gas

The sun’s gravity causes the planets to orbit it

All life depends on the sun

The Planets of ourSolar System

• The “rock” planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars

• The asteroid belt comes between Mars & Jupiter

• The “gas giants” are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

• Pluto (possibly not a planet) is the last and smallest

Comets

•Orbit the sun

•Made of frozen gases

•Have a really long tail of gases that escape

•Tail always points away from the sun

•Halley’s comet will appear again in 2062

Meteors•Fast-moving, bright object seen for a few

minutes in the night sky

•Small bodies that collide with earth

•Friction of air causes them to glow

•Sometimes called “shooting stars”

•Usually burn up in the atmosphere

•When they hit earth they are called a meteorite

The Asteroids•Large rocky bodies

that wander between the planets

•Also called “minor planets”

•Region called the Asteroid Belt found between Mars & Jupiter