On a clear night, Rocket and Raven lie on a blanket in the backyard. Thousands of tiny stars sparkle above them.
"They are so small and dim," Rocket says. "Nothing like the Sun."
Raven points at a faint dot. "What if the Sun is one of them?" she asks. "What do you notice about how far away they seem?"
Nova switches on her flashlight beam and slowly flies away across the yard. Her light shrinks to a dot.
"Same light," Nova calls back from the fence. "It only looks smaller and dimmer because I am farther away."
A star is a hot, glowing ball of gas. The Sun is a star.
The Sun is about 100 times wider than Earth. But it is just an average-sized star.
There are smaller stars and larger stars all across the sky.
The Sun looks larger and brighter than other stars because it is so much closer to us.
Other stars are much, much farther away. Stars range greatly in their distance from Earth.
Like Nova's flashlight, a light far away looks smaller and dimmer.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| The Sun is an average-sized star. | ? |
| All stars are the same distance from Earth. | ? |
| A light looks dimmer when it is farther away. | ? |
Nova's flashlight did not get any dimmer. It only got farther away.
Stars work the same way. A star can be huge and bright but look like a tiny dot.
The Sun looks so big and bright because it is our closest star.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| There are stars smaller and larger than the Sun. | ? |
| The Sun is the biggest star there is. | ? |
| Stars range greatly in their distance from Earth. | ? |
You just met your nearest star. Tomorrow we will measure how far away the stars really are.