Wonderings About Space – from a class in New Zealand

Here is a link to the original post…

http://passtheblog.creativeblogs.net/2012/07/25/our-wonderings/

 

NASA is always a good source of information on space.

I enjoyed reading your questions so much I thought  I would try to find some answers for you. I hope most if not all help but I’m not an expert in astronomy just someone interested in many things. I may update this post as I have time or if someone points out an error I've missed.

 

OUR WONDERINGS

 

How many times could you fit earth on the biggest planet Jupiter? You can fit 1000 earths on Jupiter-Jake

Here is a link to a site allowing you to compare the diameter of planets. Choose your planets then click on “COMPARE” to see. According to this site, Jupiter has a diameter 11.1 times that of Earth, i.e. it would take 11.1 Earths to reach from one side to the other through the middle of Jupiter.

http://sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/psc/PlanetSize.html

This site compares Earth to Jupiter. You will see Jupiter has a volume 1321 times that of the Earth. That is it would take around 1321 Earths to match the volume.

http://www.universetoday.com/22710/jupiter-compared-to-earth/

In the future could scientists invent a robot that could survive the winds of Neptune or land on the sun?

 That would be something very hard to do. The pressures on the giant planets would quickly crush anything we could currently make. Science fiction stories talk of future attempts to go deep into one of the giants. Maybe one day we might be able to probe deeper.

Did you know in 2003, NASA deliberately sent the Galileo craft into the atmosphere of Jupiter? It was crushed by the pressure. Here is a link from NASA…

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/

When looking at Sol, our sun, we are talking about incredible heat and pressure. Did you know stars have “life” cycles. They burn their fuel but eventually run out and cool. While they might end up solid, they would still have incredible mass. Here is a link about stars…

http://www.seasky.org/celestial-objects/stars.html

How do astronauts live on spaceships when they are travelling through space?

The earliest astronauts and cosmonauts (Russian astronauts) relied on their space suits to survive. By the time of the Apollo missions to the Moon, the capsules had oxygen supplies so astronauts could remove their helmets but still had to keep the suits on in case of an emergency. Here is a link about the Apollo missions…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program

These days, the International Space Station allows much greater comfort for astronauts. Here is a link from NASA…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program

Why does Saturn have so many rings? -Mia   Nobody knows why Saturn has rings but they do know that Saturn's rings are 400,000 kilometres wide. That’s the length from earth to the moon-Jake

It has been suggested the rings could be the debris of a large icy moon that lost its icy shell before crashing into Saturn. Here is a wiki link looking at Saturn and its rings…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn

How do the planets stay where they are? Kaelen. It is all in the way the gravity holds them up but the planets are slowly moving but it is so slow you would think that are stiff.-Billy

Billy has the right idea. It’s the gravitational pull of the sun holding the planets in place just as Earth’s gravity stops us from floating off into space. Here is a link…

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/solar-system

When our solar system was estimated to have started to form about 4.568 billion years ago, the planets and moons were thought to have formed from a solar nebula (cloud of dust a gas) left over from the formation of our sun. It’s thought they formed by accretion. Accretion is where dust or other particles join together. In these very early years, there would have been very many collisions where masses joined to form larger ones. Here is a wiki link about the formation and evolution of our solar system…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formation_and_evolution_of_the_Solar_System

Did you know it is thought our Moon was formed when two of these large masses collided? The debris thrown off in the collision became our Moon. Our Earth was a combination of the two large masses. Here is a link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_impact_hypothesis

Is there intelligent life on other planets?

I love this question as it’s the same I asked when your age. It is said there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all of the beaches on Earth. We are talking huge numbers of stars out there. I have no doubt many would have planets around them and some planets would be in the Goldilocks Zone.

I like that term. The Goldilocks Zone is the position around a star where it’s not too hot and not too cold for a planet to be capable of supporting life/.

One of my favourite astronomers was a man named Carl Sagan. He was asked this very question. He said with all of the stars in the universe, if Earth held the only life, it would “sure seem like an awful waste of space.”

