THE EXCITING EXPLORER DOME
A few months ago, Alex, Ishaan, Sarthak and Paran visited the Explorer dome which was situated in the school hall. Inside the Explorer dome, (the experts) Alex, Robby and Ben were telling us facts. When we entered the Explore dome, we had to take our socks and shoes off. We learned an abundance of facts about space, stars, and plants etc. We hope you enjoyed our introduction.
Star constellations and their myths
On a clear night, you can see many stars. These stars can join together in lines to form constellations. As the experts explained, they are pictures of mythological characters that are made by joined stars. One very famous myth that the experts told us was the story of Orion.
Our Solar system
Names: Zayd // Paran // ZAC
Introduction
In our solar system, we have 8 planets. There used to be 9 planets (Pluto) but the scientists came to know that Pluto is a small planet so they did not include Pluto as a planet instead they have created another series of small planets. The first planet in the solar system is Mercury, on one side it is very hot but on the other side is extremely cold. In our solar system, there are 3 Asteroid belts (Kyper belt, Astroid belt, Oort cloud). Here's a picture of our Solar System.
The Sun
The Sun is extremely hot. Over 500000000 million °c HOT! The Earth is millions of kilometres far from the sun. Did you know the stars are the same size as the other stars but they are further than the sun that's why we see the sun big and the stars small!
The sun is made of gasses and has a burning surface too hot for humans to stand on. Eventually the sun will explode which will then destroy Mercury, Venus and then turn Earth into a ball of molten laver. The sun does not move and is at the centre of the solar system.
Here is a picture of the sun.
Nebulas of the sun
Nebulas are when stars explode into huge amounts of mass and the star will produce more stars that will grow through out many years. This means that there are infinite amounts of stars as they produce but it will take trillions of years for a star to grow.
Here is a picture of the star nebular
The Kyper Belt
Coming soon ...
Mercury
Mercury has the shortest and fastest orbit around the Sun and experiences dramatic temperature changes as it rotates. It is a world of extremes.
Explore facts about our solar system's fastest planet.
Mercury facts
- Equator circumference: 15,329km
- Radius: 2,440km
- Average distance from Sun: 58 million km
- Surface temperature: -180°C to 430°C
- Day length: 59 Earth days
- Year length: 88 Earth days
- Average orbital speed: 170,500km/h (47km/s)
- Moons: 0
- Planet type: terrestrial
How big is Mercury?
Mercury is slightly larger than our Moon - 15,329 kilometres around its equator. Its radius, the distance from the core's centre to the surface, is 2,440 kilometres. Mercury is about 2.6 times smaller than Earth.
How hot is Mercury?
Mercury's sun-facing side is scorched by temperatures of around 430°C, hot enough to melt lead.
Without a substantial atmosphere to distribute heat away from the areas facing the Sun, the planet's slow rotation makes for stark differences in temperature between its dark and light sides. The side facing away cools to an approximate -180°C.
But despite the intense heat the planet faces as it rotates, areas that are permanently shaded, such as some polar craters, may hold deposits of ice.
Intense changes in temperature from day to night make it impossible for life as we know it to flourish on Mercury.
Although it is the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury isn't the hottest in the solar system. Venus's dense atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect, resulting in higher temperatures.
How far from the Sun is Mercury?
Mercury's orbit is elongated, taking an almost oval- or egg-shaped course around the Sun. This means that its distance from the Sun varies throughout its circuit, between approximately 46 million and 70 million kilometres.
Mercury speeds around the Sun at nearly 47 kilometres per second - almost 60% faster than Earth's orbiting speed.
How long is a day on Mercury?
Days on Mercury are very long because the planet rotates very slowly. One day-long spin lasts for 59 Earth days. But because of its fast orbit, one Mercury year takes 88 Earth days. This means that two years on Mercury lasts for only three days.
The planet's sunrise would be unusual to us on Earth. Due to its elongated orbit and slow rotation, from some places on Mercury's surface, the Sun appears to rise briefly before setting and rising again. At sunset, the reverse happens, with the Sun appearing to set twice.
The planet spins almost vertically on its axis, so its poles are never fully sunlit. The lack of tilt also means that the planet does not experience yearly seasons like Earth.
What is Mercury's atmosphere made of?
Mercury has a little atmosphere, but what it does have is made up mostly of oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium and potassium.
The thin atmosphere, or exosphere, does little to prevent or slow down impacts from extraterrestrial objects, leaving the surface littered with craters. In appearance, it is similar to Earth's Moon.
The planet is terrestrial, meaning that it has a solid surface and is mainly made of silicate rocks or metals. The planet Mercury is mainly made up of iron.
Mercury has no moons. The planet's proximity to the Sun makes having moons impossible, as the star's strong gravitational pull would likely pull them out of the planet's orbit.
Venus
Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. This hostile world is covered in thousands of volcanoes and encased in a dense layer of toxic clouds, swept by constant hurricane-force winds.
- Equator circumference: 38,025km
- Radius: 6,052km
- Average distance from Sun: 108 million km
- Surface temperature: 462°C
- Average orbital speed: 126,074km/h (35km/s)
- Sidereal day length: 243 Earth days
- Solar day length: 117 Earth days
- Year length: 225 Earth days
- Moons: 0
- Planet type: terrestrial
How big is Venus?
Owing to similarity in size, mass and composition, Venus is sometimes called Earth's sister planet. With an equatorial circumference of 38,025 kilometres and a radius of 6,052 kilometres, Venus is only marginally smaller than Earth.
Venus has an iron core around the same size as Earth's - approximately 3,000 kilometres in radius. But due to a weak magnetic field, which in part relies on convection in the core, it has been suggested that Venus's core may be predominantly solid.
How hot is Venus?
Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, sustaining an average surface temperature of 462°C, hot enough to melt lead.
The planet's dense atmosphere prevents the Sun's heat from escaping back into space, causing an extreme greenhouse effect. The temperature barely changes, neither from day to night nor between the poles and the equator.
Venus's extreme heat does not allow for water on the planet. The dry surface appears to be made of terrestrial-like basalt, a fine-grained volcanic rock.
But Venus may have been more habitable earlier in its history. For around two billion years the planet may have been covered in a shallow ocean and due to proximity to the Sun, the water evaporated. This caused carbon dioxide to build up in the atmosphere, which led to today's intense greenhouse effect.