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Astronomy Year / Week 10 / Thursday
4/6
Week 10 · Shooting Stars

Thursday

Real stars, far away
// Meteors and meteor showers
⏱ about 15 min

Thursday: Real stars, far away

Rocket says, "A meteor flashes for one second. A star shines all night."

Raven nods. "What do you notice about how close each one is?"

Nova hums. "Hint: one is in our own air. One is a faraway sun."

Near and far

A meteor happens in Earth's own air.

That is very close to us.

A real star is a giant sun.

It is so far away that it looks like a tiny dot.

Our Sun is a star too. It is close, so it looks big and bright.

Near or far?True or false?
A meteor happens in Earth's air.?
A real star is a giant faraway sun.?
Stars look tiny because they are very far away.?
A meteor is a star that fell.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEDistance makes real stars look like tiny dots.
CLOSE OR FAR?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which is closer to you?
Why does the Sun look bigger than other stars?
Try it
Hold up a small coin and look at it.
Now ask a grown-up to hold it across the room.
Same coin, but it looks much smaller far away!
Safety first
Coins stay out of mouths.

How fast is light?

Sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach Earth.

Light from other stars takes much longer.

That shows how far away the stars are.

A meteor is so close its light reaches us right away.

NEAR OR FAR?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
About how long does sunlight take to reach us?
A meteor flashes for about one second. A star shines all night. Which is the faraway sun?
Why does the coin look smaller across the room?
Is our Sun a star?
CLOSEST TO FARTHEST
  • Start with the closest.
  • Tap a card, then tap its spot.
1Closest
2Middle
3Farthest
Light factTrue or false?
Light from other stars takes longer than sunlight.?
A meteor is farther away than the Sun.?
The Sun looks big because it is close.?
WHY THIS EXERCISELight travel time shows how far away things are.
Draw the Sun close by and other stars far away.

Great thinking about near and far! Tomorrow we plan a meteor watch.

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