The Universe
The Universe is everything we can touch, feel, sense, measure and detect. This means it is everything that is living, as well as planets, galaxies, dust clouds, light, and even time. Before the universe was created, time, space and matter did not exist.
A Galaxy is a massive collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems, all held together by gravity.
A Solar System is a system formed by a star and the celestial bodies that spin around it (such as planets, asteroids and moons).
A Galaxy is a massive collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems, all held together by gravity.
A Solar System is a system formed by a star and the celestial bodies that spin around it (such as planets, asteroids and moons).
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We live on planet Earth, which is part of our solar system. Our solar system has eight planets (R.I.P. Pluto) and is only a tiny part of the Milky Way Galaxy (to the right). Scientists estimate that the Milky Way has 400 billion stars.
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Most of these stars have at least one planet orbiting them. In our solar system, the Sun is the star and the eight planets move around it.
But we used to believe that the Earth was the centre of the Universe, and everything spun around it! Did you know?
Thanks to Galileo Galilei, we gained the understanding of how the Solar System works, and began to understand our universe a little better... even though Galileo was punished severely during his lifetime, accused of heresy and cast in solitary house arrest until his death eleven years later.
But we used to believe that the Earth was the centre of the Universe, and everything spun around it! Did you know?
Thanks to Galileo Galilei, we gained the understanding of how the Solar System works, and began to understand our universe a little better... even though Galileo was punished severely during his lifetime, accused of heresy and cast in solitary house arrest until his death eleven years later.
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THE UNIVERSE - It's Hella Big
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The picture to the right was taken by the Hubble telescope. It shows thousands of galaxies - each of the tiny dots are galaxies. Each galaxy has upwards of 400 billion solar systems.
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Our solar system has eight planets and one Sun, which means our Milky Way could have upwards of 3.2 trillion planets and 400 billion stars!
It is also estimated that there are approximately 2 trillion galaxies that we can see from our planet. That is a lot of stars, solar systems and planets!
The universe is home to many celestial bodies. A celestial body is an object in space. Celestial bodies include all stars, planets, natural sattelites (moons), comets, asteroids, galaxies, and meteors or meteorites. Below, a timelapse of the Universe. Keep an eye on the dates at the bottom -- even though humans have been around for a while, humanity is a fraction of a second of the Universe's history, comparatively speaking.
It is also estimated that there are approximately 2 trillion galaxies that we can see from our planet. That is a lot of stars, solar systems and planets!
The universe is home to many celestial bodies. A celestial body is an object in space. Celestial bodies include all stars, planets, natural sattelites (moons), comets, asteroids, galaxies, and meteors or meteorites. Below, a timelapse of the Universe. Keep an eye on the dates at the bottom -- even though humans have been around for a while, humanity is a fraction of a second of the Universe's history, comparatively speaking.
