Transcript Tour of the Galaxy - Shelbyville Central Schools

Tour
Galaxy
Tourof
of the
the Galaxy
Welcome to Planet Earth, 3rd planet from the Sun. Over 70% of the
Earth’s surface is water. The planet has a relatively thin atmosphere
composed mostly of nitrogen and oxygen. This picture of Earth, dubbed
Blue Marble, was taken from Apollo 17 in 1972.
In December of 1968, the Apollo 8 crew flew from the Earth to the Moon
and back again. (Earthrise)
Earth at night.
Blackout on the east coast.
August 14, 2003
Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico
August 29, 2005
The Sun is a ball of extremely hot gas. Picture was taken by Skylab in
1973 throwing off a large prominence. The Sun has survived for 5
billion years, and will likely survive another 5 billion. The Sun is not on
fire and will never explode.
How long would it take to drive to the Sun?
The Sun is 93 million miles away. So, if we drove 93
miles per hour the trip would only take us 1 million
hours.
(it would take over
100 years)
If a rocket took off from Earth traveling 1,000 mph,
then it would take 10 years to reach the Sun.
If a rocket took off from Earth traveling 1,000 mph,
then it would take 450 years to reach Pluto.
Sun spots
Close up of a sun spot
Total solar eclipse
-moon passes between the sun and Earth
Horsehead Nebula
Around 1,500 light years
away from Earth.
Speed of light = 300,000 km/sec
It takes light a little over 8
minutes to travel from the Sun
to the Earth.
Proxima Centauri: The Closest Star
Light takes only 4.22 years to reach us from Proxima Centauri.
The Great Nebula in Orion
1,500 light years away
The Witch Head Nebula
1,000 light years away
Heart Nebula
7,500 light years away
Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula
7,000 light years away
The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
Almost every object in the above photograph is a galaxy. The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
contains thousands of galaxies. Each of these galaxies houses billions of stars - just
as our own Milky Way Galaxy does. Light from the Coma Cluster takes hundreds
of millions of years to reach us.
Milky Way Galaxy
Jupiter
At the Center of the Milky Way lies a black hole
with over 2 million times the mass of the Sun
The Brightest Supernova Yet Found
This supernova explosion was so inherently bright that
it could be seen nearly 5 billion light years away
Spiral galaxy NGC 2903 is 20 million light-years
away in the constellation Leo.
Andromeda Island Universe (spiral galaxy)
Two and a half million light-years away
Majestic Island Universe (barred spiral galaxy)
60 million light years away
Irregular Galaxy
12 million light years away
This stunning group of galaxies is about 450 million light-years away.
Dominated by the cluster's large central elliptical galaxy. The giant
elliptical galaxy spans over 100,000 light years and contains about
100 billion stars.