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STARS AND THE  There are billions of stars in the universe

universe.. In addition,
 Universe is the name that we use to describe the there are innumerable other heavenly bodies such as
SOLAR SYSTEM collection of all the things that exist in space. It is made planets, asteroids, moonsoons,, etc.
etc. These various heavenly
of many millions of millions of stars and planets and bodies in the universe are separated by very large
enormous clouds of gas separated by a gigantic empty distances.. These distances are so large that the ordinary
distances
space which is called the universe. units of length fall extremely small for measuring them. them.
This distance is expressed in the light year (LY)
(LY)..
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CELESTIAL BODY:  One light-
light-year is the distance travelled by the light in one
A natural object which is year..
year
located outside of Earth's  Since the speed of light is 3 * 105 Km/s and one year is
atmosphere, such as the equal to 1* 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 seconds
Moon, the Sun, an
asteroid, planet, or star  1 light-
light-year = 3 * 105 * 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 km
= 9.46 * 1012 km
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

 Star, any massive self

self--luminous celestial body of gas
 The star closet to us ‘Alpha Centuari’ is 4.3 light-
light- that shines by radiation derived from its internal
years from the earth, which means that this star is energy sources
sources.. Of the tens of billions of trillions of  Stars are born within the clouds of dust and scattered
stars composing the observable universe, only a throughout most galaxies
galaxies.. A familiar example of such
4.3 * 9.46 * 1012 km away from earth
earth.. Light from this as a dust cloud is the Orion Nebula.
Nebula. Turbulence deep
star which we see at a particular night would have very small percentage are visible to the naked eye eye.. within these clouds gives rise to knots with sufficient
left its surface 4.3 years ago.
ago. Many stars occur in pairs, multiple systems, or star mass that the gas and dust can begin to collapse
clusters.. The members of such stellar groups are
clusters under its own gravitational attraction
attraction.. As the cloud
ASTRONOMICAL UNIT UNIT:: Astronomical unit (AU, or physically related through common origin and are collapses, the material at the center begins to heat upup..
au), a unit of length effectively equal to the average, Known as a protostar , it is this hot core at the heart of
bound by mutual gravitational attraction.
attraction. Somewhat
or mean, distance between Earth and the Sun, the collapsing cloud that will one day become a star. star.
defined as 149,
149,597
597,,870
870..7 km (92
92,,955
955,,807
807..3 miles).
miles). related to star clusters are stellar associations, which Three--dimensional computer models of star formation
Three
Alternately, it can be considered the length of the consist of loose groups of physically similar stars that predict that the spinning clouds of collapsing gas and
semi major axisaxis—
—i.e., the length of half of the have insufficient mass as a group to remain together dust may break up into two or three blobs
blobs;; this would
maximum diameter—
diameter—of Earth’s elliptical orbit around as an organization.
organization. explain why the majority the stars in the Milky Way
the Sun
Sun.. are paired or in groups of multiple stars.
stars.

 The five characteristics used to classify stars are color, temperature,

size, composition, and brightness.
brightness.
 A stars color depends on its temperature
temperature..
 Super Giants are very large stars, and use their hydrogen very fast
and die young.
young. They will eventually die and explode into a supernova or
nova, and may become a black hole.
hole.
 Super Giants are very bright, but cooler on the surface
 Majority of stars are main sequence stars, like our sun.
sun. They convert
hydrogen into helium in their cores, releasing a large amount of energy.
energy.
 When a star runs out of hydrogen in its core, fusion stops and the
star increases in size up to 100 times
 Most stars are about 73% 73% Hydrogen, 25% 25% Helium, and 2% other
elements
 Cooler stars are redder, while the hottest stars are blue-
blue-white
 Astronomers use and instrument called a spectrograph to determine Polestar, also spelled pole star (or Dhruv Tara), also called
elements in stars.
stars. (Northern Hemisphere) North Star, the brightest star that
Alpha Centauri (Latinized from α Centauri, abbreviated Alpha Cen or α
 Apparent brightness is its brightness as seen from earth
earth.. appears nearest to either celestial pole at any particular time
time..
Cen) is the closest star system and closest planetary system to the
 Absolute brightness is the brightness the star would be if it were at a
standard distance from earth
earth.. Solar System at 4.37 light-
light-years (1.34 parsec) from the Sun.
Sun. It is a triple Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the position of each
stars: α Centauri A (officially Rigil
star system, consisting of three stars: pole describes a small circle in the sky over a period of 25
25,,772
Kentaurus ), α Centauri B (officially Toliman
Kentaurus), ), and α Centauri C (officially
Toliman), years..
years
Proxima Centauri)
Centauri)..

