as the international language for professional astronomy, other countries call the Sun by another name in their everyday language. How many can you pronounce? Do any astronomical sounds come from these names? Spanish and Latin: Sol French: Soleil Italian: Sole German: Sonne Greek Helios Japanese: Taiyou Korean: Taeyang Hungarian: Nap Cha ng i ng Li ne up E very 238 years, Pluto's shaky orbit path brings it closer to the Sun than the orbit path of Neptune. Thus, depending on how far along it is in its orbit, Pluto can be either the eight or ninth planet from the Sun. A space shuttle landing takes more than 30 minutes. The return to Earth begins when the astronauts sl ow the craft and ease it into Earth's atmosphere by using small rockets in the craft's nose and tail. After reentry, they steer it like an airplane, using rudders and flaps. Here it sl ows down from 1,000 to 100 meters (about 3,300 to 330 feet) per second and wi thstands temperatures of up to 1,800F (1,000C). Ideally, each shuttle mission ends wi th a landing at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. However, when weather conditions are poor there, mission control directs the shuttle to land on a dry, desert lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. From there, the shuttle rides back to Kennedy atop a Boeing 747. After being checked, it wi l l be ready for another lift-off in t wo weeks' time. S T A R T O U R S Q: Are there really shooting stars? A: Not exactly, but meteoroids traveling in outer space heat up and gl ow as they fall through Earth's atmosphere. They're called "falling stars" as they fall to Earth. Weighty Mat t er s The entire atmosphere wei ghs 5,700,000,000,000,000 t ons that's 57 trillion tons! The largest meteorite ever found on Earth fell in Nami bi a, Africa. It originally wei ghed 100 tons. Distorted Views Through a telescope, Saturn looks squished. That's because it's mostly gas and liquid, and it becomes slightly compressed as it spins very quickly. . HJ. notable notes Though Uranus was di scovered in 1781, the only space expedi ti on to it was Voyager 2, whi ch f l ew by in 1986. Mer cur y whizzes around the Sun at 30 miles (about 50 km) per second. If you are 12 years old on Earth, you' d be only 1 year old on Jupiter. Venus is not only the cl osest pl anet to Earth, but also the bri ghtest as seen f rom Earth. That's why you can someti mes see it in daylight. Orbitally speaki ng, the average Earth year is actual l y 365 days, 5 hours, 48 mi nutes, and 45.51 seconds. The average Earth day is 23 hours, 56 mi nutes, and 4.09 seconds. Saturn' s ring parti cl es vary in size f rom grains of sugar to the size of a house. When a comet approaches the Sun, its tail i s f ol l owi ng; when i t moves away f rom the Sun, its tai l is leading. That's because of the pull of the Sun's gravity. If you' re on the equator, you can vi ew all of the constel l ati ons over the course of a year. If you are on the North or South Pole, you wi l l be able to see only one half of the sky above you. The solar system orbits the galaxy about once every 250 million years. Thus, it has gone around the gal axy only 15 to 20 ti mes. See for Yourself: Frequently Asked Questions 1. Why do stars twinkle? 2. How many stars can you see on a clear night? 3. Which planets can you see without a telescope? 4. Why does the Moon shine? War of the Worlds On October 30, 1938, mass hysteria hit the United States when Martians invaded New Jersey ... or at least that's what people believed. An hour-long radio broadcast by actor Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater on the Air brought an 1894 book by H. G. Wells, called War of the Worlds, to life. In a mock news broadcast that broke into the station's regular music hour, the audience was told of an invasion by "monsters" attempting to wipe out civilization, beginning with New York and New Jersey. Though an announcement stating that it was a fictional play ran four times, many listeners tuned in for only a short time, hearing the message and reacting immediately. Police switchboards lit up across the country, and many people on the East Coast ran into the streets or called loved ones in panic, thinking they would not have long to live. MOON MAN Have you ever heard of the man in the Moon? For generations, some Americans have claimed to see a human face in the crater-scarred moon. Other cultures have passed on their own tales about the figure. Native Americans tell a story of seeing a frog trying to protect the Moon from a bear that wants to swallow it. Scandinavian children are taught a folktale about Jack and Jill-type characters, Hjukl and Bill, who are holding a pail of water and tumbling down a hill as they are trying to run from their father.