Stars are balls of gas that release energy from

inside themselves.

In order to be recognized as a star, it has to have

two characteristics:
be self-bound by gravity,
it has to radiate energy.

They are formed in space in large clouds of gas

and dust called nebulae.
Atoms inside the nebula accelerate inward due
to the force of gravity and they collide rapidly
with each other, causing the center of the
nebula to become very dense and hot, causing
the temperature of the protostar to rise.
The object switches to become a true star
and it is then able to make its own heat and
light.
The life of the star then depends on its mass.

The color of a star measures its

temperature.
Red=the coolest,
Yellow=an intermediate

temperature,
Blue=the hottest temperature

A star can appear bright just

because it is really bright,
or because of its closeness to
the Earth.

Backyard Astronomy

Stars can have

planetary systems
made up of planets
and satellites.
An enormous cloud
of gas and dust, a
nebula, surrounds
the stars.

People have watched the night skies

for millions of years. Some just out of
curiosity. Some out of boredom.
Some looking for portents, either good
or bad.
However, the one thing that they all
saw was that there was a pattern in
the way the stars revolved around the
heavens.

What are constellations?

They are names for

groups of stars that

appear to form shapes in
the sky.
They were designed to
help us remember which
stars are which. There
are 88 constellations that
divide up the sky.

Common Constellations

Constellations are
imaginary patterns
of bright stars.
The ancient Greeks
invented the
constellations we
call the twelve
signs of the zodiac.

In Greek mythology Aquarius was Ganymede, "cupbearer to the gods". Alpha Aquarii ("Sadalmelik") and
beta Aquarii ("Sadalsuud") are twin supergiants with
nearly identical names. The names mean,
respectively, "The Lucky One of the King" and "The
Luckiest of the Lucky". Gamma Aquarii shares in the
good fortune: "Sadachbia": "The Lucky Star of Hidden
Things" Incidentally, if the "Age of Aquarius" was
celebrated in the 1960s, the real event is still some
600 years off: at that time Aquarius will contain the
vernal equinox, marking the return of the Sun into
the northern celestial hemisphere.

Aries, "The Ram", is an ancient constellation which

was of considerable importance since the sun passed
through it at the vernal equinox.
This point has now moved into Pisces, but the vernal

equinox is still known as the First Point of Aries. In

another six hundred years the point will have moved
into Aquarius.

The Ram in question may have been the one whose

golden fleece was the object of Jason's quest.
There is some reason to believe that the Greeks just
took over a much older horned animal at this time of
the year; the horn being a symbol for fecundity,
renewal, and so on. As the Sun came into this
constellation, at the vernal equinox, the year itself
was being renewed.

The name comes from the Latin;

cancer means crab. The crab in
question is the one sent by Hydra to
attack Heracles. It was only a bit part,
but one which secured its immortality.

Gemini, the Twins, are really only halfbrothers. They share the same mother
(Leda) but have different fathers. Castor's
father was a king of Sparta, Tyndareus who would be chased from his throne but
later rescued by Heracles (who
nevertheless wound up killing him). The
father of Pollux was none other than Zeus,
or Jupiter. Zeus visited Leda on her
wedding night in the guise of a swan. Thus
the twins would be born. (In fact two twins
came from this double union, but let's not
complicate the matter even more...)

The first on the list of Heracles' labors was

the task of killing the Nemean Lion, a giant
beast that roamed the hills and the streets
of the Peloponnesian villages, devouring
whomever it met. The animal's skin was
impervious to iron, bronze, and stone.
Heracles' arrows harmlessly bounced off
the lion; his sword bent in two; his wooden
club smashed to pieces. So Heracles
wrestled with the beast, finally choking it to
death. He then wrapped the lion's pelt
about him; it would protect him from the
next labor: killing the poisonous Hydra.

Libra means "The Scales" or "Balance", so named

because when the zodiac was still in its infancy, some
four thousand years ago, the sun passed through this
constellation at the autumnal equinox (21
September). At the two equinoxes (Spring and
Autumn) the hours of daylight and darkness are
equal. As a symbol for equality, the constellation
came to represent Justice in several middle Eastern
cultures. However, the Greeks had a different
perspective; at one time Scorpius, which lies just to
the east, was much larger, and the stars that make
up Libra were then known as the Claws of the
Scorpion.