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 Better known by its nicknames ‘the Big Dipper’ or ‘the Plough’,

 A constellation is a group of stars that forms an imaginary Ursa Major is among the most instantly recognizable groupings of
outline or pattern on the celestial sphere, typically representing stars.. It is also the third largest of all the constellations.
stars constellations. The
an animal, mythological person or creature, a god, or an Ancient Greeks identified Ursa Major as a bear – its name is Latin
inanimate object.
object. The origins of the earliest constellations likely for ‘the greater bear’
bear’.. Some historians believe this tradition dates
go back to prehistory.
prehistory. There are 88 “official” constellations.
constellations. back at least 10,
10,000
000llll but one of the seven stars which make up
 Most of the constellation names we know came from the ancient the main body of the Big Dipper are second- second-magnitude stars
stars..
Middle Eastern, Greek, and Roman cultures. cultures. They identified years..
years
clusters of stars as gods, goddesses, animals, and objects of  The star Mizar, which forms the bend in the ladle's handle, is in
their stories
stories.. It is important to understand that these were not the fact a double-
double-star with a close neighbor Alcor, which can easily be
only cultures populating the night sky with characters important seen with the unaided eye. eye. The ability to distinguish them is often
to their lives.
lives. Cultures all over the world and throughout time — quoted as having been an ancient sight test, though most people
Native American, Asian, and African — have made pictures with are able to do so.
so.
those same starsstars.. In some cases the constellations may have  The stars Merak and Dubhe are often called the ‘pointer stars’
had ceremonial or religious significance
significance.. In other cases, the star because they form a line which points directly to Polaris, the pole
groupings helped to mark the passage of time between planting star..
star
and harvesting
harvesting.. There are 48 “ancient” constellations and they
are the brightest groupings of stars.
stars.  Ursa Major also contains countless deep sky objects, including the
bright face
face--on spiral galaxy M81 and its close companion M82. 82.
Close to the handle of the ladle lies the Pinwheel Galaxy

 Ursa Minor constellation lies in the  Ursa Minor is the 56th constellation in size, occupying
northern sky. The constellation’s name an area of 256 square degrees. It is located in the third
means “the smaller bear,” or “the lesser quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ3) and can be
bear,” in Latin. seen at latitudes between +90° and -10°.
 The Great Bear constellation is  Ursa Minor contains one star with a confirmed planet
represented by its larger neighbor Ursa and has no Messier objects. The brightest star in the
Major. Ursa Minor was first catalogued by constellation is Polaris, the North Star (Alpha Ursae
the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd
Minoris), with an apparent magnitude of 1.97. There is
century. It is easy to recognize because it
contains the famous Little Dipper asterism. one meteor shower associated with the constellation:
Ursa Minor is also notable for marking the the Ursids.
location of the north celestial pole, as it
is home to Polaris, the North Star, which is
located at the end of the dipper’s handle.

 Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial

equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the
most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the
night sky. It was named after Orion (or Kalpurush), a hunter
in Greek mythology. Its brightest stars are the supergiants:
blue-white Rigel (Beta Orionis) and red Betelgeuse (Alpha
Orionis).
 he constellation Orion, the great hunter, is visible from
October through March in both hemispheres. It can be seen
at latitudes between 85 degrees and -75 degrees. It is a
large constellation filling an area 594 square degrees. It
ranks 26th in size among the 88 constellations. It is
bordered by Taurus to the northwest, Eridanus to the
southwest, Lepus to the south, Monoceros to the east, and
Gemini to the northeast.

