Activities for Friday, 4/16
Planets
In 2006, to the dismay of many, Pluto was declassified as a planet. This left our Solar System with 8 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Until this time, a formal definition of a planet had not been established. The International Astronomical Union adopted a definition that required a planet to satisfy three criteria: A planet must
1) orbit its star,
2) be spherical as a result of gravity, and
3) be the dominate object in its orbit.
Pluto, as it orbits among the icy objects in the Kuiper Belt of our Solar System, does not satisfy the third criterion.
How many planets are out there? We don't yet know! We currently know that there are 8 major planets in our Solar System. We also know that our Solar System also contains at least 5 minor planets. Those currently identified are Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake. In addition to these in our own Solar System, we also have discovered 4375 planets orbiting other stars! While this may seem like a lot of planets, we are adding new ones frequently and expect this number to rise into the billions!
Don't forget to share images of your creations to our Padlet board - we would love to see them!
To Learn
The Pale Blue Dot
Perhaps we really don't know how small our little world really is.
From many millions of miles away, the Cassini satellite shot this photograph of a pale blue dot which was later understood to be our home, planet Earth.
Explore the NASA Exoplanet Website
There is so much more outside of our well-known eight solar system planets.
Navigate through NASA's exoplanet website and discover what is beyond our system.
Explore Our Solar System using Solar Walk
Solar Walk is an easy to use and free application that you can download for either your Android or Apple device and use to explore the solar system.
Outside of learning what planets exist in our Solar System, you can also learn their trajectories, composition, surface temperature, history of exploration, and so on.
You can also learn about the satellites and other space objects that exist in our Solar System.
Explore Exoplanets using the Exoplanet App
The Exoplanet App is exclusively for Apple devices.
This application allows you to view all known exoplanets that exist outside of our Solar System. In addition to having interactive visuals and animations and detailed statistics, it is updated within several hours after a new discovery is confirmed.
To Make
Create your own travel posters for exoplanets
In the future, will there be rest stops in outer space? Maybe there will even be travel centers with free pamphlets advertising the best intergalactic travel destinations.
Here are some examples of posters made by NASA's Exoplanet Travel Bureau that might get you excited about about the possibility of exploring another planet.
Try to make your own travel poster! You can make one to advertise a known exoplanet or make up your own travel destination - the choice is yours!
NASA's Exoplanet Travel Bureau website has several posters to represent the features of real exoplanets. Explore the website to see which ones are available. Some of them even come as coloring pages!
Planet hop from Trappist-1e
Skies sparkle above a never-ending ocean of lava
Where your shadow always has company
Where the grass is always redder
To "Observe"
Explore the Exoplanets!
The exoplanet travel brochures created by NASA's Exoplanet Travel Bureau give you a real sense of what it might be like to visit another world. To get a better sense of what it would be like, explore the surfaces of these planets on the website. From the homepage, click "Tour the Galaxy" and scroll left/right to a planet of interest. Many planets have an option to "Explore the Surface." Choose this option to access a simulation of what it would be like to stand on the planet.
As you view the simulation observations of the ground and sky from the exoplanets, try to compare the view to what you see on Earth. For example, does the surface look similar to Earth's? How many "suns" would there be and how large would they appear? Would you see other planets in the sky?
In Summary
Have you heard the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?" That song is full of scientific truth in that stars twinkle, but planets don't.
Here is your challenge:
Next time you go outside on a clear night and look at the stars, try to spot a few planets - they will be the small points of light that are not twinkling. While we can only see 6 planets (Mercury - Saturn) with our naked eyes, remember that there are likely billions of others out there waiting to be discovered and explored. As we could see from the image taken by Cassini at the top of this page, Earth is simply a "pale blue dot" floating around in a much larger Universe!
...and don't forget to connect with others by sharing your memories on our Padlet board!