A Guide To The

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a guide to the

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STARLAB GREEK . MYTHOLOGICAL u-GONSTELLATION CYLINDER·

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.rCopyright 1982 by Learning Technologies, Inc.

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Introduction

Classical Greek mythology is as rich and varied as the culture that engendered it. In addition to the abbreviated versions of the stories in this Guide, you will want to explore the vast amount of literature_ available on the Greek constellations and the many myths associated with each of them. For more details on the stories found here, consult Percy M. Proctor's excellent book, .!E!!. Myths Stories from Exposition Press, Inc., Hicksville, N.Y.

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Andromeda Daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopei. She is seen stretched out at full length and chained by her ankles and wrists to a rocky island where she is being offered as a sacrifice to Cetus, the Sea Monster.

Aquarius Aquarius was the constellation in which the sun was located during ~he rainy season of the year. Therefore it seemed appropriate to represent Aquarius as a giant holding a huge upturned urn or jar from which an unending stream of water was pouring. All the rivers owed their waters to this downpour and floods occurred when, from t~e to t~e. the water cascaded down from the urn faster than it could be emptied into the .seas.·

Aqu·ila, the Eagle The eagle was Jupiter's favorite bird and was given many difficult tasks to do. The most difficult task was when he had to fly back to Mount Olympus burdened by the weight of a young man, Ganymede. whom he bad been sent to find. Ganymede would become the new cupbearer of the Gods. .

Aries the Ram Aries is a small constellation. It requires a vivid 1lDagmat1oD to find the t.hree main stars that form the ram. It is, however, one of the most famous of the zodiac constellations. Long ago, before there were calanders to keep track of the progress of the year, watchers of the sky learned to rely on the stars to track the passage of time. Prom 2100 Be to 100 AD. it was the stars of Aries that announced the spring equinox.

Auriga

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In the pictures which show what Auriga is supposed to represent, no chariot is ever found, but grasped in his right hand are the reins which a chariot driver would be holding. Auriga is also shown holding a goat over his left shoulder and two little kids in his left hand. This picture tells a mtxed-up story about a charioteer and ~ goatherd. The rising of Capella, the bright star in Auriga was a welcome sign for shepherds, for it foretold the coming of the rainy season upon which they relied for renewed growth of pasture land. On the other hand, the rising of Capella was a most unwelcome sign for sailors for it Signaled the beginning of the stormy season. The kids were regarded as mad stars by sailors' wives, who feared for the wellbeing of their men at sea during the stormy season.

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Bootes Bootes and his two hunting dogs, Canes and Venatici, were put in the heavens to keep watch over the Big Bear and make .certain that it kept ever in its proper place, ~ndlessly circling the North Star.

Cancer, the Crab Legend tells us that Juno sent Cancer to annoy Hercules as he fought his desperate battle with the many-headed Hydra, the water snake. Hercules was the son of one of the many mortal women whom Jupiter married. each time arousing the jealous anger of his goddess wife Juno. Juno took a special dislike to Hercules and tried to make his life miserable. Hercules easily crushed the crab with his foot, but Juno who realized the creature had done its best in trying to serve her, rewarded it by placing it as a constellation in the sky.

Canis Major, the Big Dog Canis Major is the largest of the hunting dogs that had been Orion's faithful companions on earth and was placed at his feet in the sky so that he could continue to have his help as he chased Taurus the Bull across the heavens.

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The second and smaller of the two hunting dogs placed in the sky eo keep Orion company. Canis Minor is less fierce--more like a house pet.

Capricornus, the Sea Goat Capricornus appears in the sky at the t:lme of the winter solstice when the sun stopped dropping and began to cltmb higher and higher in the sky day by day. The figure of a goae, the antmal most famous for his cltmbing ability, was chosen to represent the constellation in which ehe sun was found at this t~e. The goat of the heavens is half goat and half f ish, thus a creature not only able to cl~h, hut also at home in the rains and floods of the w1neer season.

Cassiopeia, the Queen Cassiopeia was a heautiful woman who was fond of boasting about her beauty. The maiclens who attended King Neptune in his unde~ter kingdom learned ehae she made a boast that she was tar more beautiful' than any of them. Tbey demanded Neptune punish her. Neptune sent a monster sea serpent, Cetus, to terrify all who lived along the coast of the country ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. The Serpent snatched women and Children whom he found on the shore. Troubled by this problem in his kingdom, King Cepheus went to an oracle to find out how he could rid his kingdom of this horrible monster. The oracle's answer was that only if he sacrificed his daughter, Andromeda, to the serpent would the maidens feel they had been avenged f or the way Cassiopeia had insulted them and ask Neptune to recall ehe serpent. Cassiopeia vas placed in the heavens to be punished rather than honored. She swings every half night around the ~orth Star. She is upside in the chair in which she 18 seated, hang:Lng on for dear life in a posieion .ose humil1ating for a queen of old who was so proud of her beauty.

Cepheus, the King u

Cepheus is a raeher faint and inconspicuous constellation. This is fitting as King Cepbeus always played second fiddle to his wife,.Queen

Cassiopeia. who ruled tbe roost.

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Ce·tus, the Sea Monster Cetus is the sea monster that Neptune sent to devour Andromeda and thus punish Queen Cassiopeia. Cetus had the forked tail of a dolphin, paws of an an~l, head of a greyhound with short tusks and long, scaly neck. Cetus was said to be 40 feet in length, with ribs six feet long.

Corona Borealis, Northern Crown As a wedding~gift to his bride, Bacchus presented Ariadne with a golden crown set with seven glittering diamonds. Not long after .their m.arriage, Ariadne died and Bacchus, in his grief' at tHe loss, resolved to throw away the crown which she had worn so happily because it reminded h~ of his lost love. Up into the sky he tossed it, and higher and higher it rose until his friends among the gods caught it and hung it high in the sky where its seven diamonds formed the Northern Crown

Corvus, the' Crow

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Legend tells us that the crow once bad s1lverwhite feathers aud a beautiful singing voice. One morn.1D& the god Apollo sent the crow to fetch a cup of water. Having spied some half ripened f1gs, the crow lingered at the spring waiting for them to ripen. He had quite a feast, but soon realized he was due for a scolding from Apollo for his tardiness. The crow lied to Apollo about h1s whereabouts but Apollo could easily tell the crow was lying. He angrily punished him by changing the color of his feathers to black and condemning him to be known in the future for his croak instead of·~is song.

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Crater u

This represents the cup that Corvus the Crow was sent to fill at a Spring and bring back to Apollo.

Cygnus, the Swan Cygnus was the best friend of Phaeton, son of Apollo. Phaeton was struck by lightening bolts after wlldly driving Apollo's chariot across the skies and fell into the river Ericlanus. In those days, it was believed that the soul of a dead person must roam the world forever as a ghost unless his body was properly buried. Cygnus dove into the river over and over again in search of Phaeton's body. Jupiter was so moved by the love and devotion that Cygnus showed for Phaeton that he turned Cygnus into a swan so he could dive more easily. Finally after Cygnus gave up in despair of ever finding the body of Phaeton, Jupiter placed him in the heavens as a swan.

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Delphinus, the Dolphin Apollo placed this constellation in the sky to honor a dolphin that saved the life of Arion, a famous musician. Arion was returning home by boat to Corinth with a great sum of money after a successful concert tour in Italy. The ship's crew, knowing of this money. siezed Arion and were about to throw h~ overboard when be begged to play one last song on his harp. So beautiful was his last song that Apollo, the god of music, summoned a dolphin to rescue Ar:IDn. The, dolphin carried Arion safely to Corinth where he summoned the police to set a trap f or the incoming sailors. Arion had a small statue of the dolphin made and placed a shrine in a temple. Later t Apollo took it and placed it among the stars so 1 t would be an eternal memorial to a brave and friendly fish.

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Draco, the Dragon * Draco is the dragon set by Juno to guard the golden apples which she had given Jupiter as her wedding present to htm. The dragon was a monster whose fiery breath was poisonous and whose enchanted hide no arrow could pierce. Ever watchful, he coiled around the tree on which the golden apples hung and would allow no one to come close except Atlas, the giant who held the world on his shoulders.

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To get the apples away from the dragon was one of the twelve labors Hercules had to accomplish. He went to Atlas for help and Atlas agreed to get the apples if Hercules would take over the task of holding up the world in the meant~e. Atlas enjoyed his freedom so much, he ran away with the apples and left Hercules supporting the earth. Hercules was clever, however, and he asked Atlas to relieve htm lang enough to place a pad on his shoulder. Atlas fell for the trick and Hercules ran off with the golden apples. To punish the dragon for its failure, Juno placed it as one of the circumpolar constellations where, in the northern heaven, it would never set and would always remain on guard. *5000 years ago, the fourth magnitude star Thuban close to the end of Draco's tail was the Pole Star around which the entire northern heavens would then have seemed to revolve just as now they appear to revolve around the North Star. This change in the Pole Star has occurred because the earth is wobbling in the same way that a slowing-down top wobbles. So the earth's axis does not continue to point toward the same spot in the nor~hern sky, but slowly traces out a circle among the stars there. Only after thousands of years does it become apparent that a new North Star has taken the place of the one toward which the earth's axis had been pointing.

Equuleus, the Colt Equuleua i8 said to have been a horse which figured in a contest waged ,by Neptune, god of the seas, and Pallas Athene, goddess of wisdom, to decide who would become patron of that ancient Greek City which was named Athens to honor Athene, the winner of the contest. Under the terms of the contest, Neptune and Athene were each to make a gift to the city, and a jury of twelve gods waa to decide who bad the more useful (continued)

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gift. ~eptune struck a rock with his trident and a horse appeared.. Athene caused an olive ~ree to sprou~ out of ~he rocky top of the hill. The jury of gods had the power to look far into the future and realize what the cultivation of ~hat ~ree would mean to the future prosperity of Greece and declared Athene the winner.

Eridanus, the River Eridanus or the river of the heavens can be traced from where it starts close to Rigel at the foot of Orion and then drops down in a series of bends and loops to where it disappears below the southern horizon. It stretches more than 60 degrees in its long course and is outlined by a host of faint stars.

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Allover the world, this curving liDe of stars was considered a river, often named after the country's main river: the Nile in Egypt, the Euphrates in Babylonia, the Po in Italy. The Po river figures in the most familiar old story. The Po was the river in which the body of Phaeton plunged after he was struck down by Jupiter's thunderbolt, ending his foolish drive across the sky in Apollo's chariot. . Apollo was so saddened by the fate of his son that he placed the river in the sky as a constellation to be an eternal memorial to his courageous but headstrong son.

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Gemini, the Twins ..","

Castor and Pollux were twin brothers who were so devoted to each other as to be inseparable. Pollux was ~ortal like his father Jupiter, but Castor was mortal like his mother Leda. When Castor died in battle, Pollux begged Jupiter to take away his ~ortality so he too could die. Jupiter was so ~pressed by this demonstration of love that he arranged for Pollux to spend half of each day with Cas tor in Hades, and Castor could spend the other half with Pollux on Mount Olympus among the Gods. Eventually Jupiter honored the twins by changing them into stars and placing them in the heavens to be a memorial to brotherly love at its finest.

Hercules, the Kneeler Hercules was the son of Jupiter and a mortal woman, whom Jupiter had married as he had several others. This made Juno his goddess wife so jealous that she decided to punish someone. To vent her anger she decided to make Hercules' life difficult and miserable. 1While he was" still a baby she sent two huge snakes to kill h~, but Hercules strangled both of them. " When he had grown to manhood. Juno caused him . to become insane for a brief period durtng which he murdered his family. To atone for that dreadful deed, he was bound out as a slaye and was to earn his freedom only by successfully completing 12 heroic tasks, the labors of Hercules. They were: -killing the Nemean lion -battling Hydra the water snake -capturing the wild boar of Arcadia -capturing a deer with horns of gold and hoofs of brass -shooting a flock of man-eating birds with beaks of brass and feathers like arrows -cleaning out 3000 cattle stables with years of accumulated f 11th -capturing the Cretan bull that snorted fire -kUling the man-eating horses of King Poinedes -siezing the jeweled belt of the Queen of the Amazons -capturing of a herd of oxen guarded by a giant with 3 heads, 6 hands and 3 bodies -bringing back Cerebus; the fierce 3 headed dog that guarded Pluto's kingdom -getting the golden apples of Hesperides

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Hydra, the Water Snake

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Hydra is one of the longest constellations, stretching out for 100 degrees across a full quarter of the sky. Halfway down its long, snaky coils are the two small constellations of Corvus the crow and Crater the cup. Hydra is the water snake which the Crow tried to blame for delaying him so long in bringil\g back the cup of water (Crater) to Apollo.

Leo, the Lion

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The majestic head and mane of Leo, the Lion are formed by the curving line of stars known as the Sickle. Leo's main star, Regulus, is the faintest of the so-called first magnitude stars. It was always a star of great importance to ancient astronomers, howeVer, who considered it to be the ruler over all other stars. Its duty was to keep them all in order and in their proper places in the sky.

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Leo was the constellation in front of whose stars the sun was found in midsummer. To the ancient peoples, the explanation of why the sun b~came so overpowering in swmmer must have been that the stars of Leo were adding greatly t'o the heat of the sun. It was nacural, therefore, to compare these stars· to the most powerful animal known, the Lion, King of Beasts.

Lepus, the Hare Lepus is located at the foot of Orion, the Hunter. Orion, who was so busy chasing taurus the bull, allowed the bare to remain unnoticed as long as he stayed absolutely quiet. Another thought is that the hax:e stayed below Orion in hopes that he would remain unnoticed by Sirius, the Big Dog who was swiftly pursuing h:lm.

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Llora, tne

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Uf the 12 zodiac constellations Libra is the only one that does not represent something alive. An early astronomer assigned the task of reforming the calander decided to honor Julius Caesar by combining the claw stars of the Scorpion to form the figure of Caesar holding a pair of old-fashioned balance scales. The constellation was meant to be an eternal memorial in the heavens to the infinite wisdom and justice of Caesar. After Caesar's death, however, his figure was dropped out of the constellation picture and only the scales were retained. 2000 years ago at the t~e of the calander reform, the stars used to form Libra were in the stars in front of which the sun was found at the time of the autumnal equinox, when days Bnd nights are equal or balanced.

Lyra, the

~yre

"the lyre \laS one of the first stringed instruments used in Greece. Mercury made the first lyre and presented it to "Apollo, who in turn gave it to his son Orpheus. Orpheus learned to play such sweet music on it that birds came to listen, wild beasts were tamed and sea monsters charmed by the music's spell. Orpheus married Eurydice, but shortly after their wedding she was bitten and killed by a poisenous snake. Orpheus was so Brieved that he was determined to go down where Pluto ruled the underworld and use the magic of his music to soften Pluto's heart, rescue Eurydice and bring her back to ear~h. He was able to overcome all the dangers on route to Hades. When he reached Pluto his music brought the underworld kings under its spell. Pluto gave Orpheus per.miss1on to take Eurydi~e back to earth provided Orpheus went ahead of her and never turned back to see 1£ she was following until they were almost at the end of their walk. Orpheus suddenly realized that he could no longer hear Eurydice's footsteps. Fearing someth:l.ng bad happened to her, he turned back to look and a great stone dropped down to block the path ancl hid Eurydice forever from his sight. For years Orpheus roamed the woods, playing only sad tunes. Many a maiden f ell in love with h:1m but he remained true to Eurydice I s memory. Finally a Iroup of maidens angered by his lack of attentiveness k:Lllecl Orpheus and tossed his lyre into the river. Jupiter sent a wlture to bring back the lyre and placed it in the heavens as a constellation. The wlture is represented by the bright blue star Vega, whose name means falling bird.

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Ophuichus, Serpent Holder

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Ophuichus was said to represent a famous Greek physician, Aesculapius, who discovered how ~o bring the dead back to life. He used a mys~erious herb which he had learned about while attemp~ing to kill a snake one day. Once slain a second snake appeared who thrust bits of the mysterious herb into the mouth of its dead mate and the mate came back to life. Aesculapius studied the herb and found it growing in his garden. So successful was Aesculapius's use of the herb, ~ha~ Pluto, ruler of ~he underworld, complained to Jupiter that he had no dead souls. His business was ruined. Jupiter. fearing that Aesculapius gave ~orta11ty, like the gods, to every man, sent a deadly lightening bolt that killed the doctor. But in tribute to his grea~ skills as a physician. Jupiter placed Aesculapius among the stars together With the snake.

Orion, the Hunter u

Greek legend tells us that Diana, goddess of both the moon and hunting, fell in love with, Orion the bravest h~ter of ancient t~es~ She began to neglect her duty of driving the moon chariot across the sky at night to 'light it up, in order that she might go down to earth to hunt with Orion. When her brother Apollo heard of this neglect, he decided to do away. with Orion. He shone his golden rays so bl1ndingly on Orion one day while he was swimming that he appeared only as a faint dot in the waves. He then challenged Diana to hit the tiny target with her bow and arrow. Diana, not knowing what the target was, shot so accurately that her arrow hit Orion and k1l1ecl h:lm. When she found his body on the shore that evening she realized what had happened •. After trying in vain to bring Orion back to life, she put his body in her moon chariot and drove high across the sky where it was darkest. She put the body of her beloved Orion in the sky and suddenly the sky became bright with stars that outlined. his body, jeweled belt and glittering sword. At his foot to keep him company, she placed his two favorite hunt·ing dogs and marked each with a brilliant star. Procyon in the Little Dog and Sirius 1n the Big Dog.

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Pegasu·s, the Winged Horse ......

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The most famous of the myths about Pegasus identifies it as the winged horse which carried Perseus through· the sky as he returned the head of the Medusa. Neptune, who had loved Medusa when she was young and pretty, created Pegasus from white beach sand, rainbow-colored foam of breaking waves and drops of blood fram the severed head of Medusa. So perhaps the reason why Pegasus 18 shown with half a body may be to represent the newly created horse just rising out of the sea with half its body still hidden beneath the waves. Pegasus was also the favorite steed of Jupiter, who sent all his thunderbolts v1a Pegasus. Jupiter presented Pegasus to the Muses on Mt. Helicon. One day, as he pranced about there, a casual kick of one hoof caused the famous spring of H1ppocrene to gush forth on the mountain top. Its waters had the magic power of inspiring whoever drank them to gain the gift of writing poetry.

