STARS AND GALAXIES

1. INFO ABOUT THE SUN I. Characteristics of the sun The sun is a star located at the centre of the Solar System It is our nearest star and the engine for all life on earth The sun contains 99.85% of all matter in the Solar System The sun is a medium-sized yellow star It is a huge, rotating ball of hot gas with nuclear reactions that lights up the Earth and provides us with heat energy It was formed 4.5 billion years ago The structure of the sun

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The phenomena on the surface of the sun, and its effect on Earth The suns magnetic field controls the motion of gases in the corona, creating delicate streamers which is seen from the Earth as flares and arching prominences Solar wind is a flow of gases from the sun that disturbs and shakes the Earths magnetic field

 Solar flares often give off ultraviolet light and X-rays that heat up the Earths upper atmosphere. This can change the orbits of satellites and shorten their lifetimes. The excessive radiation can physically damage the satellites and pose a threat to astronauts. When the Earths magnetic field is disturbed, it can also result in current surges in power lines that destroy equipment and knock out power over large areas. IV. Generation of energy by the sun The sun generates its energy through a nuclear reaction called nuclear fusion. The sun is a powerful fusion reactor. Fusion occurs at the centre of the sun. At the suns core, hydrogen atoms bang into each other constantly and fuse into atoms of helium. Energy is released when the nuclear reactions inside the sun convert hydrogen to helium. During the fusion process, a small amount of mass is converted to a large amount of energy. Every second, the Sun converts about 4 million tons of hydrogen to helium and energy. This energy is radiated into space. The Earth intercepts only one-billionth of the Suns light energy.

2. STARS AND GALAXIES IN THE UNIVERSE I. Stars A star is a self-luminous gaseous body. The sun is an example of a star. It is a self-luminous sphere of gas and plasma that is held together by its own gravity and energized by nuclear reactions in its interior. Type Supergiant Giant White dwarf II. Size (relative to the diameter of the sun) 100 to 1000 times bigger 10 to 100 times bigger 1000 times smaller

Formation of stars Stars are formed from nebulae. Nebulae are clouds of gas or dust. A star is formed when enormous clouds of dust and gas in a nebula collapse under the force of gravity. The collapse causes the cloud to spin faster and condenses the material that makes up a nebula. As this material is condensed, its

temperature begins to rise at its centre. When the temperature has risen sufficiently, nuclear fusion occurs in the core and energy in the form of heat and light energy travels out from the centre. It glows and turns into a star. III. Death of stars

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Galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars. It is like an island in space made up of gas, dust and millions of stars. There are millions of galaxies in the universe. Galaxies come in various shapes. They can be spiral, elliptical or irregular.

 Milky Way is a fairly large spiral galaxy. It consists of about 200 billion stars with our sun being one of them

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The universe The universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists including all physical matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. A constellation is a group of stars that, when seen from Earth, form a pattern. Some examples of constellations are the Ursa Major, Scorpius, Orion, Taurus and Leo. The Earth is the third planet of eight, (or nine if you still think of Pluto as a planet) from the Sun in the Solar System at an average distance of about 93,000,000 miles...also called one Astronomical Unit. The Solar System itself is on the inner rim of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy about 25,000 Light Years from the Galactic Centre and 6,500 Light Years from the next arm, the Perseus Arm.

SPACE EXPLORATION
1. Developments in astronomy I. How and when people started studying astronomy Astronomy is a branch of science that studies the motions and natures of planets, stars and galaxies. It is the oldest of all sciences. In many early civilizations, our ancestors noticed that regular changes occurred in the arrangements and movements of stars and planets. They used these observations to predict future events, and even wove these changes into their religions and the mythologies. To these people, knowing the behavior of the sky was an essential part of their lives. That is why astronomy, being the study of the universe, was one of the first sciences to develop. The early civilizations of China, Egypt, Greece and Middle East made careful observations and records of the regular motions of the stars and planets. Hey divided the stars into groups or constellations and recorded spectacular phenomena such as comets and eclipses. The Egyptians drew one of the earliest reasonably good calendars up. People who discovered the astronomy study Aristotle (384-322BC) gave the first practical proof that Earth is a globe Hans Lippershey (1570-1619) invented the first telescope in 1608. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) postulated that the planets move about the sun in ellipses and not perfect circles. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was the first person to use a telescope to make systematic observations and spectacular discoveries. He saw the mountains and craters of the Moon, the phases of Venus, the satellites of Jupiter, the spots of the Sun and the countless stars of the Milky Way. In 1668, the English scientist Isaac Newton used a mirror instead of lenses to collect light in a telescope. This reflecting telescope was much shorter and clearer. It is so sensitive that it can detect a single candle 24 000 km away.

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 In 1942, the American engineer Karl Jansky invented the radio telescope that heralded the beginning of radio astronomy. The 20th century had many other astronomical events. The number of planets was increased to nine in 1930 and Wernher von Braun experimented with rockets two years later. 2. Developments of space exploration I. When it begun? The launching of the first artificial satellite, Spuknik 1, on 4th October 1957 by the Russians marked the opening of the space age. Who is involed from the beginning until now? Manned space flight began on 1961 when Major Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Air Force was launched in the spacecraft Vostok 1 and made a full circuit of the Earth before landing safely. On 20 July 1969, Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin from the Untied States landed on the Moon in the lunar module, Apollo 11. The most spectacular space probes were the two Voyagers launched in 1977. They were sent on a grand tour of the outer Solar System. They are now racing on the outer edge of the Solar System. Voyager 1, now 13.4 billion km away, is the most distant object made by human being. Equipment used in the space exploration Space probe Rocket Satellite Space shuttle Purpose/application of space exploration Communication Weather forecasting Remote sensing Disaster management Military purposes and national security management

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