1. Whats in space?

Space is mostly empty space, although there are clouds of

interstellar dust and tiny particles that make up the solar wind. There are also planetoids,
asteroids, meteoroids, and micrometeoroids. Also, radio waves, heat waves, and x-rays
all float through space. Finally, there are galaxies, nebulae, and space junk.
2. What is the universe? The universe is everything that exists. Its size is
unknown but scientists think that it goes on in an almost endless vacuum that is
constantly expanding and growing. Plus don't know what it looks like today because the
light takes billions of years to reach the earth. We also do not know its shape as most of
it is dark matter that is invisible to the human eye. Also, in space we use light as a
distance of measurement if it is far away or super giant.
3. Birth of the universe. Believe it or not, the universe was born about 13.7
billion years ago in a massive fireball. This was extremely hot and dense, so hot as a
matter of fact that atoms could not even form. In this, matter and antimatter was created.
They destroyed each other in flashes of energy and light. Then the universe exploded
shooting outwards and expanding. In this even more matter and antimatter was
destroyed. It had also cooled down enough to form quarks and even some electrons.
These began to group together and form protons and neutrons. This, was the beginning
of our universe.
4. What is a galaxy? A galaxy is a huge collection of gas, dust and tons of
stars and solar systems spread out over a huge area in space. Scientists also think that
there might be hundreds of billions in the universe. The galaxies are either held together
by a black hole or even a giant star with an immense gravitational pull.
5. There are three types of galaxies. One is a spiral galaxy. This one looks like it
has arms coming out from it making it look like a spiral (how it was formed?). Some
other galaxies look as if they are a smooth oval (how it was formed?). All of the other
galaxies are weird shaped as they are called irregulars (how it was formed?). The
galaxies also change shape as they grow older like humans aging.
6. Galaxy formation. One way for a galaxy to form is from a spinning cloud
of gas and dust to collapse upon itself creating a star from those materials. Then the
other materials still there are later somehow pressurized or also collapse upon
themselves to other stars and later form their own solar systems.
7. What is a solar system? A solar system is the collection of planets,
asteroids, and moons moons orbit the planets that occupy a space around the sun.
They are held within the gravitational pull of the sun. All of the planets and other various
things must orbit the sun or an object in the orbit of the sun to be part of that solar
system.
8. Birth of the solar system. Five million years ago our solar system was born
in a vast spinning cloud of stardust and hydrogen gas. In the center of this cloud our sun
was finally formed. It was formed by the cloud of dust contracting into the sun. The rest
of the cloud however was still a spinning cloud but now around the sun.Inside this cloud
bigger chunks of ice and rocks were clumping together to start forming bigger chunks
which later became planets and moons.
9. The suns family. Our solar system is made up of a series of planets and
asteroids. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, the asteroid belt, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune are sometimes related to as the suns family. These are the eight and most
common planets you will here of and are closest to the sun.
10. Mercury. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and averages 36
million miles away from the sun in its orbit. It is the second densest planet but has no
atmosphere making it unsustainable for life. Also the temperature varies from -290
degrees fahrenheit to 800 degrees fahrenheit. The diameter of Mercury is 3,030 making
its size 18 times smaller than Earth's. Finally the gravitational pull is less than Earths so
if you went there you would weigh less.
11. Venus. Venus is the most Earth-like planet, sometimes called the Earths
twin. This does have an atmosphere but it is thick and suffocating usually at a temp of
865 degrees fahrenheit. Venus averages about 67 million miles away from the sun. The
diameter of Venus is 7,520 which is still less than Earths. The terrain is very rocky and
rough and the highest mountains reach almost 7.5 miles above the surface even higher
than Mount Everest. Finally the gravitational pull is less than Earths so if you went there
you would weigh less.
12. Earth is a unique planet. It is the only planet known to support life anywhere. It is
just right between the atmosphere and gravitational pull, we are very lucky. Earths
average distance from the sun is 93 million miles from the sun. The average surface
temperature is 59 degrees fahrenheit. The diameter is 7,930 miles. We have one moon
that is about 238,900 miles from the Earth.
13. Mars. Mars (also called the red planet) is the planet most suitable for life
other than Earth. It has permanent polar ice caps of water and carbon dioxide ice. It is
also the home of the biggest volcano in the solar system named Olympus Mons. Mars
also has a system of canyons running 2,500 miles long. The temperature on Mars can
vary from 77 degrees to -195 degrees fahrenheit. The average distance from the sun is
142 million miles and its diameter is 4,200 miles which is smaller than the Earths.
