Space Facts
Greek for "law of the stars", this another name for the study of space.
What is astronomy?
This is the planet closest to the sun.
What is Mercury?
This planet is sixth from the sun. It is best known for the beautiful system of rings that circle the planet.
What is Saturn?
These objects produce and give off their own heat and light.
What are stars?
This is how long it takes Earth to circle the sun.
What is 365 days?
It is the centre of the solar system. The planets revolve around it.
What is the sun?
This is now called a "dwarf planet".
What is Pluto?
This planet is fifth from the sun. It is the largest planet and is best known for its beautiful colours and its "Great Red Spot".
What is Jupiter?
These are patterns of stars in the sky that, to some people, seem to be in the shapes of pictures.
What are constellations?
This is how long it takes the moon to circle the Earth.
What is 27 days?
This is the galaxy we live in.
What is the Milky Way?
This planet is called the morning or evening star because it appears in the sky just after sunset and before sunrise.
What is Venus?
This planet is seventh from the sun. Unlike other planets, this planet lies on its side. It is greenish in colour and has nine faint rings with five moons orbiting the planet.
What is Uranus?
These have bright heads and long, shining tails. They shine partly because of light absorbed and re-radiated from the sun and partly because of reflected sunlight.
What are comets?
Their name meaning "wandering stars" in Greek, these are bodies that does not give off light of their own. They reflect the light of a sun.
What are planets?
Though there are many trace elements, our sun is primarily composed of these two elements.
What are helium and hydrogen?
This planet is eighth from the sun. It can only be seen through a telescope. Little is known about this distant planet.
What is Neptune?
Defined as an astronomical body that orbits a planet or minor planet, these are also known as natural satellites. Jupiter has 79, Saturn 82! Earth? Only one.
What is a moon?
These are chunks of rock and metal that orbit between planets.
What are asteroids?
These are loose collections of rock and frozen gases that orbit between the planets.
What are comets?
These two celestial bodies cause high tide and low tide in oceans, lakes, and bodies of water.
What is the sun and the moon?
This is the third brightest celestial object in our sky.
What is Venus?
These units are what is used to measure the distance between the sun and Earth.
What are Astronomical Units (AU)?
The sun’s outermost atmosphere called this.
What is the corona?
What is nothing?