1. The Earth and the Stars Presented by: Paula Follett-Comeau

2. What are stars made of? Stars are mostly hot gases such as hydrogen Hydrogen gas consists of tiny bits called atoms The heat inside the star makes the atoms jump about. The collisions between the atoms produce flashes of light and bursts of heat

3. How many stars can you see on a dark, clear night? 3,000 with your eyes alone as many as 600,000 with a small telescope! There are at least 200 billion, billion stars out in space!

4. Which star is closest to the Earth? The Sun it is about 149 million km from us it is the only star in our solar system

5. How hot is the sun? Hotter than anything on Earth! It’s surface is about 5,532  C The inside of the sun is about 13 million  C!

6. Which is bigger, the sun or the Earth? The sun is bigger, by far it is about 1,384,000 km across; over 100 times the diameter of Earth! The sun is so huge that more than 1 million Earths could easily fit inside it!

7. What are planets? A planet is a large celestial body that orbits a star and does not shine on its own. There are 9 planets in our solar system

8. Do the planets move? Planets move around the sun in an orbit. Each planet also spins on its axis. The planets are moving through the galaxy with the sun.

9. How fast is the Earth moving? Earth revolves around the sun at a speed of 106,560km an hour! Earth also rotates-- taking 24 hours to make one complete turn. Not all points on Earth move at the same speed--North Pole spins slowly; around the equator speeds at 1,661 km an hour!

10. Would you like to learn more about astronomy? Visit the Internet Space Station for lots of learning, games, and fun! Internet Space Station