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Perseus; the Champion Perseus was known for t~o corageous ·acts. His first was bringing back the head of the Medusa, who had snakes f or her hair and was so ugly that anyone who looked at her turned to stone. Armed with a highly polished shield from Minerva, winged sandals fram Mercury, and a magic pouch and helmut from the nymphs of the North, Perseus set off to slay the Medusa. His helmut allowed h:lm bo become invisible, the polished shield acted as a mirror 80 he could back in and watch the Medusa's reflection. He struck a killing blow, scooped up the head and tucked it in the pouch, careful not to look at it. he flew off, he met the winged horse Pegasus which Neptune ha~ created. Perseus mounted the horse and was swiftly born across the sky. As he flew he noticed a crowd of people gathered on the beach below h~. As he guided Pegasus down be saw a maiden, Andromeda, chained to a rock and a terrible sea monster about to engulf her. Perseus dropped down like a shooting star, shouted for Andromeda to cover her face and raised the flap of his pouch just enough so the monster could see the Medusa's head. The sea monster was instantly turned into stone. Perseus freed Andromeda and the people on the beach cheered.

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Pices, the Fishes

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Venus and her son Cupid are said to have changed themselves into _fishes to escape Typhon, a firebreath1ng dragon. Typhon could only live in flames and fire but not in water. Venus and Cupid tied themselves together with a long cord in order not to become separated.

Piscis Australis, the Southern Fisr. This constellation contains one first magnitude star called Fomalhaut, which means "mouth of the fish. 1I This bright star marks the mouth of the Southern Fish which is opened wide to catch the torrent of water pouring down from the upturned urn of Aquarius, the Water Carrier. located above Piscis Australis.

Sagitta, the Arrow ,-.

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Legend tells us that Jupiter punished Prometheus for twice stealing the gift of fire from Mount Olympus by cha1ning .h~ to~a. rock high, in the Caucasasus Mountains. Every day he sent a wlture ~ to eat at the liver of the chained victum. Each night the liver grew-again so the dreadful torture never ceased. Finally Prometheus was rescued from his agony by Hercules, who killed the vulture with his bow and arrow and freed· Prometheus from his· chains. According to myth. Sag it ea is tha t arrow shot from Hercules bow.

Sagittarius, the Ar.cher Long ago a stranae race of creatures, the centaurs, half man and half horae, lived on Mount Pelion :1n Greece. They had the power and speed of a horse with the braiDs of a man. They were savage creatures. known for their evil ways.

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One Centaur, Chiron, became known for his goodness and wisd.om. Be became a famous teacher to whom kings sent their sons to be educated. Chiroo was immortal, but due to a painful wound he received he begged Jupiter to allow htm to die rather than to live in agony. Jupiter granted his request. Before Chiroo died, he designed all the constellations to aid the navigators". He desilned Sagittarius to honor himself since be was known as a great archer.

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Scorpius, the Scorpion Juno, wife of Jupiter, grew tired of hearing Orion boast that no animal coulcl ever harm him •. She clec1cled she would show him how vain he was by baving him k1l1ecl in a most humiliating way by a tiny, insignificant animal. She selected a scorpion. The scorpion lay in ambush close to a trail that Orion liked to use on his daily bunting trips, stuns him in the heel and caused his death. When Diana, the loddess of the moon, learned of her lover's death, sbe begged Jupiter to place him aa a constellation in the heavens. Juno demanded that Jupiter must also honor the Scorpion in the same way. So Jupiter placed them far apart in the sky-Orion in the winter sky and the Scorpion in the summer sky.

Taurus, the Bull .

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Jupiter, disguised as a snow white bull, came down from Mount Olympus one day .to where Europa, a beaut1ful maiden, was playmB in the meadow. The bull va. 80 Bentle tbat Europa climbed on its back. Then off sped Jupiter to the seashore, where he plunged into the waves and swam with his captive Europa.across to the island of Crete. There Jupiter revealed hmself as the king of the gods and won Europa as his bride.

Triangulum, the Triangle Th1a constellation represents the triangle-shaped island of Sicily tn Italy and was placed tn the heavens by Jupiter at the request of Ceres, goddess of agriculture. Sicily vas a land held in high esteem by Ceres because of the high quality of the crops raised there. .

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Ursu Major, the Big Bear '--

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Jupiter is said to have come down from Mount Olympus on many occasions to marry a beautiful earth maiden. This enraged his goddess wife Juno. One such maiden was Callistro. Juno decided to punish ber by taking away her beauty. She turned Call1stro into a mangy bear. Callistro had a son, Areas. WhUe Callistro roamed as a bear, Arcas grew to be a young man and a famous hunter. One day he trailed a bear through the woods and was about to shoot an arrow when Jupiter intervened. His prey was Callistro. his mother. Jupiter turned Areas into a bear. He grasped both bears by their short, stumpy tails and heaved them high up into the heavens where they landed near the North Pole. So heavy were the bears that the strain on their taUs caused them to be stretched out into the unusual lengths found in their heavenly constellations.

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Juno saw the two bears shining brightly in the sky. she realized that callistro was again beautiful. She went to Neptune, ruler of the seas, and asked him to drive the stars of the Big Bear away from his waters every ttme they dropped down near the sea, never letting them bathe in the waves.

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Ursu Minor, the Little Bear·

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The little bear is better known as the Little Dipper, one of the Little Dipper's starR is Polaris·, the North Star. It has been the,guide star for those who sail their ships across the Northern Hemisphere and for those who travel across the land.

Virgo, the Virgin The best-known myth about Virgo identifies her as Ceres, goddess of growing things, to whom farmers offered their prayers.

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Ceres had a daughter, Proserpine, who was kidnapped by Pluto, ruler of the underworld. Ceres declared that nothiDg was to grow on earth until Proserpine was returned. Jupiter ordered. Pluto to return Proserpine to earth but Pluto said it was not possible because Proserpine had eaten while below in the underworld. Faced with the problem of what to do because she had eaten the seeds, and pulled one way by Ceres and the other by Pluto, Jupiter worked out a compromise by which Proserpine would spend siX months with her mother and six months with Pluto. So it is that when Proserpine cames to spend 6 months with her mother, Ceres shines brightly over the f.ields and: they bring forth crops. But when Proserpine returns to Hades, Ceres is sad and lonely and allows the world to become cold and dreary.

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AMERICAN INDIAN CONSTElLA TIONS'-'"

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/ Copyright 1982 by:

LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 59 Walden Street CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS'02140

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For use with the American Indian Constellation Cylinder

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Campfire· of the North

(So'tsoh) Navaho This is the North Star or home star. It never moves and acts as the traveler's guide or lodestar. Look for it if you are lost; it will help you find your way~ All the o~her stars will revolve around 'it.

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Black God Black God and his Pleiades

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(Navaho)

Black God is the Creator of fire and light. When Black God entered the Hogan of creation, Pleiades was lodged at his ankle. In the Hogan itself he stamped his foot vigorously which made the Pleiadobound to his knee. He stamped his foot again and caused the Pleiad to locate at his hip. .oOn the third tap he brought the Pleiad to his right shoulder and on the fourth to his left temple where "it would stay" declared the Black God. His feat of locating the Pleiad where he wanted it confirmed to the creator group that the Black God alone was in charge of and had the power of producing constellations for beautifying the dark upper or sky.

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Cold Man of the North or First Man

First Woman

or Cassiopeia

COLD MAN OF THE NORTH

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CASSIOPEI (Big Dipper)

These two constellations are located on either side of the North Star or home fire. They never leave this area of the sky and no other constellation approaches to interfere with their routine. This arrangement of constellations established a law that ha~ persisted to this day. This law stipulates that only one couple may live by one home fire. (Navaho)

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Lizard Xa'asboii

(Navaho)

particular legends about these constellations exist" to our knowledge but literature mentions ~he fact that First Woman made many more constellations for the sky un"til nearly every animal, bird and insect bad star counterparts in the sky. -

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Butterfly K'aalogii

(Navaho)

First Big One Xavaho

(in Scorpio)

This constellation seems ~o be part of Scorpio. Its human form suggests an application to First Man

Man With Feet Ajc.-

This constellation is part of Corvus. No folklore was found on either of these two Navaho constellation .

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Thunderbird (i'ni)

Navaho

The Navaho legends hold that the Thunderbird constellation carried all the clouds in his tail and rain under his wings. Thus when the Thunderbird constellation is shining brightly in the sky, spring or the rainy season has arrived.

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Bear Navaho

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The Bear constellation that- is tangent to the Thunderbird is also tied into the legend of changing seasons. When the bear is bright in the sky and the feather of Thunderbird is just touching the nose of the Bear, Spring has arrived. The Bear has essentially come out of Winter hibernation.

Great- Bear .•

(Shoshoni) Loca'ted on the Milky Way Path. One Iroquois legend tells us that the Great Bear was pursued by three Indian braves. The chase began at the beginning of time when the first Indian shot and struck the Bear in the side with his bow and arrow~ The wound wasn't serious, however, and the Bear kep~ on running. He has been running across the sky ever since. The bear's path changes from season to season. In the autumn it begins low in the Northwest. During this season the arrow wound of the Bear opens slightly and a little blood trickles down upon the land. It covers the leaves of the trees and dyes them red and that is why-we have autumn.

Rabbit Tracks Gahatei (Navaho) This is the constellation that governs all hunting. During the spring· and early summer when the open end of the tracks point upward, no one may hunt game animals. In the late fall, when the open end tips toward earth, the hunting season begins. Laws governing hunting were very strict as the Navaho depended on game for their food. No hunting was allowed during an animal's mating season.

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Horned Rattler

Hydra Horned Rattler

(Navaho)

Hydra who resembles a sea serpent was said to be given charge of the underground water channels.

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·Spider God

1\ _____ Blackfoot ~

Spider God sits in his star web during the summer time, watching over the earth. To visit the land he climbs down the Milky Way.

Porcupine (Dahsani)

Navaho

The Porcupine was given charge of the growth of all trees on the mountains.

Dog 'Star Cherokee

Legend tells us that all depart~d souls on their sky journey to the "land of souls" must pa.ss two barking dogs. These dogs' stars are Sirius located in the dog constellation and Autares located in the First Big One on your American Indian Constellation Cylinder. If the departed soul fed the first dog but had nothing for the second dog, it would be left trapped in the sky forever between the dogs.

Long Sash or

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(Tewa)

Slim One (Navaho) Ace ecozi

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(Orion)

Long sash lead hi~ people westward to a new land away from their enemies who were attacking vilages, stealing animals and killing families. Once settled in this new land, however, the people began to quarrel and exchange blows among themselves. Long Sash declared "you are hurting yourselves worse than your enemies hurt you. If you are to come to a place of your own there can be no violence among you. You must decide whether you follow me or take another trail."

- ........._--

Place of Decision·

or the· Twins (Tewa)

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North and east of Longsash are 2 bright stars. This is where Langsash's people sat to decide which path of life to follow and thus it is called the place of decision. People looked to these stars for guidance whenever they came to a turning pOint in their lives.

Coyote (Canopus)

Matii Bizo'

Navaho: The coyote constellation is located in the southern skies. Navaho legend tells us that the coyote was a trickster, a bumbler constantly disturbing the orderly arrangement that was intended for the sky. In assisting First Man , , and First Woman in placing 'J constellations in the sky, coyote was said to have mixed up Castor and Pollux, the twins. This angered First Woman so much that she forbade the coyote to place any other stars in the sky other than his own. The coyote placed his own star (Canopus) directly~over. Coyote Mountain. It is sai4 to shine brightly in the southern sky during mating season. Hopi: Hopi legends tell us that the Creator called on all his creatures to gather tiny sparkling stones to place in the sky for light. He told each creature to take as many of the sparkling rocks as they could carry and draw a picture of themselves in the sky. Most of the animals, however, were too small to carry enough stones to complete their picture, so the Creator gave Coyote a large bag of stones so that he could help the smaller creatures. But Coyote grew impatient. He took the stones and flung them into the sky, which is why some of the star figures are unfinished and why the stars don't all form clear patterns. It was only then that Coyote realized that he had forgotten his own picture and there were no rocks left. So Coyote howled, and still forever a coyote howls at the sky because his picture is not there.

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Milky Way Trail Navaho:

Yikaisdahi

Navaho legend holds that the Milky Way provides a pathway for the spirits traveling between heaven and earth, each little star being one footprint. The Milky Way path was placed in the sky by the Coyote. After all the stars had been chiseled many small pieces of quartz and quartz dust remained on the blanket where First Man and Woman had been working. Coyote is said to have grasped the blanket by ,two corners and swung it in the air spraying the stone fragments and star dust in an arc in the sky that reached from horizon to horizon forming the Milky Way. Algonquin: \

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Pathway of Souls

The Algonquin legend tells us that the Milky Way is the path that our souls take when we die. Sometimes referred to as the Pathway of Souls, it is an imperishable mark upon the sky which arches across the heavens. We do not know where the path ~leads nor·do we know what sights they may behold. Each bright star, however, is a campfire blazing in the sky where they have paused in their journey to look down on us, their people, as we huddle for warmth around our home fire'. Other Names 'for the Milky Way: Fox tribe: ••••••• "A river of stars" Yokut: ••• '•.•• '•••• "dust from a race between antelope and deer' Cherokee: .•••.•••• "corn meal 'dripping from a dog's mouth" Ciowa .•••..•.•••• "backbone of the sky" Hidohsa & Patwin: .• "scattered ashes" Eskimo: ..•.••••.•• "track made by Raven's snow shoes" Skidee Pawnee: .••. "glue holding the sky together"

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References Learning Technologies, Inc. would like to express special thanks to the astronomers of the Astronomy Education Program at the Lawrence Hall of Science. University of California at Berkeley for their suggestions on the STARLAB American Indian Constellation Cylinder. Other American Indian sky stories can be found on pages 52-56 of this manual and in the following references: Budd, Lillian, Full Moons, Indian Legends of the Seasons, Rand McNally and Co., 1'9'7r." - Clark, Ella E., Indian Legends of California Press. 1953. Clark, Ella E., Indian Legends Oklahoma Press, 1966.

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Northwest, University of

the Northern Rockies, University of

Haile, Berard, Starlore Among the Navaho, Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1947.

Muse~m

of Navaho Ceremonial _

Judson, Katharine Berry, selector and editor, Myths and Legends of British North .America, A. C. McClurg and Co., 1917. Judson, Katherine Berry. Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes, A.C. McClurg and Co •• 1914. Littman, Mark. The People - Skylore of the American Indian, Hansen Planetarium, Salt Lake City. Utah, 1976. Longfellow. Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha. Marriott, Alice and Carol K. Rachlin, American Indian Mythology. Thomas Y. Crowell Company. 1968. Newcomb, Franc Johnson. Navaho Folk Tales. Museum of Navaho Ceremonial Art, Santa Fe. N.M •• 1947.---Parsons, Elsie Clews, Tewa Tales. published by the American Folk-Lore Society, G. E. Stechert and Co., 1920. ~

Challenger, Astronomy Education Program, University of California, Berkeley, Ca. 94720. 1978.

Thompson, Stith, selector and annotator, Tales of the North American Indians, Indiana University Press, 1929.

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~TAR-t-INDINCi

AND l.ONSTEllATIONS

F-5, Star-Finding wIth a Star-FInder

u STAR FINDING WITH A STAR FINDER A star map of the night sky helps locate different constellations in the same way a road map helps locate different cities on the earth. In this activity students construct a rotating star finder to find the constellations vislole in the night sky throughout the year. CONCEPTS.

Constellations remain :fixed in their relative position to each other. ConstelliJ,tions appear in the sky at different times, due to the earth's daily rotation and seasonal Qrbit around ~e sun. OBJECTIVES

Students will: • construct a star finder. • identify constellations using a star finder. • observe the effect of seasonal changes when viewing constellations. MATERIALS

Star F'mder patterns: holder, and nyo constellation wheels scissors file folders (one and one-half'per star finder) glue stapler

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PROCEDURE

Advanced Preparation: . Make enough copies of the Star Finder patterns so each student can make their own. Creating a sample ahead of time will help them understand what the final product should . look like. CONSTRUCTING THE STAR FINDER

1. Distribute one manila folder and the Star Finder Holder pattern to each student 2. Have students glue the holder pattern to the front of a manila file folder, with the east-south edge of the holder along the fold of the file folder. 3. Have them cut out the star :finder as indicated on the pattern, including the central oval. They should staple the front and back together by placing staples exactly on the staple lines shown on the front of the Star F'mder Holder.

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29 .

Science Center PROJECT ASTRO' RESOURCE NOTEBOOKIAsTRONOMICAL SOCIElY OF THE PACIFIC

ISTAR-FINDING AND CONSTELLATIONS F-5, Star-Findtng with a Star-Finder

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4. Distribute copies of the constellation wheels and one-half of a manila folder to each student Glue one of the constellation wheels to one side of the manila folder. Have them cut it out, then glue the other constellation wheel to the back. This technique makes it easier to line up the circle of the two wheels. It is not possible to align the dates on the two wheels, nor is it important for them to be aligned.

