My Book of Stars and Planets - A Fact-Filled Guide To Space (TaiLieuTuHoc)

My Book of
Stars AND
Planets
Author: Dr Parshati Patel

Project editors Manisha Majithia, Kritika Gupta
Contents
Editors Katie Lawrence, Joy Evatt
Assistant editor Niharika Prabhakar 4 What is space?
Senior art editors Ann Cannings, Nidhi Mehra
Project art editor Jaileen Kaur 6 Looking at the sky
Assistant art editor Aishwariya Chattoraj
Jacket co-ordinator Issy Walsh 8 Orion constellation
Jacket designer Dheeraj Arora
DTP designers Dheeraj Singh, 9 Ursa Major constellation
Syed Md Farhan
Project picture researcher Sakshi Saluja
Production editor Dragana Puvacic
10 Constellations
Production controller John Casey
Managing editors Jonathan Melmoth, 12 Observatories
Monica Saigal
Managing art editors Diane Peyton Jones, 14 Our place in space
Romi Chakraborty
Delhi team heads Glenda Fernandes, 16 Solar System
Malavika Talukder
Deputy art director Mabel Chan 18 The Sun
Publishing director Sarah Larter
Illustrator Dan Crisp 20 Mercury

Consultant Professor David W. Hughes
22 Venus
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens,
24 Earth
London, SW11 7BW
26 The Moon
The authorised representative in the EEA is
Dorling Kindersley Verlag GmbH. Arnulfstr. 124, 28 Mars
80636 Munich, Germany
Copyright © 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited

30 Jupiter
A Penguin Random House Company
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 32 Jupiter’s moons
001–322998–Oct/21
34 Saturn
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
36 Saturn’s moons
transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), 38 Uranus
without the prior written permission of the
copyright owner. 40 Neptune
A CIP catalogue record for this book is 42 Pluto
available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2414-8578-1
43 Ceres
Printed and bound in China
44 Space rocks
For the curious
www.dk.com 46 Vesta
This book was made with Forest
Stewardship Council™ certified paper –
one small step in DK’s commitment to
47 Comet 67P/C-G
a sustainable future. For more information
go to www.dk.com/our-green-pledge
2
48 TRAPPIST-1e 70 Space probes
49 51 Pegasi b 72 Lunokhod
50 The Milky Way 73 Curiosity Mars Rover
52 Galaxies 74 Apollo
54 Life of a star 75 Soyuz
56 Orion Nebula 76 Rockets
57 Eagle Nebula 78 Launch to re-entry
58 Types of star 80 Shenzhou
60 Sirius A 81 Space Shuttle
61 VY Canis Majoris 82 Living in space
62 Hubble Space Telescope 84 Mir
63 Spitzer Space Telescope 85 International Space Station
64 Chandra X-ray Observatory 86 Future of space travel
65 INTEGRAL 88 SpaceX Dragon
66 The Space Race 89 Orion
68 Exploring space 90 All together
92 Glossary
94 Index
96 Acknowledgements
3
What is space?
The Universe is everything around us – the planets,
moons, billions of stars, and space. Space is what we
call the enormous regions between astronomical
objects. Space is almost completely empty, apart
from being thinly scattered with gas and dust.
What is gravity?
Gravity is an invisible force that pulls
everything towards the centre of an
object. Objects with a higher mass
have a stronger force of gravity.
Earth’s gravity keeps us on
the ground, while the Sun
has so much gravity that
planets orbit (travel
around) it.
4
Why is
space black?
During the day, planet Earth
looks lit up. This is because
the air in Earth’s atmosphere
scatters light from the Sun in
different directions. In space,
there is hardly any air to
scatter the Sun’s light, so it
looks black. Sunrise on Earth
Where does space begin? What is a star?

Earth’s atmosphere is made of layers of gases. It gets A star is a ball of hot gases, which
thinner and thinner the higher you go. Scientists imagine are constantly burning to produce
a boundary around 100 km (62 miles) above the Earth’s heat and light. Stars are held
surface called the Kármán line, which is where space together by gravity. The closest
begins. Satellites and space stations orbit the Earth star to Earth is the Sun.
beyond this line – and any person who crosses it is
counted as an astronaut.
The outermost layer

of the atmosphere
is the exosphere.
Satellites orbit the
Earth up here. What is a planet?
Planets are large balls of rock
or gas that orbit a star. Each
planet has its own force of
The International gravity, which pulls it into a
Space Station orbits spherical (round) shape.
the Earth in the
thermosphere.
Kármán line
Moon
Most meteoroids
(space rocks) burn
up in the mesosphere.
Aircraft fly in
What is a moon?
the stratosphere, Any object that orbits a larger
a calm layer object in space is called a satellite.
above the clouds. A moon is a natural satellite. Moons
travel around planets and even
Weather happens some asteroids (chunks of rock
in the troposphere. or metal that orbit the Sun).
5
Looking at
the sky
Early astronomers found patterns of
If you look up at the sky stars in the sky, called constellations,
on a clear night, you will see and gave each its own name. These
helped them tell stars apart.
hundreds, if not thousands, of
stars. Astronomy is the name Mapping the
given to the study of planets, night sky
stars, and other things in space. Ancient humans created maps of the
night sky, known as star charts or sky
It helps us learn more about the charts. These charts helped them to
Universe and everything in it. find their way across land and sea,
as they could work out their direction
People have been studying the based on the position of the
night sky for centuries. constellations in the sky.
Ancient astronomy
Ancient humans studied the night sky
just by using their eyes. They noted the
movement of the Sun, and the movement
and changing phases of the Moon. They
worked out the length of a year on Earth,
as well as the size of the planet.
Built in the Stone Age, this group of

rocks, called Stonehenge, may have Star chart
been created as a way to track the
movement of the Sun. It is located
in Wiltshire in the UK.
6
Early ideas Geocent
ric sy
Until the 16th century, many people s tem
believed that the Earth was at the centre of
the Solar System. In 1543, Polish astronomer Sun
Nicolaus Copernicus disagreed with this, Earth
and correctly suggested that all of the Moon
planets in the Solar System orbit, or move
around, the Sun.
Helioc This incorrect system

ent
ric suggested that all of
sy the objects in the Solar
Moon
ste
System orbit the Earth.
Sun
m
Earth
This system places the Sun at

the centre of the Solar System,
and shows that all of the
planets orbit around it.
The telescope
Invented in around 1609, this tool allows
the user to see objects that are far away. It
works by collecting light from an object, and
making the image of the object bigger by
using mirrors and curved pieces
of glass called lenses.
Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei
built his own telescope. He was one of the first
e
’s telescop people to study the night sky using a telescope.
o f Galileo
c a
Repli
Modern
astronomy
Modern astronomers use big
telescopes that are located all
over the world to look at the sky.
Some of these telescopes are
actually in space themselves!
Astronomers often use
computers to control them. The
telescopes then send images of
space back to the computer for This astronomer is working in the control
astronomers to study. room at the Mount Graham International
Observatory in the USA.
7
Orion
Fact file
» Where to view: Northern

and southern hemisphere
Orion is one of the most well-known
» Best viewed in: January
constellations in the night sky. It is » Number of bright stars: 8
named after a giant hunter » Brightest star: Rigel
in Greek mythology. The
constellation contains
the Orion Nebula, an Bellatrix is a massive
area where new stars star that forms the
left shoulder of Orion,
are forming. the hunter.
Betelgeuse is the second

brightest star in the Orion
constellation. It makes up
the hunter’s right shoulder.
The Orion
constellation
Global is easily
constellation recognized
by the three
The Orion constellation ca bright stars
n be
seen from all around the that line up
world,
although viewers in the so to form
uthern
hemisphere would see it Orion’s belt.
upside
down, with Orion’s feet at
the
top. The easiest way to fin
d Rigel is the brightest star
Orion is to look for Orion
’s belt. in the constellation. It
represents the left foot
Orion’s belt
of Orion, the hunter.
There are 88
internationally
recognized
constellations in
The main stars of the Orion
constellation visible in the
night sky
the night sky.
8
Ursa Major
Fact file
» Where to view: Northern

Meaning “The Great Bear”, Ursa Major is hemisphere
» Best viewed in: May
the third largest constellation in the night » Number of bright stars: 7
sky. It contains the well-known Plough, or » Brightest star: Alioth
Big Dipper, asterism (a pattern of stars
within a constellation).
Mizar and Alcor are a pair of
stars that appear very close to
Also known as each other from Earth. This is
Epsilon Ursae known as a double star system. Dubhe, and the star below it,
Majoris, Alioth called Merak, are known as
is the brightest pointer stars as they are used to
star in the locate Polaris, the North Star.
constellation.
Ursa Major’s
seven bright
stars form a
saucepan
shape known
as the Plough.
Ursa Minor Polaris
The North Star

Ursa Major can be used to
find Polaris, the North Star, Ursa Major
which sits almost directly
above Earth’s North Pole. The Ursa Minor
Following a straight line constellation represents
up from the pointer stars a small bear. Sometimes
takes you directly to Polaris, known as the Little Dipper,
which is part of the Ursa its stars form a smaller
Locating the North
Minor constellation. saucepan shape above
Star from Ursa Major
Ursa Major.
9
Constellations
Most of the 88 constellations in the night sky can only
be seen from some parts of the world at any time. This
is because only half of the sky can be seen from any
point on Earth – the planet itself covers the other half.
Stars are often much further apart than they look in
the sky, because some are closer to Earth than others.
The tail of the scorpion

At the heart of the
sits close to the centre of
constellation lies Antares,
the Milky Way. This is why
which is a red supergiant,
you will usually see a
the largest type of star
milky band full of stars
in the Universe.
when looking at the
Scorpius constellation.
Antares
Fact file
» Where to view: Southern

hemisphere
Scorpius
This constellation represents the scorpion
» Best viewed in: July from Greek mythology that was sent to kill
» Number of bright stars: 13 Orion, the hunter. It is most easily visible from
» Brightest star: Antares the southern hemisphere but parts of it can
also be seen from the northern hemisphere.
10
Fact file Gemini
Pollux
Gemini is one of the
oldest constellations, visible Castor
» Where to view: Northern in the northern sky. Gemini
hemisphere means ”twins” in Latin and
represents two mythical
» Best viewed in: February
twin brothers, Castor
» Number of bright stars: 6 and Pollux. The
» Brightest star: Pollux two stars named
after the brothers
are the brightest
in the constellation.
THE SMALLEST
CONSTELLATION
Fact file Crux

Despite being the smallest
constellation, Crux is one of the
Mimosa » Where to view: Southern most easy to see in the night sky,
hemisphere thanks to its recognizable shape. It
is also known as the Southern Cross,
» Best viewed in: May and its stars have been used since
» Number of bright stars: 4 ancient times to find the South Pole.
Acrux
» Brightest star: Acrux
Fact file Cassiopeia

The five bright stars
in the Cassiopeia
» Where to view: Northern constellation form a
“W”-shaped pattern, Alpha
hemisphere Cassiopeiae
which makes it easy
» Best viewed in: November
to spot in the night
» Number of bright stars: 5 sky. The constellation
» Brightest star: Alpha is named after a
Cassiopeiae (Schedar) mythical queen from
ancient Greece.
11
Observatories
Observatories are places that house some
of the largest telescopes. Most are located
in unpopulated areas with good weather
away from artificial light and pollution,
such as on mountaintops and in deserts.
This gives astronomers a much clearer
view of the night sky.
Atacama Large Millimeter

Array (ALMA) Fact file
ALMA is made up of 66 antennas that act together
as a single giant radio telescope. Radio telescopes
work by picking up radio waves from galaxies and » Location: Atacama
stars in the Universe. A receiver measures the waves Desert, Chile
as they come in. The information is then turned into » Size of antenna: 54 with
a picture by a computer.
a 12 m (39 ft) diameter
and 12 with a 7 m (23 ft)
Each dish can be diameter
moved around to » Type of telescope:
point at a specific
part of the sky. Radio telescope
» In use: 2013–present
12
Fact file Lick Observatory
This was the first permanent
mountaintop observatory. Its original
» Location: California, USA telescope was a refractor, which is still
» Size of lens: 91 cm (36 in) in use today. Refracting telescopes
use a glass lens to collect and focus
» Type of telescope:
light from objects in the night sky.
Refracting telescope
» In use: 1888–present
The telescope is housed in a large
dome, which can be rotated to
allow astronomers to study
different parts of the sky.
Fact file
» Location: Hawaii, USA

The “Great Lick
Refractor”, as the » Size of mirror:
telescope is known, 3.5 m (11.7 ft)
was the largest » Type of telescope:
refracting telescope Reflecting telescope
in the world when
it was first built. » In use: 1979–present
Canada-France-Hawaii
The telescope was installed
Telescope
in the Paris Observatory in This is one of 12 observatories located
the 1800s. A dome was built on the summit of Mauna Kea, a 4,200 m
to house the telescope. (13,780 ft) high mountain in Hawaii.
It houses a reflecting telescope, which
uses mirrors to collect the light from
objects in space.
Fact file Paris

Observatory
This is the world’s oldest
» Location: Paris, France
observatory to have
» Size of lens: continuously been in
38 cm (15 in) use since its creation.
» Type of telescope: Many remarkable
discoveries have been
Refracting telescope
made here, including
» In use: 1671–present four of Saturn’s moons
in 1671–1684.
13
Our place Our Solar System is part of a galaxy
called the Milky Way. It is a spiral-
in space
shaped galaxy that contains between
100 to 400 billion stars.
The Universe is a very big place, so

big in fact that it is hard to imagine
everything that is in it. The Earth,
the planets, the Sun, and the things
that you see in the night sky are just
a few tiny objects that are part of
the enormous Universe.
The Solar System is made

up of a star called the Sun,
the eight planets that orbit
around it, and other objects,
such as dwarf planets,
asteroids, and comets.
What is a
light year?
Our home, the planet Earth, A light year is a unit of
is one of the eight planets in measurement – it represents
the Solar System. Earth has the distance that light travels in
all of the ingredients needed one year. Light years are used to
for life to exist, such as water, measure how far away objects in
energy, oxygen, and soil. the Universe are from each other.
One light year is equal to roughly
9.5 trillion km (5.9 trillion miles).
14
It is estimated that
there are at least
200 billion galaxies in
the Universe. They
come in all different
shapes and sizes.
The Milky Way is one of the The Big

many galaxies that form
part of the Local Group of Bang
galaxies. This group is made Scientists believe that
up of more than 50 different the Universe started
galaxies. The Local Group is growing after a huge
roughly 10 million light years explosion, called the
across in size. Big Bang, took place
around 13.8 billion
years ago. Before this
happened, it is thought
that nothing existed. Illustration of what the Big Bang
may have looked like
Alpha Centauri, Canis Major, the Andromeda, the

the nearest star, is nearest dwarf galaxy, nearest spiral galaxy,
4 light years away. is 3,700 light years is 2.5 million light years
away. away from Earth.
10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1 million 10 million

