Solar System Star The Milky Way Galaxy The Universe

Cub Scout Pack 627 – Astronomy Belt Loop
Planet •  from Greek plant-­‐, plans "planet," literally, "wanderer" a heavenly body other than a comet, asteroid, or satellite that travels in orbit around the sun; also : such a body orbiCng another star Source: http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=planet
& http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies/planets-satellites.php
Moon •  Earth’s only natural satellite; devoid of water and atmosphere, it displays a highly uneven surface. Source: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies.php
& http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies/moon/lunar-features.php
Star •  A ball-­‐shaped gaseous celesCal body (as the sun) of great mass that shines by its own light •  The sun is our closest star. It is a yellow, main sequence star, of average size. Our sun is about 4.5 billion years old and is 93 million miles from Earth; just right for supporCng life.
Source:
http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=star
&
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies/
star.php
Galaxy •  Grouping of stars and interstellar maQer linked together by gravitaCon; each galaxy comprises an average of 100 billion stars. •  Extra credit: What was the first “other” galaxy discovered,
when was it found, and where?
M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, was thought to be a nebula,
until 1923, when Missourian Edwin Hubble confirmed it as
another galaxy – the first confirmed outside our own Milky
Way. M31 is a spiral galaxy.
Source:
http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=star
&
Solar System
•  the region of our galaxy under the influence of the Sun; includes eight planets and their natural satellites as well as one dwarf planet, two plutoids, asteroids and comets. •  Our solar system planets are: •  Inner planets are rocky. •  Outer planets are gas giants. Source: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies.php
The Milky Way
•  Our galaxy, a spiral galaxy with 200 to 300 billion stars
thought to be 10 billion years old.
•  ~120 million light years across…
it would take light 120 million years
to get from one side to the other!
Source: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies/galaxy/milky-way.php
The Universe
•  The sum of all these things, which are visible, and of all things invisible… which God has created. Comet Cub Scout Pack 627 – Astronomy Belt Loop
•  Small icy body that parCally evaporates as it approaches the Sun; made up of a head with a solid core and tails composed of gas and dust. •  Comets have three parts: nucleus, coma, and tail. •  A comet nucleus can range in size from less than a mile (1 kilometer) to 15 miles (25 km) across. •  The longest comet tail, which measured over 354 million miles (570 million kilometers), belonged to Comet Hyakutake in May 1996. •  Thought to be leaovers of the early solar system, comets originate from the Oort Cloud — far, far, far past Pluto. •  Orbital periods can last from less than a century to over 100,000 years. Source: http://www.astronomy.com/News-Observing/Astronomy%20Kids/2008/03/Comets.aspx & http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies/comet.php
Star Map / Star Chart •  A chart showing the posiCons of the stars in a region of the sky Asteroid
•  Chunks of rock and metal that orbit the Sun. •  They can be different shapes and sizes. The smallest are the sizes of pebbles. •  The largest, Ceres, is 597 miles across / in diameter. Asteroid Ida
•  Most are between Mars & Jupiter, but some are within the orbits of Earth, Venus & Mercury. Source: http://www.astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/Astronomy%20Kids/2008/03/Asteroids.aspx
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/star%20chart
Meteor / Meteoroid / Meteorite •  Meteor:
Fragment of rock, iron or another mineral that crashes into Earth instead of completely
burning up as it crosses the atmosphere. / aka: a shooting star
also : the streak of light produced by the passage of a meteor
•  Meteoroid: a meteor revolving around the sun / aka… A meteor before it reaches Earth’s atmosphere •  Meteorite: a meteor that reaches the surface of the earth Source: http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=meteor, http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=meteoroid, &
http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=meteorite & http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies/meteorite.php
A meteor
Black Hole Cub Scout Pack 627 – Astronomy Belt Loop
•  an invisible region believed to exist in space
having a very strong gravitational field and
thought to be caused by the collapse of a star
•  The black hole at the center of our Milky Way
is in Sagittarius.