5. Have them insert the star wheel between the pages of the holder so the simple star field appears through the oval opening. Once the star wheel is completely inserted, test tum the star wheel to be sure it moves freely. Check to see that the black line under the dates on the star wheel approximately lines up with the edge of the star finder cover showing the time of day. USING THE STAR FINDER

1. Before going outside to use the Star Finder, practice using it in the classroom. Have the students align the current date on the wheel with the time indicator on the holder. The following set of questions and directions will help them become familiar with the star finder. a. Assume you are going to observe at 9:00 p.m. tonight What constellations are visible? b. Tum the dial until it is set for 11:00 p.m. tonight. 1. Which constellations are visible? 2. Which constellations were visible at 9:00 p.m., but are no longer visible at 11:00 p.m.? . 3. Which horizon are disappearing constellations closest to? 4. Which constellations are visible at 11:"00 p.m., but were not visible at 9:00 p.m.? c. Turn the dial until it is set for 5:00 a.m., just around sunrise. 1. Which constellations are still visible that were up at 9:00 p.m.? 2. Describe the motion the constellations follow from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. 3. Rotate the dial one complete tum, which represents a 24-hour day. Which constellations never go below the horizon? d. Hold the star finder over your head so that the "North" designation on the star finder is pointing north. The stars showing in the oval opening are those that can be seen overhead at the time and date set on the star finder. The edge of the oval represents the horizon. Stars near the edge of the oval are low on the horizon. The center of the oval is the point directly overhead when you look up in the night sky. This point is called the zenith. stars near the center of the oval will be high overhead when you are observing.

n e 1994 Pacific Science Center 'PROJECT ASTRO RESOURCE NOTEBOOK/AsTRoNOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC

30

STAR-FINDING AND CONSTELLATIONS! I

I F-5, Star-Finding wtth a Star-Finder

u e. Now you are ready to go star finding in the night sky. A small flashlight or penlight will help you read the star :finder at night Red plastic, red construction paper, or a red balloon, over the front of the flashlight will allow you. to read your star chart by the red light, but will not reduce your ability to see faint stars in the sky. Teachers Note: Have students practice using their star finders, pointing to where they would expect to find specific constellations. 2. The simple star field shows the bright stars visible in the major constellations. These stars are easily found, especially when viewing from a city where the many lights make it difficult to see faint stars. Once students are experienced at finding the bright stars on this side of the star wheel, they can flip the star wheel over and attempt to :find the fainter stars and constellations. Some of these will not be visible until observed from a location away from city lights. 3. Once students become famjljar with some of the brighter constellations, they can use them as guides to find your way around the sky. For example,. they can use the two outer stars of the Big Dipperls cup to help :find .the North Star. Have them devise their own technique to use the stars to :find other constellations.

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1994 Pacific Science Center PROJEcr ASTRO RESOURCE NOTEBOOK!AsrRONOMICAl SOOETY OF THE PACIFIC

STAR-F,ND,NG AND CONSTEllATIONS

F-5, Star-Finding with a Star-Finder

STAR FINDER HOLDER ~ PASTE ONTO FOLDER, ALIGNING THIS EDGE WITH FOLDED SPINE OF FOLDER.

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THEN CUT ALONG EDGE OF STAR FINDER, BUT DO NOT CUT FOLDED EDGE!

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Mt. Nose

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A Model of Day and Night ;Before you do the moon balls activity in this session, but with the lamp already set up, there is a great opportunity to model day and night. This relates to the explanations the students explored in Session f and helps students gain understanding through their own direct perceptions. l.

Gather the class in a circle around the lamp. Explain to the ~tudents that each of their heads represents the Earth. The light in the center represt!l1ts the Sun. the students to imagine that their nose is a mountain and that a person lives on the tip of "Mount Nose." With the students facing the lightbulb, ask, "For the person on your Mount Nose, where in the sky is the sun?" Ihigh in the sky, overhead) Ask, "What time of day do you think it is for the person on Mt. Nose?" (around noon)

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3. Ask. the students to tum 1p their left, and stop when their right ears are facing the sun. Ask, "For the person on'Mount Nose, where in the sky does the sun seem to be? In~ar the horizon, low in the sky1 Ask, "What time of day is i~ for the person7" Isunset1 4- Have the students continue to tum~ stopping when their backs are to the Iightbulb. Ask,

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. "What time is ·It for·the perso~' on Mount Nose?" (around midnjghti On what part of your head is it daytlme71the back of your head, because it is now facing the sunl'

. 5. Have the stl:1dents make· another quarter tum, so that their left ears face the sun. Where is the sun? now in the sky, just "coming up") What time Is it? [sunrise] Have the class tum back to face the light. ... 6. You may want to have students hold their hands to the sides of their heads to form "horizons" The left hand is the "eastern horizon" and the right hand is the "western horizon." Tell the students to tum slowly and watch for "sunrises" from their "left hand/eastern horizon" and sunsets on their "right. hand/western horizon." 7. Remind the class of the term model, as someone's explanation for something that has been observed. Scientists today use a model like the one they have just made to explain the way the Sun seems to move in the sky.

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Activity 4

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AISD Planetarium Outline

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Introduction: • If this is what you do first: Introduce yourself and a brief outline of what the program will be like. • If this is your second half: Revue some of the things they learned in the first half. The most important star (to us): • What star is most important to us? • Why is the Sun the most important star to us? (show picture of sun) 1. Heat, light, gravity, seasons 2. All food and the energy your body needs comes from the Sun. 3. All other energy comes from the Sun too. • Solar, wind, water power • Gasoline, coal, oil, gas, firewood • Electricity, radio and tv, microwaves • -Earth and Sun (two ways to model: "Texas Nose" or have a kid to be the Sun and one to be the Earth) 1. Demonstrate day & night 2. Demonstrate a year 3. Show how the stars visible at night change over the year • How many stars are in the Solar System? 1. Ask them this trick question. Narrow down the guesses to "many" and "one". Re-state the question with emphasis on the "solar system" and see if they can figure it out. 2. Ask them if they can name the things in the Solar System • Use Sherry'S Solar System Game to help them figure out the planets and the order they go including asteroids, the Moon, dwarf planets and moons of other planets (every planet has one or more moons except for Mercury and Venus) So, where ARE those other stars? Outside our solar system. • How far away is the Sun? 1. 93 million miles, or 8 minutes at light speed (8 light minutes) • Miles are too small a measure for space. Astronomers use light speed, the distance light can travel in a certain amount of time, to measure distances in space. 2. Is this close or far? Do we want to be closer or farther? • How far away are the other stars? 1. Alpha Centauri is more than 4 light years away (its light has been traveling towards us for more than 4 years when we see it). This is 25 trillion miles. 2. Rigel is about 930 light years away, Vega is about 261y away, Sirius is about 8 ly away.

4. How do stars form, and what happens when they die? • Play the Nebula Game with the kids. (show the Orion Nebula poster) • Use the Star Cycle bulletin board to show the cycle from dust and gas, to protostars, to stars, etc. 1. A Protostar is the beginnings of a star forming from the nebula. Jupiter and the other gas giant planets are protostars that never became stars. 2. Our Sun is a medium sized yellow star that will last for several billion years. This is the best kind of star for planets to have because they last a long time and help to support life. 3. White stars like Sirius are hotter than the Sun and live shorter lives. 4. Blue stars like Rigel are even hotter than white stars and live very short lives, maybe only a few million years. 5. Red giant stars are yellow or white stars that are dying. They cool off, have less gravity, expand and tum red. When they die they collapse down, heat up for a short time and become white dwarf stars, then die and become black dwarf stars. 6. Red supergiant stars, like Betelgeuse and Antares, are blue stars that are dying. They cool off and become enormous. When they collapse down they may explode in a huge explosion called a supernova. 7. Red dwarf stars, like Proxima Centauri, are the most common stars, but we have a hard time seeing them. They last for many billions of years. Astronomers think they would die by just becoming a black dwarf, but no red dwarf star that we know about has ever died in the history of the universe, so no one knows for sure. 8. A Supernova gives energy and gas and dust to start a nebula, to form new stars. 9. A Black Hole is a place in space with tremendous gravity that used to be a supergiant star. Black holes are believed to be the central point of galaxies that hold the stars in rotation around them. 5. What are constellations? (show the constellation poster) • Connect-the-dot imaginary pictures we make from the stars • A way to map the sky and remember which star is which and where to find them. • Illustrations of various ancient myths and stories from many different cultures on Earth. • Navigation tools to help sailors, pilots and adventurers find their way across the world. • How to use a star map: (pass out the star maps) 1. Hold it up overhead and turn the map as you face different directions 2. Compare the stars on the map with what you see in the sky. 3. Have the right map for the season of the year.

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Telescope: 5 min. (outside between the classroom part and the planetarium part. Do this before the classroom if you start in the planetarium and after the classroom part if you are heading into the planetarium) • Invented about 500 years ago, it changed our concept of the universe. • Telescopes let us see things that we could not see with our eyes alone. • Galileo made its use popular and wrote books about what he saw. He went to prison for what he said, but today we know it is true. • Allowed astronomers to prove that the Sun is the center of our solar system and that planets, including Earth orbit around it. • Today the Hubble telescope in outer space is changing what we know again because it is a huge telescope outside the Earth's atmosphere and can see more clearly. • Binoculars are small telescopes and are very good for seeing many things in the night sky.

Planetarium part: 35 min. 1. 2.

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Sit everyone on the big step in MPR. Explain the rules of the planetarium and have everyone take off their shoes. Enter the dome, get everyone seated and quiet. Turn off the sun and put on the constellation cylinder (the top one wth the pictures). Turn down the lights slowly. Identify as many of the constellations as you want as you rotate through the year. Tell a story about one or more constellations. Change the cylinder to the night sky. Sing a star song: (optional) could be Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Deep In The Heart of Texas (this is a helpful thing if you have some kids who are a little nervous about the darkness) Show some of the constellations for each season and the circumpolar constellations: (these are some suggestions but you definitely don't have to do every one) • Spring: Leo the Lion, Corvus the Crow, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor • Summer: Scorpio the Scorpion, Sagittarius the Centaur, Cygnus the Swan, Lyra the Harp, Aquila the Eagle, Draco the Dragon • Autumn: Pegasus the Flying Horse, Andromeda the Princess, Cassiopeia the Queen, Perseus the Hero, the Pleides • Winter: Taurus the Bull, Orion the Hunter, Canus Major Orion's big dog, Gemini the Twins, Lepus the Rabbit Show the Moon. Turn on the Sun and turn up the lights. Make sure every kid gets out of the planetarium safely and gets their shoes back on.

Texas Nose

(a variation on Mt. Nose)

Stand in the center with a group of kids in a circle (no one behind or in front of another) around you. Tell the group that you are the Sun and that each of them is the Earth ~ots of Earths!). The top of each kid's head is the North Pole and their chin is the South Pole. Their nose is Texas and the back of their head is China or India. You are sending out tons of energy, heat and light to the Earths. Have them stand where Texas is facing the Sun (you) and ask them what time it is (daytime, noon, 12PM). Have them hold up their right fist with thumbs up. To rotate on their axis, they will turn in the direction that their fingers curl (to the left). If you look down onto the North Pole from above it would be a counterclockwise turn. Have them tum around to show the position of midnight in Texas, or noon in China or India. Have each kid notice what they see out in the night sky at midnight. Each side of the circle, each kid, will see something different because they are facing different directions. If you have enough parents/teachers/ etc. assign one to be Leo in the spring sky, one to be Scorpio in the summer sky, one to be Pegasus in the autumn sky and one to be Orion in the winter sky. The different directions are the seasons of the year. Have them rotate back to noon. Ask them how long that rotation on their axis took (24 hours or one day). Now, ask what other movement the Earth has (orbiting the Sun). That is also in a counterclockwise direction, so have the kids walk slowly around you to their left. It is probably not a good idea for them to rotate and orbit at the same time. When the circle has moved about one quarter or one half of the way around, ask them to stop and turn to midnight in Texas. Do they see the same things they saw before? No, because they have moved to a different season of the year. Now, have them continue to orbit around you until they get back to where they started. How long did this orbit take? (365 1/4 days or 1 year) So, if they were eight when they started, they are nine now, if ten, then they are eleven, etc. Point out that what they see over their North Pole or under their South Pole are the 'same things, just from different angles, all year long.

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The Nebula Game This works best with a group of 10 or more, more is better. Have everyone stand up. Explain that they are all atoms and molecules of space dust and gas. They are drifting aimlessly in outer space. Have them just wander slowly and randomly around the room. Choose one person, preferably their teacher or a parent or another counselor, to be a supernova and explode with appropriate melodrama. When they have given a big kablooey, it sends stardust and energy into the cloud of aimless dust and gas (the kids) and causes them to begin walking in a counterclockwise direction around the room (not in a circle, still all scattered, but going the same way). As they walk around, cause two of them to bump gently into each other and join elbows. They have formed a protostar. Have them choose one other person to join with them to form a star. These three stand in the center and begin to be very bright and hot, sending energy out to the others. Now, clump two more kids together into a planet orbiting around the star. Pull one other kid into the star to make it even hotter, create another planet, choose one kid to become a moon orbiting a planet, have one or more kids become asteroids, choose one kid to have a long elliptical orbit into the star and back out to the edges of the group as a comet. Do this until every kid has become something: star, planet, moon, asteroid, comet. Tell them they have become a solar system.

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Planetarium Program Outline General Info: One instructor, one hour presentation in MPR using Sky Lab Planetarium. Refer to your notebooks for info on setting up planetarium and stories to tell. I. Grades K-l: Demonstrate night and day using globe, show picture of the sun, identify the sun as our nearest star. Grades 2-5: Discuss the formation of stars (varying complexity to suit age level) using planetarium posters. II. Inside Planetarium: A. Point out Big Dipper, North Star, Little Dipper, Draco, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Orion. You may also point out Betelgeuse and Rigel in Orion to illustrate the relationship between the age of stars and their colors. B. Relate appropriate myths.

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AISD Planetarium- Classroom Part Greeting and Introduction: If this is the part you do first: Introduce yourself Give a very brief overview of what the program will be If this is the part you do second then skip to the program material

The most important star: Why is the sun the most important star? Heat, light, gravity Show picture of sun Star energy (keep this brief most of the time) All food comes from sun Plants capture energy All food comes from plants Energy of our bodies to work and play is star energy

All other energy comes from the sun too Gasoline, coal, oil, gas Solar, wind, water power

Earth & Sun (use the earth ball and get a kid to vol~teer tp be the sun) '. ' Demonstrate day & night CtK-ch. tLli.IC{N:j. ~(cC. (l"J~'J-k!(~/l JA J Demonstrate a year Tilt of the earth and· how seasons are caused by this tilt Visible stars change with the seasons as earth moves around sun, northern and southern stars are visible all year

V Too small a measure (still using the earth ball and sun-kid): How far away is the sun? 93 million miles or 8 minutes at light speed. Is this far or close? Do we want to be closer or farther? Miles too small for space. Light speedllight year=6 trillion miles Distance to stars other than the sun: IAae.. I1l{{~ cOH Alpha Centari is 4 light years tA ~~ ;. Rigel is 930 light years t'~f -S7~_ Vega is 26 light years

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What are constellations? ~ .~ 5;:::: sM~ Connect the dot pictures ~ '"""-?~ ~ ~ Imaginary ways to remember real stars ~~ Illustrations of ancient myths, different ones from every different culture on earth. Maps that astronomers can use to chart the sky and find things ~1. set-

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How to read a star map: (pass out the star maps) Look up & hold it overhead Tum it as you tum to face the different directions Each kid can try out the map by comparing it to the stars on the walls of the room Need for star maps for each season of the year

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Clues for Solar System Game 1. I am the star nearest to your planet. I am the center of your solar system. (Sun) 2. I am the planet closest to the sun. 1 have no water and am covered with craters. (Mer~ury) 3. I am covered with green and white clouds. I ani one of the brightest objects in the night sky. I am the closest planet to Earth. (Venus)

3. I am the planet you live on!, I am about 4.5 billion years old. (Earth) 4. I am calle~ the "red planet". I had water long ago, but now I am mostly dry desert. (Mars)

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5. Weare not planets. More than 100,000 of us revolve around the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. We are rocky objects that you call meteors when we enter Earth's "atmosphere. (asteroids) 6. I am the largest planet. My Great Red Spot is a huge storm in Diy clouds. (Jupiter) 7. I am famous for my rings. They are made of million~ of icy chunks of rock. (Saturn) 8. 1 have blue and green clouds surrounding me. 1 am tilted so that my north and south poles stick out from my side. (Uranus) 9. 1 have blue and white clouds surrounding me. I am named after the ancient god of the seas. (Neptune) 10.1 am the smallest planet. I am the only planet never visited by a spacecraft. (pluto)

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1I.We are lumps of ice and dust. When we get close enough to the Sun, we start to evaporate and jets of gas and dust form long tails that you can see from Earth. (Comets)

AISD Planetarium Solar System Game Objective: Students will be able to use clues to order themselves as planets in our solar system. Some students will also be asteroids, moons and comets. Materials: Inflatable planets, pompoms for comets, rocks for asteroids and Styrofoam balls for moons. Procedure: 1. Pass out sun, planets (with their nametags) asteroids, comets and moons until all children have a prop. 2. Read clues so that students stand in correct order from the sun: SUN MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS ASTEROID BELT JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO

• ASSIGN ONE MOON TO EARTH, SATURN (SEVERAL), JUPITER (SEVERAL), URANUS, NEPTUNE, PLUTO • COMETS MOVE BETWEEN PLANETS 3. Have children recite the names of planets in order from the sun.

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Life Cycle of Star

u After explaining the life cycle of stars (using posters), have children stand up on carpet squares. Have the teacher randomly pass out the yellow and blue cards. Explain to children that they are part of a nebula. Ask the children what a nebula is? Explain to children that a nebula is a cloud of gases that are moving around. Have children moye randomly around the classroom. Have the teacher be a supernova and explode in the nebula. Tell children to start rotating in the same direction and to pair up with other children having the same color card. Tell each color group that they have become a protostar. Have children fonn a circle with their color group and tell the children that they have now become a main sequence star (because they are now releasing energy instead of contracting it.) Yellow cards only (the sun): remains in this sequence for 10

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billion years. Then have kids make their circle bigger and explain that this is the star expanding and cooling. They have now become a Red Giant star. Have kids leave their yellow cards in a circle on the floor and move away from them (this is the planetary nebula) and the kids become a white dwarf. Then the star eventually becomes cool"and dims. When it stops shinning, the now dead star is called a black dwarf.

