18 THE UNIVERSE

LET'S LEARN ABOUT

Celestial bodies

Stars

Constellations

Get Ready!

Moon and its phases

Solar system-planets, satellites, asteroids, comets and meteors

Artificial satellites

Solve the riddles to find the name of the planets.

1. When looking at all planets,

This is the second largest one.

It has rings made of ice, dust and rocks, And is the sixth one from the Sun.

2. When the temperature gets higher, It makes the liquid metal rise.

It is also a planet's name, Which is the one smallest in size.

Create similar riddles for Mars, Earth and Jupiter.

INTRODUCTION

The night sky is a beautiful and amazing sight. You must have noted that in villages or
places which are away from smoky cities, the night skies are clearer. The sky seems to be
filled with countless stars. Why do we not see such a sky at night time in the cities? This is
because the air in the city area is so polluted that it blocks our view of the night sky.

Think and Discuss

The night sky appears clear and bright in the coastal regions even if the place is a city.
Why?.

What do you see in the night sky? There are some objects that twinkle. We call them stars.
You must have noted that some stars appear brighter than others. There are also some
objects which do not appear to be twinkling. The objects which do not twinkle are planets.
The Moon is the brightest object that you can see in the night sky. The Moon, stars, planets
and the Sun are celestial bodies. The term celestial body refers to any natural body which is
present in the sky. In this chapter, we will learn about them.

THE UNIVERSE

All the celestial bodies such as the Moon, stars, Sun, planets and everything that are present
on them constitute the universe. It is very vast; therefore, it is very difficult to even predict its
size. There are many scientists who have spent their entire life to know more and more
about different celestial bodies. The study of celestial bodies and all the phenomena
associated with them is called astronomy. Scientists who study astronomy are called
astronomers. Scientists

Get It Right

We should not confuse astronomy with astrology. Astronomy is the study of celestial bodies,
while astrology is a belief system that the relative positions of the celestial bodies affect
human life..

use mathematics and science to understand the origin and evolution of celestial bodies.
They use specialised instruments such as terrestrial and satellite-borne telescopes.

242

For Teachers You may show the students different pictures of astronomers and work done
by them. You may talk about and show videos of astronauts travelling in space.

GALAXIES

A vast collection of dust, gas and large number of stars and their solar system a called
galaxy. There are many different galaxies present in the universe. The solar system, Sun
and all the stars that are visible to us belong to the Milky Way galaxy (Fig. 18.1). It is spiral in
shape and the Sun is situated at one of its spiral arms.

STARS

Fig. 18.1. The Milky Way galaxy

Stars are the bright celestial bodies we see in the night sky. They are huge balls of luminous
gases. They emit light. They are of different sizes. The Sun is an average-sized star. Some
stars that you see in the night sky may actually be bigger than the Sun. However, they still
appear as tiny dots. This is because the Sun is much nearer to us as compared to the other
stars. Stars are also present in the day time. However, we cannot see them because of the
bright light of the Sun. Stars exist in a range of colours such as red, blue, orange, yellow and
so on. A star's colour indicates its temperature as well as composition. A red-coloured star is
the coolest, while blue ones are the hottest. But remember, even the coolest star may have a
surface temperature of about 2500 degree Celsius.
Stars are majorly made up of hydrogen and helium gases. Hydrogen atoms combine to form
helium atoms in the centre of the stars. This reaction is called a nuclear reaction. It releases
a large amount of energy in the form of heat and light.

The light coming from the stars passes through the layers of the atmosphere before reaching
the Earth. It is refracted by these layers and appears to us as a twinkling star.

MEASURING DISTANCES IN THE UNIVERSE

In space, the distance between all the celestial bodies is so large that we cannot use the
same terms of measurement that we use for distances on the Earth. Hence, to measure
distance in space, we use a unit called light-year. One light-year is the distance travelled by
light in one year. The speed of light is about 3,00,000 kilometres per second.

One light-year = Speed of light in km/s x number of seconds in a year = 3,00,000 x 365 x 24
x 60 x 60 km = 95,00,00,00,00,000 km (approx.) 9.5 x 10 km

We can also calculate the time taken by the light to reach the Earth's surface from the Sun. It
can be calculated

as follows: Distance between Earth and Sun Speed of light 15 x 10 km 3 x 10 km/s Time
taken 500 s 8.3 min

Therefore, the time taken by the light to reach the Earth from the Sun is 8.3 min. It can also
be said that the distance between the Earth and the Sun is 8.3 light-minutes. In the same
way, Alpha Centauri is 4.3 light-years away from the Earth. Alpha Centauri is another star
which is close to the Earth.

