Space and Technology

by Martin E. Lee

Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features Science Content

Nonfiction Summarize • Labels Stars and

• Captions Galaxies
• Diagrams
• Glossary

Scott Foresman Science 5.16

ISBN 0-328-13961-0

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Vocabulary What did you learn?
black hole
Stars and Galaxies
1. Why are some telescopes sent to space?
constellation 2. What can a star’sby Martin
color E. Lee
tell scientists?
galaxy
3. What is the Sun made of?
light-year
4. All stars do not look the same to
nebula us on Earth. Using your own words, write about two factors
supernova that affect how a star appears. Use details from the book to
support your answer.

5. Summarize Summarize the life cycle of a very

large star.

Photographs: Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for
photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its
attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott
Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom
(B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd).
Opener: (T) ©Mark Garlick/Photo Researchers, Inc., (B) ©Lynette Cook/Photo Researchers, Inc.; Title
Page: Getty Images; 2 ©HQ-GRIN/NASA; 3 ©Morton Beebe/Corbis; 4 ©Jason Hawkes/Corbis; 5
©Georg Gerster/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 7 National Maritime Museum/©DK Images; 8 (TL) ©Bettmann/
Corbis, (BR) The Science Museum/©DK Images, (BL) ©Florence Museo delle Scienze/AKG London, Ltd.;
9 ©Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis; 10 ©David Parker/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 11 ©DK Images; 12 Getty
Images; 13 ©GRIN/NASA Image Exchange; 14 ©NASA/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 16 Getty Images; 17
©HQ-GRIN/NASA; 18 KSC/NASA; 19 (T) ©Julian Baum & Nigel Henbest/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.,
(TR) ©ESO-JMP/Visuals Unlimited, (CR) ©Royal Observatory Edinburgh/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc., (BR)
NASA; 20 (TR, BR) ©DK Images; 21 ©DK Images; 23 ©HQ-GRIN/NASA, (TL, CR, BL) Royal Greenwich
Observatory/©DK Images.

ISBN: 0-328-13961-0

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is
protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior
to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any
form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For
information regarding permissions, write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman,
1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
 Eclipses
What is the history A solar eclipse happens when the Moon blocks the Sun’s

of astronomy? light. A lunar eclipse takes place when Earth casts a shadow
on the Moon.
Eclipses are rare. They were not part of the sky patterns that
Patterns in the Sky
early people usually saw. These people gave eclipses special
Patterns are events that happen again and again over meaning. Some believed that eclipses meant that something
time. Two examples of patterns are the changing of seasons bad would happen.
and the phases of the Moon. Long ago people saw many Ancient leaders found that it helped to know when an eclipse
patterns in the sky. Some people made up stories about the would take place. But they could predict an eclipse only by
patterns. Others invented calendars based on the cycles they carefully observing the sky. They recorded the exact movements
came to expect. of the Sun and the Moon. People in Asia, the Middle East, and
It was useful for farmers to be able to predict the change South America recorded their observations of eclipses.
in seasons. It helped them to know when to plant their crops.
They also wanted to know when to hold festivals. So they
learned to look for certain stars at certain times. Sometimes
people saw surprising things, such as new objects in the sky.
They thought these surprises had special meaning.

2 3
Stonehenge is about thirty meters wide. Some of its stones In North America there are stone circles similar
weigh fifty tons and are more than nine meters tall. to Stonehenge. One of the best known is the
Big Horn Medicine Wheel, near Sheridan, Wyoming.