Blue cards only (blue supergiant stars): Massive stars evolve in the same way to a small star (like the sun) until it reaches its main sequence stage. It is only in the main sequence stage for millions of years instead of billions. Have the kids "run" to the center of their circle and then blow up (this is the core collapsing causing an explosion called a supernova). If the core survives the explosion it becomes a neutron star. Have kids stand

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in a tight circle to demonstrate this. If the core does not survive the explosion then it contracts to become a black hole.

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A Script (of sorts) for using the Evening Star Map While children are still seated in the circle on their carpet squares pass out appropriate star map to each child. As

you are passing out maps explain that this is a simple star map copied out ofa teacher's manual. You canfind them on the Internet. You can buy them at book or nature stores Sometimes they are in Astronomy magazines. Hold the map in front ofyou. Who would like to read the top ofthe page? Jfyou went out before 9:00 tonight to look at the stars would that make this map "no-good"? No, the constellations would be a little shifted one way or the other depending ifyou went out before or after the stated time. The map is still good. Who would like to read the directions at the bottom ofthe page? Wow, that sounds simple, but how do we figure out which way we are facing? First, we mustfind the Big Dipper. Who has seen the Big Dipper in the night sky? Is it big or little? Is it hard to find? There are four black posters around the room. Each one has at least one constellation on it. One has the Big Dipper on it. please stand-up and raise your hand when you think you hav~ found the Big Dipper on one ofthe four posters. Give the laser pointer to a child who has their hand up, or have them just use their finger to point out the Big Dipper on the poster. GREAT, now who mows how to find the North Star or Polaris, ifyou know where the Big Dipper is?

That's con-eet. Wefind the two bright stars that make up the end o/the bowl ofthe Big Dipper. Draw an imaginary line joining those two stars continue the line until it runs into a bright star sort ofby itself. That is the North Star or Polaris.

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Jfyou are facing the North Star which direction you are/acing? Yeal North is right. Everyone tum so you are facing North. Now, ifyou are ever lost in the middle a/nowhere you can look to the night sky, find the Big Dipper, connect the two stars at the end ofthe bowl. they wiIl point you to the North Star, then you mow what direction you are facing and you can find your way. This is the same method old sea captains used to find their way many many years ago. Read the directions at the bottom of the page once again. Standing at the ''Nortb.~end of the room by the poster of the dippers, ask the children which direction is North? East? West? South? So, ifwe 're /aeing North the part of the map that says "NORTHERN HORlZON'~ should be close to your tummy. Walk around the room to be sure every one has their map oriented correctly.

Let's pretend it is about 9:00 at night and we are going out to star gaze. What do we need to bring with us? Really nothing, but a star map and a flash light might be useful. Our pointer finger will be our flashlight in this classroom. Every one hold up your flashlight. Great . . Now lets look at our star maps andfind CASSIOPEIA, point your flashlight at that constellation on your map. The word Cassiopeia begins with the letter C, and the constellation looks like a funny W. Walk around to make sure each child has their "flashlight" pointed at the right constellation. Now, see ifyou canfind it on one o/the/our posters. Raise your hand when you have found it. The children may wander around, not truly understanding that it should be on the North wall. After a fair number of children seem to have found it, ask one child to point it out on the poster with the laser POint~. Great. Do you think in the real night sky Cassiopeia is little or big? As time permits, have the children find Leo and Pegasus. Ending with Orion usually makes for a nice transition into red stars, blue stars, or nebulas.

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The Planetarium program addresses the following Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills:

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Ia(K, 1st, 2nd)-demonstrate safe practices-home and school . 2a(K., 1st, 2nd)-ask questions 2d(K., 1st)-explanations based on information 2e(2nd)-explanations based on infonnation and draw conclusions 2f(2Dd)-communicate explanations 3a(K, 1", 2Dd )_make decisions using information 3b(K, 1st, 2nd)_justify merits of decisions 3c(K, 151, 2nd)-explain a problem and propose a solution la(3rd, 4th, 5th, 6lh )-demonstrate safe practices during field and laboratory investigations 2c(3 rd , 4lh, 5th, 6lh)-analyze and interpret information to construct explanations from direct and indirect evidence . 2d(3 rd, 4tb, 5th; 61h)-communicate valid conclusions 3a(3 nl, 4tb, Stb , 61h)-analyze, review, critique scientific explanations: hypotheses, theories as to strengths and weaknesses 3c(3nl, 4th, 5th , 61h)-represent natural world using models, identify limitations 9c(K)-identify ways Earth provides resources for life Systems: 6a(2Dd)-manipulate, ·predict, identify parts separated from whole may not work Sa(3 nl)-observe and identify simple systems .11 c(3"')-identify planets in solar system and positions Ild(3rd)-describe characteristics of.sun 11 a(4tb)-test properties of soils Sa(Sth)-describe some cycles, structures, processes in simple systems Sh(SIh)-descnbe interactions that occur in simple systems 6a(Sth)-identify events and descnbe changes that occur on regular basis 12dESth)-identify gravity as force to keep planets and moon in orbit . . Sa( 6th)-identify apd describe system resulting from combination .of two Ot more systems 13a(6th)-identify characteristic~ of objects in solar system-sun, planets, : meteorites, comets, asteroids, moons . Properties, Patterns, 8a(K)-identify organisms or objects as living or nonliving 9c(K)-identify ways Earth provides resources for life and Models: Sa(lj;sort objects by properties and patterns Sa(2 )-classify and sequence organisms; objects, events 8b(2Dd)-identify characteristics of nonliving objects llc(3 rd)-identify planets in solar system and positions 11 d(3rd)-descnbe characteristics of sun llc(4tb)-identify sun as major energy source 12a(Stb)-intexpret how land fOImS result from constructive and destructive forces· Sa( 6tb)-identify and descnoe system resulting from combination of ~o or more systems . 13a(6tb)-identify characteristics of objects in solar system-sun, planets, meteorites, comets, asteroids, moons Constancy and Change: Sa(K)-properties of objects and characteristics of organisms Sa(1 Sl)-sort objects by properties and patterns . 7d(2 nd)-observe, measure, record changes in weather, night sky, seasons 11 c(3 rd )-identify planets in solar system and positions II d(3 rd)-describe characteristics of sun 11a(4tb)-test properties of soils 12d(SIh)-identify gravity as force to keep planets and moon in orbit 13a(61h)-identify characteristics of objects in solar system-sun, planets, meteorites, comets, asteroids, moons Form and Function: 9c(K)-identify ways Earth provides resources for life 6a(2Dd)-manipulate, predict, identify parts separated from whole may not work Scientific Principles:

llc(3 rd )-identify planets in solar system and positions 11 d(3 rd)-describe characteristics of sun llc(4th)-identify sun as major energy source 12d(Sth)-identity gravIty as torce to keep planets and moon in orbit 13a(6th)-identify characteristics of objects in solar system-sun, planets, meteorites, comets, asteroids, moons

Resource Guide and Bibliography GEMS, c/o Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 Universe At Your Fingertips, ed. Andrew Fraknoi, Project Astra, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1995. Beyond the Blue Horizon, Edwin C. Krupp, Oxford University Press, 1991. The Stars, H.A.Rey, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1980. Stars of the First People, Dorcas S. Miller, Pruett Publishing, Boulder, CO, 1997. D' Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, Ingri and Edgar Parin D' Aulaire, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, New York, 1962. Stars & Planets, ed. David H. Levy, The Nature Co. Discoveries Library, Time Life Books, 1996. The Shining Stars, Greek Legends of the Zodiac, Ghislaine Vautier, adapted by Kenneth Mc Leish, Cambridge University Press, 1981. The Way of the Stars, Ghislaine Vautier, adapted by Kenneth Mc Leish, Cambridge University Press, 1981. Be A Space Detective, Anita Ganeri, Derrydale Books, New York, 1992. Exploring the Night Sky With. Binoculars, Patrick Moore, Cambridge University Press, 1986. 365 Starry Nights, Chet Raymo, Simon & Schuster, 1982. A Walk Through the Heavens, Milton D. Heifetz and Wi! Tirion, Cambridge University Press, 1996. Magazines Star Date, The University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory, 2609 University Ave. #3.118, Austin, TX 78712. 512/471-5285. Mercury, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112. Web sites stardate. utexas.edu aspsky.org nasa.gov

Star Color, Size &Temperature Game

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Use the illustration of the Life Cycle of Stars to explain how stars form from the nebula cloud of dust and gases, then describe their life cycle. When stars are first formed in the nebula they are a hot blue-white or yellow. As stars get older and use up their fuel, they cool off and tum red, so new stars tend to be hotter than old stars. As a star dies and collapses it heats back up because all the gases pack together into a smaller star, like a white dwarf and it gets hot again for a short time. Giant stars get hotter until they explode in a supernova. A clue to the colors of stars is to think about a £lame. The hottest part of the flame is the blue part, then yellow and then red. Game: Version One: Divide the kids into two groups. Have one group stand up in a line facing the other group who are sitting down. The standing kids hold up the star circles. (Give one star per child if you only have 7 in the group, but put two each on the giant stars as needed when there are more kids, so every kid has a pan in holding a star.) The sitting kids are astronomers. Point out that scientists make guesses about things and then work to get more information to find out if their guesses are right or 'Wrong. :Have the astronomers tty to put the stars into a line in order of temperature. Then tell them their scien~c experiments show that blue stars are hotter than other colors and large stars are hotter than small stars, but red stars are the coolest because they are the oldest ones. Use the Temperature Chart to help them put the stars in order. Three cheers for the famous astronomers! Then, if there is time, have the two groups switch so that the astronomers become stars and vice versa. This time do the same thing but putting them in order of brightness. Remind them that in brightness, large stars are brighter than smaller stars and hot stars are brighter than cooler stars. Use the Color Chan to help them get it right after they have tried to guess. Their scientific experiments have answered their questions again. Hooray for the famous astronomers! V~Ision Two: Do this the same way as ve~.ion one, except that the kids are all astronomers and stars are laid out " on the floor in the order they think is hottest to coolest, then brightest to least bright.

U Temperature chart: , Blue Supergiant

Blue Giant

White Dwarf Yellow Sun Red Supergiant Red Giant RedDwarf

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Largest, hottest young star These are the most massive stars, burning fastest and only living for a few million years. They become red supergiants and can become supernovas when they collapse, and then might become so dense that their gravity pulls in everything close to them, becoming a black hole. Second largest, very hot young star Very massive stars that only live for a few million years, these also become red supergiants that are slightly smaller but instead of exploding when they die, they become dense neutron stars. Old dying star that heats back up just before it goes out. A white dwarf began as a medium or small star, became a red giant, and then collapsed, concentrating its energy into a hot old star at the very end. Medium hot medium size young star These are very stable stars that can live for about 10 billion years. When they get old they become red giants and then a white dwarf. An old very large blue star that has cooled some from burning up most of its fuel. These big old stars are the ones most likely to explode in a supernova. An old yellow star that has cooled and expanded out, having less density and less gravity. These are most likely to become white dwarfs when they collapse and die. The smallest, coolest star. A star with barely enough fuel and mass to have a nuclear reaction and be called a star at all. They can live for many billions of years because they bum very slowly.

Brightness chart:

Blue Giant

Largest, hottest young star Size matters in brightness, and hotter stars are brighter than cooler stars o n the same size. Rigel is an example of a blue supergiant. Largest old star Size matters! Betelgeuse is an example of a red supergiant. Second largest very hot young star

Red Giant

Second largest old star

Yellow Sun

Red Dwarf

Yellow stars like our sun are in the middle both in heat and brightness Why is the sun so much brighter to people here on earth? Qoseness also matters. Yellow stars like our sun are in the middle for brightness, but our sun is actually 25 times brighter than the brightest star because it is so close to us. A very small, cool star

White Dwarf

These are very small, dying stars. They are pretty hot, but not very bright.

Blue Supergiant Red Supergiant

}facts:

About oor Solar System, the Galaxy and the Universe

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""eed of Light 186,000 miles per second the dis.tance light travels in one year. The speed of light Uht Year times the nll1D:ber of seconds in one year: 186,000 miles/sec X 31,449,600 sec = 1 light year C'I

or roughly 6 trillion miles or 6,000,000,000,000 miles!

Our Solar System The solar system consists of one star, nine planets, more than sixty-two moons, several thousand asteroids, and over one thousand comets. The Sun is approximately 93 million miles away, has a diameter of 860,000 miles and a rotational period of 24 to 35 days, depending on latitude from the equator.

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Planet

Light distance Diameter Rotation Period from SUD ,!Km}

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter. Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

3 min.· 6 min. 8 min. 13 min. 43 min. 1 hr. 19 min. 2 hrs. 40 min 4 hrs. 10 min 5 hrs. 28 min

4,878 12,104 12,756 6,787 142,796 120,000 52,142 49,528 2,300

Number of Moons

59 days 243 days 23 hrs. 56 min. 24 hrs. 37 min. 9 hrs. 53 min. 10 hrs. 40 min. 17hrs.14min 16 hrs. 3 min 6 days 9hrs 17 min

-0 0 1 2 16 18 15 8 1

Our Galaxy: The Milky Way Our galaxy contains 100,000,000,000 stars; one if which is our sun. The galaxy rotates around a central point once every 220,000,000 years

Light distance from Earth

Star

sun Nearest star (besides Sun) Smallest known star Largest known star Hottest star Coolest star

"'8min 4 years 50 years 500 years

Diameter !Km} 1,391,785 1,448,100 6,436 482,700,000

Temperature

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10,000 , 10,000 50,000 5,000 100,000 3,000

The Universe More than 100,000,000,000 galaxies like the Milky way are within range of the largest telescopes on Earth, and an unknown number beyond.

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Galaxy

Light distance to Earth

Andromeda (closest galaxy) Farthest Observed Galaxy

2,000,000 years >12,000,000,000 years

Present theory estimates the age of the universe to be 15 Billion years.

ITHE PLANETS Background: The Planets

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PROJECT ASTRO RESOURCE NOTEBOOK/AsTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC

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1. Nebula Poster: Stars are "born" in huge swirling nebulae in space. Lumps in nebulae attract dust l?y their gravity. The spinning globule grows bigger and bigger until it collapses under its own weight. The center becomes hotter and more dense. The heat flows from the center and glows red.

2. Cross Section of the Sun Poster: Several millions of years later, the inside temperature of the star reaches 18 million degrees F.-" the temperature at which nuclear fusion occurs. Groups of four hydrogen nuclei are fused into one helium nuclei. This releases huge amounts of energy. Einstein described the energy released as E=MC . (E=energy released M=mass lost C=speed of light). 3. Life Cycle of a Solar Type Star Poster: Our sun is about 5 billion years old. Its formation took about 30 million years. The sun. should continue for about 5 million more years. Solar-type stars are born in nebulae. The progress through the "main sequence" of star life-very hot at first, then they begin to use up their fuel and become cooler. Stars "die" when their fuel is finally used up. The stars swells and grows red. These are "red giants". Our sun will be~ome a red giant in about 5 billion more years. It will swell out past Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars~ It will eventually collapse to a dense Star about the size of Earth called a "white dwarf". When it uses up all of its energy it will become a ''black dwarf".. 4. Life Cycle of a Massive Star Poster: Massive stars begin life just as solar stars

do. They go through the same main sequence as the solar-type stars, but when . they reach the "red giant" stage they are extremely large. Betelgeuse, the massive red star we see in the constellation Orion, is so large that millions of stars the size of our sun could fit in it. Because the massive red gi$lnts are so large, they undergo more expansion and contraction as they die. This makes their core temperature hotter and increases the pressure and density of the star. Their nuclear explosions create elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. After the fusion of iron occurs, they finally collapse. Some explode violently. These are called "super novas" . ( Novas are stars that may temporarily blaze millions of times brighter than usual. Novas keep their form and most of their substance after their outburst and may flare again without warning.) Supernovas may shine like millions of suns. Supernovas produce the heaviest elements, such as silver, gold and uranium. A supernova hurls materials far out into space, where they may contribute to the formation of new stars and planets. After its death, a supernova may leave a dense corpse, called a neutron star , which is about 10 miles wide. Pulsars are neutron stars which emit regular radio signals. Pulsars seem to be magnetized neutron stars that rotate rapidly. A neutron star may continue to collapse and form a tiny superdense dead star called a ''black hole". The gravity of a black hole is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape it.

5. Galaxies Poster: For each star we can see with the z:W<ed eye, there are thousands more we can't see. Stars are arranged in galaxies. Galaxies are gas, dust, and a group of millions or billions of stars held together by the force of gravity~

Astronomers believe there may be as many as 100 billion galaxies, each containing as many as 100 billion stars. Galaxies occur in three basic shapes: spiral, elliptical, and·irregular. Our solar system belongs to the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. Stars in the Milky Way, including our sun and its planets, are revolving in our galaxy and moving through space at ~5,OOO miles per hour. 6. Constellation Poster: Constellations are groups of stars which seem to make pictures in the night sky. Ancient peoples made up stories about pictures they saw in the sky and named them after animals or heroes and heroines in their myths. The Ancient Greeks had a system of religion utilizing "multiple deities" . 'These gods and goddesses were believed to control natural phenomena such as sun rise and set, seasons, and The gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece lived on Mount Olympus and meddled in the lives of people on Earth. Many of the stories of the constellations come from the mythology of Ancient Greece. . This picture shows the constellation Orion. Orion was a great hunter in Greek mythology. Though the constellations look flat when we see them from Earth, the stars in the constellations are actually thousands of light years away from each other.

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u An Intergalactic Invitation Invite beings /rom other planets to a party on Earth.

ere's away to get your kids thinking about the Earth's position in the galaxy. First use the background inforObjectives: mation on pages 3-6 and the "Cosmic Explain what a galaxy Facts" (see right) to review galaxies and . is and describe the light-years. Then explain that our sun is Milky Way Galaxy. Disjust one of hundreds of billions of stars in cuss the Earth's locaour Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way is a tion within the Milky Way Galaxy. spiral galaxy, and our solar system (the sun and its nine known planets) is located Ages: in one .of its spiral arms (see diagram). Primary and Earth is the third planet from the sun. Intermediate . Now make copies of the invitaOOh on Materials: page 15 and give one to each person to fill • copies 0/ page 15 in. Tell your kids to pretend they're • ~arkers or crayons throwing a party and that creatures from outer space are invited. (See "Answers to Subject: Directions" at the end of the activEarth Science 11:.~;,;;~.~;';;i?::;;~:· ity.) When all the kids are finished, have Our SOla~r syste~"""""~>::.if:.I:?"';';',?:~i;.~~i! ,them fold the page in half so that the ,

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written part of the invitation is on the inside. Then have them jazz up the outsides of their invitations with some cosmic artwork!

