science

1. Stars, Constellations
and the Universe

2. The Universe
 The Universe is made up of everything
that exists in space, such as planets,stars
and even us!
 The universe was created over 13 billion
years ago by a large explosion called The
Big Bang.
 It is hard to imagine how enormous the
universe is. The universe is made up of
many different galaxies

3. What is a star?
 A STAR is a large sphere of glowing dust and
gases such as helium and hydrogen.
 Stars change over time.
 The stars we see from Earth belong to a galaxy
known as the Milky Way
 Which is the closest star to Earth?
 THE SUN!
 The sun is a medium sized star
 MUCH, MUCH larger than Earth

4. How are stars created?
 Stars are formed when spinning
balls of gas form inside large
clouds of gas and dust. The
gases heat up and light and heat
are created

5. Why do stars Twinkle?
 Stars twinkle in the night sky because
the light has to travel through the
Earth’s atmosphere. The movement
of air in the earth’s atmosphere make
the light bend as it travels from the
star to earth.

6. Which stars are brightest
Stars can have different
colours such as red, white or
blue. The hottest stars are
blue, the coolest stars are red.

7. How many stars are in the
universe?
There are over a hundred
billion billion stars in the
universe.

8. What shape are stars?
 Stars are not really star- shaped.
They are round like out sun.
 Artist draw them using a star
shape to reflect the way that they
shine in the night sky.
 No two stars are exactly the same

9. Constellations

10. Stars as Tools for Navigation
 The North Star is called Polaris and located directly
above the North Pole. This star appears in the same place
every night all year long.
 In the Northern Hemisphere, if you find Polaris you
will be able to tell which direction is north.
The Southern Hemisphere does not have a star to help
you find its pole. Instead it has what is known as a
Southern Cross.
 The Southern Cross consists of 4 bright stars and
some dimmer ones. All of these together point to the
south pole.

11. Stars as tools for navigation
 North Star  Southern Cross

12. A pattern or
group of stars in
the sky is called
a constellation.
People of ancient
time saw the
constellations as
character or
animals in the sky.
They made up
stories to explain
how the object,
animal, or character
came into the night
sky.

13. Star Patterns

14. The Big Dipper

15. Myth: The “Big Dipper” is a constellation.
In fact, the Big Dipper is an asterism.
 Constellations are used to split the celestial
sphere into different sections that aid in locating
objects in the sky, kind of like landmarks on a
map.
 An asterism, on the other hand, is a popular
grouping of stars easily recognized by the
casual star observer. Asterisms, which may be
part of a recognized constellation, are not
constellations themselves.
The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great
Bear).

16. In Ireland we call ‘The Big Dipper’
‘The Plough’

18. Orion- The Hunter
 This Constellation was named after the
Greek hunter Orion and is one of the
latgest groups of stars in the sky.
 Orion is in the shape of a man holding a
bow and is easily recognisable by the row
of three bright stars that make up is ‘belt’

20. Taurus
 Taurus is located in the Northern
Hemisphere, directly above Orion.
 The Greeks saw this constellation as a bull
 Taurus is one of 12 constellation that
make up the zodiac
 Astrologists believe that each person
comes under a particular sign of the
zodiac, depending on their date of birth

23. I was born in December, I am a
Sagittarius
 What does your star sign constellation
look like?

26. Constellations
 Earth rotates on its axis, this makes most
constellations appear to rise in the east and set in the
west during the night.
 Most constellations appear in many different positions
in the sky as the Earth revolves around the sun.
 There is a group of stars that appear in the sky all
night long and all year long. It seems that these stars do
not rise and set, but circle the Earth’s north pole each
night. These stars are called circumpolar.

27. STAR CHARTS
How can we identify constellations in the
night sky?
The use of a star chart can help us!
A STAR CHART is a map of the
stars in the night sky.

28. STAR CHARTS
On a star chart, lines often connect the
stars that might make up a constellation.
Different star charts must be used at
different times of the year and in different
places on Earth.
Many stars visible from the Southern
hemisphere cannot be seen from the
Northern hemisphere.

29. STAR CHARTS

30. What other tools can help us
identify constellations?
 STAR CHARTS are the BEST for
identifying a constellation in the sky.
 A COMPASS is the BEST for locating
DIRECTION (North, South, East, and
West) You need to know direction before
you can use a star chart correctly.

31. What other invention helps us view
items in space?
 A telescope!