Earth Distance in light years from Earth
(not to scale) 15
Solar System
The Solar System is our home in space. In
the centre is a star, the Sun. A collection
of objects travels around the Sun on Saturn
paths called orbits. These include eight

planets and their moons, five known
dwarf planets, and countless asteroids,
meteoroids, and comets.
An orbit is a curved path

that an object follows in
space. Each of the eight
planets follows its own
orbit around the Sun.
Earth
Mars
Venus
Mercury
Asteroids are lumps of

The Sun is a yellow dwarf metal and rock that orbit
star. It uses a pulling force the Sun. Most of them are
called gravity to keep the found in the asteroid belt
objects in the Solar System between Mars and Jupiter.
orbiting around it.
16
Other planetary
systems
Our Sun is not the only star
to have planets orbiting it.
Scientists have discovered
thousands of different systems
with planets in our galaxy, the
Milky Way. Some of these Pluto
Kepler-16b is a planet that orbits systems only have one planet,
not just one, but two stars! while others have many.
At the edge of the

Solar System is the Kuiper
Belt. This ring is home to
some of the dwarf planets
and comets.
Comets are objects made

of dust and ice. When they
get close to the Sun, they Neptune
Jupiter heat up and some of their
ice turns into a bright tail.
Uranus
Planet types s
p it
er une
nu pt
There are three types
Ju
Ve
Ne
of planet in the Solar

System: rocky, gas
giant, and ice giant.
The rocky planets are
the four closest to the
Sun. The gas and ice
giants are the four Rocky planets have a Gas giants are mostly Ice giants are mostly
planets furthest away solid surface. The rocky made of gas. The two made of ice and gas.
from the Sun. planets are Mercury, gas giants are Jupiter The two ice giants are
Venus, Earth, and Mars. and Saturn. Uranus and Neptune.
17
The Sun LARGEST
O
IN THE S BJECT
The Sun is the only star in our Solar OLA
SYSTEM R
System. The Sun’s gravity stops the
planets from flying off into space.
Its surface sends out lots of
heat, light, and other
energy into space.
Never look directly

at the Sun – it can
damage your eyes!
Sunspots are dark

areas that are cooler
than the rest of
the Sun’s surface.
A large loop of
gas that shoots
out from the Sun’s
surface is called a
solar prominence.
Solar flares are sudden

explosions of energy
on the Sun’s surface.
Solar power
Sunlight can be used to
make electricity. This is
called solar power. Solar
panels take in energy
from sunlight and turn The Sun makes up
it into electricity. 99.8 per cent
of the entire mass of
A house with solar panels on its roof our Solar System.
18
Inside the Sun
Fact file
» Type of star: Yellow dwarf

The Sun is a huge ball made up of hot gases, » Size: 1.4 million km
mainly hydrogen and helium. It has five layers. (864,000 miles) in diameter
These are the solar atmosphere, photosphere, » Age: 4.5 billion years old
convective zone, radiative zone, and core. » Surface temperature:
5,500˚C (10,000˚F)
The fiery photosphere
is often called the
Sun’s surface. In the convective
zone, heat is
transported by large
bubbles of hot gas
that move upwards.
Energy from the core

moves up through the
radiative zone. It can
take thousands of
years for this energy
to reach the surface.
The core is scorching

hot – it reaches
temperatures of
15 million˚C
(27 million˚F).
Auroras
At the Earth’s poles, amazing
displays of light, called
auroras, can sometimes
be seen. These occur when
particles from the Sun hit
the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Sun’s atmosphere
has two layers: the Pioneer 6 was
red-orange coloured one of the first
chromosphere, and spacecraft sent
the corona, which to study the Sun.
is a layer of gas It was launched
that extends far in 1965.
into space. Pi
on
ee
r 6
19
Mercury SMALL
PLANET EST
Mercury is the closest planet to the SOLAR S IN THE
YSTEM
Sun, and the smallest. It is only slightly
larger than our Moon and looks very
similar, being grey and heavily Caloris Basin is one of the
cratered. Mercury largest impact craters in
the Solar System. It is
orbits the Sun so big that the whole
faster than any of the British
Isles could fit
other planet. inside it.
Bright streaks,
called rays, are
created when
particles are blasted
out from a crater
during a collision..
Mercury’s surface
has many craters,
which are the result
of asteroids crashing
into its surface.
Hot and cold

n
Mercury is so close to the Su
s in the da y
that temperature
C
can reach a scorching 430º
p to
(800ºF). However, they dro
a freezing -180ºC (-290ºF) at
re
night, as the thin atmosphe
cannot trap in the Su n’s he at.
Mercury, half lit up by the Sun
20
Inside Mercury
Fact file
» Distance from Sun:

Mercury is a rocky planet – it has a solid surface 58 million km
that you could walk on. Unlike most other planets, (36 million miles)
it has a large core, which is unusual for such a small » Length of day:
planet. The mantle and crust are much thinner 176 Earth days
by comparison. » Length of year:
88 Earth days
» Surface temperature:
-180–430ºC (-290–800ºF)
» Number of moons: 0
Mercury’s mantle
is made of rocky
material and is
much thinner than
those of other
planets in the
Solar System.
Mercury’s outer
core is liquid and
made of metals,
mainly iron.
The large inner
core is solid.
Together, the liquid
and solid core
make up around
85 per cent of
Mercury has a the planet.
thin crust that
is full of hills and
mountain ranges.
Exploring Mercury
The spacecraft MESSENGER
observed Mercury from 2011
to 2015. It took photographs of
almost the entire surface, and
studied the planet’s interior.
MESSENGER was the first
spacecraft to orbit Mercury.
MESSENGER orbiting Mercury
21
Venus HOTTEST
PLANET IN THE
Named after the Roman goddess SOLAR SYSTEM
of love and beauty, Venus is the
second planet from the Sun. It is
Like Earth, Venus has mountain
the second brightest object ranges. Its highest peak is
in our night sky, after called Skadi Mons, in
the Maxwell Montes
the Moon. mountain range.
Venus has many

volcanoes, some of
which are still active.
Lava floods the
surface of the planet
when they erupt.
Venus is covered in
thick, yellow clouds
made of a harmful
chemical called
sulphuric acid.
Deadly planet
Seen from above, Venus
looks peaceful with its The solid surface of Venus
pale clouds. However, is relatively smooth, unlike
the atmosphere is thick the craters found on the
and poisonous, hiding a other rocky planets. This
scorching, lifeless world is due to the lava from
beneath. Scientists erupting volcanoes.
believe Venus is a fiery
orange colour under
the clouds. Venus above and below
the clouds
22
Inside Venus
Fact file

Venus is a rocky planet with a very thick atmosphere 108 million km
that permanently covers the planet. The structure of (67 million miles)
Venus is very similar to Earth. It has an iron core, » Length of day:
along with a liquid mantle and a thin crust. 243 Earth days
» Length of year:
Venus’s thick atmosphere 225 Earth days
is made mostly of the
gas carbon dioxide,
which traps 471ºC (880ºF)
in heat. » Number of moons: 0
The thin crust is

made of rocks.
Volcanoes form
on the surface
when the crust
moves as a result
of the continually
shifting mantle
underneath.
The outer part of

Venus’s large core
Venus has a is liquid, but it is
thick mantle solid in the centre.
made of rocks The core is made
and metals. The of metal.
heat from the core
keeps the mantle liquid.
Earth’s evil twin

Venus spins in the opposite direction
to Earth but, being of a similar size
and structure, is nicknamed “Earth’s
twin”. However, the two planets have
nothing else in common. The heat
and poisonous gases on Venus mean
humans would never survive there.
Venus and Earth
23
Earth Earth is
the only planet
The third planet from the Sun is our in the Solar
home, Earth. It is the only place in the System to have
Universe that we currently know is liquid water on
home to living things. It is a rocky its surface.
planet with a solid surface
and liquid water.
Thin ice floats in the

sea of the Arctic at
the top of the planet,
while Antarctica
at the bottom is a
solid continent of
large ice sheets.
Oceans cover nearly

70 per cent of the
surface. They hold
97 per cent all of
the water on Earth.
Earth’s solid surface is

made of rock. The land
can take many forms,
such as mountains,
volcanoes, and valleys.
Made of tiny
droplets of water,
clouds help to
control the
Daytime Night-time
Day and night temperature on
Earth is always spinning on its Earth. They
axis – an imaginary line running reflect heat
through its centre. As it spins, away from the
half of the planet faces the Sun Sun and trap in
and experiences daytime, while heat from the
the other half faces away from surface of Earth.
it and experiences night-time.
Light from the Sun Axis
24
Inside Earth
Fact file

Earth is mainly made of rocky materials, as well as 150 million km
metals. The outer layer of the planet is called the (93 million miles)
crust. Under the crust are three more layers – » Length of day: 24 hours
the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. » Length of year: 365 days
-89–58ºC (-128–136ºF)
Earth’s crust is made of

soil and rock. The crust
is thicker on land than
on the ocean floor.
Under the crust is

the mantle, which
is Earth’s thickest
layer. It is made
of very hot, thick
liquid rock, called
magma.
The outer core

is made of liquid
metals. It flows
around the
inner core.
Earth’s metallic
inner core is hot
and solid. It is
formed of iron
and nickel.
A thick
atmosphere
surrounds Earth.
Safety bubble Atmosphere It contains a
Earth’s atmosphere helps to protect mixture of gases,
us from space rocks and harmful rays including oxygen,
from the Sun. It breaks up smaller nitrogen, and
rocks into pieces, which then carbon dioxide.
burn up before they can reach
the planet’s surface.
25
The Moon There is soil on the Moon,
but it is very different
to soil on Earth. This soil
The Moon is an object that orbits planet is mainly made from
powdered rock dust.
Earth, and is bright enough to be easily
seen in the night sky. It was likely formed Astronauts first
billions of years ago when an asteroid set foot on the
Moon in 1969. They
crashed into Earth. landed in a smooth
area called the
Sea of Tranquility.
These dark Despite the name,
areas of the it contains no water.
surface are
filled with solid
lava. Early
astronomers
thought they
might be seas.
The Moon’s
surface is The heavily
covered with cratered
craters. Tycho areas of
crater is one the Moon’s
of the easiest surface are
craters to spot called the
from Earth. Highlands.
Phases of
the Moon
The Moon seems to
change shape as it
orbits the Earth. This
is because the Sun
lights up different New Waxing First Waxing Full Waning Third Waning
areas of it. These Moon crescent quarter gibbous Moon gibbous quarter crescent
apparent changes
are called phases. The eight phases of the Moon
26
Inside the Moon
Fact file
» Distance from Earth:

The Moon is a very dry place with no air or water. 384,400 km (238,855 miles)
It is made up of a core, a mantle, and a crust. The » Orbital period: 27 days
Moon’s rotation is locked to Earth, which means » Size: 3,475 km (2,159 miles)
that the same side always faces Earth while the in diameter
other side faces away.
If you put four Moons
side by side, they would
The crust is formed just about fit across the
of a layer of rocks middle of the Earth!
around 50 km
(30 miles)
thick.
A liquid layer
of metal
around 90 km
(55 miles) thick
surrounds the
inner core.
The Moon’s
mantle is a
solid layer The inner core is
made of small and solid. It
heavy rocks. is around 480 km
(300 miles) across.
Solar eclipse
A solar eclipse happens
when the Moon comes
between Earth and the
Sun on its orbit around
the planet. It blocks the
Sun’s light, casting a shadow
of darkness on Earth. r eclipse.
The Moon covers the Sun during a sola
27
Mars Olympu
s Mons
Half the size of Earth, Mars is the l
ar
is known as the Red Planet volcano gest
in the Like Earth,
because of the reddish dust Solar S Mars has ice
ystem. caps at its
covering its surface. Named poles. The
after the Roman god of north pole’s
ice caps melt
war, it is the fourth in summer.
planet from
the Sun.
The northern
hemisphere
has a smooth
surface. It is
believed that
there was once
an ocean here.
Mars has many

volcanoes, the
largest of which
is Olympus Mons.
It is three times
taller than
Mount Everest.
The southern hemisphere

is rough and has a large
number of impact craters. Valles Marineris
is a huge canyon
system that
has formed a
Irregular moons massive crack
in the planet’s
Mars’s moons, Phobos and Deimos,
surface. It is as
are thought to be asteroids
long as the USA.
captured by the planet’s gravity
when they were blasted in its
direction during a collision with
another object. Phobos is the larger
moon, while Deimos is half its size.
Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos
28
Inside Mars
Fact file

Mars is a rocky planet that is cold and dry. It is 228 million km
surrounded by a very thin atmosphere, and like Earth, (142 million miles)
has seasons. The surface of Mars is covered in soil » Length of day: 24.6 hours
containing iron oxide, which is similar to rusty iron. » Length of year: 687
Earth days
Mars’s crust is a solid shell » Surface temperature:
unlike Earth’s crust, -143–35ºC (-225–95ºF)
which is broken up
into plates. » Number of moons: 2
Between the core

and crust lies Mars’s
mantle. The mantle
is a thick layer of
semi-liquid rock.
Mars has a small,

solid core made
of iron and other
metals.
Dust storms
Winds on Mars
cr
storms, which o eate dust
ften last for
weeks. Some a
re
enough to cove large
r
planet, and the the entire
d
take months to ust can
settle down
after the storm
has passed.
The size of a microwave,
Sojourner was the first
rover to land on another
planet. It arrived on
Mars in July 1997 and
spent three months
collecting information
about the planet.
A “dust devil”
on Mars
29
Jupiter
Named after the king of the Roman
gods, Jupiter is the fifth planet
from the Sun, orbiting between the BIG
PLANE GEST
asteroid belt and Saturn. It is so big T
SOLAR IN THE
that it can be seen in the SYSTE
M
night sky without a
telescope. Jupiter’s
rings are too
faint to be seen
from Earth.
Jupiter spins faster

than any other planet
in the Solar System,
causing powerful
winds. These winds
create bands of
colourful clouds in
the atmosphere.
The Great Red

Rings of dust Spot is a giant
storm that has
In 1979, the Voyager 1 probe been raging for
discovered four very faint, hundreds of years.
reddish rings circling Jupiter.
The rings are made of dust
from meteorite impacts on
Jupiter’s moons, such as
Adrastea and Metis. Jupiter’s main ring, as photographed
by the Galileo spacecraft
30
Inside Jupiter
Fact file