Find Out

Find the distance between Kashmir (north) and Kanyakumari (south) (in kilometres).
Compare this with the distance between the Sun and the Earth, which is 150 million
kilometres..

It's a Fact

Proxima Centauri is the next closest star to us after the Sun. It is at a distance of about
40,000,000,000,000 km from the Earth..

CONSTELLATIONS

A group of stars that depict a recognisable pattern in the night sky is called a commellation.
There may be many stars in a constellation. But only the brightest stars which are dearly
visible to the naked eye are taken into consideration to form the pattern. There are about 88
different constellations across the whole sky. But no one can see them all. This is because
people in the northern part of the world see different stars from people living in the southern
part. The constellations appear to be moving as a whole from East to West.
Most of the constellations were named a long time ago by the Greeks or Arabs. People
named these constellations after animals, scientific instruments or even mythological
characters. For example, people observed acconstellation comprising seven stars and
arranged it in the pattern of a bear. They named it L'rsa

Major, which means "Big Bear' in Latin. Some of the important constellations are as follows

Ursa Major

One of the most recognisable and famous constellations is the Ursa Major. We can clearly
see this constellation in the early part of the night during sommers. It is made of a group of
seven stars, which appear like a ladle or a question mark. It is also known as big dipper as it
looks like a dipper spoon used to drink water in earlier days. There are three stars in the
handle of the ladle and four in its bowl. The arrangement of the stars also appears like a
bear, thus, it is called the Great Bear (Fig. 18.2).

Ursa Major is very important in our Indian culture. It is known as Septorichi Mandal. It is
associated with the seven well-known ancient Indian sages or rahis

Ursa Minor

Ursa Minor (Fig. 18.3) is also made up of seven bright stars including the Pole Star. It is also
known as Little Bear or Laghu Saptarisht in India.

Fig 18.2 Great Bear

Pole star

Orion

Orion (Fig. 18.4) is another well-known constellation which is easy to locate during the
winters in the late evening. It is also known as the hunter. In India, it is known as the Mrige,
Orion is a group of seven or eight stars. The three stars in the middle represent the belt of
the hunter. The other four bright stars appear to be arranged in the form of a quadrilateral
and form the shoulders and legs of the hunter. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and is
located close to Orion. Imagine a straight line passing through the three middle stars. Extend
this line towards the east; it will lead you to the Sirius.

Fig 18.3 Ursa Minor

Fig. 184 Orion

Scorpius

Scorpius (Fig. 18.5) consists of 18 main stars that take the shape of a scorpion. It is visille
during the summer season.

Fig. 18.5: Scorpius

Cassiopeia (Fig. 18.6) is the another constellation that is visible in the winter sky. // can be
seen in the early part of the night. It appears like a distorted letter W or M. This constellation
is believed to look like the image of the Egyptian queen Cassiopeia

Cassi

MOVEMENT OF STARS

To understand I the movement of stars (Fig. 18.7), let us first read the following activity:

Fig. 18.6: Cassiopeia

ACTIVITY

Real-life connect

move? Tick the appropriate option a moving car or bus. In which direction do the trees and
buildings appear to

• They appear to be moving in the same direction as the car.

. They appear to be moving in the opposite direction of the car.

They appear to be stationary.

Pole star

Let us relate the above activity with the Earth and stars now. The Earth revolves on its axis
from West to East. Hence, the stars appear to be moving from East to West. That is why the
Sun appears to be rising from the East and setting in the West. However, there is one star
which seems to be stationary. This is the Pole Star or North Star. The Pole Star appears to
be stationary because it happens to lie directly above the North Pole, lining up with the
Earth's axis. If you are at the North Pole, the North Star would be directly overhead. Since
the Pole Star always points towards the north, it is used as a guide by sailors sailing in the
deep sea.

Apparent movement of stars

PRACTICE TIME!

Fig. 18.7: Movement of stars

Fill in the blanks.

is the brightest object that we see in the night sky.

2. The study of celestial bodies and all the phenomena associated with them is called
3. is 4.3 light-years away from the Earth.

4. constellation is made up of seven bright stars including the Pole Star.

5. is the brightest star in the sky and is located close to Orion.