Finally the gravitational pull is less than Earths so if you went there you would weigh
less.
14. Marss moons. Mars also hash two moons named Deimos and Phobos.
They are both potato shaped and a are both black. These two characteristics make
these moons look like asteroids.
15. Asteroid Belt. The asteroid belt is a system of asteroids that span like a belt
in between Mars and Jupiter. These asteroids are leftover from the forming of the
planets when chunks broke off of them. There are thousands of these rocky objects and
most are pretty small but some can reach more than a mile across.
16. Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet is our solar system and is the 5th
planet from the sun. It is mostly made of gasses. There is a giant storm on the outside
that has been raging since 1664. It averages 484 million miles away from the sun. The
cloud top temperature is -234 degrees fahrenheit. Its diameter is 89,000 miles and 1,300
Earths would fit inside of it. Jupiter also has 63 moons and can be seen without a
telescope. Finally the gravitational pull is greater than Earths so if you went there you
would weigh more.
17. Jupiters moons. Jupiter has 63 moons but there are four that are the most
common. These are called the Galilean moons. They are named Callisto, Europa, Io,
and Ganymede. Callisto is the most distant of them and is a mixture of ice and rock with
a salty underground ocean. Europa is mostly smooth with no high mountains or deep
valleys and with few impact craters. Io is weird due to its sulfur covered surface that
gives a yellowish hue so that it looks like a big wheel of cheese. Io is also the most
volcanically active object in the solar system. Ganymede is the largest satellite in the
solar system and has a diameter of 3,270 miles, larger than mercury. Finally Ganymede
has a salty ocean 125 miles below its surface.
18. Saturn is the 6th planet from the sun and the second largest. You can also see
this planet with the naked eye in the night sky just like Jupiter. Saturn is surrounded by
huge rings of ice, rock, and dust. The planet itself is mostly made up of helium and
hydrogen gasses meaning it is the only planet that could float on water if you could find a
ocean big enough. Saturn averages 870 million miles away from the sun making the
cloud top temperature a chilling -290 degrees fahrenheit. Its diameter is 74,900 and also
has 62 moons. Some of these moons are Pan, Atlas, Pandora, Prometheus, Janus,
Epimetheus, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Phoebe,and
Ipetus. Finally the gravitational pull is greater than Earths so if you went there you would
weigh more.
19. Uranus Uranus is the third largest planet and is the seventh one from the
sun. it is Very cold since it is so far away from the sun. Its cloud top temp is -357
degrees fahrenheit and is at an average of 1.788 billion miles from the sun. Uranus also
has a few rings and 27 moons orbiting it. Its diameter is 31,765 miles making it much
bigger than Earth. Some of the main moons are Oberon, Titania, Miranda, Ariel, and
Umbriel. Finally the gravitational pull is less than Earths so if you went there you would
weigh less.
20. Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and is also a gas planet. It
is all blue because of the methane gas, just like Uranus. Neptune has four rings, two
outer rings, the Adams rings, and two inner rings, the Le Verrier rings. It is an average
of 2.8 billion miles from the sun, and its cloudtop temperature is -364 degrees
Fahrenheit. Its diameter is 30,760 miles, making it 54 times the size of the earth.
Neptune has 13 moons. Finally the gravitational pull is greater than Earths so if you
went there you would weigh more.
21. What is a nebula? A nebula is a massive cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium dust,
and plasma. Nebulae are very interesting because they are so much different from
anything else in space. They are crucial to stellar and planetary formation. Most nebulae
are a vast size, measuring many hundreds of light years across.
22. The Interstellar Medium The Interstellar Medium is made up of gas and dust
particles. Seventy-five percent of the mass is hydrogen, and the remaining twenty-five
percent is helium. The gas is extremely dilute with an average density of one atom per
cubic centimeter.
23. Dark Matter Dark matter is the biggest mystery in space. This is not made of
atoms and has no kind of radiation. However, it does have enough gravitational pull to
bend light, warping images we see from space.
24. Dark Nebula A dark nebula is an opaque cloud with no visible radiation and is
not illuminated. In fact, they block light from luminous objects behind them.
25. What is a black hole? A black hole is a place in space where matter is so
tightly squeezed into a tiny space that it has a very strong gravitational pull that light
cannot escape from it. We cant see black holes because no light can escape. They are
formed when a star collapses, causing a supernova.