Jupiter is a gas giant planet – it does not have 778 million km
a solid surface. Just like the Sun, Jupiter is made (484 million miles)
almost entirely of hydrogen and helium gas, but » Length of day: 9.9 hours
it is not big enough to be a star. » Length of year: 11.8
Earth years
Jupiter’s thick clouds contain » Surface temperature:
frozen ice crystals of -143 – -108ºC
ammonia, a chemical
(-225 – -162ºF)
that smells like
rotting fish. » Number of moons: 79
Under the clouds

is a liquid layer
of hydrogen and
helium. This is the
largest ocean in
the Solar System.
Crushed under
the pressure of
the ocean above
it, the liquid
hydrogen in
Jupiter’s inner
layer is metallic.
This layer also
contains helium.
Scientists think Jupiter’s

core could be solid or
like an extremely hot,
thick liquid. It is made
of similar materials to
those in Earth’s core.
Galileo spacecraft
Launched in 1989, this probe spent

eight years studying Jupiter’s
atmosphere and its largest moons.
31
Jupiter’s
moons
Jupiter has 79 known moons, including
some of the biggest in the Solar System.
Most of Jupiter’s moons are small, but
the four largest ones are Ganymede,
Europa, Callisto, and Io. They were
discovered by Italian astronomer Galileo Europa has streaks and
Galilei in the 17th century, and are cracks. These are filled
with minerals that have
known as the Galilean moons. been frozen in ice.
A little less than half of Ganymede’s

surface is dark and rough. These
areas are covered in craters.
Fact file
» Distance from Jupiter:

1,070,400 km (665,115 miles)
» Orbital period: 7.2 days
» Size: 5,268 km (3,273 miles)
in diameter
Ganymede
Ganymede is Jupiter’s biggest
moon. In fact, it is the largest
moon in our Solar System, and
is even bigger than the planet
Mercury. Ganymede is made
of rock and water ice.
There are also light-coloured regions

on the surface. These have grooves and
ridges, and only a small number of craters.
32
Europa Fact file
Europa is covered in a thin
shell of water ice. It is thought » Distance from Jupiter:
that Europa is a great place
to look for life because the 670,900 km (416,878 miles)
sub-surface (just below the » Orbital period: 3.6 days
crust) may have water and » Size: 3,120 km (1,939 miles)
the right mix of chemicals in diameter
for life to exist.
Under the thin, icy shell of
Europa’s surface, scientists
think there may be an ocean Bright white spots on
of liquid water or slushy ice. Callisto are thought to
be peaks of the moon’s
craters that are
Fact file covered with water ice.
» Distance from Jupiter:

1,882,700 km (1,169,855 miles)
» Size: 4,820 km (2,995 miles)
in diameter
Callisto
Covered in rocks and ice,
Callisto has the oldest and the Eruptions from the
most heavily cratered surface of moon’s volcanoes
all Jupiter’s moons. Most of these can reach out
craters formed billions of years far into space.
ago when meteorites crashed
into Callisto’s surface.
Fact file Io
This moon is the most
volcanically active
» Distance from Jupiter: object in the Solar
421,700 km (262,030 miles) System. Io’s surface is
covered in hundreds
of volcanoes and lakes
» Size: 3,642 km (2,263 miles) of molten lava. It looks
in diameter a yellow-orange colour
because there is a lot of the
element sulphur on the surface.
33
Saturn
Known for its beautiful rings, Saturn Saturn
is the sixth planet from the Sun and has the
highest
the second largest in the Solar numbe
of moo r
System. It is the furthest planet ns in th
Solar S e
that can be seen from Earth ystem.
without a telescope.
Saturn has seven

main rings, which
are made up of
chunks of rock
Winds at high speeds blow The gaps in Saturn’s rings and ice.
around the atmosphere, are created by moons
forming colourful clouds. that orbit the planet.
The winds are caused by
Saturn’s fast rotation.
Alphabet rings
The seven main rings are named
alphabetically in the order they
C B A
were discovered. “B” ring is the
widest, and the brightest. It is twice
as wide as Earth. Saturn’s rings can
be seen through a telescope.
False-colour image of Saturn’s rings
34
Inside Saturn
Fact file

Like Jupiter, Saturn is mostly made of the gases 1.4 billion km
hydrogen and helium. It has a small core that is (886 million miles)
surrounded by a liquid mantle. Above the mantle » Length of day: 10.7 hours
lies Saturn’s atmosphere and its fainter cloud bands. » Length of year:
29 Earth years
Saturn’s atmosphere -138ºC (-218ºF)
has three main layers
of clouds. The clouds
form at different
heights in the
atmosphere so The core is
the layers are surrounded
spread far by a thick
apart. liquid layer
of hydrogen.
Scientists
think Saturn
has a small, solid
core. It is made of
metals in the centre,
surrounded by
rocky material.
Polar storm
Saturn’s north pole is
surrounded by a six-sided
cloud pattern, which has a
huge storm at the centre.
Saturn is the least dense It was first seen by the Voyager
planet in the Solar System. 1 spacecraft in the early 1980s.
It is the only planet that Each side of the cloud is wider
could float on water! than Earth. Saturn’s hexagonal
cloud pattern 35
Saturn’s moons
Saturn has 82 known moons, the most of any
planet in the Solar System. Their sizes range
from small boulders to huge objects bigger Turgis is the
than Mercury. Some of Saturn’s moons have second largest
known crater on
unusual shapes – Atlas is a flat disc, while Pan Iapetus. It has
steep slopes.
looks a bit like a flying saucer!
Fact file
» Distance from Saturn:

3,561,000 km (2,213,000 miles)
» Size: 1,471 km (914 miles)
in diameter
Iapetus
Discovered by Italian astronomer
Giovanni Cassini in 1671, Iapetus
is Saturn’s third largest moon. It
has a mountain range at its equator
(middle) that is 10 km (6 miles) high.
Iapetus is mostly made of water The surface of
ice and some rocky material. Enceladus is white,
but this infrared image
makes it appear blue.
Fact file
Enceladus
Enceladus is Saturn’s icy
» Distance from Saturn: moon. Under a thin shell
237,948 km (147,855 miles) of ice, scientists think
» Orbital period: 1.4 days Enceladus may have
» Size: 504 km (313 miles)
a liquid ocean. NASA’s
Cassini spacecraft observed
in diameter water shooting out of the
ocean at Enceladus’s south pole.
36
Hyperion
Hyperion is Saturn’s largest Fact file
non-spherical moon. Scientists
think that Hyperion may
have been formed from » Distance from Saturn:
the debris of a larger 1,481,009 km (920,256 miles)
moon that was destroyed » Orbital period: 21.3 days
in a collision. The surface » Size: 270 km (168 miles) wide
is covered in deep craters,
which give it a unique
sponge-like look.
Fact file
» Distance from Saturn:

1,221,870 km (759,235 miles)
» Orbital period: 16 days
» Size: 5,150 km (3,200 miles)
in diameter
Titan
Titan is Saturn’s largest
moon. It is the second largest
moon in the Solar System, and
the only one that has a thick
atmosphere. Titan’s atmosphere
gives it an orange haze.
As Titan is so far away from

the Sun, it is extremely cold.
Its surface is made of water ice.
Shepherd moons
Some of Saturn’s moons,
such as Pan, orbit the planet
between its rings. These are Apart from Earth, Titan
called shepherd moons as is the only place in the
they “herd” ring particles Solar System known to
around, moving them out of have liquid areas, such
the way and keeping them as seas, lakes, and rivers,
contained within the rings. Pan’s position between Saturn’s rings on its surface.
37
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun,
and the third largest planet in the Solar
System. Uranus is the only planet
in the Solar System that
is tilted on its side
and spins sideways!
The poles take turns

facing the Sun. This
means that seasons are
very long – summers
and winters at each
pole last for 21 years!
Discovery
of Uranus
Uranus was the first
planet found using a
telescope. William Herschel
spotted it in 1781 from his
garden in Bath, in the UK.
He thought it was a comet
or a star at first.
Uranus has
clouds that
The methane gas in contain hydrogen
Uranus’s atmosphere sulphide. This is the
absorbs any red light gas that makes
from the Sun. This rotten eggs smell.
makes the planet look
a blue-green colour.
Uranus has 13 rings. The outer

rings have bright colours, while
the narrower inner rings are
dark in colour.
38 William Herschel
Inside Uranus
Fact file

Uranus is one of the coldest planets in the 2.9 billion km
Solar System and is known as an ice giant. (1.8 billion miles)
Ice giants are made of a mix » Length of day: 17 hours
of icy materials and gas. » Length of year:
Uranus is known for 84 Earth years
its blue-green
-195ºC (-320ºF)
colour.
The thick
atmosphere
is made of
hydrogen,
helium, and
methane gases.
A hot liquid
mantle makes
up most of
the planet.
It is thought that Uranus

may have a small core
made of metals and rocks.
Scientists think that
Uranus was hit and tipped
over by an Earth-sized object
as it was being formed!
Unusual moon
Miranda is one of Uranus’s 27 moons
.
It was discovered by Gerard Kuiper
in
1948. Miranda’s surface has strange
features, including large cliffs and
valleys that are deeper than the
Grand Canyon in the USA!
Miranda’s rough surface 39

Neptune
In the Solar System, Neptune is
the furthest planet from the Sun – COLDEST E
N TH
about 30 times further away than PLANET I STEM
Earth. It is a dark, cold, and windy SOLAR SY
place. Neptune is named
after the Roman god
of the sea.
Bands of icy clouds

are caused by
fast-moving winds
blowing around
Neptune’s
atmosphere.
Storms are common

on Neptune. In 1989,
Voyager 2 noticed a
giant storm called
the Great Dark Spot.
Neptune has one

of the fastest wind
speeds in the Solar
System, up to 2,000 km
(1,200 miles) per hour.
Lone visitor
craft
Voyager 2 is the only space
ne . It flew
to have visited Neptu
51 km
past, coming as close as 4,9
before
(3,076 miles) to the planet,
yager 2
leaving the Solar System. Vo
re and
studied Neptune’s atmosphe
9. its moons Triton and Nerei d.
Voyager 2 visited Neptune in 198
40
Inside Neptune
Fact file

Neptune is an ice giant, and the smallest of the four 4.5 billion km
giant planets. Like the other giants, it is made mainly (2.8 billion miles)
of hydrogen and helium. Similar to Uranus, Neptune » Length of day:
has a small core, which is surrounded by an icy mantle 16 hours
and an atmosphere. » Length of year:
165 Earth years
-201ºC (-331ºF)
Neptune’s thick
atmosphere is
made of the gases
hydrogen, helium,
and methane.
The mantle is a
thick liquid made
of icy materials.
It contains water,
methane, and
other chemicals.
Scientists think
Neptune has a
small core at
its centre, made
of metal and rock.
Hidden rings
Neptune has five main rings
that are so faint they were
only confirmed in 1989 when
photographed by Voyager 2.
The rings may be made of
Triton is Neptune’s largest moon. ice and dust. They are seen
It has a smooth surface and a here lit up from behind by
very thin atmosphere. the Sun. Neptune’s rings as seen
from Voyager 2 41
Pluto
Fact file

4.4–7.4 billion km
Pluto is a dwarf planet found in the outer (2.7–4.6 billion miles)
Solar System, beyond Neptune. Dwarf » Orbital period: 248 years
planets are smaller than planets and share » Number of moons: 5
their orbits around the Sun with smaller » Location: Kuiper Belt
objects made of rock and ice. Being so far

from the Sun, Pluto is a cold and icy world.
Much of Pluto’s surface Pluto has a very thin
is covered in craters, atmosphere made up
mountains made of the gases nitrogen,
of ice, and deep methane, and carbon
valleys. monoxide.
This crater-less,
heart-shaped region
is called Tombaugh
Regio. It has smooth
plains made of huge
rivers of nitrogen ice.
Pluto’s moons
Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, is round
and half its size. The other moons are Styx Kerberos
much smaller and irregular in shape. Nix Hydra
All five moons are thought to have
been formed from Pluto’s collision
with another object. Charon
Pluto’s moons
42
Ceres
Fact file

414 million km
Found in the asteroid belt between Mars and (257 million miles)
Jupiter, Ceres is the largest asteroid in the » Orbital period: 4.6 years
Solar System and is also classed as a dwarf » Number of moons: 0
planet. Made of rock and ice, Ceres makes » Location: Asteroid belt
up one-quarter of the material in the asteroid

belt today.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft The craters on Ceres
found bright spots on Ceres, are small and young.
shown here in enhanced Any older craters
colour. These are places were probably
where salt from filled in by ice
under the surface that may have
has collected. erupted from
volcanoes.
Ceres has a very

thin atmosphere.
Scientists have
found water vapour
that may have come The tallest
from water ice on mountain on
the surface. Ceres, Ahuna
Mons, is 5 km
(3 miles) high.
LARGEST
HE
OBJECT IN T LT
E
ASTEROID B
Discovery of Ceres
When it was first discovered,
Ceres was thought to be a planet.
It was renamed as an asteroid
in the 1850s, after others were
found in the asteroid belt. It was
The dwarf planet Makemake classed as a dwarf planet in 2006. Italian astronomer Giuseppe
was discovered in the Piazzi discovered Ceres in 1801.
Kuiper Belt in 2005.
43
Space rocks Oort Cloud
As well as planets, moons, and the Sun,

there are many smaller objects in our Solar
System. Made of rock, ice, and metal,
space rocks include asteroids, meteoroids,
and comets. They are thought to be the
bits left over from when the planets
formed, including rocks that failed to
turn into planets.
A comet warms up as it gets closer

to the Sun. It then releases gases
and dust that reflect sunlight.
Trojan asteroids
share a planet’s The Kuiper Belt is a
orbit around region of icy objects
the Sun. Jupiter beyond Neptune’s
has many trojan orbit. It includes
asteroids, in comets and the
Mars two groups. dwarf planet Pluto.
Asteroids orbit the Sun,

Sun and most are grouped in
a large band between
Mars and Jupiter called
the asteroid belt.
Earth
Asteroids
Most asteroids are irregularly shaped
lumps of rock that orbit the Sun. They
are smaller than planets – many are
the size of pebbles, but Ceres, the largest
Jupiter object in the asteroid belt, is 930 km
(580 miles) in diameter. There are more than
a million known asteroids in the Solar System.
44
Comets
Often called dirty snowballs, comets are
huge chunks of ice, dust, and rock that
orbit the Sun. A comet can be as big
as a small town. There are currently
more than 3,700 known comets.
The ball-shaped Oort

Cloud is a collection of
comets and other icy
objects surrounding our
entire Solar System. It is
the most distant region Halley’s Comet
of our Solar System.
The Sun’s wind blows dust
A comet’s nucleus off the comet, creating
Most comets are (centre) is made of a separate dust tail.
found in the Oort ice and dust. Closer to
Cloud. A comet’s the Sun, the dust forms
orbit is shaped like As the comet warms up,
an expanding cloud
a long oval. the ice turns to gas and
called a coma.
creates a gas tail behind
the nucleus.
Meteoroids and meteorites

When an asteroid or a meteoroid enters Earth’s
atmosphere, its surface melts. This creates a flash
of light called a meteor, or fireball. Sometimes, a
piece of the rock remains and falls to the ground –
it is then called a meteorite.
Meteoroid
Small chunks of
rock or metal that ATMOSPHERE
travel through our
Solar System are
called meteoroids. Meteor Meteorites are space
E
AC
rocks that land on Earth.

