Using spreadsheet software, students will determine the size of and/or distances between planets on a solar system model that fits on a playground. Distance markers (cones, ground stakes, etc.)
Have students gather data and compare planet sizes. Divide students into small groups. Distribute one copy of the worksheet Planetary Size Comparison to each group. Have groups use the Planet Size Comparison interactive to find and record data on planet diameters and ratios. Ask:
As a rough guide, the diameter of the planets on this 1:6,000,000,000 scale would be Mercury 0.8mm, Earth and Venus 2mm, Mars 1.1mm, Jupiter 2.4cm, Saturn 2cm, Uranus 8.5mm, Neptune 8.3mm. To see a version of this video but with more explanation click here. Map of the Asteroid belt
Because the distances between planets are so great, astronomers sometimes describe distances in terms of astronomical units (au). One au is equal to the average distance between the Sun and Earth, about 150 million kilometers.
Most asteroids are such small objects that astronomers cannot obtain a large enough image to make a direct measurement. Instead, the astronomers estimate the size of the asteroid by on its range and brightness.
about 96 kmUltimately, scientists estimate that an asteroid would have to be about 96 km (60 miles) wide to completely and utterly wipe out life on our planet.
With the upcoming Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), set to launch on Nov. 24, NASA hopes to begin putting a stop to that. The mission plan is to sail for a pair of near-Earth asteroids and, in autumn of 2022, crash into the smaller one, trying to nudge its orbit.
Not long after that, the European Space Agency noted the 230-foot-wide asteroid was on a collision course with Earth for July 2023. Astronomers used the Palermo scale to determine the risk and potential effects of an impact.
If a mile-wide asteroid hit Earth, it would strike the planet's surface at about 30,000 miles per hour (48,280 kilometers per hour). An asteroid that big traveling at that speed has the energy roughly equal to a 1 million megaton bomb. It's difficult to imagine 1 million megatons, so let's try some smaller sizes.
Six cosmic catastrophes that could wipe out life on EarthHigh energy solar flare. Our sun is not as peaceful a star as one might initially think. ... Asteroid impact. ... Expanding sun. ... Local gamma ray burst. ... Nearby supernovas. ... Moving stars.
Largest asteroid to approach Earth in 2022 will zoom past our planet this week. A "potentially hazardous" asteroid measuring more than a mile long will zoom past Earth this week, the largest asteroid expected to get relatively close to our planet in 2022.
Astronomers consider a near-Earth object a threat if it will come within 4.6 million miles (7.4 million km) of the planet and is at least 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter. If a celestial body of this size crashed into Earth, it could destroy an entire city and cause extreme regional devastation.
This could be done by impacting it with a non-destructive projectile, simply tugging the asteroid into a different orbit with a nearby high-mass spacecraft, ablating the asteroid's surface with a high-power laser (or a nearby nuclear explosion), or by placing small rockets on the asteroid's surface.
A recently discovered 1,300-foot-wide (400 meters) asteroid that passed near Earth last month could pay the planet another close visit in 2032. But, NASA officials say there is nothing to fear, as the odds that the space rock will hit Earth are extremely slim.
CeresThe largest asteroid is called Ceres. It is about one-quarter the size of the moon and orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter in a region called the asteroid belt.
The 3 largest asteroids to hit EarthThe Vredefort crater in South Africa: Created about 2 billion years ago, this 160 Kms large crater is remnant of the largest asteroid to hit Earth. ... The Chicxulub crater in Mexico: This was the dinosaur killer asteroid which hit the Earth 66 million years ago.More items...•
Astronomers consider a near-Earth object a threat if it will come within 4.6 million miles (7.4 million km) of the planet and is at least 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter. If a celestial body of this size crashed into Earth, it could destroy an entire city and cause extreme regional devastation.
If an asteroid or comet with the diameter of about 5 km (3.1 mi) or more were to hit in a large deep body of water or explode before hitting the surface, there would still be an enormous amount of debris ejected into the atmosphere.
If a rocky meteoroid larger than 25 meters but smaller than one kilometer ( a little more than 1/2 mile) were to hit Earth, it would likely cause local damage to the impact area. We believe anything larger than one to two kilometers (one kilometer is a little more than one-half mile) could have worldwide effects.
Any asteroid between the size of 1-2 kilometers hitting Earth will have global destruction potential, but will still not entirely destroy our planet.
The Asteroids. This animation represents a map of the increased count of all known asteroids in the solar system between Jan. 1, 1999, and Jan. 31, 2018. Blue represents near-Earth asteroids. Orange represents main-belt asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. For more info about how NASA tracks and studies asteroids and comets, ...
Anomalistic year - this is usually defined as the time taken for the Earth to travel from one perihelion to the next. Precession - the slow circular movement of the axis of a spinning body - like the slower movement of a spinning top.