Cosmic' Facts • Ught travels at a speed of 186,282 miles (299,792 km) per second. • A light-year is the distance light can travel in a year, which is 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km).

• From our solar system, it's about 30,000 light-years to the center of the Milky Way. • The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across and is very flat. Answers to Earth Directions: "Look for a spiral-shaped galaxy. Our solar system is in one of the galaxy's arms. There are nine planets circling our star, which we call the sun. We are planet number three."

Birth and Death of a Star Listen to a story about the life cycle 0/ a star. Objective: Describe the stages in the life 0/ a star. Ages: Intermediate Materials: • music (see suggestions in activity) • copies 0/ page 18 • crayons or markers Subject: SC,ience

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tars have incredible life spans. It may take two million years for a star to form, and then the star may bum for thousands of millions of years before it dies. In this activity your group can try to imagine what happens during the life of a star as they listen to a very special story.

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To prepare for this star journey, you will need to record some music to play while you read the story below. (Suggested selections are listed in the script) When you're ready to start the activity, have the children lie down on the floor and close their eyes. Tell them they must remain silent as they listen to the story.

THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF A STAR (Begin by playing some quiet, eerie music, such as "Sonic Seasonings-Winter" by W. Carlos. Keep the music at a low volume as you read.) Imagine that you are very cold-much colder than ice. Your body is shapeles~ cloud of gases mixed with dust You are drifting in darkness. All around you it is dark, cold, and empty. There is no heat. Only darkness and freezing cold. Most of your cloud is made of light gases, such as hydrogen and helium (the same gas that makes balloons float high in the sky).

Feel how light you are-lighter than a feather, lighter than air. Your body spreads out for thousands of miles into space. You are a huge cl9Ud, drifting and floating in darkness. (Put on some light dance music such as D'ebussy's "Snowflakes Are Dandng," and continue to read.) All the gases that make up your cloud are themselves made up of tiny particles called atoms. And all the atoms are spinning very fast, moving constantly and pulling on each other with the force of

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gravity. Imagine those billions of tiny atoms in your body, wiggling, jerking, and tugging on each other like magnets. You feel yourself gradually shrinking as the particles inside you pull closer and closer together. Your cloud is now getting thicker, heavier, and more solid. Your edges are curving into a round shape. You have slowly become a giant dark ball. Feel how round and even you are. Your surface keeps shrinking and pulls in tighter and tighter as you start to spin-slowly at first, then faster and faster. Now you are twirling like a top and speeding through space at 10 miles per second.

There are other baIls of gas and dust mOving around you in space. Feel your gravity pulling on them and their gravity pulling on you. Some· of these baIls will, like you, become stars. Smaller ones may become planets and maybe you will become their sun. But you are not a star 'yet You are still very dark and are just beginning to heat lip. (Play some upbeat,

rhythmic music such as "Infernal Dance of King Kashchei," part of Stravinsky's Fire-

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bird Suite.) As your round body of gases and dust continues to shrink, your insides continue. to get hotter and hotter. The gas in your center is being squeezed tighter and tighter. Your core is getting so hot that you begin to glow with a dim red light You are red hot Feel the fUrnace of glowing coals

inside you. The light you give off shines out through your hazy ou.ter layers of cooler gases. You are now a protostar. Around you other protostars are beginning to glow too. . You keep heating up more and more. The fire in your center has reached 10 million degrees and nuclear reactions are occurring inside your core. Your dim red glow has changed into a bright yellow light. You are now a star. Every reaction is an explosion that releases energy in the form of heat and light. You are like a huge nuclear bomb. Imagine the blasts happening deep inside your body-like billions of bursting balloons. The explosions ram against yqur outer layers, which are still squeezing in. Feel the tension-the fire in your center growing, straining to burst, while your outer walls press in. This push and pull keeps you the same size for millions of years. You are now hotter than you've ever been-thousands of degrees on your surface and mUlions of degrees in your core. The gases that make up your body are boiling like hot lava erupting from a volcano. Feel the bubbles welling up from deep inside you. Jets of burning gases shoot up from your surface like huge geysers. Stretch out your arms-they are fiery arms that reach way out into space. Imagine the flames stretching away from you. Tremendous .hot winds are blowing across your surface like desert hurricanes, only much, much hotter and wilder. The explosions have changed and they are pushing so hard on the outer layers of your body that your wallS can't hold them back. You begin to swell. Feel yourself growing larger and larger. You are swelling up like a giant balloon. For the first time in millions of years there is more space for your gases and so the particles in your body start to move apart. As you grow, you begin to get cooler. Your hot yellow light cools to red and you grow 100 times bigger than you were. You are now a

red giant star-l 0,000 million years old.

As a red giant, you keep changing all the time. Even though your outer layers are cooler than they've been in millions of years, violent nuclear reactions keep erupting inside you-blOwing off whole layers of your outer body. As you use up

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your fuel, you begin to shrink-getting smaller and smaller. Your molecules become so tightly packed together that one teaspoon of you would weigh as much as an elephant does on Earth! (Put on some slower music again, such as

"Carnival of th~ Animals" by Saint-Saens, and continue to read.) You are .now very, very, very heavy. With no more fuel to bum you slowly cool down and become very dim.' You no longer have a source of heat or light. You are getting cooler, cooler, cooler. Now you are completely cold ... a cold, dark sphere drifting in space. You are a dead

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star. (Make music slowly fade out.) At the close of the story, pass out copies of page 18. Tell the kids that the story described the life cycle of a medium-sized . star such as our sun. Then explain that there are many other types of stars, all of which go through their own life cycles. Have the kids refer to their sheets as you discuss star life cycles using the information below. (The numbers in parentheses refer to the pictures on page lB.) Afterward have the kids color the different stages in the stars' life cycles. (Encourage the kids to use the appropriate colors for blue, red, or yellow stars.) .

STAR CYCLES

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All stars are born in vast clouds of gas and dust called nebulae (1). As a nebula collapses, the gas and dust it contains are pulled into many spinning balls, or protostars (2). Gravity squeezes each protostar until it becomes so hot that nuclear reactions occur-and when this happens a star is born. Once a protostar has become a star, it will bum for millions or sometimes billions of years (depending on how massive the star is when it's born). A star with a very small mass-just enough to start nuclear reactions-shines with a reddish glow. These small, reddish stars are called red dwarfs (3). Because red dwarfs bum up their hydrogen fuel so slowly, they may bum for billions of years before their energy is used up. Medium-sized stars, such as our sun (4) and the star in the story, are about ten times more massive and much hotter than red dwarfs. They shine with a yellOWish glow. (Astronomers can usually tell how hot a star is by looking at its color. Cooler stars are reddish-orange, warmer stars are yellow, and the hottest stars are bluishwhite.) Medium-sized stars bum up their fuel faster than red dwarfs and usually live only for about ten billion years. When red dwarfs and medium-sized yellow stars die, they often follow the Same path. First they use up their core fuel, which causes them to collapse. This triggers a final burst of energy and they puff up into huge red qiants (S)-makina

them thousands of times larger than they once ·were. When these red giants finally use up their energy, they begin to shrink until they become small, dense white dwarfs (6). White dwarfs shine with a dim light and gradually cool for billions of years until they are cold, black spheres called

black dwarfs (7). Some of the most massive stars in the universe are the blue giants (B). These stars are about 35 times more massive than our sun and millions of degrees hotter. They use up their. energy faster than any other type of star and often bum for only a few million years. Once a blue giant has used up all of its fuel, it puffs up into. a huge red supergiant (9), which collapses and then expands in an enormous explosion called a supernova (10). The gas and dust spewed into space by a supernova may form new stars and planets. During a supernova, a star becomes brighter than it ever was before. Its core collapses and it begins to shrink. Very massive blue giants can become so dense as they shrink that their gravity pulls everything into them, and nothing-not even light-can escape. They become black holes (11). Less massive blue giants can explode and collapse into spinning dense spheres called neutron stars (12). Neutron stars are so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh as much as 1(l

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STAR AND CONSTELLATION PRONOUNCING GUIDE

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Acamar Achemar AlNair Albireo Alcor Aldebaran Alcyone Alderamin Algenib Algol Alioth Alkaid Almach Alnllam Alnitak Alpha Centauri Alphecca Alpheratz Altair Andromeda Antares Aquarius Aqulla Arcturus Aries Auriga Avior

AKE-uh-mar AKE-er-nar add-DARE-ah al-NARR al-BURR-ee-oh AL-core al-DEBB-uh-ran al-SIGH-oh-nee al-DARE-uh-min al-JEE-nib AL-gall ALLEY-oth al-KADE AL-mack AL-nih-Iam AL-nih-tack AL-fah-sent-TOE-rye al-FECK-ah al-FEE-rats al-TAlR an-DROM-eh-dah an-T AlR-eez ack-QUAlR-ee-us ACK-will-uh ark-TOO-russ A-rih-eez ol-EYE-gab ah-vee-OR

Bellatrix Betelgeuse Bootes

bell-LAY-triJt BET-el-jews bow-OH-teez

Canes Venatici Canis Major Canis Minor Canopus Capella Caph Carina Castor Cassiopeia Centaurus Cepheus Cetus Coma Berenices Cor Caroll Corona Borealis Corvus Cygnus

KAY-neez ven-AT-iss-si KAY-niss MAY-jer KAY-niss My-ner can-OH-puss kah-PELL-ah kaff ka-RYE-nab (or, ka-REE-nah) KASS-ter kass-see-oh-PEE-ab sen-TOR-us SEE-fee-us (or, SEE-fus) SEE-tus KOH-mah Bear-en EYE-sees kor-CARE-oh-lie kor-OH-nah bo-ree-ALICE CORE-vus SIG-nus

Delphinus Delta Cephei Deneb Denebola Diphda Draco' Dschubba Dubhe

dell-FINE-us DELL-ta-SEE-(fee-eye DEN-ebb den-NEB-oh-lah DIFF-dah DRAY-ko JEW-bah DO-be

Eltanin Elnath Enif Equuleus Eridanus

el-TAY-nin e1-NATH ENN-if ek-KWOQ.lee-us eh-RID-uh-nuss

Fomalhaut

FOAM-al-ought

Adhara

Vf 36

Gemini

GEM-in-eye (or, GEM-in-knee)

Hadar Hamal Hyades

HAD-er HAM-el HI-ad-eez

Kaus Australis Kochab

KOSS-oss-TRAY-lisa KOE-kab

Lacerta Lapus Libra Lupus Lyra

la-SIR-tah LEE-puss LYE-bra (or, LEE-bra) LEW-puss LYE-rah

Markab Megrez Menkar Menkalinan Menkent Merak Mintaka Mira Mirfak Mirzan Mizar Monocerous

MAR-keb ME-grez MEN-kar men-KAL-in-nan MEN-kent ME-rack min-TACK-uh MY-rah MURR-fak MURR-zan MY-zar mon-OSS-err-us

Nunki

NUN-key

Ophiuchus Orion

off-ih-YOU-kuss oh-RYE-un

Pegasus Perseus Phact Phecda Pisces Pisces Austrinus Pleiades Polaris Pollux Procyon

PEG-uh-suss PURR-see-us (or, PURR-suss) fact FECK-dah PIE-sees PIE-sees oss-TRY-nus PLEE-ah-deez pole-AlR-iss PAW-lux PRQ.see-on

Rasalgethi Rasalhague Rigel

ras-el-GEE-thee ras-el-haig-we RYE-jell

Sabik Sadr Sagitta Sagittarius Saiph Scheadar Scheat Scorpius Shaula Scutum Sirius Spica

SAY-bilt sadder sah.JIT-tah saj-ih-T AlR-ee-us saw-eef (or, safe) SHED-durr SHEE-at SKOR-pih-us SHAW-lah SKEW-tum SEER-ee-us SPY-ka

Tarazed TaUIUS Thuban Vega Virgo Vulpecula

TAR-uh-zed TOR-russ THEW-ban

Wezen

VEE-gab (or, V AY-gab) VURR-go vul-PECK-you-lah

WEE-zen Zubenelgenubi . zoo-ben-ell-jen-NEW-bee Zubeneschemali zoo-ben-ess-sha-MAY-lee

This surge in interest in th.e universe is only partly due to spacecraft explorations beyond this planet. Recent theoretical evidence suggesting that mankind is not the only intelligent species in the universe, and that life itself is an integral part of the cosmic fabric, has made astronomy much more than the esoteric study it was popularly pictured as back in the 1950's. In those days amateur astronomers scanning the night with binoculars or homebuilt telescopes were considered by friends and relatives to have a bizarre interest that could barely be dignified with the description "hobby. " Today, that's all changed. Whether you have a telescope or not, exploring the universe (rom your backyard or a rural retreat is true involvement with the cosmos that harbors our own origins. 'This book is roughly divided into two parts: first, a detailed step-by-step guide to the night sky starting with the assumption that you can locate the Big Dipper but not much else. (If you are beyond this stage you may want to skim , through the first few pages.)

The second part of the book consists of a catalog and descriptions of the finest objects in the sky for small telescopes. Here the emphasis is on how to find them and what they look like. Even if you don't have a telescope, you may have binoculars. Many of the objects can be glimpsed-and a few are very well seen-with binoculars. We will specify what types of instruments are best for various objects. Enter then, the universe of suns of all sizes and colors, galaxies with pinwheeling arms, and clusters swarming with stars still wreathed in the swirling clouds of gas and dust that incubated their nuclear fires. All can be found once you know where to look. It's enjoyable and rewarding and all you need to gPt started are your eyes and a cloudless night sky.

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VENUS

EARTH

67 mUllon miles . (108mU· lion km) .'.

93 million miles (150 millionkm)

7520 miles (12,100" Ian)

7920 miles (12,750 km)

Dense iron and nickel core surrounded by rock. Surface covered with craters, smooth lava plains, and scarps (long steep cliffs).

Almost no atmosphere. Traces of helium, hydrogen, and oxygen gases.

Iron and nickel core'surrounded by' rock. Surface covered with flat rocks, rolling h1lls,.and mountains.

. ... -Very dense carbon dioxide"'-

Iron and nickel core surrounded by rock. Three-quarters of rocky surface covered with water.

Mostly nitrogen and oxygen, with traces of other gases.

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MARS"·

Iron core surrounded by. rock. Sur~ 'face covered.with reddish.rocks, .•;.;: .. canyons, craters, aridmo~tains. ,:: ...

.. ' ·atmosphere. ,Planet surrounded by thlCkstilfuric.add clouds. .

'~:caibon Oioxid~ atmOsphere. ;:.~~.~~:~f~~~~'. .,.

caps of irozen:CarbOnjiloxiCie .'.':" .

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Small rocky core surrounded by metallic and liquid hydrogen. Gaseous surface.

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Layers of brightly colored clouds made up mostly of hydrogen. There are also small amounts of helium, methane, and ammonia.

SATURN

890 million ': miles " .. (1430mlk Uonlan)

URANUS

1780 mlllion miles (2870 millionkm)

31,570 miles (50,800 krn)

Core of rock and ice surrounded by both liquid and gaseous hydrogen. Gaseous surface.

Hydrogen, helium, and traces of other gases. Methane gives atmosphere a greenish tint

2790 mil· lion miles (4500mfl· lion krn)

30,200 miles

Core of rock and ice surrounded by both liquid and gaseous hydrogen. Gaseous surface.

gases. Atmosphere is a bluish color.

Composition of core unknown. Surface covered with methane ice.

Very thin methane atmosphere.

23 NEPTUNE

'\}' PLUTO

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3660 million miles (5900 million km)

24 hours 365 days

" HydrOge~'~d traces'ofhellum, . . methane,. and crystallized ammo..

(48,600

Hydrogen, helium, and methane

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1900 miles (3060 krn)

13-24 hours 84 years

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Caloris Basin, a crater on Mercury that was blasted out by a huge asteroid, is wider than the distance between New York City and San Francisco.

. :.', People.once.thoughtVenus might be covered' . ~;:.·with·lustl:gardensand exotic life·fonns.Butas- . '. tronomers'havediscovered,that it!s.teaIly a harsh :~<~plane~ ~here .thunder booms ~~d lightning flash~ :~: a1mostco~@.',· '. " ....... r " .. ': > Each year, the Earth's continents "drift" a distance of between V2 and 4 Inches (1.3-10 em). At this rate of travel, Australia could bump into Asia in another 50 million years. . -. -,' ';l90~F:tO,80o:f. :+~~,G;1o:2?~C),,:}: -:.::; :~>·t:,-._...,·" ".:":

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Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a three-century old storm, could swallow three Earths.

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_3300 F (-20l0 C)

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On Uranus, Winter and summer each last 21 Earth years. And night and day can each last as long as 42 Earth years.

-3060 F (-188" C)

1.2'

Even If people could stand the conditlonson Neptune, nobody would live to be a year old. That's because one year on Neptune is equal to 165 years on Earth.

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At one time. Pluto may have been one of Neptune's moons.

