Reais eed MM atom ote la\-ie ee lcal The Big Idea @ the Univers tars and constellations the solar system, the sun and the planets the Earth: the unique planet the satellites and the Moon ® asteroids; meteoroids, met meteorites; and comets Aryabhata was the first, prominent Indian astronomer. He was also a mathematician, who is credited with discovering the zero, His works include the Aryabhatiya and the Arya-siddhanta, He had an Earth-centric view of the universe, He believed that the planets mov around the Earth, He was the first astronomer to give a scientific explanation of eclipses. He described that eclipses were not caused by Rahu and Ketu, rather by the Moon coming between the Earth and the Sun. India's first satellite was named after him. Stars are burning bodies that contain BREE gases and produce an incredible amount. By of heat and light. 2 The solar system was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Sun: Centre of our solar system: a medium-sized star Other celestial bodies: asteroids, satellites, meteors, meteorites, comets : ly planet where life existsWarm-Up Exercise Read the clues and name the celestial bodies from them. ‘@ Iam not closest to the Sun yet I am the hottest planet: @ Lam the largest planet in the solar system: @ 1am the second largest planet in the solar system and have beautiful rings around me: THE UNIVERSE ‘ave you ever looked out into the vast space H= surrounds you and wondered about the Earth on which you live? It is interesting to know what exactly happened in our universe, about 15 billion years ago. + All matter in the universe was concentrated in one mass, + This super dense and extremely hot mass eventually exploded with a big bang, and the matter was thrown around in all directions. + The universe started to expand and get bigger, thus creating more space around the matter. + This scattered matter led to the formation of galaxies, stars and other heavenly bodies. Allof this has been explained by a widely accepted theory called the Big Bang theory. The theory explained the process that led to the birth of our universe. With the Big Bang, millions of galaxies, each having millions of stars, were formed in the universe. One such galaxy, to which our Sun belongs, is the Milky Way galaxy. This spiral shaped galaxy is also known as Akash Ganga (in Hindi). STARS Stars make up the galaxies in the universe. Stars are heavenly objects that are self-luminous, ie. they shine by producing their own light. This incredible amount of light and heat is produced by the burning of gases within them. The Sun that we see every day, s a star. Some stars make a recognisable pattern in the sky known as a constellation or nakshatra. When you look up into the night sky you will see some of them. The most easily recognisable constellations are’ + Ursa Major (the Great Bear) + Orion (the Hunter) + Libra (the Balance Scales), Astronomy is the study of stars and other celestial bodies. Scientists who study stars and other celestial bodies are called astronomers. the Orion constellation |e a Geographer a { With the help of your teacher, find | out which constellation this image depicts. Observe other patterns of | constellations on a clear night sky. heavenly bodies galaxy: system con: ‘universe: the whole of space and everything init including our Earth and other planets, stars, galaxies and all other ting of gas, dust and millions of stars, each with its planetsTHE SOLAR SYSTEM [iq Our Sun, together with all the planets that revolve around it, their satellites or moons, meteors, comets and asteroids, forms the solar system. ‘Sol’ in Latin means the Sun, so the Sun and all the heavenly bodies related to it make up the solar system. + Our solar system was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. + The Sun, the planets and other celestial bodies have their own gravity of different strengths. This pull on each other, is what holds them in place in the solar system and keeps them where they are. + Each planet takes a certain amount of time to complete one revolution around the Sun. This is, called its year. The farther a planet is from the ‘Sun, the longer is its year. Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, has a year of 88 Earth days. Neptune, the planet farthest from the Sun, has a year of 60,266 Earth days. The Earth takes 365% days to complete one revolution around the Sun. The Sun The Sun is at the centre of our solar system. It is a medium-sized star yet its diameter is over a hundred times that of the Earth, It is the only source of heat and light for our entire solar system. Can you imagine what it is made up of? + The Sun is a huge ball of burning gases, mainly hydrogen and helium. This makes it very hot with a surface temperature of about 5,500°C. Now compare this to the temperature at which water boils—100°C. * We do not feel this heat because of the huge distance—150 million km—between the Earth and the Sun. The Planets There are eight planets in our solar system— Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. + All the planets revolve around the Sun in fixed paths known as orbits. + They also rotate on their own axes (singular: axis), while revolving