SP
They have a thin, shiny,

A meteor, the bright once-molten surface
streak of light we see in called “fusion crust”.
the night sky, is the hot Meteorite
air around a meteoroid
as it slows down in
the atmosphere. EARTH
45
Vesta
Fact file

Vesta is the second largest object in the 359 million km
(223 million miles)
asteroid belt, after Ceres. Unlike other » Orbital period: 3.6 years
asteroids, Vesta is big enough to have » Size: 531 km (330 miles)
a crust, a mantle, and a core. It has two in diameter
giant impact craters on its surface – » Discovery date: 1807
Rheasilvia and Veneneia.
BRIGHTEST
ASTEROID
IN THE
NIGHT SKY
The surface is
covered in dark
material that was
probably left over
when other asteroids
collided with Vesta.
Vesta’s largest crater,

Rheasilvia, is almost
as wide as the asteroid
itself, at 500 km (311 miles) Narrow channels
across. It covers 95 per cent in the ground,
of Vesta’s surface. called troughs,
circle the asteroid
at its equator.
Asteroid orbiter
Reaching Vesta in 2011,
Dawn became the first
spacecraft to orbit an
asteroid. It went on to
explore Ceres, taking The Dawn mission
two and a half years to confirmed that these
reach the dwarf planet. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft meteorites found on
Earth fell from Vesta.
46
Comet 67P/C-G
Fact file

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko orbits 186–850 million km
(115–528 million miles)
the Sun between Jupiter and Earth, but it » Orbital period: 6.4 years
was previously thought to have spent time » Size: 4 km (2.5 miles) long
orbiting in the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the » Discovery date: 1969
Solar System. It is the first comet to have had
a spacecraft orbit and land on it.
The rocky surface At its longest,
is full of large Comet 67P
boulders. These measures 4.1 km
roll around as (2.5 miles) – more
the comet gets than the height of
close to the Sun 12 Eiffel Towers
and its surface stacked on top of
starts to crumble. each other!
The comet is mainly

Unlike most other made of water ice
comets, Comet 67P and the gases oxygen,
contains more dust carbon dioxide, and
than ice. It is known carbon monoxide.
as a “snowy dustball”.
Comet landing
In 2014, after a journey of 10 years, the
spacecraft Rosetta reached Comet 67P.
It dropped a dishwasher-sized probe
called Philae onto the comet’s surface.
Philae spent two days carrying out
scientific experiments and sent the
information it collected back to Earth.
Philae on Comet 67P
47
TRAPPIST-1e
Fact file

39.5 light years
TRAPPIST-1e is an exoplanet orbiting a small,
» Length of year:
dim red star that is much cooler than our 6.1 Earth days
Sun. Exoplanets are planets that have been » Size: 11,595 km
discovered outside our Solar System. Most (7,204 miles) in diameter
» Discovery date: 2017
exoplanets orbit a star.
TRAPPIST-1e is a As it is a similar size

terrestrial exoplanet, to Earth, scientists
which means it is believe the planet
similar to Earth in its is made of rock or
size, temperature, iron, with either
and gravity. a solid or a
liquid surface.
It is thought that
the Earth-like
temperature on
TRAPPIST-1e means
there could be liquid
water on its surface.
Goldilocks
Goldilocks Zone Zone
a planet
Scientists can work out how warm
ich it
is by measuring the distance at wh
t com ing off the
orbits its star, and the hea STAR
en 0ºC (32ºF)
star. Liquid water exists betwe 1c
re of a
and 100ºC (212ºF). If the temperatu 1b
to be in
planet is within this range, it is said
1e
not too
the “Goldilocks Zone” because it is
t. Thr ee of the 1d
hot or too cold, but just righ
1f
1h
are in
planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system
1g
the Goldilocks Zone.

TRAPPIST-1 system
48
51 Pegasi b
Fact file

50 light years
51 Pegasi b was the first exoplanet to be
» Length of year:
discovered orbiting a Sun-like star. It is known 4.2 Earth days
as a “hot Jupiter” because it is a huge planet » Size: 271,660 km
and orbits very close to its star. The surface (168,801 miles) in diameter
» Discovery date: 1995
temperature is around 1,000ºC (1,800ºF).
51 Pegasi b is a gas
giant exoplanet. This
means it is at least
Kep
as big as Jupiter
ler
and made
of gases.
spa
ce t
eles
cop
e
Finding
In 2017, exoplanets
scientists Launched in 2009, the
discovered Kepler space telescope
water vapour spent nine years looking
in the planet’s for planets outside our
atmosphere. Solar System. It found
2,662 of them, some of
which may have the right
conditions for life to exist!
str
ia l
Eart
h ian
r- un
e
t
e
Nep
r
Ter
Sup
Mercury is the nearest planet to the

Sun, but 51 Pegasi b is eight times closer
to its star than Mercury is to the Sun.
As well as gas giants, exoplanets can be classed as terrestrial

(rocky planets similar to Earth), Super-Earth (rocky planets
much larger than Earth), or Neptunian (similar to Neptune).
49
The Milky
Way
The Scutum-Centaurus arm
is one of the main spiral arms
of the Milky Way. It contains
both old and young stars.
Our Solar System is part

of a galaxy – an enormous
collection of stars, planetary
systems, gas, and dust – called
the Milky Way. This galaxy is
spiral shaped, with curved
arms. Stars travel in and out
of the arms as they make their
way around the Milky Way.
The spiral arms contain

a lot of gas and dust, the
key ingredients that make A massive black hole lies at
up a star. This means they the centre of the galaxy.
are ideal places for new Black holes are invisible
stars to form. because their gravity is so
strong that not even light
can escape.
50
Observing the
Milky Way
It is possible to see the Milky
Way from anywhere in the world.
The Sun takes It is visible as a thick band of
230 million years stars that divides the sky into two
equal hemispheres. However, the
to travel around stars are very faint, so the galaxy
is best seen when there is no
the Milky Way. moonlight and very little
artificial light pollution.
The view of the Milky Way is most

spectacular from the southern half
of Earth, as seen here at the
Our Solar System lies in the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
Orion arm, about one-third
of the way out from the
galaxy’s centre. Most of
the stars we see in our
night sky are in this arm.
The Perseus arm is another

main arm of the Milky Way.
The centre of our galaxy is packed
This arm is closest to the
with old stars and huge dust clouds.
Orion arm, where our Sun
The white area visible in this infrared
is located.
and X-ray image is the Milky Way’s
galactic centre.
51
Galaxies Scientists
A galaxy is a huge collection of stars, think there are
gas, and dust held together by the
more than
force of gravity. There are more than
100 billion stars in a typical galaxy and 100 billion
they come in four main shapes – spiral, galaxies.
elliptical, irregular, and lenticular.
Fact file Pinwheel

Galaxy
Often called M101,
» Type of galaxy: Spiral the Pinwheel Galaxy
» Distance from Earth: is a spiral galaxy that
21 million light years contains more than
» Size: 170,000 light years across one trillion stars. It is
almost twice the size
» Constellation: Ursa Major The spiral galaxy Andromeda is our
of our enormous
galaxy, the Milky Way. nearest major galaxy. It is moving
towards our galaxy, the Milky Way.
In around four billion years, the pair
Spiral arms are regions of will pass through each other.
newborn stars that wind out
from the galaxy’s centre.
52
Fact file NGC 5866
Also called M102 or
Spindle Galaxy, NGC
» Type of galaxy: Lenticular 5866 is a lenticular
» Distance from Earth: galaxy – a galaxy with
a central bulge of stars
44 million light years
but no spiral arms.
» Size: 60,000 light years Lenticular galaxies
across have very few new
» Constellation: Draco stars forming in them.
A huge black hole at the

centre of M87 causes a jet From Earth, we see
of material to shoot out the bright disc of
from the galaxy’s core. NGC 5866 on its side.
Fact file M87

Elliptical galaxies are
usually shaped like a
» Type of galaxy: Elliptical ball or an egg. M87
» Distance from Earth: is a giant elliptical
galaxy with several
54 million light years
trillion stars and a
» Size: 120,000 light years huge black hole at
across its centre. It is the
» Constellation: Virgo biggest galaxy in
our region of the
Universe.
Irregular galaxies are full

of gas and dust and do not
have a particular shape.
Small
Fact file
Magellanic
Cloud
» Type of galaxy: Irregular This is one of two
» Distance from Earth: irregular dwarf
200,000 light years galaxies orbiting our
» Size: 7,000 light years home galaxy, the Milky
Way. Both the Small
across
and Large Magellanic
» Constellation: Cloud galaxies contain
Tucana and Hydrus only a few hundred
million stars.
53
Life of a star
Like humans, stars are born and eventually die. They are
made mostly of hydrogen and helium gas, which is used
to make heat and light. The mass of a star is the amount
of material inside it. Low-mass stars can live for billions of
years, while high-mass stars have a much shorter life.
Yellow star
A star spends most of its
life in what is known as
ass the main sequence phase,

-m
burning hydrogen in its
w core. Our Sun is currently
Lo in the yellow main
sequence phase.
High
-ma
ss
Blue star
The more massive
a star is, the hotter it
Red
Nebula is and the quicker supergiant
A nebula is a giant it uses up hydrogen. When a high-mass star
cloud of gas and dust Blue stars are runs out of hydrogen,
inside which new stars are the hottest stars it becomes cooler,
born. Gravity pulls the gas in the Universe. bigger, and redder. This
and dust together to form clumps. type of star is called a
These clumps eventually collapse supergiant, the biggest
and heat up, forming stars. of all the stars.
54
Red giant Planetary White
The star begins to get nebula dwarf
bigger and cool down
Winds from the dying star The shell continues
as it starts to run out of
push the outer layers away, to expand into space
hydrogen and nears the
which are shed to form an until all that is left
end of its life. It changes
expanding shell of gas and is a tiny, hot object
colour and becomes
dust around the core. This called a white dwarf.
known as a red giant.
is called a planetary nebula. It continues to cool
over time, becoming
dimmer and dimmer.
Neutron star
A supernova can leave
behind a neutron star.
The material from the
exploded star shrinks
down to as small as
20 km (12 miles) wide.
Supernova
The supergiant suddenly Stellar black hole
collapses, causing an explosion For the most massive stars, the
called a supernova. This is the largest supernova leaves behind a black
kind of explosion in the Universe and hole. This is a place in space where
brighter than billions of Suns! the pull of gravity is so strong that
nothing can get out, not even light.
55
Orion Nebula
Fact file

1,340 light years
A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas
» Location: Orion constellation
in space. It is a region (area) where new » Discovery date: 1610
stars are born. The Orion Nebula is one
of the brightest nebulas, and it can be
seen from Earth as a faint spot.
The nebula is lit up by
When strong winds bright young stars. Some
from the new stars of these stars are only
come together, a million years old.
they make a wave
shape called
a bow shock. Clouds of
hydrogen gas
in the nebula
are lit up by
nearby stars.
This makes
the nebula
look red.
E A RESTING
N
R-F ORM RTH
STA N TO EA
O
REGI
Newborn stars
Many newly formed stars
have a ring of gas and
dust around them called
a protoplanetary disc. The
gas and dust eventually
clump together to form
new planets, moons, or Protoplanetary discs in the
asteroid belts. Orion Nebula
56
Eagle Nebula
Fact file

7,000 light years
Also known as M16, the Eagle Nebula is
» Location: Serpens
an active star-forming region – a place constellation
where many new stars are being made. » Discovery date: 1745
It is 5.5 million years old and can be seen
from Earth with a small telescope.
The brighter regions in the Eagle
Nebula are dense pockets of
hotter gas, which have the Dark clouds of dust There are over
potential to collapse into stars. block our view of 8,000 young
stars forming inside stars in the
the nebula. nebula, no more
than 2–3 million
years old.
Pillars of Creation
These three towers of gas and
dust found inside the Eagle
Nebula were first discovered
in 1995 by the Hubble Space
Telescope. They are around five
light years long, and many new
stars are born inside them.
Pillars of Creation
57
Types
Most luminous
The stars in this band are
called main sequence stars.
of star
They burn hydrogen gas in
their core, which makes them
shine. Stars spend most of
their life in this phase, also
called the adult phase.
All stars may look the same
to us but, depending on
their age and mass, they
differ by size, temperature,
colour, and luminosity
(the amount of light they
produce). Scientists sort
stars into groups by
comparing their luminosity
to their temperature.
Blue stars are very hot and the
most massive main sequence
stars, so they burn hydrogen
Brown dwarfs very quickly. They spend only
Stars must be a certain size to burn a few million years in this phase.
s,
hydrogen in the core. Brown dwarf
also known as failed sta rs, beg in as
stars but do not get big enough to
up
start burning hydrogen. They end
the pla net Jup iter .
looking more like
Sun
Bro wn dwarf White dwarfs are dying stars

that start out hot but cool
down over time. They are small
Least luminous
Low-mass and dim but with a mass similar

star to a yellow main sequence star.
Jupiter
Brown dwarfs are bigger than

Jupiter but smaller than
low-mass stars. Hottest
58
The largest type of star, red
supergiants are bright and
cool. They only last up to
a million years before
exploding as a supernova.
Red giants are stars running

out of hydrogen to burn and
nearing the end of their life.
They last for only a few
hundred million years.
The Sun is a yellow dwarf star.

Yellow dwarfs stay in the main Red dwarfs are the least
sequence phase for 10 billion massive and coolest main
years. The Sun is about sequence stars. They burn
halfway through its life. hydrogen slowly, and live for
hundreds of billions of years.
Coolest
59
Sirius A
Fact file

8.6 light years
Named after the Greek word for “glowing”, » Type of star:
Sirius A is part of a binary star system (two Blue main sequence
stars that orbit each other). It is one of » Age: 230 million years
the closest stars to the Sun and is almost » Constellation: Canis Major
twice as massive.
Sirius A is 450
times brighter
than Sirius B. It
H T EST E is known as the

G
BRI R IN THY
primary star.
STA HT SK
NIG
Discovery of
Sirius B
On 31 January, 1862,
American telescope-maker
and astronomer Alvan Clark
first saw Sirius B – a dim star
almost lost in the glow of
Sirius A. He was testing a
new telescope when he
made the discovery.
Sirius B is a white
dwarf star, tiny
and faint. It is
smaller than
planet Earth.
Sirius star system
Sirius A is sometimes called the

“Dog Star” because it is part of
Sirius A and B the Canis Major constellation,
which looks like a large dog.
60
VY Canis
Fact file
Majoris
5,000 light years
» Type of star: Red supergiant
» Age: 8.2 million years
On average, around 1,800 times bigger than » Constellation: Canis Major
the Sun, VY Canis Majoris is a red supergiant.

