1.

Geography word comes from two greek words - ‘ge’ meaning’ ‘earth’ and ‘graphia’ meaning
‘writing’.
2. The full moon can be seen only once in a month. It is Full moon night or Poornima. A fortnight
later, moon cannot be seen at all. It is a New moon night or Amavasya.
3. The bright light of the sun does not allow us to see the moon and all the bright tiny objects
during day time.
4. The sun, the moon and all those objects shining in the night sky are called celestial bodies.
5. Patterns formed by different groups of stars are called constellations. Ex: Ursa Major or Big
Bear, Saptarishi (Saptaseven, rishi-sages). Saptarshi is a group of seven stars that forms a part of
Ursa Major Constellation.
6. North star which indicates the north direction is also called the Pole Star. It always remains in
the same position in the sky. A line passing through pointer stars always points towards a pole
star. Thus position of the pole star can be located with the help of Saptarishi constellation.
7. Some celestial bodies do not have their own heat and light. They are lit by the light of the
stars. Such bodies are called planets. The word ‘planet’ comes from the Greek word “Planetai”
which means ‘wanderers’.
8. If the earth is looked from a great distance it would be appeared to be shining just as the
moon.
9. Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus have rings around them. These are belts of small debris.
10. The sun, eight planets, satellites and some other celestial bodies known as asteroids and
meteoroids form the solar system. It is also called solar family, with the sun as its Head.
11. Light travels at the speed of about 300,000 km per second. The light of the sun takes eight
minutes to reach the earth.
12. Astronomers study the celestial bodies and their movements. Aryabhatta was a famous
astronomer of ancient India. He said that the moon and the planets shine due to reflected sunlight.
13. Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on the surface of the moon on 20 July 1969.
14. No astronaut from India has landed on the moon till now. Rakesh Sharma though was the
first Indian to travel to space.

15. Stars

i) Celestial bodies which have their own heat and light are called Stars. They are very big and
hot gas balls. The sun is a star.
ii) We do not feel the heat or light of numerous twinkling stars in the night sky and they look tiny
too because they are very very far from us.

16) Sun
i) Sun is in the centre of the solar system.
ii) It is huge and made up of extremely hot gases.
iii) It provides the pulling force that binds the solar system.
iv) The sun is the source of heat and light for the solar system.
v) We don’t feel its heat so much because despite being our nearest star, it is far away from
us. It is about 150 million km away from the earth.
vi) ‘Solar’ means ‘related to the sun’. The family of the sun is, therefore, called the solar
system.

13) Planets
i) There are eight planets in our solar system. If arranged in order of their distance from the
sun - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. (mnemonic - MY
VERY EFFICIENT MOTHER JUST SERVED US NUTS)
ii) All the eight planets of the Solar Family revolve around the Sun in fixed elliptical paths.
They are called orbits.
iii) Mercury is nearest to the sun taking 88 days to complete one round along its orbit.
iv) Venus is considered as ‘Earth’s-twin’ because its size and shape are similar to earth.
v) Earlier Pluto was a planet but now it is considered a ‘dwarf planet.”

14) The Earth

i) The earth is the third nearest planet to the sun.
ii) It is the fifth largest planet.
iii) Earth’s shape is described as a Geoid as it is slightly flattened at the poles and has a bulge
on the equator. Geoid means an earth-like shape.
iv) Earth is a unique planet in the solar system because: It is only the earth which has life on it.
Conditions favourable to support life are found only on the Earth: i) The Earth is neither too hot nor
too cold, ii) It is the only planet which has water on it, Water is very essential for our survival, iii) It
has life giving gas, oxygen, iv) It also contains ozone layer, which protects us from harmful solar
rays.
 v) Earth’s two-thirds surface is covered by water. So, from the outer space the earth appears
blue and hence it is called a blue planet.

15) Moon
i) Moon is the only natural satellite of earth.
ii) Diametre is only one-quarter that of the earth. But it appears so big because it is nearer to
our planet than other celestial bodies.
iii) It is about 3,84,400 km away from us.
iv) Only one side of the moon is visible from earth because the moon revolves around the earth
in 27 days and it also takes exactly 27 days to rotate on its axis.
v) The moon does not have favourable conditions for life. It has mountains, plains and
depressions on its surface. These cast shadows on the moon’s surface.
vi) A Satellite is a celestial body that moves around the planets in the same way as the planets
move around the sun.
vii) A Human-made Satellite is an artificial body. It is designed by scientists to gather information
about the universe or for communication. It is carried by a rocket and placed in the orbit around
the earth. Some of the Indian satellites in space are INSAT, IRS, EDUSAT, etc.