There is little chance of intelligent life on other planets in our solar system but there is a chance of simple life on Mars or perhaps in the possible water layer of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Here is a link to information on Europa…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29

Intelligent life? I would like to think we aren’t the only beings in the universe to ask questions like yours. If we were, Carl Sagan would again be correct. What a waste of space.

Remember, even the closest star outside our Solar System, Proxima Centauri, is 4.22 light years distant. A light year is the distance travelled by light in one Earth year. One light year is around 9,460,530,000,000 kilometres. If you were able to drive you family car at 100 kph, it would take you 9,460,530,000 years and that’s to the nearest star. Wiki link on the light year…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-year

Why does saturn have so many rings?-Anahera

Go to the link I provided Mia…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn

Where is the end and beginning of space?  Bridget

Now there’s a hard question. As we exist in the universe, there is no way for us to know what may be beyond the edge of our universe. I have read if we were to travel in space in a straight line for long enough, we would eventually arrive back where we started. In that sense, space would have no beginning or end.

Do any people live in space? -Laura

Men from NASA -http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/home/F_Living_in_Space.html lived in space and said that it was very different from living on Earth. Our bodies change in space. –Michaela

Well done, Michaela. There are people on the International Space Station who spend time living in space. Michaela is also correct about our bodies changing. Here is a wiki link looking at the changes we face in space…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_spaceflight_on_the_human_body

With water having been found on our Moon, we may one day be able to live there but we need to find more water. Here is a NASA link about water on the Moon…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2162505/More-water-moon-NASA-finds-mile-deep-crater-ice-scattered-quarter-surface.html

Are there any ALIENS in space?-Laura

Alien simply means not born or belonging to here. Our search is on to find life on another planet, our best bet being Mars. All we need to do is find one simple life form, even a bacteria, on Mars to show life exists other than on Earth. Here is a link on NASA’s quest…

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/programmissions/overview/

If you mean like in the movies, we have no proof of life such as this but there are those on our planet who claim to have seen or been taken by aliens. I’m more from the science side of thought and would like to see definite proof.

I go back to an answer above… One of my favourite astronomers was a man named Carl Sagan. He was asked this very question. He said with all of the stars in the universe, if Earth held the only life, it would “sure seem like an awful waste of space.”

Is there any grass on the planets in space?-Laura

Grass is life just as animals and other plants are. We have no evidence of life on other planets as yet but there is a good chance of life on other planets because of how many there are thought to be.

Did you know grasses are thought to only have appeared towards the end of the Age of Dinosaurs? If we go back in time to early Earth, you would find it had no life. Doesn’t that make you wonder what the first life was like?

Abiogenesis is the study of how the first life might arise. Here is a link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis

How was space created?-Laura

One of the leading theories of how space was created is The Big Bang Theory (no the television show). It is thought the universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state known as a singularity then rapidly expanded and cooled. This might have been as much as 13.7 billion years ago. As the energy from the singularity cooled, subatomic particles formed and eventually joined to form the first and simplest element, hydrogen with some traces of helium and lithium. Clouds of these elements would have collapsed under gravity to form stars and galaxies. Here is a wiki link to the Big Bang Theory…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang

As all of this expanded, space came into existence. It makes you wonder where the singularity came from, the moment it started to expand and what was there before it started its expansion. Our universe is still expanding.

Are there any multi coloured planets in space?-Laura

 Yes. Have a look at these wonderful photos and graphics from NASA…

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=NASA+planet+photos&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=EEh&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnsu&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zisXUMKHNcKoiAe264DwDg&ved=0CIQBELAE&biw=1513&bih=1233

Is there any water on mars?-Laura

Yes. Here is a NASA link looking not only at the possibility of frozen water but also flowing water…

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro20110804.html

How many stars are in space?-Josh

In another question I looked at an idea relating to the number of stars in the universe. I had read there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on every beach on Earth. Would you like to start counting? 🙂

 I have read estimates of 125 billion galaxies in the universe. That is 125,000,000,000 galaxies. Now, if our galaxy, The Milk Way, has around the estimated 300 billion stars, that’s 300,000,000,000 and if we assume (probably wrongly) each galaxy were to have similar number of stars, that would be…