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 A galaxy is a gravitationally bound entity, typically

consisting of dark matter, gas, dust and stars. Galaxies
populate the Universe, mainly residing in clusters and
groups. There are thought to be over 100 billion galaxies  The Moon, occasionally distinguished as Luna, is an
in the observable Universe. The most well-known galaxy astronomical body that orbits the Earth as its only permanent
is our own Milky Way – and indeed, the term galaxy natural satellite. It is the fifth-largest satellite in the Solar
comes from the Greek “gala” meaning “milk”. System, and the largest among planetary satellites relative to
 Some galaxies are spiral-shaped like ours. They have the size of the planet that it orbits (its primary). The Moon is,
curved arms that make it look like a pinwheel. Other after Jupiter's satellite Io, the second-densest satellite in the
galaxies are smooth and oval shaped. They’re called Solar System among those whose densities are known.
elliptical galaxies. And there are also galaxies that aren’t  The Moon, of course, has been known since prehistoric
spirals or ovals. They have irregular shapes and look like
blobs. The light that we see from each of these galaxies times. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the
comes from the stars inside it. Sun. As the Moon orbits around the Earth once per month,
the angle between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun changes;
we see this as the cycle of the Moon's phases.

 From the scientific studies of moon’s surface and its

photographs taken by the astronauts landed on the moon,
suggest its surface to be dusty and barren. It has very steep
and high mountains and craters of different sizes. The moon
has no atmosphere.
 The unaided eye can see roundish dark spots on the Moon
set in a brighter back-ground. Telescopic observation of
these dark spots, called maria (plural of mare, sea) reveals
that they are nearly level terrain sparsely covered with
craters. The brighter surroundings or terrae are from shadow
measurements found to be higher, some 1 to 3 km above the
maria. The terra elevations scatter widely, reaching several
kilometres in the mountain ranges. The most prominent of
these ranges occur as peripheral mountain chains around
the near-circular maria. Examples are the Apennines, the
Alps, the Carpathians, and the Altai Scarp.

 The phases of the Moon are the different ways the Moon
looks from Earth over about a month.
 As the Moon orbits around the Earth, the half of the Moon
that faces the Sun will be lit up. The different shapes of the
lit portion of the Moon that can be seen from Earth are
known as phases of the Moon. Each phase repeats itself
every 29.5 days.
 The same half of the Moon always faces the Earth,
because of tidal locking. So the phases will always occur
over the same half of the Moon's surface.
 A phase is an angle of the moon to the earth so it appears
differently every day.

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 The moon goes through 8 major phases.

 A new moon is when the Moon cannot be seen because we are looking at the unlit half of  Planets do not emit light, but shine when light from the sun falls on
 Planet, (from Greek planētes, “wanderers”), broadly, any
the Moon. The new moon phase occurs when the Moon is directly between the Earth and them. The planet Venus appears brighter than any other planet or
Sun. A solar eclipse can only happen at new moon. relatively large natural body that revolves in an orbit around star as seen from the earth.
 A waxing crescent moon is when the Moon looks like crescent and the crescent the Sun or around some other star and that is not radiating
increases ("waxes") in size from one day to the next. This phase is usually only seen in
 The planets which can be seen with the naked eyes from the earth
energy from internal nuclear fusion reactions. are : Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
the west.
 The first quarter moon (or a half moon) is when half of the lit portion of the Moon is  At present there are eight planets and three dwarf planets  Different planets have different sizes. Jupiter is the biggest planet
visible after the waxing crescent phase. It comes a week after new moon. in our solar system. The eight planets revolve around the of our solar system. Jupiter is so large that about 1300 earths can
 A waxing gibbous moon occurs when more than half of the lit portion of the Moon can be
seen and the shape increases ("waxes") in size from one day to the next. The waxing
sun in a fixed path. The order of planets from closest to be placed into it. Mercury is the smallest planet.
gibbous phase occurs between the first quarter and full moon phases. farthest from the Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,  Mercury is the nearest to the sun, while Neptune is farthest from
 A full moon is when we can see the entire lit portion of the Moon. The full moon phase Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The largest planet is the sun.
occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun, called
opposition. A lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon.
Jupiter, followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus,  Each planet revolves around the sun in its own orbit.
 A waning gibbous moon occurs when more than half of the lit portion of the Moon can be Mars and, the smallest planet, Mercury.  Different planets take different time interval to complete one
seen and the shape decreases ("wanes") in size from one day to the next. The waning  f you include dwarf planets as well, the planets in order revolution around the sun.
gibbous phase occurs between the full moon and third quarter phases.
 The last quarter moon (or a half moon) is when half of the lit portion of the Moon is becomes Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter,  For example, Mercury takes 88 days, Earth takes 365¼ days and
visible after the waning gibbous phase. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Neptune takes 165 years to complete one revolution around the
 A waning crescent moon is when the Moon looks like the crescent and the crescent Eris being the furthest from the Sun. sun.
decreases ("wanes") in size from one day to the next.

