Kn 6 Ls 3 Stars

welcome to ckla knowledge six

astronomy

lesson three

stars

our purpose for listening today is we

want to explain why the sun appears to

be moving across the sky

we will describe the appearance of stars

listen carefully to understand the words

dusk

and dawn

can you say dusk

now try

dawn

let's take a look where are we

earth is in the solar system of the

milky way galaxy

we live on the planet earth

a part of earth is the continent north

america

the continent of north america is the

country the united states of america and

we have our state which is pennsylvania

and our city

erie

remember

astronomy

is the study of outer space

think in your head

what causes day and night

if you were thinking that the cause of

day and night is the location of the sun

you are correct

the earth's rotation

spins the earth in a circle

where only part of it faces the sun at

any given time the part of earth facing

the sun

is daytime the part away from the sun is

nighttime

the earth orbits around the sun how long

does it take the earth to orbit the sun

it takes the earth

365 days or one year to circle

around the sun

is the sun a planet or a star

the sun

is a star

listen carefully

to learn more about stars

we will even learn about shooting stars

which aren't really stars at all

let's listen to find out

what shooting stars really are

when night time comes you can say good

night to the sun our daytime star and

you can say hello to all the millions of

other stars that shine in outer space

stars are hot balls of gas that give off

light

and heat

gas is not a solid or a liquid

even though stars appear to have points

they do not

that is because

they are so far away

remember the stars are always out there

outer space does not disappear during

the day and then reappear at night

you can see those stars at night because

the sun's light is no longer shining on

your part of the earth

but the stars

are always there

at dusk

just after the sun has set in the west

but before all of its light has faded

the first stars of the night appear

one two three and then more and more the

darker it is the more stars you can see

if you live in the city then you can't

see as many stars as people who live in

the country can see

lights in the cities brighten the night

sky and make it difficult to see the

stars

out in the country and especially out in

the wilderness far away from building

street lights and cars

the night sky seems to explode with

glittery twinkling stars

they may look small but many of those

stars that you see are actually

incredibly large

many stars are larger than our own sun

which as you may remember

is big enough to fit a million earths

inside

the stars look small because they are so

far away

everything looks smaller when it is far

away

and the stars look like they're blinking

but they're actually shining steadily

the gases in our atmosphere cause their

light to look like it is twinkling

just how far away are the stars here's

one way to think about it if someone put

you on the fastest rocket ship today and

launched you out into space

it would take you thousands of years

about

73 000 to be exact to reach the nearest

star beyond our sun

let's talk about that word

we just heard rocket ship

a rocket ship is a large spacecraft

the word ship

can also mean a large boat

or the word ship

can mean

that you are sending something to

someone through the mail

however

you can still see the light from that

massive hot star

even though it looks more like a tiny

twinkling diamond from here on earth

at night astronomers study the stars

astronomers work in observatories which

are buildings where large telescopes are

housed

observatories are built high up on the

hills or mountain tops where there are

no buildings or trees blocking the

telescope the roof

of an observatory is designed so that it

can open and allow the giant telescope

inside to move up and down and all

around without bumping into anything

astronomers need really big powerful

telescopes to do their work

this is the kind of telescope you find

inside an observatory that is a big

telescope but you don't need a massive

telescope and a fancy mountaintop

observatory to enjoy the wonders of

stargazing or looking at the stars

if you want to get a better look at the

stars or a closer look at the moon a

pair of binoculars will do the trick or

you can use a telescope like this one

you'd be surprised by all the different

things you can see through a telescope

these are pictures of stars that have

been made larger or magnified

through careful study astronomers have

figured out many interesting facts about

stars

even though no person is able to travel

and study a star up close

astronomers have learned that some stars

are older than other stars

some stars are hotter than others

some appear red through the telescope

and others appear blue

stars change color depending on how hot

they are and how hot a star is

depends on its age

size and other factors

but you do not need a telescope in order

to appreciate the wonders of outer space

if you look at the sky long enough on

any given night

you will eventually see a meteor or

shooting star

a meteor is the light we see when a rock

that flies through space enters earth's

atmosphere

the meteor or bright light appears as a

streak in the sky before it disappears

in the blink of an eye

at first glance a meteor

may look like a star is literally

falling through the sky

however

stars do not move like that

meteors although they are sometimes

called shooting stars

are not stars at all

there are billions of rocks and other

debris in outer space

some are quite large

but most are tiny between the size of a

grain of sand and a basketball

these rocks and debris are whizzing

around all over the place in outer space

occasionally one

crashes towards earth

but before it can hit earth's surface

however it crashes into earth's

atmosphere

for a space rock hitting the earth's

atmosphere is like a person running into

a brick wall

except the atmosphere

doesn't stop it

the rocker debris hits the atmosphere at

an incredible speed

and keeps moving through as it does so

it generates intense heat the rock burns

up as it enters the uppermost parts of

earth's atmosphere creating a streak of

light a meteor or a shooting star as

some people call it

occasionally bits and pieces of rock

survive their trip through the

atmosphere and fall to earth

this is rare but it does happen from

time to time

and it is possible to find pieces of

them on the ground

when part of a rock or debris survive

the trip through the atmosphere and

lands on earth it's called a meteorite

a meteorite in this picture is probably

not the most exciting rock you have ever

seen but it is pretty amazing to think

that it came from outer space

sometimes by studying meteorites

scientists discover new types of rock

that do not exist on earth

outer space is a strange and wonderful

place

by studying the stars planets and other

objects in space astronomers have

learned many things about this

incredible universe

of which we and our planet earth are but

a teeny tiny part

feast your eyes on this massive star

cluster

or group

for a moment and imagine if you can the

incredible number of stars and the

incredible distances between us

and them

and how much there is for us to learn

about our universe

for instance look at the very center of

this photo

there in the middle is a little cluster

of 14 bluish stars

added together astronomers estimate that

these 14 stars

combined

are over 20 000 times

larger than our sun

that's so huge it's hard to think about

and that's just 14 stars

out of all the stars in this photo

what did you learn

share something you learned with a

friend

maybe use one of these sentence starters

i learned that

or i know stars are

i hope you enjoyed this story see you

back here next time as we continue to

learn together