Astronomy
D INOSAUR S KY
Noreen Grice,
Travelers Science Dome at the Gengras Planetarium
More than 65 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed
the land. Back then, the Earth looked a lot different.
There were no parks, or schools, or buildings, or even
people! The dinosaurs went about their business,
maybe eating plants or eating other dinosaurs, maybe
D ID YOU K NOW
Some people like to compare dinosaurs
with dragons. There is no dinosaur
constellation, but there is a dragon in
the northern sky! Its name is Draco the
dragon, and it’s easy to find if you know its
neighbors.
Locate the Big Dipper in the night sky.
Then use the front “pointer” stars to find
the North Star. We know that the North
Star is at the end of the handle of the
Little Dipper. Now look at the stars that
are between the Big and Little Dippers.
You will notice a long pattern of stars that
“snakes” around and ends with a small
tilted rectangle. That rectangle is the
head of Draco the dragon; his body curves
between the Big & Little Dippers. By
finding the Dippers first, you have an easy
reference to help you find the dragon!
VISIT THE FIND IT IN THE NEWS! Look
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM • A story related to dinosaurs
IN WEST HARTFORD! • The weather report so you will know when the night sky is clear
• Visit the Wildlife Sanctuary to see
a variety of animals close-up
• Visit the new Dinosaurs in Your
Backyard exhibit! at
The Children’s Museum!
wandering around during the day and maybe checking
out the stars at night. What constellations would
the dinosaurs have seen back then? They would be
Our Sun is one of the stars in our galaxy, and our
galaxy is slowly turning like milk swirled into a
hot beverage. This causes the stars in the galaxy
different ones from those we see now! to change position, and that motion of the stars
Here’s why. All the stars you see in the night sky are in changes our view of them. It’s like waiting in line at
an amusement park; as the line moves, the people
our galaxy. If you observe from a really dark location,
far away from city lights, you might be able to see a move. Sometimes
the line is arranged
bright band of light that crosses the night sky; people
call this the Milky Way. It’s actually the thickest part of like a zig-zagging
ribbon where people
our galaxy; when you look along it, you are
seeing the combined light of hundreds of turn a corner and
thousands of very distant stars. then pass you as they
walk in the line. We may
However, the stars you see as individuals see people from different directions,
are usually stars much closer to us. You and that’s also how it works with stars: a
might see a few hundred stars from a familiar star pattern like The Big Dipper looks
bright neighborhood but several thousand very different as our position in the galaxy
stars from a dark area. That sounds like changes over time. All the constellations we
a lot, and it is, but even more amazing learn about and can find in the sky tonight
is that our galaxy contains hundreds of would have looked different around the time
billions of stars! the dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
So, why do we see different star patterns
than the dinosaurs did?
F UN T HINGS TO DO
You can make a 3D model to get a better look at how a familiar star pattern can look
very different when viewed from a different angle. All you need are a pencil, seven
pom poms, glue, seven toothpicks, and a piece of Styrofoam a little smaller than the
long side of the shoe box.
Use the pencil to mark the seven stars of the Big Dipper onto the Styrofoam piece.
Glue one pom pom to the end of each toothpick. Allow the glue an hour to dry, and
then stick the other ends into the stars you just marked on the Styrofoam piece.
When you look straight down, the pom poms look like the familiar stars of the Big
Dipper. But look at the model from different angles. Notice how the shape of the Big
Dipper changes as your perspective changes. Imagine that you are a resident of a
planet that is light years away from our Sun. From your perspective, the Big Dipper
looks completely different. What name would you now give to this star pattern?
through this week’s
Hartford Courant to find:
Common Core State Standard
RI (Reading Standards for informational text):
grades 3-5 (1,2,3,5,7) and RF (Reading Standards for Foundational Skills):
grades 2-5 (4)
CT Science Standards: 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 5.3