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Planetarium Program Description Outline &: Script

* Introduction (approx. 10-15 minutes) What is a planetaruim? Why do we have planetariums? What are the scientists who study the stars, moons, planets, etc. called? People have been curious about the stars for thousands of years. What kinds of things do you think the first Astronomers may have thought about the stars? -thought stars were balls of fire burning in the sky -made up stories about stars in the sky- to make order out'of chaos After studying the stars people used them for many things, ie.: as road maps, the first picture books, as calendars There are still many aspects of astronomy that are mysterious, but we have solved many of the unknowns of earlier days. FOR EXample... Catesories of Stars -colors &: sizes: a star's color depends on its temperature -RED= coolest (approx. 3,5000 degrees F) &: smallest star - called RED DWARFS -a star with a ve.ry smaU ~ass- just enough to start nuclear reactions -bum up their hydrogen fuel so slowly, may bum for millions of years before their energy is used up

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-YELLOW= medium temperatures and sizes (approx. 5,5000 degrees F) -10 times more massive and much hotter than red dwarfs -bum up fuels faster than red dwarfs and usually live only for about 10 billion years

-OUR SUN: -is a yellow star, it is the nearest star to E~ - 93 million miles . away 9 VV\ I'll t>1s ,'-"- I "rlAJ-sp~~d . -astronomers say that our sun is middle sized, middle temperature and middle- aged! -BLUE=hottest (approx.l0,OOO degrees F) . most massive are blue giants, 35 times more massive than our sun -use up their energy faster than any other type of star and often bum for only a few million years

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-magnitude! brightness: - Hipparcus, Greek astronmomer from 2nd century B.C., cataloged 1,000 stars and developed 6 categories of brightness we still use this system 1st magnitude= brightest stars 6th magnitued = faintest stars Sirius = -1.5 Sun -27

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BUT... What is a star?· -all stars are ''born'' in vast clouds of gas and dust called nebulae, as a nebula collapses~ the gas and dust it contains are pulled into many spinning balls, or protostars -most stars are made of hydrogen and helium and some have carbon in them too (explain that gases arEfelements that are found in nature and are invisible, helium is what is put inside of balloons to make them float) -as gravity squeez~:tkr protostar becomes denser and denser and hotter and hotter (reaching l8,iIB aegrees F) as all these gases come together all the teeny tiny atoms within the gases also come together; when this happens, nuclear fusion occurs AND A STAR IS BORN (explain that nuclear reactors are places where power is generated and can create the power for a whole city, this energy . is created by splitting atoms) -this nuclear fusion is what causes the brightness of a star

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Life Cycle of a STAR

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Color, Size and Temperature In most cases, the bigger and hotter a star is, the brighter it appears. A star's brightness is called its apparent magnitude. Astonomers assign numbers to stars based on their apparent magnitude. "The lower the number, the brighter the star appears. The sun has an apparent magnitude of -26.7. Sirius, the brightest star we can see without a telescope, has an apparent magnitude of -1.5. The stars which appear faintest have an apparent magnitude of +6. . A star's color shows how hot it is. The order of temperature of stars is from hottest to coolest: ,

10,000 F

Blue Supergiant Blue Giant White Dwarf

5,500 F

Yellow Sun Red Supergiant

3,500 F

Red Giant Red Dwarf

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Star Order of Brightness Blue Supergiant Red Supergiant Blue Giant Red Giant Yellow Star Red Dwarf White Dwarf Some interesting star facts: . Red dwarfs have a very small mass-just enough to start a nuclear reaction. They bum fuel slowly and may bum for billions of years. .. Medium sized stars tIike our Sun) are lOx as massive and much hotter than red dwarfs. They bum fuel faster and usually last only about 10 billion years. Red dwarfs and medium stars become red giants and then white dwarfs. They then cool for millions of years and become black dwarfs. Blue giants are "the most massive stars. They are 35x bigger than our sun and millions of degrees hotter. Blue giants use up energy fastest and often last for only a few million years. Blue giants become red supergiants and often explode in a supernova. As a supernova, a star becomes brighter than ever before, then the core collapses and shrinks. Very massive blue giants can become so dense that their gravity pulls everything into themthese become "black holes". Less massive blue giants can explode and collapse into dense spinning spheres called "neutron stars".,

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A partW IOIer ecIJpIo II visible for mud! of N America, as far northeast al Long Island and lOUIhwestem New England. From the West Coast Of the U.S., the panlal eclipse begins around noon PST and II over within an hour or two. But as seen from east of long ~ W, the event starts late In the aftomoon and the view of the eclipse II terminated by &Unset. Do not obaerve tho SuA directly, either with unaided cyo or through binoculars or a telescope. Instead, tab a small mirror and cover up most of its surface with paper or masking tape. Use the uncovered portion of the mirror to reflect an Image of the eclipsed Sun onto a wall or ceiling of a room. UsIng thll Ilmple method, seversl oeoDIe Ilmultaneouaty can follOw the variousl1ag•• of tho IOlar eclJpae In complete ttfety. For more Infunnlltlon on the eclipse Including tlmel for various c:ltlcs, check the web site:

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nina planets: Smm Is low In ENE: to E at dusk. climb1"0 higher as month progresses. Satum Is tho bright -star· In Taurul, 4· from Aldebaran and over a magnltudo brighter. Moon COVIfS Satum night 01 1bun-Fd Dec 27-28: Saturn disappears behind Moon's leading dark edge before 9 pm. In Hawall,lust after midnight PST from West Coast, and around 4 a.m. EST from East Coast. For times for various cities, see the web site bnp;l/wyiw lynaT. or;cuttatfool comBO',

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visibility of this event acrosa Canada and U.S. Man Is In S to SSW at dusk, about a ~lI9nltude fainter than Saturn. .kqIIter Is very bright (mag -2.1), rising In ENE within 2" hours after lunset on Dec 1, shifting earlier to around &unset at month'a end. Jupiter Is In Gemlnl3r to 31· E of Satum and follows it acroaa the Gky during the night. M~ Is very low In SW to WSW last few days of month.

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MornIng Planetl: Jupiter II

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progresses. Saturn fa low In WNW at dawn at stan of December, 3r lowor right of

Jupiter and settlnr around aunrlso. By Dec 3 Saturn sell hours tiefor8 BUn rise. Venus. In flrlt few days of month, has barely risen In ESE In mid-twilight, about 45 mlnutOl before sunrise. By mldmonth, Venus rlsel only half an hour before aunup, but mlgh1 still bo seen with binoculars.

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Use this scale to measure angular distances between objects on diagrams below.

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MONDAY

SUNDAY

Capella e

• ~ Mondey Dec 3

/ Jupiter

TUESDAY

GEMINI

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three hours after sunset Hyades • Saturn.. Aldebaran

AURIGA

befof'o sunrise

\, MoonSaturday10·

6U«,,~ • Betelgeu80

Moon

TAURUS

Saturday, o Dec 1

ORION GEMINI

'0 SundayZ

ORION bolt

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30 minutes before .unrbo:

Can you spot Venua lullt risen In ESE? It gets closcr to Sun and harder to see with each passing day. Evening: Northommoat Moon rises about ,,, hours ehers aunscrt. About half an hour leter, watch for Jupiter rising to Moon's lower leh. Moon will paat! closely N of Jupiter In Monday's predawn hours. Soo flrI1 box In this row.

• Saturn Castor Betelgeuse Aldebaran. • Jupiter. E bolt W Hyades WNW Pollux -'~ ~ ENE ~... Mon30 ~ Dec9& 10, Night of Thursday, ThuridaY-DeC 13, SUndaYIWednesdaYDeC 12. one hour, b. Dec 9 25 minutes December 13: 25 minutes before IUnriao altar Gemlnld metoora before .unrbo: \ L. Gemma Use binoculars near peale. Best tlmo .unMt Moon Don'1mlso for Venus. Frlday'a to loolc 10 p.m.-6 a.m. • zeta solar eclipse: local time. when radlan1, noar Castor, Is high see leh margin. Old Monday~ in the sky. Meteors L. Moon Dec 10 from this shower appear • Spica InSE ESE Venus ~ d ESI: onus.... s..e J&lower than those in ._.-.mostothershowers.

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THURSDAY

1--3~

o 8cJndey Dec 2

Dec 1-3, one hour

WEDNESDAY IbocombGr I SUndoy, December 2

FRIDAY

Mondo--y-Dec 3: Si1Um at opposition, up all night. At mag -4.4, Saturn outshines nearby Aldebaran by nearty one mag. RIngs 2e- from edgc-on.

SATURDAY

Sat Dec " morning and evening: Moon shown In first two boxes of this row. Moon rises within one hour sher sunset this evening, 13"' lower leh of Saturn.

Tucaday Dec 4, ono hour before .unriM Moon 0

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Look WSW to W. ~ ~ New Moon 3:47 p.m. EST Friday Dec 14. Solar ~ eclipse: Center of the Moon's shadow, where an annular or -ring- eclipse can be seen, first touches Earth at sunrise in Pacific Occan near lat 30- N lust W of Inri Date Line. Tracking loutheastward, tho path of annublmy paaseslult S of HawaII. resulting In a deep partial eclipse there around 9:25 a.m. local time. 'tWo hours later, the center of the luner shadow dipa just S of the Equator near long 12r W. Then it tums nonheastward to cross Costa Rica and Nicaragua and enter the Caribbean Sea, where It leaves Earth at sunset near long 16.1- W. lat 14.r N. continued In Id mll'(Jln.

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Look high In S. SatUrday Dec 15. 25 minutes altar .unset Binoc:ufaJs help spot thin Moon In bright twilight.

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FrI Doc 21: SOlitlee2:2' p.m. EST. Sat Dec 22: Look for Firl1 Quaner Moon about so- (I' circle) leh of Winter begina in Earth's N hemisphere, setting Sun. Note Moon fa balf lIIumlnatt:td. Excellent In binoculars! summer in tho southern. hMo~nday~~Dec~~24~,ev~e~n~ln~g-:--'-------~--.--~--~Do~C~~~3~0~,~0~ne~hou~r~ah~e~r~su~~~r--------Ca~st-o-r----~Orn-o-ho~u~rl JMonday17 , Mars, moving east ". per Capell: Kids Pollux·· before • ~Durs20 day against tho stars, passes Saturn.' ~ya~e8 0 Mon 31 .unriso I O.S-SEof4ttHnagLambda AURIGA CAPRICORNUS Delte Aqr Delte\COP in Aquarius. See next box left. Aldebaran· One hour ..J Wed 19 ~ • • Uranus .OFriDec28 aftor sunset sw Sunday 16 ! (usc • • Full Moon -:10"9 binoculars) ~-. See Dec 24. Jupiter·O Sunday 30 Wed a Thu... Dec 26 & 'D. sundiY bee 30~ Monday Dec 31. Dec 31, one hour aftel' sunset Full Moon 40 mlnutea after 2" hours 5:40 a.m. EST .unset: Four naIIed-eye after.unaot Sat 29 Pleiades; Sat Doc 29 0 Full overnight planeb apan 165• Jupiter Wed 26 GEMINI Deepest penumbral along a line Inretchlng Castor Orion'a eclipse Sunday nearly hom horizon to ~h P.:N!f'-~ht~7":'~:!'-6--"--1111 Castor • Jupiter Betelgeuse. opposite horizon: morning, Jupiter I 0 Thurs 'D • .. 29 5:29 a.m. EST, Morcwy vary low Pollux· (mag -2.1) Satum.. • SundayO Watch Moon approach Jupiter all 2:29 a.m. PST, SW WSW .._II at opposition In E • 'H ados PolI~x 30. ENE E night. Compare Moon's polltlons, 12:29 &m. In . , ~ we. tonight. • V Dec 29 in evening and Dec 30 In HawalL up In SSW, Saturn 10 Aldebaran morning, in previoua two boxes. Southern part E, and Jupiter low In Moon NIght of Thuraday Doc 'D: Moon occults (covel'll' Satum tonight from Hawaii and N Penumbral edJpao Sundav of Moon's disk ENE, at opposition Procyon ~ America, everywhero S of a line from central British Columbia serosa W Canada to N morning: see next box. appears overnight. e E shore of Lake Superior, then acrosa Ontario and N Vermont to S Maine. See leh margin noticeably dusky. ENE for times and web site for additional Information. • Alpha '8eUI

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Subscriptions: $10 per year. from Sky Calendar, Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI 48824. Skywatcher's Dial}' is available at www.po.msu.edujabromsjdial}..html.

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Siy QII"".,ln fbd hal 01 ZOO2 wIIJ follow a ~ 01 evening planet Unoupa and gatllerfngL As year begins. bright Jupiter la at ooll.r opposition, In Gemini, low In ENE at duak. Satum Is In E, In Teurus near Aldebaran, while Mara la well up In SSW, below Greet Square of Pegasus. Mercury Is very low In SW; just emerged from Sun's far side, It brings total to four pbneta visible, on a long line . stretching nearty from horizon to opposite horizon. On January 11, Mercury la tit its hIgbeat for this appearance. But Mercury fades lilto oolar glare on near aide of Sun ten dayalater, leaving only . . . Satum-Jupher. After Venus emerges from far side of Sun Into evening twilight In late February, at least four planota will be vlalble at dusk continuously until late M8V. And In late April end .rty MIIy 2OG2. during Mercury's next evening appearance and best of the year, .a five nakecHye pIeneta wit be Men together In 1M weatam allyl After a aericla of planet gatherings In earty May and lubaequem departure of Mercury and Saturn, tho brlabtaat. Venus and JupitIr. wIJJ pW up In eMy.IuM.

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appears as brightest evening ·etar· of mag -2.7 to -2.8 In Gemlnllaee Jan " 23-27, 31), . gaining altitude In ENE to E 81 month progresses. Saturn Is In E to SE, lOme 30- upper right of Jupiter and one-tenth 81 bright. Saturn remains about 4- from Aldebaran, the Bull's eye. M. . II well up In SSW to SW, or to Sir W of Saturn. Although a magnitude falmer

Use this scole to measure angular distances between objects on diagrams below.

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MONDAY

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four planets end Moon within 144- (minimum &pan' al Mercury fades from mag +0.4 to +1.3. Jupiter and Saturn are 30- apart. Moon paslcs Mara aa shown In next box.

Thurs Jon 24 at dusIc Moon forms compact triangle with Saturn and Aldebaran; see previous box. Mars aligns with E side of Great Square of Pegasus this evening and Friday. Watch Mara move out of alignment with those two etars next week.

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ISSN 0733-6314

Antares.

Watch Mars Thu 17..) movc; seo Jan 24.

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Aqu~us and Placet; 100 Jan 17-19, 24. Mercury II low In WSW first throe weeb. quite favorable and bright umll mldmomh, then fading rapidly In following weeIt. Mercury Is to lower right of Mars, by 60" Oil Jan " decreasing to 44- Jan 11-18, then Increasing to 49- by Jan 21. Uneup of four planets (Meto-Mar-Sat.Jup) spens 1~ on Jan 1, 144- during Jan 16-21. WatdI Moon paIS them Jan 14-28. LIneup of throe bright ou11Ir planets, Mars-SatumJupiter, spana 163- on Jan 1, 8~ on Jan 31. this threesome remalnl visible at dU11c until Saturn departl In late Mev. January dawn.: Jvphor Is low In WNW earty In momh. It leta at sunrise on Jan " one hour bofore sunup tit mldmonth, and before start of twilight In lato January. I

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Momlng: Moon near Spica; see pt8VIous box. ~ast easv Evenfngs thll week are best for seeing Mercury. Jd Moon Look about 45 mlnutea to one hour after sunset. When you spot It. look Min for lineup of four pIaneta. Mercury-Mers-Satum-Juplter, across tho s/cy.

DuaIc

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en 11 8)ANewMoon ~ 8:29 a.m. EST. Saturn, retrograding very slowly, paf18C18 O.SN of 3.5-mag Epsilon In • Taurus. This week la laot good chance to lee MercUry at dusk until ita noxt evening appearance, mid-April to earfvMav·

January 5-7, ", hours before sultriae

January 2-4'1 Friday Jan 4 11S hours before sunrise: Jupiter, High SW to WSW retrograding 8 arcmlnutet (just over 0.1-)

(lIon's

Catch Mercury before It seta in WSW so- lower right of Mars in SSW, and • Regulus 0 Wed Jan 2 E you'll see four planeta, ENe Me-Ma-Sa-Ju, spanning 167 across the s/cy. Jen 9-11, one hour before lunriae Betelgeuse Rigel E belt • Antarel Thurs10L

FRIDAY

ntURSDAY

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TAURUS Saturn * • • • Hyades Aldebaran.

Jupiter at opposition. visible all night. Saturn 31-to its upper right.

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ENE

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Subscriptions: $10 per year, from Sky Calendor, Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State University, East lansing, MI 48824. Skywatcher's Diary is available at www.po.msu.edu/obroms/diof}'.litm/.

Cosmic Dust

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Ouestions?

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This site tells the story of the history of the universe. Click Earlier and Later to follow the story. Note: M have been simplified to make them easier to understand. We have seen that Dova and SlJpel~nQya are major ways in which the new, heavy nuclei made in red_gian1 stars are sent out into the galaxy, ready to be incorporated into new stars and p-Ian~t.s. If this re-cycling did not happen, planets and lif~ could never have begun. As they are shot out of the star some f},toms gain too many ~1~glrQns (giving them a negative electric charge) while others have too few (giving them a positive charge). This type of atom is called an ion. These opposite charges attract strongly and glue the atoms together. This type of gluing is called an iQuicbond.

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The atoms pack in close together to form tiny crystals we call grains of cosmic dust. Some of them will eventually form the rocks of the Earth. These dust grains are blown out of dying stars and mix with the original gfl~ of the Galaxy to form dust clouds. The disc of the galaxy became thick with dust. . AdsJw. GoogIe' C9.~mi~.Ark CQ$rnic.B.ab.y Co.smic Bugs CosmiG Carbone Lik.~..thi.s_:w.~b._sit~lJ3JJ.Y- .tnej;)Q.Qk!

Ea_rlier 11 Billloll.Y_e3f.S ago. L.ate.r Physlc.aLE.nylrQnm.eot> Cosmic Dust Basic Information

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Cosmic dust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 1 of6

Cosmic dust From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cosmic dust is composed of particles in space which are a few molecules to 0.1 mm in size. Cosmic dust can be further distinguished by its astronomical location; for example: intergalactic dust, interstellar dust, circumplanetary dust, dust clouds around other stars, and the major interplanetary dust components to our own zodiacal dust complex (seen in visible light as the zodiacal light): Comet dust, asteroidal dust plus some of the less significant contributors: Kuiper belt dust, interstellar dust passing through our solar system, and beta-meteoroids. Cosmic dust was once solely an annoyance to astronomers, as it obscures objects they wish to observe. When infrared astronomy began, those so-called annoying dust particles were observed to be significant and vital components of astrophysical processes.