It is a variable star, which means its
brightness changes as seen
from Earth. The star
pulsates (gets bigger HE
ONE OF T W N
and smaller) over KNO
LARGEST THE
the course of STARS IN E
956 days. UNIVERS
All around
the star there
are large grains
of dust, which
reflect starlight.
VY Canis Majoris
has 30 to 40
times the mass
of the Sun and is
200,000 times
more luminous.
As it pulsates, VY
VY Canis
Majoris
The Sun
Dying giant Canis Majoris loses
material such as
VY Canis Majoris is around 1,800 gas and dust. This
times bigger than the Sun. Its huge forms dust shells,
size means it has weak surface which look like
gravity and loses mass easily. The rings of light
Jupiter’s orbit Earth’s orbit star has already lost half of its total around the star.
mass and will soon collapse to
become a black hole.
VY Canis Majoris is wider than
Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun!
61
Hubble Space
Fact file
Telescope
» Launch date: April, 1990
» Type of telescope: Visible,
Near-infrared, Ultraviolet
» Size of main mirror:
Orbiting the Earth, Hubble is one of the 2.4 m (7.9 ft) in diameter
» Mission status: Ongoing
largest telescopes in space. It can detect
ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light.
Hubble has captured images of some
of the most distant stars and
Solar panels convert
galaxies yet found. the Sun’s energy into
power, which allows the
The antenna receives telescope to function.
instructions and sends
information in the
form of radio waves.
Images are captured

through a hole called
an aperture. A door
shuts if the Sun’s light
is bright enough to
cause damage.
Repairing Hubble
Hubble is the only telescop
e
that has been repaired in
space. Astronauts have been
sent up to fix it five times
during its lifetime, and almost
every part has been replaced Hubble Space Telescope
. is about the size
of a school bus.
62 An astronaut making repairs
Spitzer Space
Fact file
Telescope
» Launch date:
August, 2003
Infrared
Spitzer was used to detect infrared light, » Size of main mirror:
0.85 m (2.8 ft) in diameter
which is invisible to our eyes. It was able » Mission status:
to observe cooler objects such as brown Ended, 2020
dwarf stars, exoplanets, and dust in
star-forming regions. The
telescope weighs less
than 50 kg (110 lb). The telescope’s solar
panels have a total
of 784 solar cells.
The f lying
observatory
The Stratospheric Observatory
for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)
is a Boeing 747SP aircraft
carrying a 2.5 m (8 ft) infrared
telescope. It operates at night
from a height of around
42,000 km (26,000 miles). Each
flight lasts around 10 hours.
A tank of liquid
helium kept the
telescope cool
for more than
five years before
running out.
SOF IA telescope A star tracker device points the telescope

to the desired area of the sky without help
from astronomers on Earth.
63
Chandra X-ray
Fact file
Observatory
» Launch date: July, 1999
» Type of telescope: X-ray
» Size of main mirror:
1.2 m (3.9 ft) in diameter
This huge telescope studies X-rays, which » Mission status: Ongoing
are invisible light rays, produced by very hot

regions in the Universe. It is named after
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a 20th-century
Indian-American astrophysicist.
To avoid damage from light, the

sunshade door stays closed until
Chandra is ready to take
a picture. The camera takes
X-ray pictures of
hot regions, such
Solar panels as supernovas.
provide power,
which is stored in
three batteries.
Two thrusters keep THE WORLD’S

UL
Chandra orbiting
MOST POWERF E
P
X-R AY TELESCO
at a steady height
above the Earth.
X-rays on Earth
X-rays are invisible waves
of energy. They can pass
through soft substances,
such as skin, but not hard
Chandra is so efficient materials, such as metal or
that it uses as little bone. Doctors use X-rays
energy as a hairdryer! to take pictures of bones.
X-ray of hands
64
INTEGRAL
Fact file
» Launch date: October, 2002

The International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Gamma ray
Laboratory (INTEGRAL) tracks the most » Size of main mirror:
energetic objects in space, such as supernova 3.7 m (12 ft) in diameter
explosions and active galaxies. It detects » Mission status: Ongoing
gamma rays – the most powerful form

of light. The cameras and
other scientific
equipment are stored
in an area called the
payload module.
In addition to
gamma rays, the
imager can observe The service module
powerful X-rays from stores equipment used
objects in space. to operate the fuel
tanks, solar panels,
and batteries.
Balloon telescopes
Telescopes flown at heights of
Two solar panels generate power around 18–57 km (11–35 miles)
for the observatory. Each panel can pick up microwaves, which
is 16 m (52.5 ft) long. are absorbed lower down in the
atmosphere. Balloons are much
cheaper than space telescopes.
Launched by India’s space programme

in 2015, AstroSat orbits the Earth every
98 minutes. It observes ultraviolet and
X-rays from objects in space. Balloon telescope
65
Key Laika Yuri
the dog Luna 2 Gagarin
Soviet Union
USA
Spacecraft Human
Animal landing in space
Sputnik 1
Luna 2 landed on Cosmonaut (Russian
in space the Moon, becoming astronaut) Yuri Gagarin
A stray dog named the first spacecraft to was the first human in
Laika was the first land on another space. He made one orbit
living thing to orbit object in space. of Earth in Vostok 1.
First satellite the Earth, on the
spacecraft Sputnik 2.
The Soviet Union 12th September 12th April
launched the first 1959 1961
artificial satellite, 3rd November
Sputnik 1, to successfully 1957
orbit Earth.
4th October
1957
5th May
1961
31st January American
1958
in space
Alan Shepard, Jr was
American satellite the first US astronaut
Explorer 1, the USA’s first to go to space, in the
Explorer 1 artificial satellite in space, was Freedom 7 spacecraft.
also the first satellite to carry
a scientific instrument.
The Space Race

Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s,
the USA and the Soviet Union (now Russia)
competed against each other to show which Alan Shepard, Jr
country was better at space exploration. Each

of them wanted to be the first to achieve
important milestones in space.
66
Working together
Valentina Tereshkova Alexei Leonov Today, the USA and Russia
often work together on
space projects. In 2000, ast
ronaut Bill Shepherd
and cosmonauts Yuri Gid
zenko and Sergei
Krikalev completed Exped
ition 1, the first long-
duration stay on the Intern
ational Space Station.
Woman
in space
Cosmonaut Valentina First spacewalk
Tereshkova became a Attached to his craft by
national hero after she a rope, cosmonaut Alexei
went to space in the Leonov floated in space
Vostok 6 spacecraft. for 10 minutes wearing
a spacesuit. The crew of Expedition 1 spe
nt
136 days living aboard the ISS
16th June .
1963 18th March
1965
Apollo 8
returns
to Earth.
3rd June
1965
Ed White 21st December

1968
20th July
Moon orbit 1969
The USA’s Apollo 8 crew
became the first humans Moon landing
to successfully orbit Astronauts Neil
American spacewalk another object in Armstrong and Buzz
Astronaut Ed White spent 23 minutes space – the Moon. Aldrin were the first
outside his spacecraft during humans to set foot on the
the Gemini 4 mission. Moon as part of the USA’s
15th July Apollo 11 mission.
1965
Mission to Mars
The USA’s Mariner 4 mission
flew by Mars, taking the
Mariner 4 first close-up pictures of
the Red Planet.
Neil Armstrong steps

onto the Moon.
e Telescope
Spac
b
eb
ESA
W
es
Jam
The European Space Agency
NASA (ESA) has 22 member states,
US space agency NASA and its headquarters are in
is leading the effort Paris, France. The James
to send humans back to Webb Space Telescope
the Moon under the launches from Guiana Space
Artemis programme. Centre, the ESO’s launch site.
Astronauts will be using
new spacesuits with better
flexibility for the mission.
ineer Kristine
i t eng Da
u vis
es
c
Spa
Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station
Delivers cargo
(supplies) to
space stations
Vandenberg Air Force Base Guiana Space Centre

Launches by NASA and Launches by ESA and
private companies private companies
Exploring Alcântara Launch

Center
space
Satellite launches
by the Brazilian
Space Agency
(AEB)
Many countries around the world are
building new spacecraft, satellites, and Launch
site
tools to explore space. Government
agencies and private companies are
working on future space programmes.
68
control centre
ssio
n US mission patches
s mi
For every NASA mission, the crew
Roscosmos
o
sm
members design a mission patch.

co
Based in Moscow, The patches include the astronaut

s’
R os
Roscosmos runs names and mission number, as we

ll
Russia’s space as a picture to represent their
activities. The mission work on the mission.
control centre in
Korolyov guides all of
the ongoing missions.
Apollo 11 STS-107
Baikonur Cosmodrome
Roscosmos’s crewed and Jiuquan Satellite
cargo launch facility Launch Center
CNSA’s launch site for
human spaceflights
CNSA
Tanegashima Space China’s space agency
Center is currently working
Japan’s largest facility on building Tiangong,
for launching rockets a modular space
Satish Dhawan station, similar to
Space Centre Mir and the ISS.
Palmachim
ISRO’s launch site for
Airbase
satellites and spaceflights
Satellite launch
to travel to other objects
site for the
in the Solar System
Israel Space
Agency
ic le
Veh
h
c
un
La
Ar
Polar Satellite
ion
ISRO
ti
st
im t
at
es
’s
pre c
ssio a
The Indian Space Research n of Tiangong sp
Organisation (ISRO) has many
different launch vehicles – rockets
that send spacecraft into space.
ISRO launched India’s first mission
to the Moon and to orbit Mars.
69
Space probes In 2012,
Since the 1950s, humans have Voyager 1
been sending spacecrafts called became the first
space probes to explore objects
in our Solar System. Space probes space probe to
can orbit or even land on objects in leave our Solar
space, and they contain tools that System.
help scientists learn more about
the Universe.
Cassini- Fact file

Huygens
For more than 13 years,
the space probe Cassini » Launch date:
studied Saturn, its rings, October, 1997
and its moons. It carried » Type of spacecraft:
another space probe, Orbiter and Lander
called Huygens, which
» Size: 6.8 m (22.3 ft) long
landed on Saturn’s largest
moon, Titan, in 2005. » Mission status:
Ended, 2017
The Parker Solar Probe’s

thick shield protects the
scientific instruments
from the Sun’s heat.
Fact file
Parker Solar
Probe » Launch date:
Studying the Sun, this probe August, 2018
has got to within 6.1 million km » Type of spacecraft:
(3.8 million miles) of the star’s Orbiter
surface, flying through the solar » Size: 2.3 m (7.5 ft) long
corona. It faces temperatures
as high as 1,377°C (2,500°F).
70
Juno Fact file
Launched to explore
Jupiter, this space probe
has orbited the planet » Launch date:
above its north and August, 2011
south poles, studying
» Type of spacecraft:
its magnetic field. Juno
can fly within 4,200 km Orbiter
(2,600 miles) of the top » Size: 3.5 m (11.5 ft) long
of Jupiter’s clouds. » Mission status: Ongoing
Fact file New Horizons

This was the first space
probe to fly past dwarf
» Launch date: planet Pluto, taking
January, 2006 pictures of its surface
and its moon, Charon.
» Type of spacecraft: Flyby
New Horizons went
» Size: 2.7 m (8.9 ft) long on to study a small
» Mission status: Ongoing Kuiper Belt object,
now called Arrokoth.
Hayabusa2 fired a bullet at

the asteroid, uncovering rocks
that were later collected.
Hayabusa2
This probe studied an asteroid Fact file
close to Earth, called 162173
Ryugu. It sent rock samples back
to Earth to help scientists » Launch date:
understand the structure of December, 2014
asteroids. Hayabusa2 is now » Type of spacecraft:
on its way to another asteroid, Orbiter, Sample Return,
1998 KY26.
Lander, and Rover
» Size: 1.6 m (5.2 ft) long
71
Lunokhod
Fact file
» Launch date:
The Lunokhod rover was a Soviet vehicle November, 1970
designed to travel across the surface of the Uncrewed rover
Moon. Lunokhod 1 became the first remote- » Size: 2.3 m (7.5 ft) long
controlled rover to successfully explore » Mission status:
another object in space, taking photographs Ended, 1973
and studying the soil.
Moon buggies
During America’s Apollo 15,
16, and 17 Moon missions,
astronauts used Lunar Roving
Lunokhod looked a bit like
Vehicles – nicknamed moon
a bathtub on wheels! Its
buggies – to explore the
tub-like body was for storing
Moon’s surface from Earth.
scientific equipment.
Lunar Roving Vehicle
The rover’s
antenna sent
messages back
to scientists
operating it
from Earth.
The inside of
the top lid was
covered with
Cameras took
solar cells that
photographs
used the Sun’s
of the Moon’s
energy to power
surface and
the rover.
captured the
view ahead
to help direct
the rover.
Lunokhod had four pairs

of wheels. Each wheel could
be controlled independently.
72
Curiosity
Fact file
Mars Rover
» Launch date:
November, 2011
Uncrewed rover
Humans haven’t made it to Mars yet, but » Size: 3 m (10 ft) long
we have sent robotic vehicles. One of the
two largest is NASA’s Curiosity, a car-sized
rover. Sent to study the climate and surface
of Mars, it carries equipment to collect and
test rock samples.
Mars landing
THE BIGGEST
Unlike previous rovers,
Curiosity was too heavy
PLANETARY to use a parachute to
ROVER float to Mars’s surface.
Instead, a spacecraft
hovered above and the
rover was lowered on a
cable from a “sky crane”.
Curiosity has
Curiosity rover landing
17 cameras, including
one with a laser that
breaks up rocks on the
surface to study them. Antennae receive
instructions from
A robotic arm uses Earth and send
different tools to back information.
study the Martian
rocks and soil.
Powerful wheels help

the rover trek across
the bumpy ground.
73
Apollo
Fact file
» Launch date:
During the 1960s, the US space February, 1967
agency NASA developed the Lander and Orbiter
Apollo space programme. Its » Size: 11 m (36 ft) long
aim was to send astronauts » Mission status:
to the Moon, and return Ended, 1972
them safely to Earth.

