Ready for Take Off: 6 Space Fast Facts for Your Little Astronauts
If Earth has a lot of wonders, space has its endless mysteries! Buckle up your young explorers because we are launching them into an interstellar adventure to discover awesome facts about twinkling stars, blazing comets, and more! Here are six space fast facts to geek out with your kids!
1.Little stars do not twinkle.
In our eyes, stars are tiny twinkling lights in the dark sky. But in space, they’re flaming balls of burning gas with different colors ranging from blue, yellow, orange and red! Know more about stars in this segment.
2.Stars can serve as guides!
At night, look up at the sky and observe the stars. Imagine forming a picture and tracing it like connecting dots! These clusters of stars are called constellations. They serve as guides for us to find specific stars like the North Star which helps travelers find direction. Learn more about constellations in this episode.
3.The sun is the closest star!
Did you know that the biggest ball of fire in the solar system is just a dwarf star in the universe? However, the sun’s size and distance from Earth is just perfect for our planet to contain and sustain life. It has become our main source of light, heat and energy for billions of years! Wondering just how hot the temperature of the sun is? Check out this video lesson!
4.The Moon is Earth’s best friend!
If you have a best friend, Earth has one too! It goes wherever Earth goes and we call it the moon. We know it as that bright ball that lights up the darkness of night along with the stars. But did you know that the moon has no light on its own? It only reflects light from the sun while it circles the Earth! The moon itself does not change shape, but as it revolves, the amount of light it reflects changes! The different shapes we see are called phases of the moon.
5.A comet is a cosmic traveler, not a tailed star!
Aside from planets, comets also travel around the sun, but it takes hundreds or thousands of years to complete! Unlike the star, which is a gigantic ball of gas, comets are much smaller and are composed of ice, dust and rocky debris. It also has a bright tail! This forms as comets heat up when nearing the sun and starts releasing gas and dust! Did you know that one famous comet named Halley’s comet can only be seen every 76 years? Know when to spot comets in this episode.
6.A falling star is a meteor!
The fascinating showers of light that streak the night sky are not falling stars. They are chunks of rocks and metals traveling the space called meteoroids! Once they enter our atmosphere and collide with the air, they burn up and glow brightly and are now called meteors! If they don't completely burn up and hit the ground, we call them meteorite! Discover more about meteoroids, meteors and meteorites in this video lesson.