Transcript The Universe - OCPS TeacherPress

The Universe
EQ:
What is The Universe?
The universe is HUGE!!! It is made
up of stars, galaxies, planets,
moons, comets, meteoroids, gas, and
dust (but it’s mostly made of empty
space). The universe formed about 14
billion years ago.
The Hierarchy of organization
Moving from left to right!
Hierarchy of Organization
smallest
largest
meteoroids
planets
moons
universe
solar
systems
stars
galaxies
We are Here
GALAXIES
●A collection of billions of stars
held together by gravity.
Galaxies
Classified by shape:
irregular.
spiral, elliptical and
Galaxies
Earth is in a spiral galaxy called the Milky
Way.
We are Here
Solar System
A collection of large and small bodies
that orbit a central star.
Solar Systems
Consists of at least one star, planets,
moons, asteroids, dwarf planets, and
comets.
Stars
Huge spheres of ionized gas held
together by gravity.
Stars
Creates and gives off heat and light.
Classified by size.
We are here
Planet
● A round, celestial object that orbits
around a star.
● There are eight planets in our solar
system.
Terrestrial Planets
• Small, dense, rocky planets with a metal
core
• Thin atmosphere
• Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars
Gas Giant Planets
• Large, gaseous, low density with a rocky
core
• Thick atmosphere
• Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune
Kilometers (Km)
1Km = 1000 meters
Useful when measuring the distance between a
planet and its moon.
Astronomical Units (AU)
1 AU = 149,597,871 Km
Equal to the average distance between Earth
and the Sun.
Useful to measure the distance
between planets.
Light Year (ly)
1 ly = 9.46 trillion Km
Equal to the distance that light can travel
in one year in a vacuum.
Useful to describe the distance between
stars.
1pc = 3.26 ly
Parsec (pc)
Used to measure enormous distances like the
distance between galaxies.