6. ................ star does not move from its position in the night sky.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Our solar system (Fig. 18.8) consists of the Sun and other celestial bodies such as planets
and their satellites, asteroids, meteorites, space dust and so on. The Sun lies in the centre of
the solar system. All the planets revolve around the Sun due to its strong gravitational pull.
Our solar system is elliptical in shape. The eight

1 Distorted: twisted out of shape

planets in their order of distance from the Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The Sun

We have learnt that the Sun is the closest star to the Earth. All the planets and other
celestial bodies in the solar system depend on the Sun for heat and light. There are many
stars bigger than the Sun. However, they are extremely far from us; hence they do not exert
a gravitational pull on the Earth. The Sun is a huge ball of gases, mainly hydrogen and
helium just like the stars. It is about 1.4 million kilometres in diameter and about 150 million
kilometres away from the Earth. The surface temperature of the Sun is about 6000 degree
Celsius whereas that at the centre is about 14 million degrees Celsius. Na

Fig. 18.8: The solar system

The Planets

Planets are the celestial bodies that revolve around the Sun. Some planets are visible to the
naked eye. How do we distinguish between a star and a planet? Planets do not emit light. All
planets reflect the sunlight that falls on them whereas all the stars emit their own light.
Besides this, the stars twinkle while a planet does not. All planets revolve around the Sun in
a fixed elliptical path, known as orbit. The movement of planets around the Sun in their orbits
is called revolution. Different planets have different time periods to complete one revolution
around the Sun. The Earth takes near about 365.25 days to complete one revolution around
the Sun. Another movement exhibited by the planets is rotation. The spinning movement of
the planets on their imaginary axis is called rotation. Some planets rotate at a very fast
speed, while others rotate slowly. The time taken by a planet to rotate once on its axis is
called the period of rotation. The period of rotation of the Earth is 24 hours. The time taken
by a planet to complete one revolution is called its period of revolution. The period of
revolution of the Earth is 365.25 days.
Find Out

1. Which planet rotates the fastest on its axis? Jupita

2. Which planet takes the least time to complete one revolution around the Sun?

Inner and Outer Planets

The planets are divided into two categories-inner and outer planets:

The inner planets are also known as terrestrial planets. They have a rocky surface. The four
inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The inner planets have none or very few
natural satellites.

Say it Correct

Terrestrial-teres tree-al.

The outer planets are made of hydrogen, helium and other gases. The four outer planets are
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Jupiter and Saturn are known as gas giants of our
solar system. All the outer planets also have a ring system around them. The outer planets
have a large number of natural satellites as compared to inner planets. Uranus and Neptune
are very cold and are called as ice giants of our solar system.

Let us discuss about each planet in detail.

Mercury: Mercury (Budh) is the closest planet to the Sun (Fig. 18.9). It does not have any
atmosphere or water. It is the smallest planet of our solar system. This planet is visible from
the Earth just before sunrise or after sunset, near the horizon. Mercury does

246

Fig. 18.9: Mercury

not have any natural satellite. It is very hot (about 400 degrees Celsius) during the day and
freezing cold -200 degrees Celsius) at night. It has many bowl-shaped holes called during
this surface

Venus: Venus (Shukra) is the Earth's nearest neighbour (Fig. 18.10). It is the second planet
from the Sun and is visible from the Earth with the naked eye. It appears as a bright object in
the eastern sky before sunrise and sometimes in the western sky just after sunset. For this
reason, it is also known as a morning or an evening star. It is called a star because it looks
bright like a star. It appears as an evening star for about 292 days and then as a morning
star for the next 292 days. Venus is also referred to as Earth's twin sister. This is because
Venus and Earth are quite similar to each other in terms of the density' and mass. It rotates
on its axis from East to West (all other planets rotate from West to East).

Fig. 18.10: Venus

Venus is the hottest planet of our solar system. It has an atmosphere comprising a high
percentage of carbon dioxide gas. This gas traps the heat of the Sun. Hence, the surface
temperature of Venus is very high. It is about 480 degrees Celsius.

Earth: The Earth (Fig. 18.11) or Prithvi is the only planet in the solar system which is known
to have life. The following reasons make the Earth a habitable place:

The Earth is at the correct distance from the Sun. This makes it neither a too hot nor a too
cold planet.

⚫ It has an atmosphere comprising different gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen and
oxygen in the right composition.