 The planets fall into two categories based on their physical

characteristics: the terrestrial planets and the gas giants or
Jovian planets.

TERRESTRIAL PLANETS (INNER

PLANETS):There are four terrestrial planets:
 Planets also rotate about their own axis. Different Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These planets are
planets take different time interval to complete one those closest to the Sun. They are characterized by
rotation about their axis. The period of rotation for their dense, rocky composition.
Jupiter is minimum-9 hours and 55 minutes, whereas
that for Venus is maximum-243 days. The time taken by
a planet to complete one rotation about its axis is called GAS GIANTS(OUTER PLANETS):There are also
its period of rotation. four gas giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
 Some planets have one or more natural satellites (or Neptune. These planets are found in the outer solar
system. They are characterized by their
moons). For example, moon is a natural satellite of the
massiveness and gaseous composition.
earth.

Planets do not emit light. However they shine when light from the  A satellite is anything that orbits around a larger object. A
sun falls on them. Some of the planets therefore can be seen from natural satellite is any celestial body in space that orbits
the earth at night. around a larger body. Moons are called natural satellites
 Venus: Also referred to as the Morning/Evening Star, Venus is only because they orbit planets. Natural satellites are also
visible during sunrise and sunset, as the brightest object in the sky
after the Sun and the Moon. It is easily visible, even on the hazy called moons. Some planets do not have any satellite,
days. while some have more than on satellites.
 Jupiter: This gas giant is easily visible as the single brightest star  Earth has 1 satellite.
in the night sky, after Venus has vanished. It’s not visible  Saturn has 62 satellites.
throughout the year though, but for as long as it does appear, it is
easily recognizable. Just take a quick look at the night sky, look for  Jupiter has 67 satellites.
the brightest star there is, and that would be your Jupiter.  Natural satellites do not emit light but reflect sunlight falling
 Mars: Unlike Venus and Jupiter, the Red Planet isn’t known for its on them.
brightness, but for its color. It’s not visible throughout the year. But
when it is, you can look for a small but bright star, with a
recognizably red tone to it. That would be Mars

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MERCURY
 Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar
System. Its orbit around the Sun takes only 87.97 days, the  Second planet from the Sun and our closest planetary
shortest of all the planets in the Solar System. It is named neighbor, Venus is similar in structure and size to Earth, but it
after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger of the gods. is now a very different world.
 Having almost no atmosphere to retain heat, it has surface  Venus orbits the Sun every 224.7 Earth days.[15] With a
temperatures that vary diurnally more than on any other rotation period of 243 Earth days, it takes longer to rotate
planet in the Solar System, ranging from 100 K (−173 °C; about its axis than any planet in the Solar System and goes
−280 °F) at night to 700 K (427 °C; 800 °F) during the day in the opposite direction to all but Uranus (meaning the Sun
across the equatorial regions.[18] The polar regions are rises in the west and sets in the east).
constantly below 180 K (−93 °C; −136 °F). The planet has no  Even though Venus isn't the closest planet to the Sun, it is
known natural satellites. still the hottest. It has a thick atmosphere full of the
 Mercury's surface is similar in appearance to that of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and clouds made of sulfuric
Moon, showing extensive mare-like plains and heavy acid. The atmosphere traps heat and keeps Venus toasty
cratering, indicating that it has been geologically inactive for warm. It's so hot on Venus, metals like lead would be puddles
billions of years. of melted liquid.

