Introduction

 

Out in space, there are millions of stars with planets that go around them.  The sun is one of those stars.  Earth is one of the planets that goes around the sun.

Stars, like our sun, shine with their own light.  Planets have no visible light of their own.  They are lit by the light that falls on them from their star.  Compared to other stars, the sun is medium size and medium bright.

We use telescopes and other special instruments to help us find out what goes on in space.  We can find out about things that happened millions and billions of miles away and millions and billions of years ago.

Astronomers and other scientists also use computers to figure out when and where something may happen in space.

Spacecraft, loaded with instruments, are rocketed into space.  They gather information to send back to earth.  They are called space probes.

Computers store many kinds of information.  New information goes into the computers all the time,.  There will be more information by the time you complete reading this.  But, some of what we already know is a good place to start.

We know that our big Earth is like a tiny speck in outer space.

 

Vocabulary

Our Solar System

Lift Off

Poems

The Sky