Stars

This is a presentation that I completed for EDU 290 in the Fall 2009. The intent of the assignment was to create a lesson that could be used by a student that missed the classroom instruction due to illness

This document describes different stages and types of stars: - Main sequence stars like our Sun spend most of their lives fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. - Red giants are large, reddish stars that have exhausted hydrogen fusion and begun fusing helium. - Planetary nebulae form when average-sized stars eject their outer layers after becoming red giants, leaving behind dense, hot cores called white dwarfs. - Brown dwarfs are failed stars too small to sustain nuclear fusion. - Variable stars change in brightness over timescales from seconds to years as they evolve. - Binary stars are two gravitationally bound stars that orbit a common center of mass.

The document summarizes the formation of the solar system from a large nebula of gas and dust. The nebula began to condense due to gravity, compressing and flattening into a disc. As it heated up from compression, fusion began in the center to form the early sun. Eventually, chunks of material in the disc collided and stuck together through accretion to form planetesimals, which were the building blocks of the inner, rocky planets that were warmer and the outer, gaseous planets that were cooler. Over time, the remaining gas and dust was blown away by the solar wind.

This document discusses comets, asteroids, and meteors. Comets are dirty balls of ice that develop tails when passing near the sun. Asteroids are large chunks of rock and metal that orbit the sun. When asteroids and comet fragments enter Earth's atmosphere, they are called meteoroids. Most burn up and are seen as meteors, also known as shooting stars. If fragments survive entry and reach the ground, they are called meteorites. Large impacts from asteroids or comets in the past have created craters and possibly contributed to mass extinctions like the dinosaurs.

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It has no atmosphere and its surface is marked by craters and dust. The same side always faces Earth. The Moon's diameter is about one quarter that of Earth and it has lower gravity and density than Earth. Temperatures vary greatly from 130°C during the day to -110°C at night. Large flat plains called maria cover parts of the near side, formed by ancient lava flows. Craters and long valleys called rilles are also features of its surface. The Moon orbits Earth about every 27 days in a cycle linked to eclipses.

The document provides information about the solar system and related space topics from a 4th grade science perspective. It discusses that the Sun is at the center of the solar system with 8 planets revolving around it, including Earth which is the only planet that supports life. It also mentions that the solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy, and describes some of the other planets and objects that can be seen in the night sky like stars, constellations, comets, and meteors. Some key facts about the Sun and Earth are also highlighted such as their sizes, distances, and rotations.

The document discusses comets and provides key information about their composition, structure, and orbits. It notes that comets are mostly made up of ice and dust, forming tails when close to the sun. Comets can have either long or short orbital periods, with long-period comets originating from the distant Oort Cloud and short-period comets from the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune. The nucleus and coma are identified as the main parts of a comet. Famous comets mentioned include Halley's Comet and Comets Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake.

There are different life cycle stages for stars depending on their original mass. Low mass stars progress through the stages of nebula, main sequence, red giant, planetary nebula, white dwarf, and black dwarf. High mass stars go through nebula, main sequence, red supergiant, supernova, and either become a neutron star or black hole. The main sequence stage can last billions of years for low mass stars but only millions for high mass stars.

Information for Primary School students on stars and constellations. This PowerPoint uses some slides from http://www.slideshare.net/winga1sm/star-powerpoint-3308182 and the rest has been created by me.

The moon revolves around Earth once every 27 days, keeping the same side facing Earth. It reflects sunlight and its illuminated half changes shape in a cycle from new moon to first quarter to full moon to third quarter over 291⁄2 days. The moon is the closest celestial object to Earth at 384,000 km away. It has many impact craters and temperature extremes ranging from 127°C during the day to -173°C at night. Telescopes allow observation of details on the moon's surface.