37,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe
A link about the number of galaxies…

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/021127a.html

and our Milky Way galaxy…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way

How are black holes formed?-Josh There are many theories to how black holes are created but the most common is when a colossal star with a mass more than 3 times the Sun’s reaches the end of its life gets crushed under its own gravity leaving behind a BLACK HOLE. -Michaela

Great research Michaela. 🙂

The black hole isn’t the remainder of a massive star. It’s the singularity in the black hole that is what’s left of the massive star. Have a look at this link to see an animation of a black hole…

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/black_hole.htm

You can see there is a singularity in the middle. Around the singularity there is the inner and outer event horizon. An event horizon is the point of no return. If you were in a space ship and passed the event, there would be no escaping the gravitational pull. Within the event horizon, not even light escapes making the area within the event horizon appear black from outside.

Here is another link talking about time and event horizons…

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/011024a.html

Are there any animals on the planets in space?-Josh

This is similar to other questions about life. With the likelihood there is life on other planets somewhere in our vast universe, animals may exist on a number of them but they wouldn't be too likely to look like the animals we know. In the movie, “Avatar”, tall, thin, blue human-like beings rode what looked like six-legged horses. What an animal might look like on another planet would be determined by how it evolved as animals on our planet do. If we look at Earth’s fossil record, there were some very strange animals in the past.

How hot is mars?-Billy Mars is actually colder than it is hot. The lowest temperature was minus 60 degrees celsius and the highest 70 degrees fahrenheit.-Josh

More good research, Josh. 🙂

As we learn more about Mars, we are able to better understand its climate and what difficulties might face when they go to Mars to live. Here is a wiki link on the climate of Mars…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Mars

What is beyond space?-Billy

Bridget asked something similar. Here is what I wrote…

Now there’s a hard question. As we exist in the universe, there is no way for us to know what may be beyond the edge of our universe. I have read if we were to travel in space in a straight line for long enough, we would eventually arrive back where we started. In that sense, space would have no beginning or end.

How does gravity make things float?-Billy

It’s more the lack of gravity that would allow things to float. Any object with mass, including you, has gravity but for small objects like us we don’t tend to notice. Mass is different to weight. Weight comes from the effects of gravity on an object. Here’s a hard idea…

 If you were to mass 30kg on Earth, you would have a mass of 30kg on the Moon but your weight only be about one-sixth, i.e. about 5kg.

Have you ever been on a roller coaster and felt that feeling when you seem to rise off the seat as you go over a peak? This gives you the idea of weightlessness. Away from Earth’s gravity, you would float.

How much weight can gravity hold?-Billy

Interesting… As weight depends on gravity, gravity doesn’t hold weight. If you were able to stand on the surface of Jupiter you would be very heavy. You own weight would crush you as our bodies aren't made to stand such pressure.

Why is it black in space?-Billy

On our planet, we have an atmosphere containing gases and dust particles. As light from our sun travels through our atmosphere, it is scattered by what it hits. We see colour .

On the Moon, there is no atmosphere to speak of. Light shines straight down. If you were to look at shadows on the Earth, the scattering of light allows us to see inside shadows. Without an atmosphere, shadows on the Moon are too dark. We can't see inside them.

In space, there is little to spread the light so we tend to see it as black as in the moon shadows.

Is there any life on other planets?-Billy

Check some of the answers I’ve left for others. With all the expected stars and planets in the universe, it would be a waste of space if Earth was the only planet with life. We may first find life on Mars. It is our closest neighbour possibly able to support life and it has water.

How fast can a rocket go in space?-Billy

The first step for a rocket is to escape Earth’s gravity. This is known as the escape velocity. It’s no so much speed as the amount needed to pull out of our gravity. For Earth, it is something like 11.2 km/s while planets such as Jupiter might need 59.5 km/s. Taken from wiki link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity

 Once out in space, firing rockets can keep accelerating us. They can also use the gravity of a planet to make them go faster. This is known as gravity assist or slingshot effect.

 Here is a link answering your question…

http://io9.com/5786083/what-are-the-fastest-spacecrafts-ever-built

Are there any other universes or planets out there?-Billy

Planets? There certainly are. Astronomers have now identified the existence of planets around other stars.