VENUS  The earth takes 24 hours to turn on its axis. This is why we spend
 Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only half of the day with daylight when our part of the earth is facing the
astronomical object known to harbor life. According to Sun. And the other half in darkness when we are facing away from
radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth it.
formed over 4.5 billion years ago.  The reason Earth has plenty of oxygen when other planets don’t is
 Earth's gravity interacts with other objects in space, because of the massive amounts of plant life.
especially the Sun and the Moon, which is Earth's only  Our planet is an average of 93 million miles away from the sun, a
natural satellite. Earth orbits around the Sun in 365.26 days, distance that takes light about eight minutes to traverse.
a period known as an Earth year.  Earth's atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and
 The highest air temperature ever measured on Earth was one percent other gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and
56.7 °C (134.1 °F) in Furnace Creek, California, in Death argon. Much like a greenhouse, this blanket of gases absorbs and
retains heat.
Valley, in 1913.[167] The lowest air temperature ever directly
measured on Earth was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at Vostok  The atmosphere not only nourishes life on Earth, but it also protects
it: It's thick enough that many meteorites burn up before impact from
Station in 1983,[168] but satellites have used remote
friction, and its gases—such as ozone—block DNA-damaging
sensing to measure temperatures as low as −94.7 °C ultraviolet light from reaching the surface.
(−138.5 °F) in East Antarctica

EARTH
 The seasons result from the Earth's axis of rotation being tilted with respect to its orbital
 The earth revolves round the sun and rotates round its plane by an angle of approximately 23.4 degrees.
own axis. The rotation of the earth causes day and  Regardless of the time of year, the northern and southern hemispheres always
night. The part of the earth which faces the sun experience opposite seasons. This is because during summer or winter, one part of the
experiences the day time whereas the part away from planet is more directly exposed to the rays of the Sun (see Fig. 1) than the other, and
this exposure alternates as the Earth revolves in its orbit. For approximately half of the
sun gets no sun light and hence the night. year (from around March 20 to around September 22), the Northern Hemisphere tips
 The rotation of earth is from west to east, hence for the toward the Sun, with the maximum amount occurring on about June 21. For the other
observer on earth, it appears that the sun is moving half of the year, the same happens, but in the Southern Hemisphere instead of the
Northern, with the maximum around December 21. The two instants when the Sun is
from east to west. directly overhead at the Equator are the equinoxes. Also at that moment, both the North
 The axis of earth’s rotation is tilted at 23.5 degrees. Due Pole and the South Pole of the Earth are just on the terminator, and hence day and
to this the poles experience 6 months of day and 6 night are equally divided between the two hemispheres. Around the March equinox, the
Northern Hemisphere will be experiencing spring as the hours of daylight increase, and
months of night. the Southern Hemisphere is experiencing autumn as daylight hours shorten.
 The effect of axial tilt is observable as the change in day length and altitude of the Sun
at solar noon (the Sun's culmination) during the year. The low angle of Sun during the
winter months means that incoming rays of solar radiation are spread over a larger
area of the Earth's surface, so the light received is more indirect and of lower intensity.
Between this effect and the shorter daylight hours, the axial tilt of the Earth accounts for
most of the seasonal variation in climate in both hemispheres.

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 Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-  Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the
smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury. In Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass one-thousandth
English, Mars carries a name of the Roman god of war and
that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other
is often referred to as the 'Red Planet'. planets in the Solar System combined.
 Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-
 Jupiter has 79 known moons, including the four large
smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury. In Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. From
English, Mars carries a name of the Roman god of war and
an average distance of 484 million miles (778 million
is often referred to as the 'Red Planet'.
kilometers), Jupiter is 5.2 astronomical units away from the
 Martian surface temperatures vary from lows of about −143 Sun.
°C (−225 °F) at the winter polar caps to highs of up to 35
 Jupiter is a massive ball of gas. Its clouds are composed of
°C (95 °F) in equatorial summer.
ammonia and water vapor drifting in an atmosphere of
 Mars complete its revolution around the sun in 687 days. hydrogen and helium. The particular cloud chemistries are
 As Mars orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every likely the magic behind the planet's vibrant colors, but the
24.6 hours, which is very similar to one day on Earth (23.9 exact reasons for Jupiter's painted appearance remains
hours). unknown.