Only parts of Stonehenge still stand today. It once had an

outer circle of 30 huge blocks of stone. Other large slabs of stone
Astronomy Around the World sat horizontally on top of them to form a ring. Inside the circle
Many groups of people left no written records of their study was a smaller circle. It had about sixty stones. Inside that circle
of the sky. But some of them left behind great structures. The were still more stones. They made a horseshoe pattern.
structures show how important astronomy was to the people. Most scientists believe that the stone circles had something
You may have heard of a giant stone circle called to do with astronomy. The people who built them must have
Stonehenge. This structure stands in a field in England. People understood the cycles of the Sun and the seasons. Some stones
first began to build Stonehenge about 5,000 years ago. Work point to where the Sun rises and sets on the longest day of the
stopped and started many times. It took about 1,500 years to year. Some stones mark the rising of the Sun or the Moon at
complete the structure. other times of the year.
4 5
 Long ago, there were clever sky watchers in the area that Early Tools
is now Mexico. About 700 years ago, they built an amazing
People have invented many tools to learn
four-sided pyramid. The pyramid still stands in a place called
more about the stars. One of these tools was the
Chichén Itzá.
astrolabe. People in Europe and in the Middle
Each side of the pyramid has 91 steep steps to the top. If
East used the astrolabe for almost 2,000 years
you add up the steps on all four sides, plus the platform on
before 1700. This tool had a star map on a
top, you get 365. This is the same as the number of days
metal plate. Its movable parts let a user measure
in a year.
the angle between the horizon and an object in
One day each spring and fall, the day and the night
the sky. A user could move other plates to show
are exactly the same length. In the late afternoon
how the sky would look at a certain time or in a
on those days, sunlight and shadows form a
certain place.
pattern on the pyramid that looks like a snake
Newer tools came into use by the 1700s.
slithering down the steps. Scientists wonder if
One of these tools was the sextant. It also
this pattern had a special meaning. It might
measures the angle between the horizon
have marked the time for ceremonies
and a point in the sky. A sextant has
related to farming.
a movable arm, mirrors, and an
eyepiece. These parts attach to
Chichén Itzá a frame shaped like a piece
of pie.

People used the astrolabe

to find the time. They could
also use it to predict the
times of sunrise and
sunset. Sailors could use
it to find their position
at sea.

6 7
 Early Telescopes Today’s High-Tech Telescopes
The telescope changed astronomy Telescopes collect light and focus it. The more light that gets
forever. Telescopes make objects in the to our eyes, the brighter an object will seem. The light we see
sky look bigger and closer. The Italian from the Sun or the stars is called visible light. This is just a
scientist Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) did fraction of all the light energy in the universe.
not invent the telescope. But he was the Most objects in space give off a lot of electromagnetic
first person to use one for astronomy. radiation. This type of energy includes radio waves, infrared
Galileo saw mountains on the Moon. waves, ultraviolet waves, X rays, and gamma rays. We cannot
Galileo explains
He discovered four moons circling the see these rays and waves. Special telescopes do “see” different
his ideas. planet Jupiter. Galileo also saw that types of radiation. Observing different types of radiation helps
Venus had phases like the Moon has. scientists learn more about the universe.
At the time, most people believed that Some modern telescopes are very large. Keck I and Keck II are
the Sun and the planets revolved around two huge twin telescopes. The Kecks tie the record as the largest
Earth. Galileo did not agree. Based on his telescopes in the world. They gather large amounts of visible
discoveries, he believed that Earth and light and infrared radiation. Each has a main mirror that is
the other planets revolved around the 10 meters wide. The main mirrors are made of 36 smaller
Sun. This idea made people angry. They mirrors that work together. Astronomers use the Kecks to study
believed that Earth was at the center very dim and distant stars.
of the universe. It took many years for
people to accept Galileo’s new idea. Keck I and II were built on a mountaintop
Another great scientist was born in in Hawaii. They are far from city lights.
the year that Galileo died. His name
was Isaac Newton. He made the first
reflecting telescope. It used a curved
mirror instead of lenses. It let people see
dim objects that were far away and it
showed details more
sharply.

Early telescopes

8 9
Radio Telescopes
Many objects in space give off radio waves. Radio telescopes
can pick up these waves. Radio telescopes have bowl-shaped
dishes that look like satellite dishes. The dishes collect and focus
radio waves.
Some radio telescopes may have many smaller dishes
arranged in a group called an array. The array covers the same
amount of space as one giant dish might cover . It works as one The Hubble Space
Telescope detects
system to do the work of a much larger dish.
ultraviolet waves,
visible light, and
infrared waves.
This is a radio telescope in Puerto Rico. It is the
largest single-dish radio telescope in the world. Its
dish is over three hundred meters across.