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Porous chondrite interplanetary dust particle. Courtesy ofE.K. Jessberger, Institut fUr Planetologie, MUnster, Germany, and Don Brownlee, University of Washington, Seattle, under a cc-a-2.S license.

For example, the dust can drive the mass loss when a star is nearing the end of its life, playa part in the early stages of star formation, and form planets. In our own solar system, dust plays a major role in the zodiacal light, Saturn's B Ring spokes, the outer diffuse planetary rings at Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the resonant dust ring at the Earth, and comets. The study of dust is a many-faceted research topic that brings together different scientific fields: physics (solidstate, electromagnetic theory, surface physics, statistical physics, thermal physics), (fractal mathematics),. chemistry (chemical reactions on grain surfaces), meteoritics, as well as every branch of astronomy and astrophysics. These disparate research areas can be linked by the following theme: the cosmic dust particles evolve cyclically; chemically, physically and dynamically. The evolution of dust traces out paths in which the universe recycles material, in processes analogous to the daily recycling steps with which many people are familiar: production, storage, processing, collection, consumption, and discarding. Observations and measurements of cosmic dust in different regions provide an important insight into the universe's recycling processes; in the clouds of the diffuse interstellar medium, in molecular clouds, in the circumstellar dust of young stellar objects, and in planetary systems such as our own solar system, where astronomers consider dust as in its most recycled state. The astronomers accumulate observational 'snapshots' of dust at different stages of its life and, over time, form a more complete movie of the universe's complicated recycling steps. The detection of cosmic dust points to another facet of cosmic dust research: dust acting as photons. Once cosmic dust is detected, the scientific problem to be solved is an inverse problem to determine what processes brought that encoded photon-like object (dust) to the detector. Parameters such the particle's initial motion, material properties, intervening plasma and magnetic field determined the dust particle's arrival at the dust detector. Slightly changing any of these parameters can give significantly different dust dynamical behavior. Therefore one can learn about where that object came from, and what is (in) the intervening medium.

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IContents

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• 1 Detection methods • 2 Some bulk properties of cosmic dust

12/20/2006

Cosmic dust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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• • • • • • •

Page 2 of6

3 Radiative properties of cosmic dust 4 Dust grain formation 5 Dust grain destruction 6 Some "dusty" clouds in the universe 7 Images 8 References 9 External links

Detection methods Cosmic dust can be detected by indirect methods utilizing the radiative properties of cosmic dust. Cosmic dust can also be detected directly ('in-situ') using a variety of collection methods and from a variety of collection locations. At the Earth, generally, an average of 40 tons per day of extraterrestrial material falls to the Earth label. The Earth-falling dust particles are collected in the Earth's atmosphere using plate collectors under the wings of stratospheric-flying NASA airplanes and collected from surface deposits on the large Earth ice-masses (Antarctica and Greenland I the Arctic) and in deep-sea sediments. Don Brownlee at the University of Washington in Seattle first reliably identified the extraterrestrial nature of collected dust particles in the later 1970s.

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In interplanetary space, dust detectors on planetary spacecraft have been built and flown, some are presently flying, and more are presently being built to fly. The large orbital velocities of dust particles in interplanetary space (typically 10-40 km/s) make intact particle capture problematic. Instead, in-situ dust detectors are generally devised to measure parameters associated with the high-velocity impact of dust particles on the instrument, and then derive physical properties of the particles (usually mass and velocity) through laboratory calibration (i.e. impacting accelerated particles with known properties onto a laboratory replica of the dust detector). Over the years dust detectors have measured, among others, the impact light flash, acoustic signal and impact ionisation. Recently the dust instrument on Stardust captured particles intact in low-density aerogel. Dust detectors in the past flew on the HEOS-2, Helios, Pioneer 10, Pioneer II, Giotto, and Galileo space missions, on the Earth-orbiting LDEF, Eureca, and Gorid satellites, and some scientists have utilized the Voyager 1,2 spacecraft as giant Langmuir probes to directly sample the cosmic dust. Presently dust detectors are flying on the Ulysses, Cassini, Proba, Rosetta, Stardust, and the New Horizons spacecraft. The collected dust at Earth or collected further in space and returned by sample-return space missions is then analyzed by dust scientists in their respective laboratories all over the world. One large storage facility for cosmic dust exists at the NASA Houston JSC.

Some bulk properties of cosmic dust Cosmic dust is made of dust grains and aggregates of dust grains. These particles are irregularly-shaped with porosity ranging from fluffy to compact. The composition, size, and other properties depends on where the dust is found. General diffuse interstellar medium dust, dust grains in dense clouds, planetary rings dust, and circumstellar dust, are all different. For example, grains in dense clouds have acquired a mantle of ice and on average are larger than dust particles in the diffuse interstellar medium. Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are generally larger still.

12/20/2006

Page 3 of6

Cosmic dust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Smooth chondrite interplanetary dust particle. Courtesy ofE.K. Jessberger, lnstitut fur Planetologie, MUnster, Germany, and on Brownlee, University of Washington, Seattle, under a cc-a-2.S license.

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In circumstellar ( signatures of CO. aromatic hydroca among others. (Ir evidence for silic • In collected lOPs (asteroidal plus cometary}, the elemental· proportionally: • chondritic, 60%; • Iron-sulfur-nickel, 30%; • Mafic silicates, which are iron-magnesium-rich silica • Cometary dust is general1y different (with overlap) from aSI carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, and cometary dust rese: elements, silicates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and \i I

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Most of the influx of extraterrestrial matter that falls onto the Earth is dominated by meteoroids with diameters in the range 50 to 500 micrometers, of average density 2.0 glcm' (with porosity about 40%). The densities of most stratospheric-captured lOPs range between 1 and 3 glcm', with an average density at about 2.0 glcm'. label. Typical IDPs are fme-grained mixtures of thousands to millions of mineral grains and amorphous components. We can picture an lOP as a "matrix" of material with embedded elements which were formed at different times and places in the solar nebula and before our solar nebula's formation. Examples of embedded elements in cosmic dust are GEMS, chondrules, and CAls. A good argument can be made backEvans94 that, given the gas-to-dust ratio in the interstellar medium, a large fraction of heavy elements (other then hydrogen and helium) must be tied up in dust grains, the assembled elements for the molecules most likely being carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, magnesium, silicon, sulphur, iron, and compounds of these.

Radiative properties of cosmic dust A dust particle interacts with electromagnetic radiation in a way that depends on its cross section, the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation, and on the nature of the grain: its refractive index, size, etc. The radiation process for an individual grain is called its emissivity, dependent on the grain's efficiency [actor. Furthermore, we have to specify whether the emissivity process is extinction, scattering, or absorption. In the radiation emission curves, several important signatures identify the composition of the emitting or absorbing dust particles. Dust particles can scatter light nonuniformly. Forward-scattered light means that light is redirected slightly by diffraction off its path from the star/sunlight, and back-scattered light is reflected light. The scattering and extinction ("dimming") of the radiation gives useful information about the dust grain sizes. For example, if the object(s) in one's data is many times brighter in forward-scattered visible light than in backscattered visible light, then we know that a significant fraction of the particles are about a micrometer in diameter. The scattering of light from dust grains in long exposure visible photographs is quite noticeable in reflection nebulas, and gives clues about the individual particle's light-scattering properties. In x-ray wavelengths, many scientists are investigating the scattering of x-rays by interstellar dust, and some have suggested that astronomical x-ray sources would possess diffuse haloes, due to the dust.

12/20/2006

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u The large grains start with the silicate particles forming in the atmospheres of cool stars, and carbon grains in the atmospheres of cool carbon stars. Stars, which have evolved off the main sequence, and which have entered the giant phase of their evolution, are a major source of dust grains in galaxies. Astronomers know that the dust is formed in the envelopes of late-evolved stars from their observations. An pbserved (infrared) 9.7 micrometre emission silicate signature for cool evolved (oxygen-rich giant) stars. And an observed (infrared) 11.5 micrometre emission silicon carbide signature for cool evolved (carbon-rich giant) stars. These help provide evidence that the small silicate particles in space came from the outer envelopes (ejecta) of these stars. label label It is believed that conditions in interstellar space are general1y not suitable for the formation of silicate cores. The arguments are that: given an observed typical grain diameter Q, the time for a grain to attain Q, and given the temperature of interstellar gas, it would take considerably longer than the age of the universe for interstellar grains to form label. Furthermore, grains are seen to form in the vicinity of nearby stars in real-time, meaning in a) nova and supernova ejecta, and b) R Coronae Borealis, which seem to eject discrete clouds containing both gas and dust.

Dust .grain destruction

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How are the interstellar grains destroyed? There are several ultraviolet processes which lead to grain "explosions" label label. In addition, evaporation, sputtering (when an atom or ion strikes the surface of a solid with enough momentum to eject atoms from it), and grain-grain collisions have a major influence on the grain size distribution. label

These destructive processes happen in a variety of places. Some grains are destroyed in the supernovae/novae explosion (and others are formed afterwards). Some of the dust is ejected out of the protostellar disk in the strong stellar winds that occur during a protostar's active T Tauri phase and may be destroyed when passing through shocks, e.g. in Herbig-Haro objects. Plus there are some gas-phase processes in a dense cloud where ultraviolet photons eject energetic electrons from the grains into the gas. Dust grains incorporated into stars are also destroyed, but only a relatively small fraction of the mass of a starforming cloud actually ends up in stars. This means a typical grain goes through many molecular clouds and has mantles added and removed many times before the grain core is destroyed.

Some "dusty" clouds in the universe Our solar system has its own interplanetary dust cloud; extrasolar systems too. There are different types of nebulae with different physical causes and processes. One might see these classifications: • • • • • •

diffuse nebula infrared (IR) reflection nebula supernova remnant molecular cloud HII regions photodissociation regions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wikilCosmic_dust

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Cosmic dust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Distinctions between those types of nebula are that different radiation processes are at work. For example, H II regions, like the Orion Nebula, where a lot of star-formation is taking place, are characterized as thermal emission nebulae. Supernova remnants, on the other hand, like the Crab Nebula, are characterized as nonthermal emission (synchrotron radiation).

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Some of the better known dusty regions in the universe are the diffuse nebula in the Messier catalog, for example: Ml, M8, MI 6, M17, M20, M42, M43 Messier Catalog (http://seds.lpl.arizona.eduJmessierlMessier.html) Some larger 'dusty' catalogs that you can access from the NSSDC, CDS, and perhaps other places are: • • • • •

Sharpless (1959) A Catalogue ofHII Regions Lynds (1965) Catalogue of Bright Nebulae Lunds (1962) Catalogue of Dark Nebulae van den Bergh (1966) Catalogue of Reflection Nebulae Green (1988) Rev. Reference Cat. of Galactic SNRs

at • The National Space Sciences Data Center (NSSDC) (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.govl) • CDS Online Catalogs (http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.frlhtbin/myqcat3?V/70AI)

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References t backEvans94 Evans, Aneurin (1994). The Dusty Universe. Ellis Horwood. tbackGreen76 Greenberg, J. M. (January 1976). "Radical formation, chemical processing, and explosion of interstellar grains". Astrophysics and Space Science (Symposium on Solid State Astrophysics, University College, Cardiff, Wales, July 9-12, 1974.) 139: 9-18. t backGruen99 Gruen, Eberhard (1999). "Interplanetary Dust and the Zodiacal Cloud". Encyclopedia of the Sola~

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t backJess92 Jessberger, Elmar K.; Bohsung, Joerg; Chakaveh, Sepideh; Traxel, Kurt (August 1992). "The volatile element enrichment of chondritic interplanetary dust particles". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 112,

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10/9715 The Planetarium Program for second grade provides students with a visit to the Starlab Portable Planetarium and activities which teach and reinforce concepts about stars and space. Students learn to recognize constellations in the night sky while listening to myths and stories from other cultures. The program consists of two 35 minute stations. Station 1: Inside the Starlab dome viewing the "Night Sky" cylinder Station 2: Activities to teach and reinforce concepts related to stars - distance and dimension -brightness -temperature and size The Planetarium Program addresses the AlSD district goals for Science Curriculum. . students compare and contrast objects and events -Competency: -Concepts: students learn from using a model -Content: students study content of earth, moon, sun, stars The Planetarium program addresses the following Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: Scientific Principles:

1a(2 nd )-demonstrate safe practices-home and school 2a(2nd)_ask questions 2e(2nd)-explanations based on information and draw conclusions 2f(2 n,,-communicate explanations 3a(2° )-make decisions using information 3b(2od)-justify merits of decisions 3c(2od)-explain a problem and propose a solution

Systems:

6a(2 nd)-manipulate, predict, identify parts separated from whole may not work

Properties, Patterns, and Models:

5a(2nd )-classify and sequence organisms, objects, events 8b(2 od )-identify characteristics of nonliving objects

Constancy and Change: 7d(2nd)-observe, measure, record changes in weather, night sky, seasons Form and Function:

6a(2od)-manipulate, predict, identify parts separated from whole may not work

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STARLAB Portable Planetarium

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Starlab consists of a silver fabric dome, a fan, and projection cylinders. The dome is made from a nylonreinforced, flame retardant, industrial grade fabric. A fan inflates and circulates air throughout the dome. The Starlab projector creates images of constellations using a high-intensity halogen cycle lamp. Teaching cylinders project images of constellations and planets onto the fabric dome. Children sit on carpet inside the dome. Air vents help to keep air circulating and maintain a comfortable temperature. The bottom of the dome is open to the floor and allows for fast, easy exit and handicap accessibility. 21'

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Astronomy Astronomy is the study of the universe. The universe is made up of many galaxies. A galaxy is a collection of billions of stars held together by gravity, the force that attracts objects to each other. A star is a hot, rotating ball of gas that creates its own . light. Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. In our solar system, nine planets circle around our Sun. The Sun sits in the middle while the planets travel in circular paths (called orbits) around it. These nine planets travel in the same direction (counter-clockwise looking down from the Sun's north pole). The planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. These planets have natural satellites called moons. PLEASE HAVE YOUR STUDENTS WEAR NAME TAGS.

Reference Books: The Stars by J.R. Rey

Suggested name tag pattem:

Astronomy Handbook by James Muirden (Arco, 1982) National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our Universe by Roy A. Gallant (National Geographic, 1986)

Children's Books:

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The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole (Scholastic Inc., 1990) The Stars by Estalella Robert (Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1993) Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988) I Wonder Why Stars Twinkle and Other Ouestions About Space by Carole Stott (Kingfisher Books, 1993) Astronomy: Planets. Stars, and the Cosmos by Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest (Aladdin Books, 1983) Star Signs by Leonard Everett Fisher (Holiday House, 1983) The Sky is Full of Stars by Franklin M. Branley (Crowell, 1981)

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. Classroom Activity

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large bowl aluminum foil plastic knives or spreaders paper plates and napkins peanut butter (refrigerated) cheese crackers

Goal: Children will investigate solar power.

\Varot-lp: On a sunny day, talk about the wannth you feel from the sun. Ask children, "What can you tell me about the sun? What does it do for us? How do people use it? Has anyone ever cooked with the sun? How is an oven like the sun?"

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ACTIVITY 1. Continue the discussion, explaining that the sun's power can even melt foods. Explain that you will use the sun to melt peanut butter to spread on crackers.

2. Make a solar oven by lining the inside of a large bowl with aluminum foil. Place a glob of cold peanut butter on the bottom of the bowl, and position the bowl in direct sunlight so that the sun's rays are shining on the inside of the bowl. You may need to use blocks to prop the bowl at an angle to catch the rays. 3. Let the bowl sit for about an hour and encourage children to periodically check the melting progress. Then help children spread their melted peanut butter on crackers and serve for a simple picnic treat. 4. Put a slice of cheese on one cracker and some stiff peanut butter on another. Ask children to predict which they think will melt first. Then find other items to melt, such as an ice cube, crayon, and birthday candle. Record on a chart the time it takes each item to melt, and compare children's predictions.

Remelnbcr: • Be sure to talk about safety when using the sun's power. Point out the danger of some metal objects getting too hot to touch. Remind children that foods such as cheese can spoil in the sun.

Observations:

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Ln-Powend Cooking Classroom ACUVity

• Do some children feel uncomfortable about eating something that's been coo=\:ed in a different way?

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Spin-Off • Make sun tea by placing two herbal tea bags in a clear, quart-size glass jar. Fill the jar with water, and cover it tightly. Give children time to observe what the tea looks like. Place it in the sun for two to three hours. Encourage children to observe the changes in the water as well as the changes in the way it smells. Record the color changes on a chart. Then serve the tea chilled with lemon along with some tasty crackers for your hungry solar scientists! .

BOOKS Here's some good sunny-day reading.

