The Milky Way
General Knowledge,  Kids Learning,  Space Learning

4 Space Facts Kids Need To Learn

Learning about space can be both interesting and fun. Here are 4 space facts Kids need to learn.

#1 – What Is A Light Year?

Astronomers often use the term ‘light year’ when referring to the distances between objects in our Universe. But what is a light year?

A Light Year is the distance light travels in one Earth year.

Many distant stars have been discovered over the centuries. Discoveries like Betelguese – a giant in comparison to our own sun, can be observed in the night sky. Betelguese is estimated to be located somewhere between 550 -700 light years away from Earth.

This means the sparkling star light we see at night when observing Betelguese, has taken 550 – 700 years to reach us here on Earth.

Fun Fact: Light travels at an unimaginable speed of approximately 300 thousand kilometres per SECOND. That’s a distance of 9.46 trillion kilometres in one year.

#2 – Why Is Our Galaxy Called The Milky Way?

There are an estimated 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe, each containing billions and some even hundreds of billions of stars. Our galaxy is called the ‘Milky Way’. It is home to our solar system as well as billions of other stars and planets.

Some of these stars can be observed from Earth on a clear dark night. Often, a bright section of our galaxy displays itself to the night sky, described as resembling a milky band, hence the name ‘Milky Way’.

Fun Fact: The Milky Way is approximately 100,000 light years wide. Our closet neighbour is the Andromeda Galaxy, it is located around 2.5 million light years away from us and is over twice our size.

#3 – What Is An Asteroid Belt?

There is an asteroid belt in our solar system which orbits our sun. It is made up of hundreds of thousands of asteroids which range in sizes from small rocks to dwarf planets. It is located between Mars and Jupiter. Surprisingly, the distance between asteroids is quite large, on average around 600,000 miles.

A number of dwarf planets reside here, the largest being a dwarf named Ceres. It was discovered in 1801 by Italian Astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. Ceres mass is about one quarter of the asteroid belt’s total mass.

Sometimes asteroids collide with each other as a result of interference from Jupiter’s huge gravitational pull. When this happens asteroids can be hurled out into space, this can be a danger to planets like earth. An asteroid collided with Earth over 65 million years ago, it was a major event in earth’s history, which led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Fun Fact: Many NASA probes have passed through the asteroid belt, because the asteroids are spaced so far apart the chances of a collision is quite slim.

#4 – What Is A Comet?

Comet

Comets are large objects that are made of ice and rock. They reside in the furthest regions of our solar system. Areas called the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. They are so far away from our sun that temperatures there are hundreds of degrees below zero.

Sometimes comets are disturbed and find themselves on a course towards our sun. They reach incredible speeds, tens of thousands of miles per hour. As they approach the sun, solar winds cause the ice to melt, resulting in the formation of a spectacular bright tail.

Comets can eventually find themselves in an orbit around the sun. These orbit periods vary from years to thousands of years.

Fun Fact: Halley’s Comet was discovered almost 2000 years ago. It has an orbit period of about 75 years. It last passed Earth in 1986.