around the Sun. + Unlike stars, planets do not have their own light; they reflect the light that they receive from the Sun. + All the planets are spherical in shape and vary in size and composition. + Jupiter is the largest and Mercury is the smallest of all the planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars (the Red Planet) are rocky planets. + Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are gaseous and liquid. + The hottest planet is Venus and not Mercury, even though it is closest to the Sun. This is because the atmosphere of Venus traps the Sun’s heat. Another interesting planet is Saturn. It has many rings made of dust, ice and rocks. Uranus and Neptune are only visible through a telescope, as they are far from the Earth. Since they are at a great distance from the Sun, they have a very cold climate. legal eda beg san Sec sbjeca ft blag wt gravity: phenomenon by which all bodies with mass and energy, including planets and stars, are brought towards each other spherical: found like a ballPy Cerne ee ne ened fetcrues palate Seals Beriasbseze ist 52,869" 225 days __ 365 days _ ligyears—29-5years_eayears _165 Yes -108 = if saat as 27 Parlerthe solarsystemwasbelievedtohavenine planets, with Pluto being theninth one. In 2006,the intemationalieg ‘Astronomical Union removed Pluto from the list of planets and re-categorised it as a ‘dwarf planet. According to. t Bye TAU, there are three conditions fora body to be called a planet j S jgspust bein direct orbitof the Sun and not bea satelite or amoon around another celestial body. ; = ftmust be massive enough for it to have become spherical in shape under its own gravity } | je must clear the neighbourhood around its orbit 1 Be Pluto is, according totAU, ‘a body that does not have suficent nas toovercomeits compressivestrengthand Schigve hydrostatic equilibrium, itcannot bea planet Puts ‘called a dwarf planet. Earth: The Unique Planet Like all other planets, except Venus and Uranus, the Earth rotates on its axis from west to east, and revolves around the Sun in the same direction, s 2 cientists believe that the Earth is the only planet eter Whenitis seen orphotographed fromsp2ee, where life exists. This makes our fos ania the Earth appears blue due to the reflection of light The Earth is sometimes called the Blue Planet because three-fourths of its surface is covered with planet. It has all the essential elements that act from its extensive water surface s for the origin of life. building bloThe Earth: Earth:a unique planet Satellites Celestial bodies that revolve around the planets are called satellites. * While the Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth, other planets have a higher number of satellites, + Like the planets, the satellites have no light of their own, and they too reflect the light they receive from the Sun. Today, human-made satellites are being launched into space by various countries. They study weather conditions, develop telecommunications, take photographs, map large areas of the Earth and conduct experiments in space. India's first human-made satellite Aryabhata was | | launched in 1975. Since then, many more satellites : {have been sent to space to study our land and + EDUSAT, India's first education satellite, was launched in September 2004. + RISAT-1 is India’s first all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite, whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management. + India's first interplanetary mission in Nov 2013, was the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan, to explore and observe Mars. It has completed four years in Mars' orbit. + Find out the names of India’s other satellite programmes developed in the last five years. has the atmosphere around it, which is a protective blanket agains ultraviolet radiation. LS is ata right distance from the sun to receive heat and light that an support fe isthe only planet to have sufficient oxygen to enable breathing. hhas the right proportion of other gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapour, inert gases. has soil and water, which is necessary for survival of lf The Moon The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. + Itlies at a distance of approximately 3,84,400 km from the Earth. * It has no atmosphere or water, therefore, it supports no life. + Its surface is full of craters, which have formed due to meteorites falling on it. * The Moon takes about 28 days to revolve around the Earth and also on its axis. * The diameter of the Moon is one-fourth of the Earth’s diameter, and its gravity is one-sixth that of the Earth. Like the Earth, the Moon is about 4. billion years old, The surface area of the Moon is about the same a: | the continent of Africa. | Chandrayaan 1 was India's ist mission to the moon | im Oct 2008. Chandrayaan tl, which is a partially + successful mission, was launched in September 2019. + Find out who was the first man to land on the moon. Phases of the Moon The Moon has different phases (see the image on next page). It appears to change its shape during the month, When the shape appears to be growing, it is called the waxing period; and when the shape MI crs p ac etal