Starting with Apollo 11 The cone-shaped Command
Module had five windows. It
in 1969, six missions was designed to carry three
successfully landed astronauts to the Moon, then
back to Earth.
on the Moon.
The Service Module powered
most of the spacecraft and
held the main rocket engine
and fuel tank. It also contained
water and oxygen gas, which the
astronauts needed to survive.
The top half of the

Lunar Module carried
two astronauts to the
Moon’s surface. At the
end of the mission,
small engines fired to
blast the spacecraft
off the Moon.
Katherine was a
mathematician at NASA.
Katherine Johnson
Johnson (1918–2020) calculated
the path Apollo had to take to get
to the Moon from Earth. She also
worked out the route needed for
The lower half of the Lunar
the Lunar Module to rejoin the
Module held the landing gear
Command Module once it left
and scientific instruments. It
the Moon’s surface.
was left on the Moon.
74
Soyuz
Fact file
» Launch date: April, 1967

First launched in 1966, the Soyuz spacecraft (first crewed flight)
was part of the Soviet Union’s space Crewed spacecraft
programme. The spacecraft’s design is still » Size: 7.2 m (23.6 ft) long
used today, but with a few changes. It now » Mission status: Ongoing
takes crew and supplies to the International
Space Station and back to Earth.
Apollo-Soyuz
In July 1975, the USA and
Soyuz’s the Soviet Union took part
in the first international
first successful space mission. An Apollo
crewed mission spacecraft joined together
with a Soyuz spacecraft.
was on The crew shook hands, did
science experiments, and
26th October, exchanged gifts. Two crewmembers of the
joint USA-Soviet Union
1968. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
The descent module carries the crew

The service module houses the as they travel to and from space. It is
spacecraft’s engine and the life the only section that returns to Earth.
support system. This includes fuel,
batteries, and spare solar panels.
The orbital module is

about the size of a large
The spacecraft has two solar van. It holds all of the
panels that are almost 2 m tools and equipment
(6.6 ft) long. They unfold that the crew need.
once the Soyuz is in space.
75
Rockets
Rockets are vehicles that carry probes
or crewed spacecraft into space. Their
powerful engines burn fuel, blasting the
rocket off the ground. Some rockets use Saturn V was
solid fuel, while others use liquid. The taller than
the Statue of
fuel is stored in tanks inside the rocket. Liberty in New
York, USA!
Saturn V Fact file

The most powerful and
successful rocket was Saturn V.
It was built to send astronauts » Launch date: November, 1967
to the Moon during the Apollo » Length: 111 m (363 ft) Saturn V could
programme. Saturn V had five carry up to
» Agency: NASA 43,500 kg
rocket engines to give it a huge
thrust into space. » Mission status: Ended, 1973 (95,900 lb) –
the weight of
six elephants –
to the Moon.
The first
rockets were
made in the
13th century
in China.
Vega can carry
satellites weighing
between 300 kg Fact file
and 2,500 kg
(660–5,500 lb).
» Launch date:
Vega (ESA) February, 2012
Vega is designed to put satellites » Length: 30 m (98 ft)
into orbit around Earth, either at » Agency: ESA
the Poles or at its equator. It can carry
multiple satellites in a single mission.
76
Fact file
Long
March 5 » Launch date:
This is the world’s August, 2001
third most powerful » Length: 54 m (174 ft)
rocket. China used » Agency: JAXA
Long March 5 to » Mission status: Ongoing
launch probes to the
Moon and Mars. It
will also be used to
launch China’s new
space station. H-IIA (H-2A)
H-IIA has been used by the Japanese for
more than 43 launches since 2001, including
the launch of a space probe to Mars and
Fact file the Akatsuki spacecraft to orbit Venus.
» Launch date: November, 2016 GSLV Mark III will

launch a team of
» Length: 57 m (187 ft)
three astronauts
» Agency: CNSA into space in the
» Mission status: Ongoing Gaganyaan
spacecraft.
Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle Mark III
GSLV Mark III is used by India to launch
satellites into 24-hour orbits around Earth,
meaning they stay in one spot over the
planet as it rotates. The rocket helped
to launch India’s heaviest spacecraft,
Chandrayaan-2, to the Moon in 2019.
Fact file
» Launch date: June, 2017

» Length: 43 m (142 ft)
» Agency: ISRO
77
Launch to re-entry
Since 1966, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft
has been the most used in the world. Russia’s
rocket of the same name is used to
launch the craft into space. In 4
addition to SpaceX’s Falcon 9
and Dragon, Soyuz is one
of the only launchers
to carry humans 3
into space.
Launch
The casing Astronauts experience
protecting the 2 weightlessness less than
10 minutes after launching. It
spacecraft, called
the fairings, takes Soyuz around six hours
falls away. to reach the space station.
The Soyuz spacecraft begins its

journey to the ISS.
1. Lift-off 2. Boosters detach 3. Main tank empties 4. Docking

After years of planning The four booster rockets Five minutes after lift-off, The second stage, or
and a final 10-second burn for two minutes the main tank, known fuel tank, detaches and
countdown, the engines after lift-off, then fall as the first stage, runs falls away. Soyuz docks
fire up and reach full away back to Earth. out of fuel. It falls off, with the ISS, allowing
power in seconds. The but a second fuel tank astronauts to board
rocket blasts into the sky. powers the Soyuz further. the space station.
78
Training for space
Before a mission can go ahead,
astronauts must undertake
years of training. They often
practise working underwater
to mimic the feeling of being
weightless in space.
6
Re-entry
To return to Earth, Soyuz
undocks (detaches) from the
space station. It takes around
3.5 hours after undocking
to land on Earth.
The orbital and
service modules
burn up in the
atmosphere.
Astronauts are lifted out of the descent

module after landing back on Earth.
8
5. Undocking 6. Modules separate 7. Parachutes open 8. Landing

Soyuz detaches from Three hours after As the descent module Two seconds before
the ISS as the hooks undocking, modules goes through the Soyuz hits the ground,
connecting the craft used for living quarters Earth’s atmosphere, six small engines fire
to the space station and engines separate parachutes open to to cushion the landing.
are opened. and fall away. slow it down.
79
Shenzhou
Fact file
» Launch date:
November, 1999
China’s Shenzhou spacecraft, meaning “divine
craft”, was designed to send taikonauts Uncrewed and crewed
(Chinese astronauts) to space. Eleven spacecraft
spaceflights were launched in total, the first » Size: 9 m (30 ft) long
» Mission status: Ended, 2003
of which were test flights without a crew.
The orbital module

stored tools and
included the crew’s
living quarters.
The re-entry module had
seating for the crew and
was the only part to
return to Earth.
The service module had life

support systems, such as the
crew’s air and water supply.
Two pairs of solar
panels tracked the
Sun, using its energy
to power the station.
First Chinese
crewed flight
Yang Liwei was the first taikonaut in
space, sent on the Shenzhou 5 mission
in 2003. China became the third country
to send a human into space, after the
Soviet Union and the USA.
Yang Liwei
80
Space Shuttle
Fact file
» Launch date:
April, 1981
US space agency NASA’s Space Shuttle was
the world’s first partially reusable spacecraft. Crewed spacecraft
The orbiter (vehicle with wings) was launched » Size: 37 m (121 ft) long
by rockets and flew back to Earth when the » Mission status: Ended, 2011
mission was completed.
Five Sp
Shuttle ace
The large tank carried
liquid fuel. Once empty, the
tank detached and burned 135 tri s made
up in the atmosphere. ps to s
from 1 pace
981
to 2011
The orbiter contained
.
the crew cabin,
including the cockpit
and sleeping quarters.
Back to Earth
The Space Shuttle orbiter
Rocket boosters could land back on Earth like
helped to blast the an aeroplane. It fired engines
Space Shuttle to slow down before landing.
into space. They As the orbiter glided onto a
dropped into the runway, a parachute opened
ocean after the to slow it down further.
launch, to be reused.
The payload bay

stored cargo
(supplies). The
space shuttle
took satellites,
probes, and the
Hubble Space
Telescope into
orbit around Earth. Space Shuttle Discovery landing
81
Living in space
To live in space means living in
microgravity, where everything floats
and appears weightless. This presents In 2016, British
challenges for astronauts, as well as astronaut Tim
for transporting enough air, water,
Peake was the
and food from Earth.
first person to
run a marathon
in space.
The gym in the International Space

Station (ISS) has many machines,
including a treadmill.
Exercise
As astronauts float in space, their
muscles and bones can weaken.
They must exercise for around
two hours each day to maintain
their strength and stay healthy.
Sleeping
In space, astronauts are weightless,
so they cannot lie down in a
bed to sleep. Instead, they zip
themselves up in sleeping bags
inside their sleeping quarters –
cabins the size of telephone booths.
If astronauts sleep
outside their quarters,
they can attach their
sleeping bag to a wall.
82
Water often needs
to be added to
packaged food
and it can also be
heated in an oven.
Working in space
Food Astronauts spend most of their time
Food for astronauts has to be tasty, healthy, conducting science experiments and
and long-lasting. Food scientists design meals studying the effect of space on the
in sealed packages for spaceflight. The food human body. They also maintain
cannot be crumbly, as it could float around the space station.
and damage spacecraft equipment.
Spacesuit
Spacesuits protect astronauts from
the airless environment of space, as
well as from dust, temperature changes,
and bright sunlight. They also hold
many tools.
Helmet
Gloves Portable
life support
system
Keeping clean Astronauts wash

In space, water supply is their hair with
limited. Astronauts use water and no-rinse
sponges and washcloths shampoo on the Control panel
with a no-rinse cleaning space station.
solution to clean their hands
and bodies. Most astronauts
use edible toothpaste.
83
Mir
Fact file
» Launch date:
February, 1986
Mir was the first large space station with many
» Orbital period:
modules, or sections. Launched by the Soviet 92 minutes
Union (now Russia), it was built in space over » Size: 31 m (102 ft) long
10 years. Astronauts from 12 different » Agency: Soviet Union
(later Roscosmos)
countries visited Mir.
Scientific
The US Space Shuttle experiments to
Atlantis docked monitor Earth
with Mir in 1995, took place in
the first in a series the Spektr
of joint missions module.
between the
two countries.
A special docking
STS-71 mission badge module helped
the Space Shuttle
attach to Mir.
Astronauts used the

Kvant-1 module as a More solar panels were
science laboratory. added to Mir to create
additional power.
Early space
stations
The first space stations launched
into Earth’s orbit were Salyut 1 A quail chick was
by the Soviet Union and Skylab the first animal born in
by the USA. Early stations were space when it hatched
small and launched in one piece. Skylab on Mir in 1990.
84
International
Fact file
Space Station
» Launch date:
November, 1998
» Orbital period:
93 minutes
Orbiting 400 km (250 miles) above Earth’s surface, the » Size: 108.5 m (356 ft) long
International Space Station (ISS) is used as a science » Agency: NASA, JAXA,
laboratory. Between three and six astronauts live on Roscosmos, ESA, CSA
the ISS for months at a time, carrying out scientific

research in space.
A 17 m (56 ft) long Science laboratory Kibo

robotic arm helps was added by Japanese
move equipment agency JAXA.
and lift astronauts.
NASA’s Quest
module stores
spacesuits
and has a door to
exit the station.
The European Tranquility
Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft module contains bathrooms,
brings astronauts and gym equipment, and water
supplies to the space station. storage.
International
project
The ISS was made by the space
agencies of the USA, Russia,
Europe, Japan, and Canada. It
has been visited by astronauts The ISS is approximately the
from 18 countries. size of a football pitch
ISS logo from end to end.
85
Future of The first
space tourist,
space travel Dennis Tito,

visited the ISS
Government agencies and private in 2001.
companies are building bigger and
better spacecraft to explore our
Solar System and beyond. Uncrewed
craft will continue to study planets,
moons, and other objects in space.
Astronauts will walk on the Moon
again and travel to Mars.
86
Looking for life
Scientists will continue to look for life beyond
Earth using newer and better equipment.
Organizations such as the USA’s SETI Institute
look for advanced forms of life in space, which
might be trying to communicate with us.
Artemis programme The Allen Telescope Array radio telescope in

Many years after Project Apollo, California, USA, is used for SETI searches.
which put the first humans on the
Moon, NASA’s Artemis programme
aims to allow humans to live on the
Moon for extended periods. NASA
and their partners also plan to build
a space station to orbit the Moon.
Space tourism
As private companies develop
spacecraft, they will soon be able
to take people to space as safely
as visiting another country on an
Going to Mars aeroplane. Handfuls of tourists,
NASA plans for humans to set foot such as Iranian-American
on Mars Anousheh Ansari, have already
in the 2030s. The first mission to Ma
rs will visited space.
spend around 30 to 45 days on the
surface,
and astronauts will need to endure
a two-
year round trip to get there and bac
k.
This image shows what life might
be like for humans on Mars.
Anousheh Ansari 87
SpaceX Dragon
Fact file
» Launch date:
March, 2019 (uncrewed),
In May 2020, SpaceX Dragon – a partially May, 2020 (crewed)
reusable spacecraft – carried American » Type of spacecraft: Crewed
astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas and uncrewed spacecraft
Hurley to the ISS. SpaceX was the first » Size: 4.4 m (14.4 ft) long
private company to send people to space.
A heat shield protects

Solar panels provide power the spacecraft during
during flight or when the re-entry into the
spacecraft is docked at Earth’s atmosphere.
the space station.
The nose cone

opens when
Dragon docks
at the space
station.
The crew compartment

Eight engines can carry up to seven
provide thrust astronauts or a
to take the combination of
craft into orbit. astronauts and cargo.
Private space Falcon 9 is a

companies partially reusable
rocket. The first
Bigelow Aerospace is one
of many private companies stage booster
aiming to send ordinary people detaches from
to space. There are plans for the spacecraft
spaceflights, hotels, and private after launch and
modules on space stations. Module by Bigelow lands vertically
Aerospace back on Earth.
88
Orion
Fact file
» Launch date:
December, 2014
NASA’s new spacecraft, Orion, is partially (test flight)
reusable. It will take astronauts to the Moon » Type of spacecraft:
on the Artemis missions in the 2020s. Orion Crewed spacecraft
has everything the crew will need for up » Size: 3.3 m (10 ft) long
to 21 days.
Orion will
safely carry
The launch abort
astronauts to system will pull the
spacecraft away from
the Moon and the rocket if there is a
beyond. problem during launch.
Space Launch
System (SLS)
Just slightly larger than Saturn V,
The service module contains the SLS is NASA’s new powerful
life support systems that rocket that will be used for the
include things like water Artemis programme. It will also
and oxygen. launch spacecraft deep into the
Solar System.
The crew
module safely
carries up to
four astronauts
and forms their
living space.
Four solar panels

capture sunlight
to provide power
for the spacecraft.
SLS rocket 89
All together
This book shows off some of the countless stars, planets,
and space objects that have been discovered in our
Universe, along with important technology – new and
old – used in space exploration.
The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Ganymede
pg. 18 pg. 20 pg. 22 pg. 24 pg. 26 pg. 28 pg. 30 pg. 32
Europa Callisto Io Saturn Iapetus Enceladus Titan Hyperion

