SEMINAR IN SCIENCE

Todays topic is about:

Astronomy
WHAT IS ASTRONOMY?

• It is a branch of
science which deals
with celestial
objects, space, and
the physical
universe as a whole.
 THE SOLAR SYSTEM
• Our solar system consists of an
average star we call the Sun, the
planets Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto. It includes:
the satellites of the planets;
numerous comets, asteroids, and
meteoroids; and the
interplanetary medium.
MILKY WAY GALAXY
• The Milky Way Galaxy is our
home galaxy in the universe.
It is a fairly typical barred
spiral with four major arms in
its disk, at least one spur, and
a newly discovered outer
arm.

• Our galaxy is called the Milky

Way because it appears as a
milky band of light in the sky
when you see it in a really dark
area.
THE SUN
• the star around
which the earth
moves and that
provides light and
heat for the earth.

• The sun is so large

that about 1,300,000
planet Earths can fit
inside of it.
EARTH
• Earth is the third
planet from the Sun
and the only
astronomical object
known to harbor life.

• Earth formed over 4.5

billion years ago.
STARS
• A star is type of astronomical
object consisting of a luminous
spheroid of plasma held together
by its own gravity.

• The nearest star to Earth is the

Sun.

• Many other stars are visible to the

naked eye from Earth during the
night, appearing as a multitude of
fixed luminous points in the sky
due to their immense distance
from Earth.
 SPACE ROCKS
• The rocks in space are sometimes called
small bodies. Some of them are larger
and are called minor planets or
planetoids. They may also be known as
NEOs -- Near Earth Objects. Whatever
they may be called, they have much to
tell us about our solar system.
 3 TYPES OF SPACE ROCKS

• COMETS
• ASTEROIDS
• METEOROIDS
 COMETS
SPEAKER: MR.
MARVIN GESTA
WHAT IS A COMET?
• A comet is an icy,
small Solar System
body that, when
passing close to
the Sun, warms
and begins to
release gases, a
process called
outgassing. This
produces a visible
atmosphere or
coma, and
 WHAT ARE COMETS MADE OF?
• They are
composed of rock,
dust, ice and
frozen gases such
as carbon
monoxide, carbon
dioxide, methane,
and ammonia.
WHAT IS ANOTHER NAME FOR “COMET”?
• Comets are several
miles in diameter,
composed of rock,
ice and other organic
compounds, making
them “dirty
snowballs” in space
HOW DID THE COMET GET IT’S NAME?

• The word ‘Comet’ comes

from the Greek word
“komētēs” which means
long-haired (star).
 WHY DO WE CALL IT LONG HAIRED?

•Because of it’s long

tail that brightens its
gasses.
WHERE DO COMETS COME FROM?
• Comets are believed to have
two sources. Long-period
comets (those which take
more than 200 years to
complete an orbit around
the Sun) originate from the
Oort Cloud. Short-period
comets (those which take
less than 200 years to
complete an orbit around
the Sun) originate from the
Kuiper Belt.
WHO DISCOVERED THE COMET?
• The first telescopic
discovery of a comet
was made by
Gottfried Kirch in
1680.

• <- Picture of
Gottfried Kirch
 PARTS OF A COMET
• Comets have three distinct
parts: a nucleus, a coma, and
a tail. The solid core is called
the nucleus, which develops
a coma with one or more
tails when a comet sweeps
close to the Sun. The coma is
the dusty, fuzzy cloud
around the nucleus of a
comet, and the tail extends
from the comet and points
away from the Sun.
HALLEY’S COMET
• Halley's Comet is arguably
the most famous comet. It
is a "periodic" comet and
returns to Earth's vicinity
about every 75 years,
making it possible for a
human to see it twice in his
or her lifetime. The last time
it was here was in 1986, and
it is projected to return in
2061. It was named after Sir.
Edmond Halley
 ASTEROIDS
Speaker: Ms. Navarro
 WHAT IS AN ASTEROID
• Asteroids are
small, rocky
objects that orbit
the sun.
Although
asteroids orbit
the sun like
planets, they are
much smaller
than planets.
WHAT ARE ASTEROIDS MADE OF?
• Asteroids are made
mostly of rock — with
some composed of clay
and silicate — and
different metals, mostly
nickel and iron. But
other materials have
been found in asteroids,
as well.
WHAT IS ANOTHER NAME FOR “ASTEROID”?

• Asteroids are also called ‘mini

planets’ due to them orbiting
the sun just like normal
planets.
 WHERE DO ASTEROIDS COME FROM?
• Asteroids are primarily
found in the asteroid
belt, a region of the
solar system that lies
more than 2 ½ times as
far from the Sun as
Earth does, between
the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter.
WHO DISCOVERED THE ASTEROID?
• In 1801, while making a
star map, Italian priest
and astronomer
Giuseppe Piazzi
accidentally discovered
the first and largest
asteroid, Ceres, orbiting
between Mars and
Jupiter.
• <- Picture of Giuseppe Piazzi
 ASTEROID MINING
• Asteroid mining is the
exploitation of raw
materials from asteroids
and other minor planets,
including near-Earth
objects. Minerals can be
mined from an asteroid or
spent comet, then used in
space for construction
materials or taken back to
Earth.
METEOROIDS
Speaker: Ms.
Precious Cayasa
WHAT IS A METEOROID
• A meteoroid is a
piece of stony or
metallic debris which
travels in outer
space. Meteoroids
travel around the
Sun in a variety of
orbits and at various
speeds.
 METEOR
• A meteor is a space rock
—or meteoroid—that
enters Earth's
atmosphere. As the
space rock falls toward
Earth, the resistance—
or drag—of the air on
the rock makes it
extremely hot.
METEORITE
• A meteorite is a solid
piece of debris from an
object, such as a comet,
asteroid, or meteoroid,
that originates in outer
space and survives its
passage through the
atmosphere to reach
the surface of a planet
or moon.
WHAT ARE METEORITES MADE OF?
• Scientists have divided
these meteorites into three
main types: stony, iron, and
stony-iron. Each of these
types has many sub-groups.
Stony meteorites are made
up of minerals that contain
silicates—material made of
silicon and oxygen. They
also contain some metal—
nickel and iron.
WHERE DO METEOROIDS COME FROM

• Many meteoroids
are formed from the
collision of asteroids,
which orbit the Sun
between the paths
of Mars and Jupiter
in a region called the
asteroid belt.
 FIREBALL AND BOLIDE
• A fireball is another term for a very bright
meteor, generally brighter than magnitude -4,
which is about the same magnitude of the
planet Venus in the morning or evening sky.
• A bolide is a special type of fireball which
explodes in a bright terminal flash at its end,
often with visible fragmentation.