Telescopes on Earth must look at stars

through the gases of the atmosphere. This can
make the images look fuzzy. Our atmosphere
blocks most types of electromagnetic radiation.
But conditions in space are always clear and
dark. They are perfect for seeing stars at all
times. So some telescopes are sent into space to
get a better view.
You may have heard of the Hubble Space
Telescope. It is the best-known space telescope.
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory is another
telescope located in space.

10 11
 Brightness, Color, and
What is a star? Temperature of Stars
The Sun is the brightest star we
How the Sun Stacks Up as a Star
see in the sky. It is also the closest.
All stars are great balls of hot gases. Stars give
Barnard’s Star is the third closest to
off electromagnetic radiation. The Sun is a star
Earth. Yet, you can’t see it without a
of medium size. Stars called giants are 8 to 100
telescope. Just because a star is close
times as large as the Sun. Supergiants may be
does not necessarily mean it will
300 times as large as the Sun. Other stars are
appear bright.
much smaller than the Sun.
The brightest stars give off the most
The Sun is huge compared to Earth. Picture
energy. A star’s distance from Earth,
the Sun as a gumball machine. Now think of
its size, and its temperature all play
Earth as a gumball. It would take a million little
a part in how bright it looks. Sirius
Earth gumballs to fill the Sun gumball machine!
is a dazzling white-blue star. It is the
The Sun gives off huge amounts of energy.
brightest star in the night sky. But there
The energy comes from reactions of the Sun’s
are eight stars closer to Earth. Sirius is
main gases: hydrogen and helium. Pressure and
larger, hotter, and 20 times as bright as
heat inside the Sun push the hydrogen atoms
the Sun. It doesn’t look brighter to us
together. They combine to form helium. This
because it’s farther away from us than
process releases great amounts of energy. This
the Sun is.
is what makes the Sun shine.
The color of a star tells how hot it
is. Red stars are the coolest. Barnard’s
Star is red. A bit hotter are orange
and yellow stars, such as the Sun. The
There are many
different sizes and hottest stars are white or blue-white,
colors of stars. such as Sirius. But even “cool” stars are
very hot. Barnard’s Star is so hot that it
could melt iron instantly.

There are hundreds of

thousands of stars in
this group of stars.

12 13
 T

The Explosive Sun Solar Eruptions

The Sun has no hard surfaces, but it has different layers. The Glowing gases may leap out of
part of the Sun that gives off the light we see is the photosphere. the chromosphere and reach far into
It is the lowest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere. The layer above it the corona. These blasts of glowing
is the chromosphere. The outermost layer is the corona. gas are called prominences. They
The Sun may seem as calm as a big light bulb. But scientists can come and go in a flash, or they
see a lot of activity when they look at the Sun with special may last for months.
telescopes. Galileo saw dark spots moving along the face of the A solar flare is an event scientists
Sun. This showed him that the Sun rotates. link to the sunspot cycle. A solar
These spots, called sunspots, are part of the photosphere. Prominences rise at flare takes place when parts of the
They look dark because they are not as hot as the rest of that 1000km/h great speed. They chromosphere erupt like a volcano.
layer. The number of sunspots changes. The sunspot cycle is er can reach enormous A bright spot forms. It may last for
distances into space.
completed about every 11 years. Sometimes there are many minutes or hours. A solar flare sends
sunspots. At other times, there are few. out electromagnetic waves, protons,
and electrons into space. This rush
of waves and particles may interrupt
radio signals on Earth.
Light from the Sun takes only
Sunspots may be eight minutes to reach Earth. But
the size of Earth other stars we see are much farther
or larger.
away. Scientists measure how far
away stars are in units called light-
years. A light-year is the distance
light travels in one year. Alpha
Centauri is the next nearest star to
Earth. It is more than four light-
years away. The light we see from
Alpha Centauri today was made by
that star more than four years ago!