The Day the Sun Danced by Edith T. Hurd (HarperCollins) Everything Changes by Ruth R. Howell (Atheneum) Sun by Michael Ricketts (Grosset & Dunlap) Return to Activities for School and Home

Scholastic.com I ECT Home © 1998, 97 by Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved. Read our Online Privacy Policy Statement

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Color, Size aDd Temperature

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In most cases, the bigger and hotter a star is, the brighter it appears. A star's brightness is called its apparent magnitude. Astonomers assign numbers to stars based on their apparent magnitude... The lower the number, the brighter the star appears. The sun has an apparent magnitude of -26.7. Sirius, the brightest star we can see without a telescope, has an apparent magnitude of -1.5. The stars which appear faintest have an apparent magnitude of +6. A star's color shows how hot it is. The order of temperature of stars is from hottest to coolest: . 14(.oao rr Blue Supergiant

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Star Order of Brightness Blue Supergiant Red Supergiant Blue Giant Red Giant Yellow Star Red Dwarf White Dwarf

Some interesting star facts: . Red dwarfs have a very small mass-just enough to start a nuclear reaction. They bum fuel slowly and may bum for billions of years. '. Medium sized stars {like our Sun) are lOx as massive and much hotter than red dwarfs. They bum fuel faster and usually last only about 10 billion years. Red dwarfs and medium stars become red giants and then white dwarfs. They then cool for millions of years and become black dwarfs. Blue giants are . the most massive stars. They are 35x bigger than our sun and millions of degrees hotter. Blue giants use up energy fastest and often last for only a few million years. Blue giants become red supergiants and often explode in a supernova. As a supernova, a star becomes brighter than ever before, then the core collapses and shrinks. Very massive blue giants can become so dense that their gravity pulls everything into themthese become "black holes". Less massive blue giants can explode and collapse into dense Spinning spheres called "neutron stars".,

Explain that a star's brigh.tness depends not only on its distance from Earth, but also on its size and temperature. In most cases the bigger and hotter a star is, the brighter it shines. Now explain that a star's brightness, as seen from Earth, is called its apparent magnitude. Astronomers assign riumbers to stars based on their apparent magnitudes. The brighter a star looks to us, the lower the number representing its magnitude. (For example, the sun is our brightest star and has a magnitude of -26.7. The faintest stars we can see have a magnitude

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If we could collect all of the stars in our night sky and arrange them side by side at a fixed distance from Earth, we could find out how bright each one really is in comparison to the rest This is called a star's absolute magnitude. Absolute magnitude is determined bv a star's size and temperature (how much energy it radiates)-not on how far away it is from

Earth.

. Now have seven kids come up and give

each of them one of the seven stars you drew. Explain that each star's color shows how hot it is. Arrange the stars in order of temperature, going from hot to cool (blue supergiant, blue giant, white dwarf, yellow sun, red supergiant, red giant, and red dwarf). Explain that the hottest stars are blue or white, wann stars are yellow,' and the coolest starS are orange or red. That means that if you compared equal-sized blue and yellow stars, the blue star would radiate more energy and have a higher temperature than the yellow star. It would also shine brighter. But since stars are different sizes, as well as different temperatures, their

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brigl)tness depends not only on how he: they are but also how big they are. Ask your group how the size of a red gia'1: affects its brightness as compared with the brightness of a blue star. (Even though a red giant is not as hot as a smaller blue star, it would look brighter because it is so much bigger.) Then arrange the stars in order of brightness (blue supergiant, red supergiant, blue giant, red giant, yellow star, red dwarf, white dWarf). Finally, experiment with size, temperature, and distance. For example. have the blue supergiant take several steps back and the red supergiant take several steps forward. Ask which wc~.: look brighter in the sky. (The red supergiant, because it would be so much closer.)

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A Script (of sorts) for using the Evening Star Map

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While children are still seatecl in the circle on their carpet squares pass out appropriate star map to each child As you are passing out maps explain that this is a simple star map copied out ofa teacher 's manual. You can find them on the Internet. You can buy them at book or nature stores Sometimes they are in Astronomy magazines. Hold the map infront ofyou. Who would like to read the top ofthe page? lfyou went OIIt before 9:00 tonight to look at the stars would that make this map "no-good n ? No. the constellations would be a little shifted one way or the other depending ifyou went out before or after the stated time. The map is still good. Who would like to read the directions at the bottom ofthe page? Wow. that sounds simple. but how do wefigure way we are facing?

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First. we must find the Big Dipper. Who has seen the Big Dipper in the night sky? Is it big or linle? Is it hard to find? There are four black posters around the room. Each one has at least one constellation on it. One has the Big Dipper on it, please stand-up and raise your hand when you think you have found the Big Dipper on one ofthe four posters.

Give the laser pointer to a child who has their hand up, or have them just use their finger to point out the Big

Dipper on the poster. GREAT. now who knows how to find the North Star or Polaris. ifyou know where the Big Dipper is? That's co"ect. We find the two bright stars that make up the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper. Draw an imaginary linejo;ning those two stars continue the line until it runs into a bright star sort of by itself. That is the North Star or Polaris.

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Ifyou are facing the North Star which direction.you are facing? Yea! North is right. Everyone turn so you are facing North. Now, ifyou are ever lost in the middle ofnowhere you can look to the night sky, find the Big Dipper, connect the two stars at the end ofthe bowl. they will point you to the North Star, then you know what direction you are facing and you can find your way. This is the same method old sea captains used to find their way many many years ago. Read the directions at the bottom of the page once again. Standing at the "Northff end of the room by the poster of the dippers~ ask the children which direction is North? East? West? South? So, ifwe're facing North the part of the map that says ##NORTHERN HORIZON" should be close to your tummy. Walk around the room to be sure every Olle has their map oriented correctly. Let's pretend it is about 9:00 at night and we are going out to star gaze. What do we need to bring with us? Really nothing, but a star map and a flash light might be useful. Our pointer finger will be our flashlight in this classroom. Everyone hold up your flashlight. Great. .Vow lets look at our star maps and find C4SSIOPEIA. point your flashlight at that constellation on your map. The

word Cassiopeia begins with the letter C. and the constellation looks like a funny W. Walk around to make sure each child has their "flashlight" pointed at the right constellation. Now, see ifyou can find it on one of the four posters. Raise your hand when you have found it. The children may wander around, not truly understanding that it should be on the North wall. After a fair number of children seem to have found i~ ask one child to point it out on the poster with the laser po~. Great. Do you think in the real night sky Cassiopeia is little or big?

As time permits, have the children find Leo and Pegasus. Ending with Orion usually makes for a nice transition into red stars, blue stars, or nebulas.

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NEBULA ACTIVITY

u MATERIALS Envelope containing: different colored circles representing stars, planets, comets six or students teacher or other adult

ACTIVITY Have students stand up. Randomly pass out stars and planets. Explain how tbeywill pretend to be part ofa nebula (a place where stars are born). Have students rotate their wrists, simulating active atoms (hydrogen). Explain H atoms are not stationary. They must float around in the nebula. Have students move slowly and randomly around the room. The teacher is a supernova. Explain that the teacher as a supernova will explode and provide the energy needed for the studentsIHydrogen atoms to start rotating together around the room. Teacher/supemova explodes. Studentslhydrogen atoms start moving around the room in the same direction. As they see other students with the same color drde belp them group up and keep moving. Students that are planets should be aDowed to rotate around a star group as everyone keeps moving in tbe circle

If time and the number ofstudents permit have students/comets pass through groups/solar systems.

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Program Description ~

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Part I: Basis for program TItle: Planetarium. Course Description: Explore the solar system in our inflatable planetarium. Learn to recognize constellations that appear nightly. Listen to myths and stories about how other cultures view the stars. Age Level: Grades K-5 Time: 1 hour

.Go.a& Participants will be presented with opportunities to locate familiar stars and constellations. They will also listen to Greek and/ or Native American myths. .

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Part II: Instructional Plan CQurse Outline: Introduction Grades K-l: Demonstrate night and day using globe, show picture of the sun, identify the sun as our nearest star. Grades 2-5: Discuss the formation of stars (varying complexity to suit age level) using planetarium. posters. Inside Planetarium: I. Point out Big Dipper, North Star, Little Dipper,Draco, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Orion. You may also point out Betelgeuse and Rigel in Orion to illustrate the relationship between the age of stars and their colors. II. Relate appropriate myths.

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Part III: Resource Support Site Needs: Multipurpose Room Participant Thresholds:

25 students maximum, 2 adults .

Resource Needs: inflatable planetarium, planetarium fan, planetarium projector, globe, planetarium posters, flashlight, laser pointer

Part IV: Program Script for Grades K-1 Introduce the planetarium by asking questions about night and day. Use a globe to demonstrate the. earth's rotation on its axis and revolution . around the sun. Why do-we not see alot of stars in the daytime? What is the only star we see in the daytime? Show the picture.of the sun. Speak . briefly of a star'~ Ufe cycle. You may also sing ''The Planets Go Spinning".

Before entering the planetarium all students and adults must remove shoes. There are three main rules for the planetarium: 1. Do not touch the planetarium on the inside or outside. This causes

holes and tearing. 2. Listen while the planetarium teacher is talking. 3. Stay on your carpet square. P~rt

V: Program Script for Grades 2-5

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ISTARS

I BACKGROUND:

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STARS

supernova 1987A (Bejore&Ajier)

tars are giant balls of hot gas. They're also a lot like people. They're born, live through a long middle age, and, ultimately, die. They come in different sizes and ~olors. Many spend their lives with constant c;:ompanions; others, like our Sun, go it alone. And, like people, stars change as they age. But because the changes take place over millions and billions of years, an individual star looks pretty much the same over the course of many human lifetimes. A photograph of the night sky, however, like a picture taken in a mall that shows people of all ages, can capture stars in different stages' of their lives. Careful study of the differences we see in stars has given astronomers a sense of what goes on inside stars and how they change with time.

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Stars come in different sizes. The Sun is actually a bit on the small side, when compared to its stellar cousins; as such, it is known as a dwarf star. The largest stars can have hundreds and even a thousand times the diameter of the Sun; not surprisingly, they're known as giant and supergiant stars. The smallest stars are not much bigger than the planet Jupiter. Stars also appear different colors, depending on the temperature at the star's gaseous surface. The coolest stars are nearly 5000 degrees Fahrenheit (about the same temperature as the filaments in incandescent lightbulbs), while the hottest stars reach a sweltering 90,000 degrees Fahrenheit!

Cool stars appear red; hot stars are bluish-white. The constellation of Orion the Hunter, easily visible even in cities during the winter, is a perfect place to look for star colors. Betelgeuse, the bright star that represents Orion's right shoulder, shines bright red. Looking down toward the . Hunter's left knee, you find another bright star, Rigel, which sparkles with a bluish-white color. All the stars in the sky (including our Sun) are moving through space, most with speeds of many kilometers per second, although it may not seem that way to us. When we look at the night sky, we see basically the same star patterns as the ancients did. That's because the stars are so very, very far away that their motions appear tiny to us, even over the course of hundreds and thousands of years of watching. Stars are born out of the huge clouds of gas and dust that fill some of the space between the stars. Occasionally, the densest parts of these reservoirs of cosmic "raw material" become unstable and begin to contract, the force of gravity pulling each atom toward the center. As the cloud continues to shrink, gas in the center gets denser and heats up. Temperatures and pressures build until they finally become so high that hydrogen atoms are forced to "fuse" together, with four hydrogen atoms becoming one helium atom [stars are almost all hydrogen

PROJECT ASTRO RESOURCE NOTEBOOKI AsTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PAOAC

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STARS

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(92%); the rest is helium, with trace amounts of other elements]. This process is known as hydrogen fusion (note that the same thing happens in the warhead of a nuclear bomb). Fusion liberates an enormous amount of energy. Fusion energy creates a pressure that balances the weight of the star's upper layers, halting the contraction. The star then shines steadily, powered by the hydrogen fusion in its center, as it enters stellar middle age. Our Sun is now about half way through its middle age. It has been "fusing" hydrogen in its center for about 5 billion years, and will continue to do so for another 5 billion. How long a star lasts, from the initial contraction of a gas cloud to its final death throes, depends on how massive it is. The Sun is just an average star; stellar masses range from a hundred times that of the Sun to just under a tenth. Massive stars 'live fast and die young, cramming an entire lifetime into a few million years before they biow themselves to bits. Smaller stars live qUietly for tens and hundreds of billions of years and die much less spectacularly. All stars, regardless of mass, eventually run out of hydrogen "fuel" in their centers. They begin to die. No longer able to support the weight of their outer layers, their cores contract, increasiqg central temperatures until helium atoms fuse together to form carbon ones. As before, energy released during the fusion halts the contraction and the star temporarily regains some measure of stability. In the meantime, the outer layers swell and cool, dramatically increasing the diameter of the star; during this so-called "red giant", phase, the Sun will expand out past the Earth's orbit (bad news for any Earthlings still around). What happens next depends on the star's mass. When they finally run out of helium fuel in the center, stars like the Sun (and less massive ones too) are truly facing the grave. The core collapses under the tremendous weight of the star. The outer layers are gently ejected away from the star, exposing the core to space. When the' core finally stops contracting, its material is 5

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so densely packed that a single teaspoonful would weigh over 15 tons! This stellar remnant is called a white dwarf. It initially glows from heat left over from the contraction and from billions of years of nuclear fusion. But, with no new source of energy, the stellar corpse gradu,ally cools and slowly fades from sight, a stellar ember feebly glowing in the cosmic fIreplace. Stars more' massive than the Sun do not exit so gently. When they've exhausted their helium reselVes, they too begin to contract. However, compression from their tremendous weight allows additional elements to fuse together in their centers (for example, carbon fuses to become neon), releasing energy and halting the contraction, giving the stars a series of temporary reprieves. But, ultimately, fusion stops and nothing can stop the inevitable core collapse. This time" the collapse is accompanied by an explosive ejection of the outer layers-a supernova explOSion-that literally tears the star apart. . In the meantime, the core shrinks dramatically. If, after the supernova explosion, the leftover mass is about 2-3 times that of the Sun, the core collapses until its material is so densely packed that a sugar-cube-sized lump weighs 100 million tons! The remnant is called a neutron star because it consists mostly of super-compressed neutrons. If the post-supernova mass is higher still, no force in nature can stop the collapse. The core shrinks and shrinks and shrinks, until, finally, all its mass is crunched into something with zero diameter and infinite density! It is a black hole; black in the sense that nothing-not even light-can escape from it, and a hole in the sense that things can fall in, but they can't get back out. Massive stars may lead more interesting lives than those like the Sun, but there aren't very many of them. Most stars, in fact, have even smaller masses than the Sun. Something in the process of star formation seems to favor the creation of a lot of smaller stars over that of a few large ones. Perhaps half of all stars form in pairs, with two (and sometime more) stars

PROJECT ASTRO RESOURCE NOTEBOOK/AsTRoNOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC

ISTARS Background: Stars

bound together by their mutual gravitational attraction. These travel through space together, caught in a kind of cosmic square-dance as they orbit around one another. Despite all we now know about stars and their lives,. perhaps the most surprising thing we have learned is that, without stars, we wouldn't be here. Indications are that the cosmos began with only hydrogen and helium, from which it would not have been possible to construct anything as interesting as one of our students. Nearly all the atoms in our bodies, and in our chairs, our gardens, our cars, and in nearly

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evetything we see around us, originated in the centers of massive stars. The atoms were originally "cooked" in the nuclear frres deep inside these stars. Then, when these stars exploded at the end of their lives, the newly created atoms were thrown out into interstellar space. There they gathered together, fOrming new clouds of gas and dust, which ultimately contracted as new stars were born. Some of the atoms made their way into the planets that circled one particular new star, and eventually into the life that sprang up on the one called Earth. We are truly star stuff.

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tandout Stars Getting to know a few of the bngh!est night sky will help you anent ',urself even better durin" ynur J1(lCtumal ~nturc~. Inslcild of just bt..·mJ( stilrs. they (an ecome signposts. timekeepers. and indica>rs of seasonal change. Although it may seem like you can spot lillions of stars some nights. your eyes can 4l1y see about 2.000 stars on the darkest and t'earest evening, There are 88 constellations . the entire sky. About 60 can be seen from Ie U.S. throughout the year, but at any ven· time of night you can only view about a )zen. There are approximately 30 very ight stars. Here are seven: ' ~rs In the

" Rigtl. The seventh brightest star is located in the consteUation Orion, below Orion's wellknown belt (three stars in a row). Rigel is

Orion's (oot. 1'his bluish white star Is enor·

mous--33 times the diameter of our sun and 46,000 times brighter. It is so far away that the 6gbt you see left Rigel over 900 years 110·

Antares. The reddish Antares means ..the rival of Mars" in Greek. It is located in the Scorpiun (Scorpio) constellation (just below • its claws), and is number 16 in brightness. Mars, the "Red Planet," travels dose to Antares and can be confused with this Mars look-alike. Th~ Scorpion skirts our southern horizon during the smnmer months, then dips Sin'us. The b~ghtest in the entire sky, Sir- below the horizon in winter. Altair. The eye of the Eagle consteDation . .s me~s "scorcher" in Greek. Sirius is part this yellowish white star is number 12 in . the BIg Dog constellation, which you can brightness. The Eagle is a beautiful P-" ·~or !e on the southern horizon most of the year. stellation "flying" down the Milky \\" : ~r ecause it is low on the horizon, it takes a you find Altair (go from the Dragon·s ~u tc ~ry clear night to see the other stars in the Vega and then beyond to Altair), you have >DsteDation besides Sirius. On some star found the Milky Way. On some star maps tht aps the Big Dog is labeled with its Latin Eagle is labeled by its Latin name. Aquila. me.• Canis Major. Sirius and the Big Dog n be found in the sky by ~tendinR the line Vega. White Vega, part of the consteDation ade b)· Orion's belt southward about three Lyra, is the fifth brightest 'star in the night .nd-spans.· . sky and 50 times brighter than our SUD. But Vega is 261ight-years away (the distance light travels in a year), anclthe sun is only 8~ light-minutes away. Our solar system is moving toward Vega at 12 miles per second. At that rate. we should bump into Vega in about

500.000 years. The head of the Dragon consteDation (one of our circumpolar constellations) points toward Vega. DeMb. This is the brightest star in the Swan consteDation (Cygnus in Latin). Denet Arr:lJlnlS. The fourth brightest star is a is 1.600 light-years away and about 50,000 auuf.;.: ;range coJor-25 times bigger than . times brighter than the sun. Like Altair, r sun and 100 tirD~s as bright Cif vieWed when you find Deneb, you are also lonkin~ a m the same distance). To find ArctU11lS tht.- Milky WelY. . In 01 the Herdsman [Bootes 1consteDation) TIle Summer Triangle. The stars Vega. AJ ow the arc of the Big Dipper's handle away lair. and Deneb fonn a large triangle.~ m the bo'Yl, until you spy a very bright swnmer sky familiar to aD navigator! . r. That's Arcturus. you find· it?

(Taken from J.Emory's NightprowlBfS)