St

arsandt
heSol
arSy
stem -Cl
ass8:
Not
es
Cel
est
ial
Obj
ect
s: 
Thi
ngsl
i
kest
ars,
planet
s,moons,
etc.whi
char
epr
esenti
nthe
spacear
eknownascel
est
ial
obj
ect
s.

Cel
est
ial
Obj
ect
s
TheMoon:
1.Phasesoft
hemoon:Thediff
erentshapesofmoonv
isi
bledur
ingv
ari
ousday
sina
montharecal
ledasphasesofthemoon.

Di
ff
erentPhaseofMoon

2.Ful
lmoonday
: 
Iti
sthedayonwhi
cht
hef
ull
mooni
svi
sibl
e.
 Ful
lMoon

3.NewMoonday:
 Af
tert
heful
lmoonday
,themoonappearst
obecomethinnerand
thi
nner
.Ont
hefi
ft
eenthdayt
hemoonisnotvi
sibl
e.Thi
sdayi
sknownasthenewmoon
day.

4.WhydoesMoonhav edi f
ferentphases?
(i
)Moondoesnothav eitsownl i
ghtandactuall
yitrefl
ectst hel
ightcomi
ngfr
om sun
whichisresponsi
blef
orv ari
ousphases.
(i
i)Af
ternewmoonday ,
thev isi
bil
it
ysizeofil
l
umi natedpar tofmoonseenfr
om Eart
h
keepsincreasi
ngandafterful
l moondayitkeepsdecr easing.

Mooni
svi
sibl
eduet
oref
lect
edsunl
i
ght
Posi
ti
onsoft
hemooni
nit
sor
bitandi
tscor
respondi
ngphases

5.TheMoon’sSurface:
(i
)TheMoon’ ssur
faceisdust
y,bar
renandhasmanydi
ff
erentsi
zescr
ater
soni
t.
Mor eov
er,
therear
emanybi gandsmallmountai
ns.
(i
i)TheMoonhasnoat mosphereandwater
.

Sur
faceofMoon

TheSt
ars:
(
i)Theseareobj
ectswhichtwi
nkleintheskyatni
ght
.
(
ii
)Sunisthenearestst
artoourplanetwhi
chisappr
ox150mi
l
li
onkm awayf
rom Ear
th.
 St
ars
Li
ghtYear:
(i
)Iti
sdefinedast hedist
ancetrav
ell
edbyl
ighti
noney ear
.Anditi
stheuni
ttomeasur
e
l
argedist
ances.
(i
i
)Thespeedofl ightisabout300,
000km persecond.
(i
i
i)ThedistanceoftheSunf r
om theEar
thmaybesai dtobeabout8li
ghtmi
nut
es

Pol
eSt
ar 
:I
tist
hest
arwhi
chi
ssi
tuat
edi
nthedi
rect
ionoft
heear
th’
saxi
s.

Pol
arSt
ar

Const
ell
ati
ons:
Thedif
ferentknownshapest
hatar
efor
medbyagr
oupofst
ars,
isknownasa
const
ell
ation.
Someconst
all
ati
onsi
ntheni
ghtsky
1.UrsaMajor:
(i
) Thi
sconstel
lat
ionconsi
stsofsevenstar
s.
(i
i) 
Itl
ooksli
keabi gl
adl
eoraquest i
onmar k.Ther
earethreestar
sint
hehandl
eoft
he
l
adleandfourinit
sbowl
(i
ii
) I
tisal
soknownasBi gDipper
,theGreatBearortheSaptar
shi.

2.Or i
on:
(i
)Itisanotherwellknownconst el
lat
ionvi
sibleduri
nglat
eev eni
ngsi
nwinter.
(i
i)I
talsoconsist
sofsev enoreightbri
ghtstars.
 Thethr
eemi ddl
est
arsi
nOr ion
representt
hebeltoft hehunterandtheremai ni
ngfourbr
ightstar
sar
earrangedint
he
form ofaquadril
ateral.
(i
ii
)Or i
onisalsocalledtheHunter.
3.Si r
ius:
(i
)I ti
st hebri
ghteststari
nthesky.
(i
i)Tof indthelocati
onofSiri
us,
imagi
neast
rai
ghtl
i
nepassi
ngt
hrought
hebel
toft
hree
mi ddlestarsofOrion.

4.Cassi
opeia:
(i
)Iti
sanotherpopul
arconstel
l
ationi
nthenor
thernsky.I
tisv
isi
bledur
ingwi
nteri
nthe
earl
ypartoftheni
ght.I
tlooksl
ikeadist
ort
edl
etterW orM.
TheSol
arSy
stem:
1.ItconsistsoftheSunandot hercelesti
alobj
ectspresenti
nthespacerevolvi
ng
aroundthesun. Thegr avit
ati
onalatt
racti
onbetweent heSunandtheseobjectskeeps
them revolvi
ngar oundit.Thevari
ousent i
tiesl
i
keplanets,meteor
s,comets,et
c.arepar
t
ofoursol arsystem.
2.Theeightpl anetsintheiror
derofdi st
ancefrom t
heSunar e:Mercur
y,Venus,Ear
th,
Mar s,
Jupi t
er,Saturn,
UranusandNept une.