Universes? That’s another story. For us, the universe is everything we have and we are incapable of discovering anything beyond. In science fiction, there is talk of parallel universes where there might be an infinite number but there is no proof of this idea. Here is a wiki link looking at the idea of a multiverse…

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

What are the planets/the moon/the sun made of?-Billy  

Every atom of you body and making up the world is said to have once been made in a star. The very basic element is hydrogen. Sun’s burn hydrogen fuel through something called nuclear fusion. From stars, all of the elements we commonly know had their origin. The elements found in planets and moons came from the reactions within stars.

Stars tend to form in gaseous clouds. Take a look at this link. You will see a small picture of the Pillars of Creation taken by the  Hubble telescope. In this area of the Eagle Nebula, new stars are forming…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_formation

How far away is space?-Billy You would have to travel 76 miles straight up to get to space.-Josh

If you look at this link, on the right hand side you will see a graphic showing the layers of Earth’s atmosphere…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth

What is beyond a black hole/milky way?-Billy

The black hole and the singularity creating it is an occurrence in space. If you mean what’s beyond a black hole if you enter, some suggest they are a gateway to another universe. I tend to believe it’s a massive object that would crush us through gravity,

Beyond the Milky Way… The Milky Way is our galaxy and is said to be one of billions of galaxies. You would find little in intergalactic space until you manages to enter another galaxy. As we are no where near being able to travel to the nearest star to ours, journeys out of the Milky Way seem extremely unlikely.

What is at the end of a black hole?-Jake

With the singularity in a black hole not allowing even light to escape, going into one is a one way trip. 🙂

Is there any life on mars?-Jake

Others have asked that question and I have provided links but, in my opinion, there is simple life on Mars. We only have to find it. No, I don't believe there are little Martians running around.

What is at the end of the milky way?-Jake

The Milky Way is just a galaxy, one of billions in the universe. If we were to leave our galaxy, there would be a very long journey ahead of us before we reached the next galaxy. I think the Andromeda galaxy is the closest to our Milky Way. Here’s a wiki link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy

Will they ever send anyone to mars?-Jake

 Yes. There are already people looking into the possibility of sending people to live on Mars but we may go to the asteroid belt first. Here is a wiki link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_mission_to_Mars

Why do stars only come out at night?  Because the clouds and the sun are in the way and it is not dark. Answer is by Laura (not the question)

Well done, Laura! 🙂

The stars are always there but light travelling through our atmosphere in the daytime prevents us seeing them.

Why does the sun only come out in the day?

The sun doesn’t come out nor does it really rise or set. Our Earth turns on its axis as it orbits the sun. As it turns, different parts of the Earth move into sunlight or pass into night. Here is a link to a You Tube video showing the revolving Earth…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3H5Tlw1Ozo&feature=related

Also, our Earth has a slight tilt to the plane of our orbit. As Earth moves around the sun, the north might have more sunlight and be in summer and on the opposite side of the sun, the south has more sunlight while the north has winter.

Here is a link to a post I made for a boy asking about seasons…

https://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2012/05/23/for-royce-on-seasons/

Why does Saturn have rings?

This question was already asked so here is what was said…

It has been suggested the rings could be the debris of a large icy moon that lost its icy shell before crashing into Saturn. Here is a wiki link looking at Saturn and its rings…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn

Is there more than 1 universe out there?

Billy asked a similar question. Here is the answer I left…

Universes? That’s another story. For us, the universe is everything we have and we are incapable of discovering anything beyond. In science fiction, there is talk of parallel universes where there might be an infinite number but there is no proof of this idea. Here is a wiki link looking at the idea of a multiverse…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

Can animals survive in space?

 In space, life can’t exist. For animals, they would need spacesuits to breathe and protect them from radiation. If we were dropped into space without a suit, we wouldn't survive.