As you can see, the orbits of some bodies - especially the dwarf planets (shown as blue lines on the orbit display) are highly elliptical which means the distance of these planets from the sun varies by a large amount as they orbit the sun.
As Douglas Adams famously wrote "Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.".
The inner planets are rocky and have diameters of less than 13,000 kilometers. The outer planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The outer planets are called gas giants and have a diameter of greater than 48,000 kilometers.
Have students work independently to summarize, in writing, what they learned about our solar system, including: 1 locations of planets in relation to the sun and one another 2 relative sizes of planets, including Earth 3 relative distances of planets 4 any conclusions they can draw about the locations of the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt
Relative size means how big the planets are when compared to each other and the sun. Relative distance means how far apart the planets are when compared to each other and the sun. area of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter filled with asteroids.
Neptune = 76 steps from sun. Kuiper belt = 100 steps from sun. Emphasize that at this scale, the sun would be less than 1.3 centimeters (0.5 inches) in diameter. Ask students to describe what they notice about planetary distances from the model.
Explain to students that an astronomical unit, or AU, is a simplified number used to describe a planet’s distance from the sun. It is a unit of length equal to the average distance from Earth to sun, approximately 149,600,000 kilometers (92,957,000 miles). Only Earth can be assigned AU 1.
At certain times of day and year, it's possible to view planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with the naked eye. Students can use Sky and Telescope Magazine's Sky at a Glance feature to find out what planets are visible in the night sky and where to look.
Pluto, which used to be considered the ninth planet, is now classified as a dwarf planet and part of the Kuiper Belt. The main asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, separating the inner and outer planets. Relative size means how big the planets are when compared to each other and the sun.
Solar System Scale. Image above: The inner planets are all within the 3 yard line and Pluto is on the other end of the field on the 20 yard line. Credit: NASA. Our solar system is huge. There is a lot of empty space out there between the planets. Voyager 1, the most distant human-made object, has been in space for more than 25 years ...
The inner planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars - are about the size of grains of sand on a football field scale. They would be dwarfed by a typical flea, which is about 3 mm long. Image to right: On a football field scale, the Sun is about as big as a dime. Credit: NASA.
As of July 19, 2004, Voyager 1 was about 13,800,000,000 km from the Sun - more than twice the distance from the Sun to icy Pluto. Needless to say, our solar system doesn't fit real well on paper - ...
On this scale, the Sun - by far the largest thing in our solar system - is only a ball about 17 mm in diameter sitting on the goal line - that's about the width of a U.S. dime coin. Considering a typical honeybee is about 12 mm long, the fans are going to need telescopes to see the action. The inner planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth ...
Mars is on the three-yard line of our imaginary football field. The red planet is about 228,000,000 km (142,000,000 miles) on average from the Sun. That's 1.5 AU. On this scale, Mars is about 0.08 mm. Asteroids roam far and wide in our solar system.
Neptune is where things start to get way out. It is 60 yards from our solar goal line on the imaginary football field. That's an average of 4,498,000,000 km (2 ,795,000000 miles) or 30 AU from the real Sun. Neptune, a little smaller than Uranus, is 0.6 mm on this scale.
The ringed world is about 1,427,000,000 km (887,000,000 miles) from the Sun, or 9.5 AU. Saturn's size on this scale: 1.47 mm. Uranus is about the point where our cosmic coach would call in an interplanetary field goal kicker. The gas giant is about 38 yards from our end zone.
If you do not have enough space to do the kinesthetic model, you can modify this activity to have students create a string-and-bead solar system model in the classroom by converting astronomical units to a 10 centimeter/AU (4 inch) scale. Students will need a string 4.5 meters long. Have students tie beads in place to represent planetary distances.
Have students work independently to summarize, in writing, what they learned about our solar system, including:
Encourage students to practice backyard astronomy. At certain times of day and year, it's possible to view planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with the naked eye. Students can use Sky and Telescope Magazine's Sky at a Glance feature to find out what planets are visible in the night sky and where to look.
calculate and model planetary distances by converting astronomical units (AU)
Understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement
Our solar system includes the sun and eight planets that orbit around the sun. The smaller, inner planets include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The inner planets are rocky and have diameters of less than 13,000 kilometers. The outer planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
If students change the scale diameter of Earth in the spreadsheet, it will cause the functions to recalculate the scale values for the other planets. By rearranging the equation below, students can create a formula in the spreadsheet to calculate both scale diameter and distance for the remaining planets.
Students can develop a permanent or semi-permanent display of their model on the school campus. Students can work with local government to create a scale solar system model with correct sizes and distances that spans some or all of their city, town or region.