1.TheSun:
(
i)TheSuni
sthenearestst
aramongstal
lthest
arspresenti
ntheuniver
se.
(
ii
)Iti
sthemai
nsourceofheatandli
ghtf
orallt
heplanetsspeci
all
yEart
h.
 Sun
2.ThePl
anet
s: 
Thepl
anet
sar
eli
kest
ars,
butt
heydonothav
eli
ghtoft
hei
rown.They
mer el
yr efl
ectthesunl i
ghtt hatfall
sont hem. 
 Theplanetskeepchangi ngt hei
rposi t
ions
withrespectt ot hest ars.
Thesear etheobj ectsr evolvi
ngar oundt hesuni nfi
xedpat h.Thi
sf i
xedpat hist er
med
asan  orbit
.
1.Per i
odofr ev oluti
on: Iti
st hetimet akenbypl anettocompl et
ef ul
l r
ev oluti
onar ound
thesun.
2.Per i
odofr otat i
on: I
tist het i
met akenbypl anettocompl eteoner otationaroundi ts
ownaxi s.
3.Satelli
te: 
Thesear ethecel est
ialbodiespresentaroundot hercelestialbody .Exampl e
Mooni sasat elli
teoft heEar th.
4.Ar t
ifi
cialsatell
ite:
 Thesear etheman- madesat el
li
tepresentaroundt heEarth.

Pl
anet
sRev
olv
ingAr
oundt
heSun:
1.Mer cury(Budh)
(i
)Itisnearestplanett
otheSunandt hesmall
estpl
anetpr
esentinoursol
arsyst
em.
(i
i)
  
Itisverydiff
icul
ttoobservei
t,asmostoft
hetimeiti
shiddeninthegl
areoftheSun.
(i
ii
)Mer curyhasnosat el
l
iteofit
sown.
2.Venus(Shukra):
(i
)Iti
snearestplanett
oEarthandIti
sthebri
ghtestpl
anetvi
sibl
eint
henightsky
.
(i
i)I
tisal
socalledamor ni
ngoraneveningst
ar,alt
houghiti
snotastar
.
(i
ii
)Venusrotat
esoni t
saxisfr
om easttowest.
(i
v)Venushasnomoonorsat el
li
teofi
tsown.

3.TheEar t
h:
(i
)Itistheonlyplanetinthesol
arsyst
em onwhi chli
feexists.
(i
i)Earthappearsbluegreenduetotherefl
ecti
onoflightfrom wat
erandlandmasson
i
tssur f
ace.
(i
ii
) Theaxisofrotati
onoftheEart
hisnotperpendiculart
ot hepl
aneofit
sorbit
.Thet
il
t
i
sr esponsibl
eforthechangeofseasonsont heEarth.
(i
v)Ithasonlyonemoonorsat el
li
teofit
sown.
4.Mars(Mangal
):
(i
)Itl
ookssomewhatr
eddi
shand,
so,iti
sal
soknownast
her
edpl
anet
.
(i
i)Marshast
wosmallnat
ural
sat
ell
i
tes.

5.Jupiter(Bri
haspati)
:
(i
)Itisthelargestplanetoft
hesolarsystem.Itr
otatesv
eryrapi
dlyonit
saxi
s.
(i
i)Jupiterhasal ar
genumberofsat el
l
ites.Andalsohasfai
ntri
ngsaroundi
t.
(i
ii
) 
Itisabout1300t i
meslargert
hanthatofearthandit
smassabout318t i
mest
han
thatofourEar th
6.Saturn(Shani):
(i
)Itisyell
owishcoloredplanet.
(i
i)Therearebeaut i
fulr
ingsaroundthi
splanet,
whicharenotobserv
edinanyother
pl
anet s.
(i
ii
)Itistheleastdenseamongal lthepl
anets.I
tsdensi
tyi
slessthanthatofwat
er.

7.Uranus:
(i
)Iti
stheoneofout
ermostpl
anetofthesol
arsy
stem.
(i
i)Themostdi
sti
nct
ivef
eatur
eofUranusist
hati
thashi
ghl
yti
l
tedr
otat
ional
axi
s.
8.Neptune:
(i
)Iti
stheouter
mostpl
anetoft
hesol
arsy
stem.

SomeOt
herCel
est
ial
Member
soft
heSol
arSy
stem:
1.Asteroi
ds:
(i
)Thesmal lr
ocksl i
kesubstancesthatareorbi
ti
ngar
oundtheSunar
ecal
l
edast
eroi
ds.
(i
i) 
Iti
sfoundin 
largegapbetweent heorbit
sofMarsandJupi
ter
.
(i
i)Theyarevi
sibleonlyt
hroughlargetel
escopes.
2.Comet s:
(i
)Theyr ev
olvear
oundtheSuninhighlyel
li
pti
calorci
rcul
aror
bit
s.
(i
i)I
tlooksli
keasifi
thasabrightheadwithalongtai
landiti
sbeenseent
hatt
het
ail
keepsgrowinginsi
zeasitkeepsapproachi
ngthesun.

3.Met
eor
s:
(i
)Thesearesmal lobjectst
hatsomet i
mesentertheEarth’
satmosphere.
(i
i)I
toccasional
l
yent erstheeart
h’satmospher
ewi t
hv er
yhighspeed.Duet ofr
ict
ionof
eart
h'satmosphere,I
tgl owsthenevaporat
esquickl
y.Thatiswhythebrightst
eaklast
s
foraveryshortt
ime.

4.Met eorit
e:
(i
)Thesear ethel
eft
overobj
ectt
hatreachest
heEart
h.
(i
i)
 Met eori
teshel
pscient
ist
sini
nvesti
gati
ngthenat
ureoft
hemat
eri
alf
rom whi
cht
he
solarsy st
em wasformed
5.Arti
fici
alSatel
l
ites:
(i
)Thesear etheman- madesat el
li
testhatrevol
vearoundtheEar t
h.
(i
i)Aryabhatt
awast hefirstIndiansatell
it
e.Someot herI
ndian sat
ell
i
tesar
eINSAT,IRS,
Kalpana-1,EDUSAT, etc.
(i
ii
) 
Theyar eusedf orforecastingweat her,t
ransmit
tingt
elevisi
onandradi
osignal
s.
Theyar ealsousedf ortelecommuni cat
ionandr emotesensing.