 

Why does your head blow up if you don’t wear a space helmet? By Zara

What a gruesome question. 🙂 I have seen films showing this. They use the idea of the lack of pressure in space. Our bodies are suited to the atmospheric pressure on Earth. Our bodies hold us together. In space, where there is virtually no atmospheric pressure, our bodies would suffer but I’m not sure about the idea of heads exploding. Here is a link…

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html

Is there alien life forms out in other universes-Gracin

As I don't believe there are other universes we can experience other than our own, I would say no but I did give a link to Billy looking at the idea of multiverses…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

Can we ever travel to mars?- Callum

Yes. We have already sent unmanned missions to Mars. Manned mission would be something for the future. Here is a link to Mars missions…

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/

How are black holes formed?- Callum

A black hole form when a massive star collapses under its own gravity.

Is there water in space?- Callum

Yes. Comets for example tend to contain water ice.

Why can we not roll the moon- Zack

 I’m sorry, I didn't quite understand.

 

Does every star have a name-Thomas

Many stars simply have code names. SN 1979C was the name given to a star that went supernova in 1979. I was able to see its light at night without a telescope. It is no longer visible without powerful telescopes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1979C

What is the hottest planet-Thomas The hottest planet is Venus with temperatures up to 464 degrees celsius.-Josh

Here is a link looking at temperatures of the planets…

http://www.universetoday.com/35664/temperature-of-the-planets/

How small are the stars- Zack

There is a large variation in star sizes from dwarf to super giant stars. Have a look at this link…

http://www.co-intelligence.org/newsletter/comparisons.html

Is there an order of planets- Brya

Planet order normally looks at a planets location to its sun. For our Solar System, the order is…

 Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is no longer classed as a planet. Here is a link …

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/

How small are the planets- Brya

In 1930, Pluto was officially discovered and was called a planet, our ninth. In more recent years it has been renamed a dwarf planet. Here is a link showing what a planet now needs to be…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAU_definition_of_planet

You will see it has to satisfy three points…

1. It must orbit a sun

2. It must have sufficient mass to take on a nearly round shape

3. It must have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit (meaning no other smaller bodies share orbit)

Why do planets have to be spaced out.-Ciara

 If planets are too close to each other, their gravities will interact. They may be drawn together and collide. This is thought to have happened to two bodies in the early Solar System history. On collision, material was thrown into space to become our Moon and the rest made up our Earth.

 

Why do we have to use a spaceships into space why not a plane-Ciara

Spaceships are designed to make life possible in space. Without them, we would not be able to survive the radiation, cold and lack of air to breath. As there is no air and planes need air to fly, they wouldn't work. Planes can fly by their engines forcing air over their wings to give them lift. No air, no lift, no flight.

Why is there no gravity in space-Ciara

In order to have gravity, there must be mass. When out in space away from any large objects we would simply float for an eternity.

 

How do we float when the gravity has stopped-Ciara

Gravity pulls us towards the centre of our planet. When we are too far away, there is no gravity and we can float. If you have every ridden one of those rides where you are lifted high in the air on chairs then suddenly dropped, you can get the feeling of being weightless.

 

Why can’t planets move around, Why do they stay where they are-Ciara

They don’t. All planets, including our Earth, are in motion. They spin on their axes giving day and night and they orbit the sun. Our Solar System is also moving as it circle around the centre of our galaxy, The Milky Way.  Our galaxy is also moving as it continues its journey away from where the universe all began.

We are certainly moving.

Will the sun ever die?-Kurt

 When the sun eventually runs out of hydrogen fuel, it will eventually ‘die’. Stars also have a life cycle. Some end up cooling and grow cold while large stars can end in massive supernova.

Here is a link on the life cycle of the sun…

http://www.universetoday.com/56522/life-cycle-of-the-sun/

How many stars are there?-Kurt Answer:There are thousands of Millions of stars alone in the Milky Way, but nobody knows for sure how many there are in the Galaxy probably millions of millions!-Michaela

Here is an answer I shared with Josh…

I have read estimates of 125 billion galaxies in the universe. That is 125,000,000,000 galaxies. Now, if our galaxy, The Milk Way, has around the estimated 300 billion stars, that’s 300,000,000,000 and if we assume (probably wrongly) each galaxy were to have similar number of stars, that would be…

37,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe
A link about the number of galaxies…

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/021127a.html

and our Milky Way galaxy…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way

Why is the Sun the biggest planet - why can't pluto or earth be?