16) Asteroids
i) Numerous tiny bodies which move around the sun are called asteroids.
ii) They are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
iii) Asteroids are parts of a planet which exploded many years back.
iv) The largest asteroid is Ceres.

17) Meteoroids
i) The small pieces of rocks which move around the sun are called meteoroids.
ii) Sometimes these meteoroids come near the earth and tend to drop upon it. During this
process due to friction with the air they get heated up and burn. It causes a flash of light. These
burning rocks are called meteors.
iii) Sometimes, a meteor without being completely burnt, falls on the earth and creates a hollow
in the ground. An example of such depression in Ramgarh in Rajasthan.

18) Galaxy
A galaxy is a huge system of billions of stars, and clouds of dust and gases. There are millions
of such galaxies that make the Universe. Our solar system is a part of a galaxy called Milky way.
Milky Way is also known as Akash Ganga because in ancient India, it was considered as a river of
light flowing in the sky.

19) Universe
The Universe consists of celestial bodies like the stars, planets, galaxy, dust or gases. The
Universe is a large space that contains everything, i.e., all matters and energy, from the smallest
particles to the largest particles, whatever in the space is universe. No one knows the size of the
Universe. The astronomers believe that the universe is still growing outwards in every direction.

Summary:
 Solar system refers to the family of sun. The sun, the nine planets, the satellites and other

celestial bodies such as asteroids and meteoroids forms the solar system
 Sun is a huge star made up of extremely hot gases. It provides the pulling force that binds the

solar system. It is the ultimate source of heat and light for the solar system.
 The tremendous heat of the sun is not felt much by us because despite being the nearest

star, the sun is quite far from the Earth. The distance of the sun from the Earth is about 150
million km
 Some celestial bodies do not have their own heat and light. They are lit by the light of the

stars. Such bodies are called planets.

 There are eight planets in our solar system. In order of their distance from the sun, they are:

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is not a planet but
a 'dwarf planet'
 The Earth is the third nearest planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest planet on the basis of

size. It is slightly flattened at the poles, that is why, its shape is described as a Geoid. From
the outer space, the Earth appears blue because its two-third surface is covered with water.
Thus, Earth is also known as a blue planet.
 The moon moves around the Earth in about 27 days. The conditions on the moon are not

favourable for the existence of life. There is neither water nor air on moon. There are many
mountains, plains and depressions on the surface of the moon
 Apart from stars, planets and satellites, there are numerous tiny bodies that also move
around the sun. These bodies are called asteroids. They are found between the orbits of
Mars and Jupiter.
 The small pieces of rocks that move around the sun are called meteoroids. Sometimes, these
meteoroids come near the Earth and tend to drop upon it
 A galaxy is a huge system of billions of stars and clouds of dust and gases. There are
millions of such galaxies that make the universe.

Extra topics:
1. Harmful Sun rays make life on earth difficult.
2. Full moon is seen once in a month.
3. Sapta Rishi is also known as small bear.
4. Telescope is used to see the celestial bodies.
5. On new moon night, we can see no moon.
6. Celestial bodies is the common name that can be given to the various planets, stars,
asteroids etc.
7. Saturn has maximum number of moons.
8. When the meteor falls on the earth, they create craters.
9. The moon does not have conditions favourable for life because - During the day it is
very hot and at night it is very cold, no air, no water.
10.The largest and the smallest Planets. Jupiter is the largest and Mercury is the smallest
of all the planets.
11. Planets bigger than the Earth are – Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter.
12. Planets Smaller than the Earth - Venus, Mars and Mercury.
13.To grow and survive animals need air, water, food and shelter. To grow and survive
plants require air, water, nutrients and light.
14. Mercury is the nearest to the Sun, while Neptune is the farthest from the Sun.
15. After sunset and in the night sky filled with bright and dim objects.