ira eae nea (3)appears to be reducing, it is called the waning period. We see different shapes of the Moon due to the Sun lighting up its different parts in its journey around the Earth ‘ the phases of the Moon Asteroids 'A belt of asteroids, called the asteroid belt, lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids are small, rocky, airless fragments that orbit our Sun, but are too small to be called planets «These broken pieces of rocks and planet-like bodies are also called planetoids. «Asteroids that pass close to the Earth are called Near-Earth Objects + The largest asteroid is Ceres, which has the equatorial radius of 476 km and is also considered a dwarf planet. ssa ke » it is difficult to measure distance in space by an ordinary unit. Therefore, a light year is used t0 measure such a distance. A light year is the distance travelled by light in one year, at the speed of 300,000 km/second Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites Chunks of rocky and metal. debris hurtling through space and orbiting the Sun are known as meteoroids. Some of these smaller pieces of rocky material burn when they enter the Earth’s atmosphere from space. These are meteors. ‘They can be seen as bright streaks of light flashing across the sky, and hence are known as shooting stars. Many larger fragments ofrocks complete the journey to the Earth's surface without getting destroyed. ‘These are known as meteorites. Some recent major meteorite falls on Earth were in Vladivostok (Russia) in 1947, Barwell (Britain) in 1965, Northern Ireland in 1999, France in 2011, Chelyabinsk (Russia) in 2013 and Morocco in 2018. Comets Comets are objects made of dust and gas held together by ice particles. + They revolve around the orbits. Sun in elongated «The ice particles change to gas when the comet nears the Sun. This vaporised part forms a long tail of gas and fine dust «The most famous comet is the Halley’s Comet, which appears in the sky every 76 years. This is the time it takes to complete one orbit around the Sun. It was last seen in 1986. calculate when it will be seen next? Can you @ Halley's cometaT aaa Oa Toda Tick (v) the concepts you have understood. The universe isa vast and endless space wherein all celestial bodies exist. Our galaxy is known as the Milky Way. ‘The Sun is the nearest star to the Earth and is at the centre of our solar system, of the Earth is a member. Planets do not have their own light, and they reflect the light received from the Sun. The eight planets in our solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, ‘The Earth is the only planet known to support life, therefore, itis unique. A There are billions of asteroids in a belt located between Mars and Jupiter. ‘Comets are small bodies, made of dust, gas and ice, which orbit around the Sun. 4 Apiece of stone or metal that travels in outer space is called a meteoroid. L._ Tick(v) the correct option. 1. The planet with rings made of ice and rock around it is a. Uranus b. Saturn c. Pluto . The planet also known as the Red Planet is a. Jupiter b. Mars . Mercury India's first mission to the Moon is Edusat b. Aryabhata Chandrayaan 1 Asteroids are a. small rocky bodies that lien a belt between Mars and Jupiter b. small, rocky, airless fragments that orbit the Sun © objects of dust, ice and gases The unit used to measure distance in space is a. light year b. km U. State whether the following statements are true or false and rewrite the incorrect statements to correct them, 1. The Earth is the third nearest planet to the Sun. The period when the Moon becomes smaller is known as waxing. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. 4, Venus is the hottest planet. The Moon takes about 30 days to revolve around the Earth. 105I, Answer the following in one sentence. Name the most accepted theory about the birth of the universe. . What isa star? Which celestial body lies at the centre of our solar system? . What holds all the celestial bodies in the solar system in place. ‘What is waxing period of the Moon? ‘Answer the following questions in brief. Define galaxy. 1. How isa star different from a planet? . Why do we use light year to measure the distance of the celestial bodies? . What are comets? What are meteoroids? . What is a meteor? Answer the following questions in detail. . How was our solar system formed? . Why is the Earth considered a unique planet? What are satellites? Write a note on India's satellite programmes. Explain the waxing and waning periods of the Moon. ;. What is the difference between meteoroids and meteorites? teeta las 2 Diary Entry: Write a poem that will help you to remember the order of the planets from the Sun. Find Out: Italian astronomer named Galileo was the first person to notice Satum’s rings. He spotted them while looking into space through a telescope in 1610. Find out more about Saturn's rings. Group Activity: Work in groups and complete the following table: Planets _Distancefromthe _—Revolution time ‘Sun around the Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune ‘HOTS Why is Pluto no longer considered a planet? Give reasons. Let's Explore: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ pec