14 15
The Life of Stars When a large star suddenly runs out of fuel, it starts
shrinking. It stops when it can no longer shrink. Powerful shock
New stars form in a cloud of gas and dust called a nebula.
waves from this sudden stop fan out. Particles of matter shoot
Bits of gas and dust churn around. Gravity begins to pull
into space, releasing huge amounts of energy. A huge explosion
them into the nebula and squeezes them into a ball. Gravity
takes place. It can be billions of times as bright as the star ever
becomes stronger. More and more particles get pulled in. The
was. This explosion, known as a supernova, throws matter
temperature rises and hydrogen starts to change into helium.
and energy far out into space. Only a ball of neutrons about
This gives off lots of energy. The nebula becomes a star.
20 kilometers across is left.
Stars live a very long time, but not forever. In billions of
If the core of the star was very large—larger than three
years, the Sun will use up its hydrogen. It will grow thousands
Suns—the core’s own gravity will keep making it shrink into
of times brighter. It will get 170 times its size now.
itself. It turns into a black hole. A black hole is a point in
As the Sun expands, its temperature will fall. It will look red,
space where gravity is very strong. It is so strong that nothing
not yellow. At that point, it will use helium for fuel. When the
within a certain distance of a black hole can escape getting
helium is gone, the Sun will shrink to about the size of Earth. Its
pulled in. Not even light can escape!
layers of gas will float into space. The Sun will become a white
dwarf star. It will have no fuel to make energy. Over several
million years, a white dwarf slowly cools. It becomes a cold
object called a black dwarf.

These fingers of gas

and dust are part of the
Eagle Nebula, which
is 7,000 light-years
away. Inside these
dusty towers, new stars
This star is about to These are
are forming.
have a supernova. young stars.

Stars are forming

in these clouds.

16 17
How are stars grouped
together?
This side view of the Milky Way shows
Galaxies its bulging middle and thin arms. Our
solar system is near the end of an arm
A galaxy is a huge system of stars, dust, and gas. Gravity
of the Milky Way.
holds it together. Our solar system is part of a galaxy called the
Milky Way. There are billions of galaxies in the universe. Only
a few can be seen without a telescope. They are so far away
that they look like single points of light.
Using powerful telescopes, astronomers have found that This spiral galaxy is
galaxies come in different shapes and sizes. Most known called the Sombrero
Galaxy. Can you
galaxies are spiral galaxies. They look like pinwheels that bulge
see why?
in the middle. Thin arms fan out from the center. The stars in
the arms of the galaxy circle the bulge, just as Earth circles
the Sun.
Elliptical galaxies can be nearly round or more oval-shaped.
The largest galaxies we know are elliptical. There are This is a young
irregular galaxy. It
some much smaller than our Milky Way. is called the Small
Irregular galaxies have no real shape. Magellanic Cloud. It
Scientists believe they may be orbits the Milky Way.
young, and their stars may
still be forming.

This spiral galaxy is about

60 million light-years away. All galaxies travel
Its center contains older through space. If
yellow and red stars. The two galaxies run into
arms contain large amounts each other, the larger
of dust and young, hot blue galaxy will gobble up
stars. the smaller one.