Uranus Neptune Pluto Ceres Vesta Comet 67P/C-G TRAPPIST-1e 51 Pegasi b

Milky Way Pinwheel galaxy Small Galaxy M87 Galaxy NGC 5866 Orion Eagle Nebula Sirius
pg. 50–51 pg. 52 Magellanic pg. 53 pg. 53 Nebula pg. 57 pg. 60
Cloud pg. 56
pg. 53
90
VY Canis Majoris Orion Ursa Major Scorpius Gemini Cassiopeia Crux
pg. 61 pg. 8 pg. 9 pg. 10 pg. 11 pg. 11 pg. 11
Atacama Large Canada- Lick Paris Hubble Spitzer Space Chandra X-Ray
Millimeter Array France-Hawaii Observatory Observatory Space Telescope Observatory
pg. 12 Telescope pg. 13 pg. 13 Telescope pg. 63 pg. 64
pg. 13 pg. 62
INTEGRAL Cassini-Huygens Parker Solar Juno New Horizons Hayabusa2 Lunokhod

pg. 65 pg. 70 Probe pg. 71 pg. 71 pg. 71 pg. 72
pg. 70
Curiosity Mars Saturn V Vega H-IIA Geosynchronous Long March 5 Apollo

Rover pg. 76 pg. 76 pg. 77 Satellite Launch pg. 77 pg. 74
pg. 73 Vehicle Mark III
pg. 77
Soyuz Shenzhou Space Shuttle SpaceX Orion Mir International

pg. 75 pg. 80 pg. 81 Dragon pg. 89 pg. 84 Space Station
pg. 88 pg. 85
91
Glossary
asterism comet gravity
recognizable pattern of stars found object made of ice, rocks, and dust force produced by an object,
within a constellation that orbits the Sun which pulls things towards
its centre
asteroid constellation
object made of rock or metal that area of the sky containing hemisphere
travels around the Sun. Most a pattern of stars. There are half of a round object, such
asteroids are found in a band 88 internationally recognized as Earth
between Mars and Jupiter called constellations
the asteroid belt impact crater
core large hole left in a planet or moon’s
astronaut ball-shaped central part of a surface by a fast-moving object,
person who travels to space planet, usually made of rock such as an asteroid, crashing into it
or metal
astronomer infrared light
someone who studies the Universe crew invisible form of light that can be
and everything in it group of people who travel to felt as heat energy and seen with
space together in a spacecraft special cameras
atmosphere
outer layer of gases surrounding crust laboratory
most planets outermost solid layer of a rocky room or building equipped for
planet scientific experiments
axis
imaginary line running from the docking lander
north pole to the south pole of joining of a spacecraft with spacecraft that is designed to land
an object, around which it spins a space station or another on the surface of a planet or other
spacecraft in space space object
binary star
star system with two stars that orbit dwarf galaxy launch
around each other small galaxy with only a few when a spacecraft leaves Earth
billion stars and reaches the speed in space
black hole at which it can remain in orbit
region of space where matter has equator
collapsed in on itself. The gravity imaginary line around the centre life support system
of a black hole is so strong that not of a planet that divides it into a part of a spacecraft or spacesuit
even light can escape northern and southern hemisphere that astronauts need to keep them
alive in space, such as oxygen and
cargo gamma ray water supply, and waste disposal
equipment and supplies carried most powerful form of light.
on spacecraft, such as food, Gamma rays are produced
water, scientific instruments, by the most energetic objects
and spare parts in the Universe
92
lift-off nebula star-forming region
the action of a spacecraft leaving huge cloud of gas and dust place in space where new stars
the ground in space are born
light year orbiter stellar

distance light travels in one year spacecraft that is designed to orbit relating to stars
a space object without landing on
lunar its surface supernova
relating to the Moon very bright explosion that happens
payload bay when a massive star dies
magnetic field part of the Space Shuttle orbiter
space around a planet that has that carried cargo Trojan asteroid
a magnetic force asteroid that shares its orbit around
planetary nebula the Sun with a larger object
mantle stage of a dying star when it sheds
layer of a planet that sits between its outer atmosphere and its hot ultraviolet light
the core and the crust. The mantle core can be seen invisible form of light that is given
is often the thickest layer of off by the Sun and other stars
a planet planetary system
collection of one or more planets visible light
mass that orbits a central star in space light rays that can be seen by
the amount of material in a planet, the human eye
star, or other space object radio waves
least energetic form of light. A water ice
meteor radio telescope is used to detect ice that is made up of water
column of light left behind by a radio waves from distant stars
and galaxies
meteoroid when it breaks up on water vapour
entering Earth’s atmosphere
re-entry water in the form of a gas
meteorite when a spacecraft re-enters the

weightlessness
piece of a space rock that has Earth’s atmosphere from space
feeling of floating that astronauts
fallen to Earth
satellite experience in space
meteoroid natural or man-made object that

X-ray
piece of rock or metal travelling orbits a moon, planet, star, or galaxy
powerful form of light that is
through space
solar slightly less energetic than gamma
rays. X-rays are given off by very
microgravity relating to, or caused by, hot objects in space
condition in space in which gravity the Sun
seems very weak. Microgravity is
what causes astronauts and objects solar panel
to appear weightless in space panel made up of cells that convert
sunlight into electricity
module
self-contained part of a spacecraft spaceflight
or space station journey to space
molten spacewalk
state of rock or metal when it when an astronaut floats outside
becomes so hot it is no longer solid their spacecraft in space
93
Index
51 Pegasi b 49 CNSA (China National Space
H
Administration) 69, 77, 80 H-IIA 77
Comet 67P/Churyumov- Halley’s Comet 45
A Gerasimenko 47
comets 17, 45
Hayabusa2 71
hemispheres, northern and
Aldrin, Buzz 67 command modules 74 southern 8–11, 51
Allen Telescope Array 87 constellations 6, 8–11 Herschel, William 38
Andromeda Galaxy 15, 52 convective zone 19 high-mass stars 54
animals in space 66 cosmonauts 66–67 Hubble Space Telescope 57, 62, 81
Ansari, Anousheh 87 craters 20, 26, 42, 43, 46 Hurley, Douglas 88
Apollo missions/spacecraft 67, 72, Crux 11 Hyperion 37
74, 87 CSA (Canadian Space Agency) 85
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project 75
IJK
Curiosity Mars Rover 73
Armstrong, Neil 67
Artemis programme 87, 89
D
asterism 9 Iapetus 36
asteroid belt 16, 43, 46 ice giants 17, 38–41
asteroids 5, 16, 20, 26, 43, 44, 46 Dawn spacecraft 43, 46 infrared light 62, 63
astronauts 5, 66–67, 78–85, 86, Deimos 28 INTEGRAL (International Gamma-
88–89 descent modules 75, 79 Ray Astrophysics Laboratory 65
astronomy 6–7, 12–13 docking/undocking 78–79, 84 International Space Station
AstroSat 65 Dragon spacecraft 78, 88 5, 67, 75, 78–79, 82, 85, 86, 88
Atacama Large Millimeter Array dwarf planets 17, 42–43 Io 33
(ALMA) 12 irregular galaxies 52, 53
atmospheres 5, 19, 22, 23, 25, 29, ISRO (Indian Space Research
35, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 49
auroras 19
E Organisation) 65, 69, 77
JAXA (Japan Aerospace
Eagle Nebula 57 Exploration Agency) 77, 85
Earth 5, 7, 14, 17, 23, 24–25, Johnson, Katherine 74
B 26, 27
elliptical galaxies 52, 53
Juno 71
Jupiter 17, 30–31, 71
balloon telescopes 65 Enceladus 36 Kármán line 5
Behnken, Robert 88 ESA (European Space Agency) Kepler space telescope 49
Big Bang 15 68, 76, 85 Krikalev, Sergei 67
binary stars 60 Europa 33 Kuiper Belt 17, 43, 44, 47, 71
black holes 50, 55, 61 exercise in space 82
blue stars 54, 58, 60 exoplanets 48–49
brown dwarfs 58 Explorer 1 66 L
La Silla Observatory 51
C FG Laika 66
Large Magellanic Cloud 53
Callisto 33 Falcon 9 78, 79 launch, rockets 78
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope 13 food in space 83 lenticular galaxies 52, 53
Cassini-Huygens 70 Gagarin, Yuri 66 Leonov, Alexei 67
Cassiopeia 11 galaxies 14–15, 50–51, 52–53 Lick Observatory 13
Ceres 43, 44, 46 Galilei, Galileo 7, 32 life, extraterrestrial 87
Chandra X-ray Observatory 64 Galileo spacecraft 30, 31 life support systems 75, 83
Charon 42, 71 gamma rays 65 light years 14–15
clouds 5, 22, 24, 31, 35, 38, 40, Ganymede 32 living in space 82–83
56, 57 gas giants 17, 30–37 Local Group 15
Gemini 11 Long March 5 77
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch low-mass stars 54
Vehicle Mark III 77 luminosity 58
Gidzenko, Yuri 67 Luna 2 66
Goldilocks Zone 48 lunar modules 74
gravity 4, 5, 48 Lunokhod 72
94
M planets 5, 14, 16–17, 20–41 stars 5
magnetic fields 71 Pluto 42, 71 stellar black holes 55
main sequence stars 58–59 private space companies 88 Stratospheric Observatory
Makemake 43 for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) 63
Mariner 4 67 Sun 4, 7, 14, 16, 18–19, 59, 70
Mars 17, 28–29, 67, 73, 77,
86, 87
R supernovas 55, 59
radio waves 12, 62

T
mass 4, 18, 54, 58, 61
Mercury 17, 20–21 re-entry 79
MESSENGER spacecraft 21 re-entry modules 80
red dwarfs 59 telescopes 7, 12–13, 49, 62–65, 87
meteorites 45, 46
red giants 55, 59 Tereshkova, Valentina 67
meteoroids 5, 45
red supergiants 54, 59, 61 Titan 37, 70
microgravity 82
reusable spacecraft 81, 88–89 Tito, Dennis 86
microwaves 65
rings 30, 34, 38, 41 training, astronauts 79
Milky Way 14–15, 17, 50–51
rockets 76–77, 78, 81, 88, 89 TRAPPIST-1e 48
Mir space station 84
rocky planets 17, 20–29 Triton 40, 41
Miranda 39
Roscosmos 69, 84, 85 Trojan asteroids 44
Moon, the 26–27, 66, 67, 72, 74,
76, 77, 86–87, 89 Rosetta spacecraft 47
UVW
moons 5, 28, 30, 32–33, 36–37, 39, rovers 72–73
40, 42 Russia 67
M87 53 see also Roscosmos
ultraviolet light 62, 65
United States 66–67, 84
N S see also NASA

Universe 14–15
Salyut 1 84 Uranus 17, 38–39
NASA (National Aeronautics and
satellites 5, 66, 76, 81 Ursa Major 9
Space Administration) 36, 43, 46, 68,
Saturn 16, 17, 34–35, 70 Vega 76
69, 73, 74, 76, 81, 85, 87, 89
Saturn V 76 Venus 17, 22–23, 77
nebulas 54, 56–57
Scorpius 10 Vesta 46
Neptune 17, 40–41
service modules 74, 75, 79, 80, 89 visible light 62
Nereid 40
SETI Institute 87 volcanoes 22, 23, 24, 28, 33, 43
neutron stars 55
Shenzhou spacecraft 80 Voyager 1 and 2 35, 40, 70
newborn stars 56
Shepard, Alan, Jr 66 VY Canis Majoris 61
New Horizons 71
Shepherd, Bill 67 washing in space 83
NGC 5866 53
shepherd moons 37 water 24, 32, 33, 36, 37, 41, 43,
North Star (Polaris) 9
Sirius A and B 60 47, 48, 49
Skylab 84 weightlessness 78, 79, 82
O
sleep in space 82 white dwarfs 55, 58
Small Magellanic Cloud 53 White, Ed 67
Sojourner rover 29 working in space 83
observatories 12–13, 51, 63, 64
oceans 24, 28, 31, 32, 36 solar eclipses 27
XY
Oort Cloud 45 solar power 18
orbital modules 75, 79, 80 Solar System 7, 14, 16–47, 50,
orbiters 81 51, 86
X-rays 64, 65
orbits 4, 5, 7, 16 Soviet Union 66–67, 72, 75, 84
Yang Liwei 80
Orion 8 Soyuz spacecraft 75, 78–9, 85
yellow dwarfs 16, 19, 59
Orion Nebula 56 Space Launch System (SLS) 89
yellow stars 54
Orion spacecraft 89 space probes 70–1, 76, 77, 81
Space Race 66–7
Space Shuttle 81, 84
P space stations 5, 82–5, 87