JUPITER
 The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several
 Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in
bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and
the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average
storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result
radius about nine times that of Earth.
is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have
existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen  Adorned with a dazzling system of icy rings, Saturn is unique
by telescope. Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring among the planets. It is not the only planet to have rings, but none
system and a powerful magnetosphere. are as spectacular or as complex as Saturn's. Like fellow gas
 Jupiter is thought to consist of a dense core with a mixture giant Jupiter, Saturn is a massive ball made mostly of hydrogen
of elements, a surrounding layer of liquid metallic hydrogen and helium.
with some helium, and an outer layer predominantly of  From an average distance of 886 million miles (1.4 billion
molecular hydrogen. kilometers), Saturn is 9.5 astronomical units away from the Sun.
 Jupiter is perpetually covered with clouds composed of  Currently Saturn has 53 confirmed moons with 29 additional
ammonia crystals and possibly ammonium hydrosulfide. The provisional moons awaiting confirmation.
clouds are located in the tropopause and are arranged into  Saturn's environment is not conducive to life as we know it. The
bands of different latitudes, known as tropical regions. temperatures, pressures and materials that characterize this
These are sub-divided into lighter-hued zones and darker planet are most likely too extreme and volatile for organisms to
belts. adapt to.

URANUS
 The first planet found with the aid of a telescope, Uranus was
SATURN discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel, although
he originally thought it was either a comet or a star.
 Uranus (from the Latin name Ūranus for the Greek god
Οὐρανός) is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-
largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in
the Solar System.
 Uranus' atmosphere is similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in its
primary composition of hydrogen and helium, but it contains
more "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane, along
with traces of other hydrocarbons.
 Uranus has 27 known natural satellites. The names of these
satellites are chosen from characters in the works of
Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The five main satellites
are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon.

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 Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the

NEPTUNE  The planetary system we call home is located in an outer spiral
Sun in the Solar System. In the Solar System, it is the fourth- arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
largest planet by diameter, the third-most-massive planet,  Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything
and the densest giant planet. Neptune is 17 times the mass bound to it by gravity — the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth,
of Earth. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets such
 Neptune was discovered by the astronomers Urbain Le as Pluto, dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and
Verrier and John Couch Adams. They were both honored for meteoroids.
the discovery.  The Solar System also contains smaller objects. The asteroid
 Neptune's atmosphere is mostly made up of hydrogen and belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, mostly
contains objects composed, like the terrestrial planets, of rock
helium. It also contains small amounts of methane which
and metal.
makes the planet a Neptune has a total of 14 known moons.
 The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the
As Neptune was the Roman god of the sea, the planet's
gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud. The
moons were named after lesser sea gods or goddesses.
vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun, with the
majority of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter.

 The Sun is the Solar System's star and by far its most
massive component. Its large mass (332,900 Earth masses),  Asteroids are minor planets, especially of the inner Solar
which comprises 99.86% of all the mass in the Solar System. System. Larger asteroids have also been called
It formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the planetoids. These terms have historically been applied to
gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large any astronomical object orbiting the Sun.
molecular cloud. Most of this matter gathered in the center,
whereas the rest flattened into an orbiting disk that became  The current known asteroid count is: 829,363.
the Solar System.  Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting
 In solar system, the earth is the only planet where life exists. the Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main
 Mercury is very hot during the day and very cold at night. asteroid belt.
 Venus is covered with a thick atmosphere of mostly carbon  The largest asteroid called Ceres has a radius of 350 km,
THE SOLAR SYSTEM dioxide. It is a very hot planet. while the smallest is about 100 m in size.
 Mars is a reddish planet. It has white polar caps which grow  Asteroids are believed to be the pieces of a much larger
larger in winter. planet which might have broken up due to the
 The sun produces energy due to the fusion of hydrogen and gravitational effect of Jupiter.
helium.