The sun is a star and not a planet. It is large enough to start burning the hydrogen fuel it contains. Jupiter was not quite large enough. Had it been, there might have been two stars in our sky.

If earth had been the size of the sun, we wouldn't be able to live on it due to the pressure and temperature.

 

Are UFOs real.-Sam

UFO means Unidentified Flying Objects. In that sense I have seen many. I look up into the sky and see something I can't recognise and therefore it is an UFO. If you mean alien spacecraft, many believe they are true and exist. My problem with the idea is the distance they would have had to travel to reach us from even the nearest star to our sun. It would take a huge amount of time so we would need to ask, why would they come?

Do I believe? I don't disbelieve but I have never seen anything I consider absolute proof.

How much gravity is there in space.-Sam

Away from any objects with mass, there is no gravity. Gravity needs objects with mass in order to exist.

Why do we weigh less in space.-Sam

Weight comes when gravity acts on mass. When we are away from our planet, we have the same mass but, without gravity, we don't have any weight.

Are there different types of star and do they have names. Lorie

There are a number of star types. Some have been named but many simply have codes. I calculated the possible number of stars in the universe as 37,500,000,000,000,000,000,000  Imagine trying to come up with names for each. 🙂

Here is a link showing some star types…

http://space.about.com/od/stars/tp/What-Are-The-Different-Types-Of-Stars.htm

Why did they call that group of white stars the milky way. Lorie

Our own sun is part of the Milky Way. Our Solar System orbits the centre of our galaxy where they believe there is probably a massive black hole. If you are out in the countryside away from city and town lights, on a clear night you can see what looks like a cloud amongst the stars. This is the glow of billions of stars.

 

How far apart are the planets. Mason

Here is a link giving information of the distance of each planet from the sun…

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_distance_of_all_planets_from_the_sun

What does  space look like. Mason

Look up in the sky at night. If you were out in space, you would see the lights of many stars.

 

Why is there gravity on earth but not in space.-Georgia  The force of Gravity changes the further you get away from Earth. –Michaela

Well done, Michaela.

 

Why is there water on mars is there life on mars.-Georgia

Now we know water exists, our next step is to find life. With water, there is a chance but don’t expect more than perhaps bacteria.

 

Is there people on mars. Chelsea

From what we know of Mars, complex life like ours never had a chance to evolve.

 

Is there a order of planets. Chelsea.

Brya asked  the same question. Here is what I wrote…

Planet order normally looks at a planets location to its sun. For our Solar System, the order is…

 Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is no longer classed as a planet. Here is a link …

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/

How did space get made?-Janaya

Laura asked a similar question. Here is the answer…

One of the leading theories of how space was created is The Big Bang Theory (no the television show). It is thought the universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state known as a singularity then rapidly expanded and cooled. This might have been as much as 13.7 billion years ago. As the energy from the singularity cooled, subatomic particles formed and eventually joined to form the first and simplest element, hydrogen with some traces of helium and lithium. Clouds of these elements would have collapsed under gravity to form stars and galaxies. Here is a wiki link to the Big Bang Theory…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang

As all of this expanded, space came into existence. It makes you wonder where the singularity came from, the moment it started to expand and what was there before it started its expansion. Our universe is still expanding.

 

How did space get named? -Janaya Maybe it’s just because there is a lot of SPACE in space. –Michaela

I like this question and love Michaela’s answer. 🙂

 

Is it possible to count the stars, if so how many are there? It is impossible to humans being able to count the stars because there is thousands of millions of stars! -Michaela

Josh asked a similar question. Here is the answer…

I have read estimates of 125 billion galaxies in the universe. That is 125,000,000,000 galaxies. Now, if our galaxy, The Milk Way, has around the estimated 300 billion stars, that’s 300,000,000,000 and if we assume (here probably wrongly) each galaxy were to have similar number of stars, that would be…

37,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe
A link about the number of galaxies…

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/021127a.html

and our Milky Way galaxy…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way

Do the stars move every time they appear? -Michaela

Planets, stars, solar systems and galaxies are all moving. When pour planet rotates on its axis, we have day and night as the Earth’s surface moves around in the sunlight. As Earth orbits around the sun, we have the seasons. With all of this movement, the stars seem to move but it is really us. They are too far for we wo be able to see their movement.