This document provides a summary of stellar evolution from the birth of stars to their death. It discusses how stars are formed inside nebulae from collapsing gas clouds. As stars age, they progress through different stages such as protostars, T-Tauri stars, and red giants. More massive stars may die in supernova explosions, leaving behind neutron stars or black holes. Lower mass stars end as white dwarfs. The document also describes different types of nebulae and compact objects like neutron stars and black holes.

Meteoroids are solid objects that orbit the sun. When they enter the Earth's atmosphere, they heat up and produce bright streaks called meteors. Meteors originate from within our solar system, such as from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Meteor showers occur when streams of meteoroids enter the atmosphere parallel to each other, radiating from a single point in the night sky. Common meteor showers include the Quadrantids in January, Lyrids in April, and Geminids in December.

In depth description of the Moon/s phases and why they are as they are. Uses some great internet animations of various situations explaining why we see what we see from Earth. Also discusses the tides and why they are caused by the moon's gravity.

The Solar System consists of the Sun and objects that orbit it, including 8 planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets. The inner Solar System contains terrestrial planets like Earth that are composed of rock and metals. The outer Solar System contains gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn that account for most of the mass. Objects follow elliptical orbits around the Sun, with closer objects moving faster according to Kepler's laws of planetary motion. The Solar System is believed to have formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud.

Comets are chunks of ice and dust that orbit the sun in elongated elliptical orbits, with a nucleus and coma forming the head and a tail always pointing away from the sun. Asteroids are smaller rocky objects found predominantly in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Meteors are space rocks or dust that burn up as streaks of light upon entering Earth's atmosphere, with meteorites being those that survive impact with the surface.

SOLAR SYSTEM The solar system is made up of the sun and everything that orbits around it, including planets, moons, asteroids, comets and meteoroids. COMPOSITION OF SOLAR SYSTEM Sun: 99.85% Planets: 0.135% Comets: 0.01% Satellites: 0.00005% Minor Planets: 0.0000002% Meteoroids: 0.0000001% Interplanetary Medium: 0.0000001%

The document discusses key facts about our planet Earth. It begins by providing context about our solar system and universe. It then explains that Earth is the third planet from the sun and the only planet that supports life. The document goes on to describe how Earth formed from a hot cloud of gases and cooled over millions of years, developing a crust, mantle and core similar to an egg. Volcanoes are mentioned as openings where molten material from the core is forced out of the crust.

Stars are large balls of ionized gas held together by gravity that emit energy through nuclear reactions. They are classified based on size, temperature, and brightness. Size categories include super giants, red giants, main sequence, white dwarfs, and neutron stars. Temperature determines color, from red (coolest) to blue (hottest). Brightness depends on both a star's intrinsic luminosity and its distance from Earth. Spectrographs are used to analyze starlight and determine properties like chemical composition, temperature, and distance.

Stars are balls of plasma held together by gravity. Nuclear fusion reactions in their cores release electromagnetic radiation, determining their temperature, color, and luminosity. Stars are classified by temperature from hottest O-type blue stars to coolest M-type red stars. Main sequence stars like our Sun derive energy from hydrogen fusion. As stars age, they evolve through red giant, red supergiant, and white dwarf phases before becoming virtually dead brown or neutron stars. The death of massive stars occurs in supernova explosions that can trigger new star formation.

Stars are giant balls of gas, mostly hydrogen, that undergo nuclear fusion. They vary in characteristics like color, temperature, size, brightness, and chemical composition. Color depends on temperature, from red stars at around 2000°C up to blue stars at over 50,000°C. Distance is measured in lightyears, with nearby stars like Sirius being 8.5 lightyears away and more distant stars hundreds or thousands of lightyears. The magnitude scale classifies brightness, with first magnitude stars being the brightest. Spectroscopes are used to analyze a star's spectrum and reveal details about its composition.

The document outlines 11 sections commonly found in newspapers and provides a brief description of the type of content in each section. The sections include the general news section on the front page, local and foreign news, editorials, sports, classified ads, business and finance, entertainment, home and culture, society page, travel and tourism, and announcements and obituaries.