What an exciting day we had today. Four astrophysicists came to visit the Year 2 students. An astrophysicist is a person who understands how the things in the sky work.
They talked to us about the Earth and told us that the Earth is a ball, it is round. We see water and land, clouds, and ice. The Earth turns around which we call rotating. They told us that there are two to three billion stars in our galaxy. The universe is 13.8 billion years old. There are 8 planets and there are also dwarf planets and one of them is Pluto. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars can be rocky. We could live on them but some would be very hot. Jupiter and Saturn are gas planets. Jupiter takes 10 years to go around the Sun and Saturn takes 20 to 30 years to go around the Sun. Uranus and Neptune are the ice planets. It takes 180 years for both planets to go around the Sun. Ceres is by Jupiter and Mars and it is a dwarf planet. Pluto is by Neptune and it is a dwarf planet as well. Comets have heads made of rock and ice and long bright tails made of gas and icy dust. Asteroids are tiny rocky planets, and most of these are between Mars and Jupiter. The Sun is so hot because it makes energy and light. The Sun is made of hydrogen and helium and these gases bang together. Every planet in our Solar System goes around the Sun.
After they talked to us one of the astrophysicists called Max came to Room 4 to answer our questions.
Here are our questions that we asked Max and the answers that Max told us:
Is the Moon a planet?
No, because planets go around the Sun.
How many sunspots are there on the Sun at the moment?
At the moment there is only one forming, it is very quiet. In 5 years time there will be 10 to 15 sunspots.
Why do solar flares shoot out of the Sun?
Research has been done on this. The Sun is extremely hot. The magnetic field goes out of the Sun and flares burst out of the Sun.
How any craters are there on the Moon?
To know the exact number is very difficult. Comets go fast and hit the moon and craters are created.
Do you think we will be able to live on the Moon one day?
Because there is no air we would have to wear an oxygen mask and suit. One idea is that in the future there could be a dome built on the Moon to live there.
What is Earth made of?
In the middle is the core then the mantle and then the crust.
What is the Milky Way?
It looks milky. When it is dark we can see it at night. It is the galaxy in which we live. It is made up of several hundred billion stars, including our Sun.
Does space ever end?
We don't know, we can only look from 13.8 billion years ago.
What will happen to space in one thousand years time?
Max said that we might travel to Mars and live there.
Enjoy looking at the photos:
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