18 19
Constellations In the constellation Ursa
Major, the Big Dipper forms
People have always looked up at the night sky and wondered the bear’s back and its tail.
what they were seeing. They “connected the dots” of the stars
into patterns. Some saw the shapes of bears, dogs, a swan, and
a lion.
Scientists today divide the night sky into 88 constellations. A People in different
constellation is a group of stars that forms a pattern. Many parts of the world see
constellations are named for the same star patterns people used different parts of the
long ago. sky. So they see different
It is easier to study stars when you divide the sky into parts. constellations. Divide
When you know which constellation a star is in, you look in Earth in half at the equator. The half that lies north of it
that part of the sky to find it. is called the Northern Hemisphere. The half to the south
Stars that seem to be close together in the same constellation is the Southern Hemisphere. The United States is in the
may actually be very far apart. They may appear close together Northern Hemisphere. We can see Ursa Major (Great Bear).
because they are in the same direction from Earth. But people in the Southern Hemisphere cannot see it.
Look at the picture below. The ancient Greeks named
this constellation Scorpius. They thought the stars made a
scorpion shape. A scorpion is a small creature with a tail
that gives a painful sting. If
you look at Scorpius through
a telescope, you will see that
many of the points of light
are not single stars. They are
clusters of stars. The brightest
single star in Scorpius is
Antares. This red supergiant
lies near the center of the
scorpion’s body.
The constellation
Centaurus is named
after a character in an
ancient Greek myth.
Ancient Greeks
thought this star group
looked like a scorpion.

20 21
Stars on the Move
Stars are always moving across the sky. But they
move in ways you can predict. Suppose you look at the
sky and see the Big Dipper. Two hours later, you look
again. Now you see that the Big Dipper has moved
to the east. In fact, the Big Dipper did not move. You
moved! Earth makes one complete rotation every
24 hours. This is why the Sun seems to rise in the east
and set in the west. It is also why the stars seem to
move across the sky.
You can see Ursa Major, which contains the Big
Dipper, all year. But you can see other constellations
only at certain times of the year. Constellations change
with the seasons because Earth travels around the Sun.
As Earth moves, different constellations come into view.
It’s a bit like riding a merry-go-round. As you ride and
look out, the view changes.
Nothing in the universe stands still. Stars move
through space in all directions and at various speeds.
Over very long periods of time, the patterns of stars
will change. Stars will move closer to each other or
farther apart.

22 23
Glossary
Vocabulary What did you learn?
black
blackhole
hole a point in space where gravity is so strong 1. Why are some telescopes sent to space?
that everything within a certain distance gets
constellation 2. What can a star’s color tell scientists?
pulled in
galaxy
constellation a group of stars that forms a pattern 3. What is the Sun made of?
light-year
galaxy a huge system of stars, planets, dust, and gas 4. All stars do not look the same to
nebula held together by gravity us on Earth. Using your own words, write about two factors
supernova that affect how a star appears. Use details from the book to
light-year the distance light travels in one year
support your answer.
nebula a cloud of gas and dust in which new stars
form 5. Summarize Summarize the life cycle of a very
large star.
supernova a gigantic explosion that occurs when a large
star shrinks into itself near the end of its life

Photographs: Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for
photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its
attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott
Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom
(B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd).
Opener: (T) ©Mark Garlick/Photo Researchers, Inc., (B) ©Lynette Cook/Photo Researchers, Inc.; Title
Page: Getty Images; 2 ©HQ-GRIN/NASA; 3 ©Morton Beebe/Corbis; 4 ©Jason Hawkes/Corbis; 5
©Georg Gerster/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 7 National Maritime Museum/©DK Images; 8 (TL) ©Bettmann/
Corbis, (BR) The Science Museum/©DK Images, (BL) ©Florence Museo delle Scienze/AKG London, Ltd.;
9 ©Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis; 10 ©David Parker/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 11 ©DK Images; 12 Getty
Images; 13 ©GRIN/NASA Image Exchange; 14 ©NASA/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 16 Getty Images; 17
©HQ-GRIN/NASA; 18 KSC/NASA; 19 (T) ©Julian Baum & Nigel Henbest/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.,
(TR) ©ESO-JMP/Visuals Unlimited, (CR) ©Royal Observatory Edinburgh/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc., (BR)
NASA; 20 (TR, BR) ©DK Images; 21 ©DK Images; 23 ©HQ-GRIN/NASA, (TL, CR, BL) Royal Greenwich
Observatory/©DK Images.

ISBN: 0-328-13961-0

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is
protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior
to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any
form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For
information regarding permissions, write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman,
1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
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