Hey there! Today is a super exciting day at the Fort because we just finished building our brand-new observatory. This means we can learn even more awesome things about space! Let’s get started by checking out our new telescope.
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered about the stars? Eight-year-old Alice from New Zealand asked us a great question: What are stars and how do they work? Well, stars are huge balls of hot gas in space. They shine because they produce a lot of energy, which comes out as heat and light. That’s why stars glow!
Stars come in different colors and sizes. Some are white, yellow, red, or blue. They can be as small as a planet or many times bigger than our sun. Let’s meet some stars!
The sun is a star called a yellow dwarf. It’s super important for us on Earth, but compared to other stars, it’s pretty average in size and temperature.
Rigel is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Orion. It’s more than twice as hot and 70 times bigger than the sun! On the other hand, Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, the closest star to our sun, but it’s so small you need a telescope to see it.
Our solar system is made up of the sun, eight planets, and lots of other stuff like dust and rocks. Let’s take a quick tour!
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and the smallest. Venus is the brightest and hottest planet. Earth is our home and the only planet with liquid water and life. Mars, known as the red planet, has the tallest volcano in the solar system!
Jupiter is the largest planet and a gas giant with a famous storm called the Great Red Spot. Saturn is known for its beautiful rings. Uranus spins on its side and is very cold. Neptune, the furthest planet, has fierce storms with the fastest winds.
Our solar system is part of a galaxy called the Milky Way, which has billions of stars. There are also many other galaxies out there, each with its own stars and planets.
Do you dream of going to space? Astronauts are people who travel and work in space. They study science, conduct experiments, and sometimes go on spacewalks. If you love space and science, maybe one day you could be an astronaut too!
Thanks for joining us today! If you have any questions about space, feel free to ask. Keep exploring and learning, and who knows? You might discover something amazing!
Star Color Hunt: Go outside at night with a grown-up and look at the stars. Can you see different colors? Try to find a white, yellow, red, and blue star. Draw a picture of the stars you see and color them with crayons or colored pencils. Talk about why you think stars have different colors.
Create Your Own Solar System: Use clay or playdough to make models of the planets in our solar system. Arrange them in order from the sun. As you make each planet, think about what makes it special. Is it big or small? Does it have rings? Share your solar system with your family and explain what you learned about each planet.
Star Size Comparison: Find different-sized balls or objects around your house to represent different stars. For example, use a small marble for Proxima Centauri and a large beach ball for Rigel. Line them up from smallest to largest. Discuss with a friend or family member why stars can be so different in size.