Pisces is an ancient constellation derived, some

say, from the story of the terrible Greek god
Typhon.
(This is not the Chinese word for "big wind",
which - in English - is of course spelled
"typhoon". The French, however, spell this
word "typhon", which adds to the confusion. It
is possible that the Chinese borrowed the word
from the Greek. The modern Greek equivalent
is spelled "tau upsilon phi omega nu" and
means "cyclone".)

It was the Romans who named the

constellation Sagittarius ("sagitta" is Latin
for `arrow'), although several stars carry
Arabic names which identify just which
portion of the constellation they represent.
Sagittarius has a muddled history. In
ancient times the asterism of three bright
stars in a curved line was seen as a bow to
some, leading both Greek and Roman
writers to confuse the constellation with
Centaurus.

As mentioned regarding Orion, Gaia may

have sent the scorpion to kill the mighty
hunter, as he had vowed to rid the earth of
all wild animals. Or Apollo might have told
Gaia of Orion's boast, fearful that Orion had
designs on Apollo's sister Artemis. In any
case it was Gaia who sent the scorpion to
kill Orion. Later the animal would chase
Orion across the heavens, but it could
never catch him, for the scorpion was so
placed that it would rise in the east only
after Orion had safely disappeared over the
western horizon.

Is Taurus attacking Orion, the Hunter,

or are the Horns of the Bull the real
story? The horn was a symbol of
fertility and bountiful riches in many
cultures for thousands of years, and it
is probably the case here, for the
constellation would have announced
the Vernal Equinox at around 4000 BC.

Virgo is the second largest constellation

(after Hydra). As a member of the Zodiac,
Virgo has a number of ancient myths and
tales. The Sun passes through Virgo in midSeptember, and is therefore the
constellation that announces the harvest.
Virgo is often represented as a "maiden"
(as its name indicates). In antiquity, she
may have been Isis, the Egyptian
protectress of the living and the dead and
the principal mother goddess.

The Queen

The Hunter

The Great Bear

The Little Bear

The Twins

The Chained Princess

A natural satellite
One of more than 96
moons in our Solar
System
The only moon of the
planet Earth

About 384,000
km (240,000
miles) from
Earth
3,468 km
(2,155 miles) in
diameter
(about the
size of Earth)

No atmosphere
No liquid water
Extreme
temperatures

Daytime = 130C

(265F)
Nighttime =
-190C (-310 F)

1/6 Earths gravity

Mountains up to
7500 m (25,000 ft)
tall
Rilles (trenchlike
valleys)

Up to 2500 km (1,553 miles) across

Most formed by meteorite impact on the Moon
Some formed by volcanic action inside the
Moon

Originally thought to
be seas by early
astronomers
Darkest parts of
lunar landscape
Filled by lava after
crash of huge
meteorites on lunar
surface 3-4 billion
years ago
Mostly basalt rock

Revolution Moon
orbits the Earth
every 271/3 days
The moon rises in
the east and sets in
the west
The moon rises and
sets 50 minutes
later each day
Rotation Moon
turns on its axis
every 27 days
Same side of Moon
always faces Earth

First seen by Luna

3 Russian space
probe in 1959
Surface features
different from
near side
More craters
Very few maria
Thicker crust

Moonlight is reflected
sunlight
Half the moons
surface is always
reflecting light
From Earth we see
different amounts of
the Moons lit surface
The amount seen is
called a phase

New moon
Waxing Crescent moon
First Quarter moon
Waxing Gibbous moon
Full moon
Waning Gibbous moon
Third Quarter moon
Waning Crescent moon
New moon

last (third)quarter

waning Moon
moon orbit`s
earth
SUN
gibbous moon

crescent

earth

full moon

new moon

gibbous moon

crescent

waxing Moon

first quarter

FOUR MAIN SHAPES

FULL

QUARTER

CRESCENT

GIBBOUS

Plane of earths orbit

Moon

Earth
Moon

Plane of lunar orbit

Moon moves into

Earths shadow
this shadow
darkens the Moon
Umbra
Penumbra

About 2-3 per year

Last up to 4 hours

Moon moves
between Earth
and Sun
Moon casts a
shadow on part
of the Earth
Total eclipses rare
only once every
360 years from
one location!

Tides caused by pull of Moons gravity on Earth

High tide
Side facing Moon and side away from Moon
Every 12 hours, 25 minutes

Low tide
On sides of Earth

1950s to 1960s probes

Neil Armstrong
First man on the
Moon July 20,
1969
Six Apollo missions
(1969-1972)

382 kg (842 lbs)

rocks

12 Americans have
walked on the
moon

Prepared by :Wilmar Cris

Gabito
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