Source: http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=black%20hole,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole, http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=milky+way+black+hole&view=detail&id=F8BAB79ECCD41913EB89A3ACA8D3BEB0C17ED541&first=0, &
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=milky+way+black+hole+sagittarius+&view=detail&id=5159097FF610D6E75813600551512041358F79AD&first=31&FORM=IDFRIR
Red Giant •  a very large star with a relatively low surface temperature
White Dwarf
•  a small whitish star of low brightness that has a mass approximately equal to
that of the sun but that is many times more dense Source: http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=red%20giant,
http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=white%20dwarf, &
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/astronomy/celestial-bodies/star.php
Scouts in Space!!! (not for loop, but for FUN!)
Our Sun
•  Q: Which is the only country to land on the moon? A: The Unites States of America landed 12 men, in 6 missions, from 1969 to 1972. •  Q: How many men landed on the moon? A: Each Apollo mission had three astronauts; 1 remained orbiCng the moon while 2 landed. 6 x 2 = 12 men landed, and walked on, the moon. •  Q: How many of the astronauts who walked on the moon were Scouts (Cub, Webelos, Boy, Eagle)? A: 11 of the 12 were Scouts!!! 2 were Eagle Scouts, 8 were other Boy Scouts, 1 had been a Cub Scout. •  Do you want to go to the moon, or into space? Do you have THE RIGHT STUFF??? • 
Source: http://usscouts.org/eagle/eagleastronauts.asp
Cub Scout Pack 627 – Astronomy Pin
1. Draw a diagram of a telescope and explain how it works.
Refracting Telescopes use a large objective lens as their primary
light-collecting element. Meade refractors, in all models and
apertures, include achromatic (2-element) objective lenses, in order
to reduce or virtually eliminate the false color (chromatic aberration)
that results in the telescopic image when light passes through a lens.
Example: Meade NG-60, NGC-60, ETX-70AT, DS-2070AT.
Reflecting Telescopes use a concave primary mirror to collect light
and form an image. In the Newtonian type of reflector, light is
reflected by a small, flat secondary mirror to the side of the main tube
for observation of the image. Example: DS-2114ATS, DS-2130ATS.
Mirror-Lens (Catadioptric) Telescopes employ both mirrors and
lenses, resulting in optical configurations that achieve remarkable
image quality and resolution, while housing the optics in extremely
short, highly portable optical tubes. Example:
Meade ETX-90AT, ETX-105AT, ETX-125AT, LX200GPS Series.
In the refracting telescope (a) light is collected by a 2-element
objective lens and brought to a focus at F. By contrast the
reflecting telescope (b) uses a concave mirror for this purpose.
The mirror-lens, or catadioptric, telescope (c) employes a
combination of both mirrors and lenses, resulting in a shorter,
more portable optical tube assembly. All telescopes use an
eyepiece (located behind the focal point, F) to magnify the
image formed by the primary optical system.
Source: http://www.meade.com/support/images/howtelediag.gif
Cub Scout Pack 627 – Astronomy Pin
June 5, 2012:
Venus Transit of the Sun
5:07 CDT
Diagram of transits of Venus and the angle between
the orbital planes of Venus and Earth
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_venus
Cub Scout Pack 627 – Astronomy Pin
Want to learn more?
1)  Check out the “Astronomy” section of the “Resources, All” page
on Pack627.ScoutLander.com http://pack627.scoutlander.com/publicsite/unitcustom.aspx?
UID=11238&CUSTOMID=35440
2)  With your mom & dad, search iTunes, Wikipedia, and other
sources for “NASA,” “JPL,” “Space,” “Astronomy” and more.
3)  Read books, and Astronomy magazine, at the library – the Holy
Infant & County libraries
1)  Recommended: “The Heavens Proclaim”
(three copies at HI library)
4)  Keep loo-oo-ooking UP!