Will and how will we find water-Ciara

Water has already been found on the Moon and Mars. The question now is how much. If there is enough water, people will one day live on Mars and the Moon.

How is a black hole made-Ciara

Josh asked a similar question…

The black hole isn’t the remainder of a massive star. It’s the singularity in the black hole that is what’s left of the massive star. Have a look at this link to see an animation of a black hole…

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/black_hole.htm

You can see there is a singularity in the middle. Around the singularity there is the inner and outer event horizon. An event horizon is the point of no return. If you were in a space ship and passed the event, there would be no escaping the gravitational pull. Within the event horizon, not even light escapes making the area within the event horizon appear black from outside.

Here is another link talking about time and event horizons…

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/011024a.html

Is there life in different universes and if there is are they more intelligent-Gracin

We don’t know of any life outside Earth at this time. It’s always possible there are many more planets with life, hopefully many with intelligent life. What a waste it would be if we were the only planet with intelligent life.

Is there a water supply on different planets-Gracin

We only know of water on Mars but it has also been found on the Moon and on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. A link for Europa…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29

What do aliens look like-Gracin

As yet we haven’t found any so we don’t know. 🙂

 

How do aliens get a supply of food-Gracin

You are looking at something called exobiology, the study of life not on Earth. We haven’t found any life outside Earth yet but it would be interesting to study when we do.

Is there other planets that we haven't discovered yet-Gracin

With so many stars in the universe, the are huge numbers of planets to discover. If you mean in our solar system, there is an area known as the Kuiper Belt where there are many objects thought to be more like asteroids. The Kuiper Belt is out beyond all of the planets. Here is a link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt

How does saturn keep the rings around it stable-Gracin

Gravity holds them in place but they will eventually either fall into Saturn or escape into space.

Where does a black hole lead to? Gracin

Some have suggested black holes might lead to other universes but I think most believe as trip into one is a one way trip. We would be crushed.

3 thoughts on “Wonderings About Space – from a class in New Zealand

  1. Anne K

    Oh my goodness, this is probably the most overwhelming response to a blog post I could ever have imagined possible. I am completely in awe of the time and effort you have put into collaborating with our class. I just can’t wait to get to school to show the learners…. I am thinking all sorts of possibilities…. Could we cross post this back onto our blog? Could we set up a time to skype you? How will we ever be able to thank you?
    Thank you so much! Oh the power of collaboration in our amazing PLN!
    Anne K

    Reply
    1. rossmannell

      Post author

      Thanks for the positive comment.
      The timing of seeing your post was perfect. I had to film a multi-school performing arts festival in the evening and was ready. Normally, I have a number of blogs waiting for comments but, seeing as much of the northern hemisphere is on holidays, I had the time to see how many of the class questions I could try to answer. I was surprised when I was able to complete the list. Being retired from full time teaching also allows extra time.
      As I mentioned in my post, I’m interested in many things but particularly science. While having taught primary school, I had a science degree. I preferred primary school teaching as it allowed me to also teach art/craft/music/history/etc whereas I would have been teaching only science and/or maths in high.

      Cross post back to your blog… No problem
      Skype is also okay with me as I have been on it with a class before. I loved thin interaction as the children were able to ask me questions.

      Reply
  2. Anne K

    Thanks so much! I showed the class today and they were stunned with how long your reply was. They can’t wait to explore more… I will link this now and look forward to a learning explosion.
    I am continually surprised by the generosity of educators to share and motivate and inspire learners. Twitter has been a life changer for me with collaboration and networking. Thanks again. Will keep you posted on the learner’s reactions and learning discoveries. We have a scientist visiting next week and on Thursday night we are going to the Observatory. At the moment we are taking part in a webquest to solidify our planetary understanding before we branch off into individual inquiries….
    Fun times indeed!
    Anne K

    Reply

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