space telescopes 7, 62–3
Pan 36, 37 space tourism 86, 87
parachutes 79 space travel, future 86–87
Paris Observatory 13 spacesuits 83
Parker Solar Probe 70 spacewalks 67
Peake, Tim 82 SpaceX 78, 88
Philae lander 47 spiral galaxies 14, 15, 50–51, 52
Phobos 28 Spitzer Space Telescope 63
Pinwheel Galaxy 52 Sputnik 1 66
Pioneer spacecraft 19 star-forming regions 56, 57, 63
planetary nebulas 55 star life cycle 54–55
95
Acknowledgements
people for their assistance
Dorling Kindersley would like to thank the following
e for illustration; Caroline Hunt
in the preparation of this book: Bettina Myklebust Stovn
for proofreading; and Helen Peters for the index.
The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind Images. 60 Alamy Stock Photo: Stocktrek Images, Inc. (bl). NASA: (SpaceX), Libux77 cr, Dimitar Marinov tl; ESA: Jacky Huart, 217 ftl,
permission to reproduce their photographs: ESA, H. Bond (STScI) and M. Barstow (University of Leicester). ca (Integral), Rosetta / NAVCAM c (Comet); NASA: ca, Ames /
61 ESA / Hubble: NASA / R. Humphreys (University of JPL-Caltech / T Pyle cla (Kepler), CXC & J.Vaughan tc, Goddard /
(Key: a-above; b-below/bottom; c-centre; f-far; l-left; r-right; Minnesota) (c). 62 NASA: (bc); Hubble (c). 63 Alamy Stock Francis Reddy c, Hubble fbr, Johns Hopkins University Applied
t-top) Photo: Photo Researchers / Science History Images (clb). Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington ca
Dreamstime.com: Tanwalai Silp Aran (bl/clouds); Italianestro (bl). (Mercury), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory /
1–96 Dreamstime.com: Maximusnd (Border All Pages). 64 Fotolia: Natallia Yaumenenka / eAlisa (br). NASA: CXC & J. Southwest Research Institute bc (Pluto), JPL ca (Neptune), JPL /
3 Dreamstime.com: Nerthuz (tc). Getty Images: Martin Bernetti / Vaughan (c). 65 ESA: (c). Indian Space Research Organisation: DLR cl, JPL / MPS / DLR / IDA / Björn Jónsson clb, JPL-Caltech bl,
AFP (b). 4 NASA. 5 Dreamstime.com: Daveallenphoto (tc); (bl). NASA: (br). 66 Dreamstime.com: Vitalii Gaydukov (cla). crb, ftr; Science Photo Library: Qa International / Science Source
Libux77 (crb). NASA: ESA, A. Simon (GSFC), M.H. Wong (University Getty Images: Sovfoto / Universal Images Group (tc). NASA: (crb). fcra, Detlev Van Ravenswaay cl (Explorer 1 satellite), SPACEX tc
of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL Team (cr). 6 Alamy Stock Science Photo Library: Qa International / Science Source (tc/Luna (SpaceX); Back: Alamy Stock Photo: Photo Researchers / Science
Photo: Art Collection 2 (cr); Alan Dyer / Stocktrek Images (tr). 1); Sputnik (tr); Detlev Van Ravenswaay (clb). 67 Alamy Stock History Images tr, Stephen Saks Photography fcr, Tristan3D cla;
6–7 Dreamstime.com: David Herraez (b). 7 Alamy Stock Photo: Photo: Pictorial Press Ltd (tl); SPUTNIK (tc). NASA: (cra, c, br); EVA Dreamstime.com: Aleks49 bc, Archangel8889 fcla, Karaevgen fcla
inga spence (br). Dorling Kindersley: Science Museum, London (cl); JPL-Caltech (bl). 68 Alamy Stock Photo: Liu Jie / Xinhua (cl). (SpaceX), Libux77 cr, Dimitar Marinov tl; ESA: Jacky Huart, 217 ftl,
(cb). Getty Images / iStock: Hulton Archive (cr). 8 Science Photo ESA: ATG medialab (tc). 68–69 Dreamstime.com: Yehor ca (Integral), Rosetta / NAVCAM c (Comet); NASA: ca, Ames /
Library: John Sanford (bl). 9 Getty Images / iStock: mycola (bc). Vlasenko. 69 Alamy Stock Photo: Dinodia Photos (bl); ITAR-TASS JPL-Caltech / T Pyle cla (Kepler), CXC & J.Vaughan tc, Goddard /
10 Science Photo Library: Larry Landolfi (c). 12 Getty Images: News Agency (tl). Dreamstime.com: Alejandro Miranda (crb). Francis Reddy c, Hubble fbr, Johns Hopkins University Applied
Martin Bernetti / AFP (b). 12–13 Dreamstime.com: NASA: (cra, fcra). 70 NASA: Johns Hopkins APL / Steve Gribben Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington ca
Andreistanescu (tc). 13 Alamy Stock Photo: guichaoua (bl); Peace (bl); JPL-Caltech (cr). 71 Alamy Stock Photo: BJ Warnick / (Mercury), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory /
Portal Photo (cr). 14 Dreamstime.com: Christos Georghiou (cb); Newscom (b). NASA: JPL-Caltech (tl). Science Photo Library: Southwest Research Institute bc (Pluto), JPL ca (Neptune), JPL /
Martin Holverda (bl). 14–15 NASA: JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt (SSC / NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / DLR cl, JPL / MPS / DLR / IDA / Björn Jónsson clb, JPL-Caltech crb,
Caltech) (c). 15 Alamy Stock Photo: Siloto (cr). Dreamstime.com: Southwest Research Institute (cr). 72 Dreamstime.com: Aleks49 bl, ftr; Science Photo Library: Qa International / Science Source
Martin Holverda (bl). Science Photo Library: Mark Garlick (t). (b). NASA: (c). 73 NASA: JPL-Caltech (b, cr). 74 Alamy Stock fcra, Detlev Van Ravenswaay cl (Explorer 1 satellite), SPACEX tc
16 Alamy Stock Photo: Photo Researchers / Science History Photo: Photo Researchers / Science History Images (cr). 75 Alamy (SpaceX);
Images (cb/Venus). Dreamstime.com: Archangel80889 (cb/Mars); Stock Photo: Andrey Armyagov (b). Getty Images: Space
Markus Gann (cl); Martin Holverda (cb/Earth); Dimitar Marinov Frontiers (cr). 76 Alamy Stock Photo: Stephen Saks Photography Cover images: Front: 123RF.com: solarseven crb;
(cra); Nerthuz (cr). NASA: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics (r). ESA: Jacky Huart, 2017 (bl). 77 Alamy Stock Photo: ISRO / Dreamstime.com: Archangel80889 cra, Markus Gann bl,
Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington (cb). 17 Alamy Xinhua (br); NG Images (tr). Getty Images: STR / AFP (tl). Konstantin Shaklein cl; ESA: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University
Stock Photo: Photo Researchers / Science History Images (cb/ 78 Getty Images / iStock: Vladimir Zapletin (cb). 79 NASA: (tr); of Arizona / LPG / CNRS / University of Nantes / Space Science
Venus). Dreamstime.com: Nerthuz (cb/Jupiter). ESA / Hubble: GCTC / Denis Derevtsov (clb). 80 Shutterstock.com: Sipa (br). Institute tr; Getty Images: STR / AFP cla; Indian Space
Hubble & NASA, L. Lamy / Observatoire de Paris (cb). NASA: Johns 81 Alamy Stock Photo: NASA / Bill Ingalls (br). Dreamstime.com: Research Organisation: br; NASA: tc, ESA, A. Simon (GSFC),
Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Konstantin Shaklein. 82 NASA: (cl, br). 83 123RF.com: Fernando M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL
Research Institute (cra); JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle (tl); JPL (cr, crb). Gregory Milan (br). Alamy Stock Photo: NASA Photo (tr). NASA: Team cb; Back: Alamy Stock Photo: Stephen Saks Photography
18 Dreamstime.com: Markus Gann (c); Oxfordsquare (bc). (tl, tc, clb). 84 NASA: (bc). Science Photo Library: NASA (cla). cr; Alamy Stock Photo: Alexander Perepelitsyn bl; ESA: Rosetta
19 Getty Images / iStock: Sjo (br). 20 NASA: Johns Hopkins 85 NASA: (bc). 86–87 NASA: (t, bc). 87 Alamy Stock Photo: BJ / NAVCAM cb/ (Comet); NASA: Ames / JPL-Caltech / T Pyle cra,
University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Warnick / Newscom (br). Shutterstock.com: Paulo Afonso (cra). Hubble cla, JPL / DLR tr, JPL / MPS / DLR / IDA / Björn Jónsson c/
Washington; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / 88 Alamy Stock Photo: NASA Image Collection (bc). (Vesta), JPL / University of Arizona / University of Idaho bc,
Carnegie (bc). 21 NASA: JHU / APL (br). 22 Alamy Stock Photo: Dreamstime.com: Karaevgen (c). Science Photo Library: SPACEX JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute ca, University of Tennessee
Photo Researchers / Science History Images. NASA: JPL-Caltech (br). 89 NASA: (br); ESA. 90 Alamy Stock Photo: Roberto c, cb; Science Photo Library: Qa International / Science Source
(bc). 23 NASA: Venus (left): JPL, Magellan Project; Earth (right): Colombari / Stocktrek Images (4:7); Photo Researchers / Science tl, Detlev Van Ravenswaay clb, SPACEX ftr
Apollo 17 (br). 24 Dreamstime.com: Martin Holverda. History Images (1:3); Tristan3D (1:8); Stocktrek Images, Inc. (2:3).
26 Dreamstime.com: Chiew Ropram (b). NASA: GSFC / Arizona Dreamstime.com: Archangel80889 (1:6); Markus Gann (1:1); All other images © Dorling Kindersley
State University. 27 Dreamstime.com: Kdshutterman (b). Martin Holverda (1:4); Nerthuz (1:7); Dimitar Marinov (2:4); For further information see: www.dkimages.com
28 Dreamstime.com: Archangel80889. NASA: (bc). 29 NASA: JPL Alexandr Mitiuc (4:1). ESA: Gaia / DPAC, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (4:3);
(bc); JPL-Caltech / UA (br). 30 Alamy Stock Photo: NASA Image NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / LPG / CNRS /
Collection (bc). Dreamstime.com: Nerthuz. 32 Alamy Stock University of Nantes / Space Science Institute (2:6); Rosetta /
Photo: Tristan3D (b). 32–33 NASA: JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute NAVCAM (3:6). ESA / Hubble: Hubble & NASA, L. Lamy /
(tc). 33 Alamy Stock Photo: Stocktrek Images, Inc. (br). NASA: JPL / Observatoire de Paris (3:1); NASA, L. Ricci (ESO) (4:6). NASA:
DLR (tl, c). 34 Dreamstime.com: Dimitar Marinov. NASA: JPL (br). CXC / SAO (4:2); Johns Hopkins University Applied
35 NASA: JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute (br). 36 ESA: Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington
NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / LPG / CNRS / (1:2); GSFC / Arizona State University (1:5); JPL / DLR
University of Nantes / Space Science Institute (bc). NASA: JPL /
Space Science Institute (cr). 37 NASA: JPL-Caltech / Space Science
(2:1, 2:2); JPL / Space Science Institute (2:5); JPL-Caltech /
Space Science Institute (2:7, 2:8); JPL (3:2); Johns About the author
Institute (tc, cr, bc); JPL / University of Arizona / University of Idaho Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory /
(crb). 38 ESA / Hubble: Hubble & NASA, L. Lamy / Observatoire Southwest Research Institute (3:3); JPL-Caltech / UCLA / Dr Parshati Patel is an astrophysicist,
de Paris (c). Science Photo Library: (bl). 39 NASA: JPL / USGS (br). MPS / DLR / IDA (3:4); JPL / MPS / DLR / IDA / Björn
40 Getty Images: Corbis (bl). NASA: JPL (c). 41 Dreamstime.com: Jónsson (3:5); JPL-Caltech (3:7, 3:8); ESA and science communicator, and educator
Nerthuz (bl). NASA: JPL (br). 42 NASA: Johns Hopkins University the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA);
Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute (c, br). Acknowledgement: P. Cote (Herzberg Institute of based in Canada. She develops space-
43 Dreamstime.com: Coatchristophe (bl). NASA: JPL-Caltech / Astrophysics) and E. Baltz (Stanford University) (4:4);
UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA (c). Science Photo Library: (br). ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA) / themed programmes for schools and the
44 NASA: (bl). 45 Alamy Stock Photo: Art Directors & TRIP (tr). W. Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa) (4:5); ESA,
46 NASA: JPL / MPS / DLR / IDA / Björn Jónsson (c); JPL-Caltech H. Bond (STScI) and M. Barstow (University of Leicester) public, and often appears on TV and radio
(bc); University of Tennessee (br). 47 ESA: ATG medialab (br); (4:8). 91 Alamy Stock Photo: Andrey Armyagov (5:1);
Rosetta / NAVCAM (c). 48 NASA: JPL-Caltech (c). 49 NASA: Ames / Peace Portal Photo (2:2); guichaoua (2:4); BJ Warnick / to talk about space. She also enjoys
JPL-Caltech / T Pyle (cr); JPL-Caltech (c, bl, bc); Goddard / Francis
Reddy (bc/Neptune). 50–51 Dreamstime.com: Alexandr Mitiuc.
Newscom (3:6); Stephen Saks Photography (4:2); NG
Images (4:4); ISRO / Xinhua (4:5). Dreamstime.com: taking photos of the night sky.
51 ESO: José Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org) (cr). NASA: Aleks49 (3:7); Andreistanescu (2:3); Konstantin Shaklein
JPL-Caltech / ESA / CXC / STScI (crb). 52 NASA: CXC / SAO (b); (5:3); Karaevgen (5:4). ESA: (3:1); Jacky Huart, 2017 (4:3).
ESA; Z. Levay and R. van der Marel, STScI; T. Hallas; and A. ESA / Hubble: NASA / R. Humphreys (University of
Mellinger (cr). 53 ESA: Gaia / DPAC, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (bc). Minnesota) (1:1). Getty Images: Martin Bernetti / AFP
NASA: ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA) / W. (2:1); STR / AFP (4:6). NASA: CXC & J.Vaughan (2:7);
Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa) (tr); ESA and the Hubble Hubble (2:5); JPL-Caltech (3:2, 3:4, 4:1); Johns Hopkins
Heritage Team (STScI / AURA); Acknowledgment: P. Cote APL / Steve Gribben (3:3); ESA (5:5). Science Photo
(Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics) and E. Baltz (Stanford Library: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied
University) (cl). 54 Alamy Stock Photo: Diego Barucco (cb); Łukasz Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute (3:5).
Szczepanski (crb). Dreamstime.com: Paweł Radomski (l). NASA: 92 Dreamstime.com: Patrimonio Designs Limited (tr).
Solar Dynamics Observatory / Joy Ng (ca). 55 Alamy Stock Photo: 93 NASA: (br). 94 Dreamstime.com: Alexandr
NASA Photo (clb). NASA: Goddard Space Flight Center (cr); Yurtchenko (tc). 95 NASA: JPL-Caltech (br). 96 Henry
NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner (STScI), Leparskas: (br)
and T.A. Rector (NRAO) (ca); JPL-Caltech (crb). 56 Alamy Stock
Photo: Roth Ritter / Stocktrek Images. ESA / Hubble: NASA, L. Endpaper images: Front: Alamy Stock Photo: Photo
Ricci (ESO) (br). 57 Alamy Stock Photo: Roberto Colombari / Researchers / Science History Images tr, Stephen Saks
Stocktrek Images; Łukasz Szczepanski (bc). 58 NASA: JPL-Caltech / Photography fcr, Tristan3D cla; Dreamstime.com:
UCB (bl). 58–59 Alamy Stock Photo: Ron Miller / Stocktrek Aleks49 bc, Archangel8889 fcla, Karaevgen fcla
96

My Book of Stars and Planets - A Fact-Filled Guide To Space (TaiLieuTuHoc)

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My Book of Stars and Planets - A Fact-Filled Guide To Space (TaiLieuTuHoc)

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My Book of

Author: Dr Parshati Patel

Illustrator Dan Crisp 20 Mercury

Copyright © 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited

Where does space begin? What is a star?

The outermost layer

Built in the Stone Age, this group of

Helioc This incorrect system

This system places the Sun at

» Where to view: Northern

Betelgeuse is the second

» Where to view: Northern

Ursa Minor Polaris

The North Star

The tail of the scorpion

» Where to view: Southern

Fact file Crux

Fact file Cassiopeia

Atacama Large Millimeter

» Location: Hawaii, USA

Fact file Paris

The Universe is a very big place, so

The Solar System is made

The Milky Way is one of the The Big

Alpha Centauri, Canis Major, the Andromeda, the

10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1 million 10 million

paths called orbits. These include eight

An orbit is a curved path

Asteroids are lumps of

At the edge of the

Comets are objects made

of planet in the Solar

Never look directly

Sunspots are dark

Solar flares are sudden

» Type of star: Yellow dwarf

Energy from the core

The core is scorching

Hot and cold

» Distance from Sun:

Venus has many

» Distance from Sun:

The thin crust is

The outer part of

Earth’s evil twin

Thin ice floats in the

Oceans cover nearly

Earth’s solid surface is

» Distance from Sun:

Earth’s crust is made of

Under the crust is

The outer core

» Distance from Earth:

Mars has many

The southern hemisphere

» Distance from Sun:

Between the core

Mars has a small,

Jupiter spins faster

The Great Red

» Distance from Sun:

Under the clouds