ASTEROIDS  Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust
that orbit the Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small
town. When a comet's orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats
up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head
larger than most planets. The dust and gases form a tail that
stretches away from the Sun for millions of miles. There are
likely billions of comets orbiting our Sun in the Kuiper Belt COMETS
and even more distant Oort Cloud.
 The current number of known comets is: 3,592 .
 When a comet enters the earth’s atmosphere, it burns up due
to heat produced by the air friction. The burning comet
produces a shower of meteors or shooting stars.
 One of the best known comets Halley’s comet, (last seen in
1986) appears after nearly every, 76 years.

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 Generally speaking, meteoroids are all the smaller objects in

METEOR & METEORITE
orbit around the Sun
Sun.. Most of them originate from comets that At night, when you look up high in the sky, you
lose gas and dust when they approach the Sun. Sun. Other will notice trillions of shining dots, out of which
meteoroids are basically small asteroids.
asteroids.
 The ones about the size of a pebble leave behind a flash of light some appear brighter, some are bigger while
when they completely vaporize.
vaporize. Most people call this flash a some of them twinkle. It is a point to ponder,
"shooting star" or a "falling star", but more accurately spoken this what are these bright dots? So they are nothing
is a meteor
meteor.. A meteor is the light that you can see when a small
meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere
atmosphere.. This normally happens but stars and planets. Stars are heavenly
with speeds between 11 and 73 km/s and at altitudes of about bodies that possess their own light and twinkle.
75--120 km.
75 km. They are fixed and large luminous body like the
 Every asteroid or meteoroid that survives its passage through
Earth's atmosphere (and this is the rare exception) can be Sun. On the flip side, planets are celestial
advanced to be called a meteorite.
meteorite. objects, which have an apparent motion of their
 Scientists are eager to study meteorites since they are the very own and also moves around the star, in an
first material that was formed in our early solar system, almost elliptical orbit.
4.6 billion years ago
ago..

 In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object that

STAR METEOR has been intentionally placed into orbit. These objects
are called artificial satellites to distinguish them from
A Star has its own light. A Meteor (or shooting star) natural satellites such as Earth's Moon.
has no light of its own but it
 On 4 October 1957 the Soviet Union launched the
starts glowing only when it
world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. Since then,
enters the earth’s
about 8,900 satellites from more than 40 countries have
atmosphere due to the air
been launched.
friction.
 The first Indian satellite named Aryabhata was
A Star is a huge mass of A Meteor is made up of
launched on 19 April, 1976. Thereafter, India has
gases. solid rocky material and a
launched many satellites.
tail consisting of dust and
gases.

SATELLITES LAUNCHED BY
INDIA UNDER INSAT Artificial satellites are used for:
for:
PROGRAMME:  Geostationary satellite:
satellite: geostationary satellite appear to be
 Weather forecasting
stationary at a fixed point relative to the earth
earth.. The period of
NAME OF SATELLITE DATE revolution of the geostationary satellite is 24 hours. hours. A  Satellite communication-
communication-cellular phones and long
INSAT-1A 4 September 1982 geostationary satellite moves around the earth at a height of distance telephones, fax etc. etc., are a few of the services
about 36000 km from the earth’s surface. surface. A geostationary provided by the satellite communication.
communication.
INSAT-1B 30 August 1983
satellite is used for satellite communication.
communication. TV, Cellular  Television and radio transmission
transmission..
INSAT-1C 12 June 1990 phone, Fax etc.
etc., are a few of the services provided by satellite
INSAT-1D 10 July 1992 communication..
communication
 For locating mineral resources, underground water and
for land mapping
mapping..
INSAT-2A July 1993  Sun
Sun--synchronus satellite:
satellite: it is used for remote sensing
sensing.. A
remote sensing satellite passes over a particular location on  Collecting information about other planets and about the
INSAT-2B December 1995
the earth at the same local time time.. Remote sensing satellites outer space
space..
INSAT-2C 4 June 1997 are used for collecting forestry data, preparing wasteland
INSAT-2D 3 April 1999 maps, conducting ground
ground--water surveys, drought
INSAT-3C 24 January 2002 assessment, estimation of crop yield/crop diseases
diseases..
INSAT-3E 28 September 2003