The atmosphere of the Earth has a protective layer called ozone. The ozone layer absorbs
the harmful ultraviolet radiations of the Sun.

Fig. 18.11: Earth

When seen from space, the Earth appears blue-green in colour. This is because of the
reflection of the light

from water and land. The interesting thing to know is that the Earth rotates in a tilted manner.
In other words,

the axis of rotation of Earth is not perpendicular to its orbit but is tilted at an angle. This tilt
causes the seasons

to change on the Earth. The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth,

The Earth has various freshwater sources.

Mars: Mars (Mangal) is the fourth planet from the Sun. The surface of Mars (Fig. 18.12) has
an orange-reddish colour because its soil has iron oxide or rust particles in it. Due to storms,
this soil is blown into the thin light atmosphere of Mars, giving it a reddish colour. Hence,
Mars is the red planet of our solar system. It has two small natural satellites. The surface of
Mars is covered with craters and mountains. The temperature on Mars ranges from -120
degree Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius, which makes it a very cold planet.

Fig. 18.12: Mars

Jupiter: Jupiter (Brihaspati) is the largest planet of our solar system (Fig. 18.13). It comprises
of gases. There is no rocky surface on Jupiter. About 1800 Earth-size planets can fit into this
large planet. The mass of Jupiter is about 318 times that of Earth. It rotates very fast on its
axis. Jupiter appears quite bright in the sky. It also has faint rings around it. Jupiter has many
natural satellites. Four of its satellites can be seen from the Earth using a telescope. It has a
large red spot on its surface which is actually a giant storm that has been going on for years.
2. Density: highly thick or heavy

Fig. 18:13: Jupiter

Saturn: Saturn (Shani) (Fig. 18.14) appears yellowish in colour. The unique thing about this
planet is its beautiful rings which are made of ice and dust and they can be observed using a
telescope. It is the least dense planet. It is even less dense than water. That means if we
ever put Saturn in water, it will float on the surface. Saturn also has many satellites

Fig. 18.14: Saturn

Uranus: Uranus (Fig. 18/15) can only be seen using a powerful telescope. ike Venus, Uranus
also rotates from East to West, Uranus has a highly tilted axis, which makes it appear as if it
is rolling on its side.

Fig. 18.15: Uranus

Neptune: Neptune (Fig. 18.16) is the outermost planet of the solar system. It can be viewed
with a powerful telescope. Neptune appears bluish in colour. Neptume is the coldest planet
of the solar system.

Fig. 18.16: Neptune

THE MOON

The celestial object which orbits the planets is called the natural satellite. Moon (Fig. 18.17)
is the only natural satellite of the Earth. Moon does not have the light of its own but reflects
the Sun's light.

About our Moon

Fig. 18.17: Moon

The Moon is our closest neighbour in space. It is about one-quarter the size of our planet. It
does not have any atmosphere. Hence, it is hot during the day time and extremely cold
during night time.

The Moon and the Sun appear to be of the same size as the Earth. However, the Sun is
almost 400 times bigger than the Moon. They seem to be of the same size because the
Moon is closer to us as compared to the Sun. The surface of the Moon is not smooth. There
are many dents on its surface called craters (Fig. 18.18). The craters are formed as a result
of meteoroids striking its surface. The meteoroids keep colliding with the surface of the Moon
as the latter does not have a protective atmosphere. The Moon also has a large number of
steep and high mountains on it. Some of these mountains are as high as the mountains
found on the Earth.

On July 21, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins
were the first humans on Moon.
Think and Discuss

Can you live on the Moon? What are the things needed for life to survive on the Moon?.

Fig. 18:18: Craters on the Moon surface

It's a Fact

Since there is no air on Moon, so the sound waves cannot travel. Hence, you cannot hear
any sound on Moon 2 Moon in our solar Mercury..

Phases of the Moon

just like the planets, the Moon does not have the light of its own. The Sun always illuminates
a portion of the Moon and only that part which reflects sunlight is visible to us. Every might,
the shape of the Moon is different. The different shapes of the lit portion of the Moon that are
visible from Earth are known as phases of the Moon (Fig. 18.19).

when the Earth is in between the Sun and the Moon, the Moon appears to be completely lit.
We call this Full Moon (purnima). When the Moon is in between the Earth and the Sun, the
side of the Moon facing the Earth becomes dark. We call this a New Moon (amavasya).

EAST ON

In between the Full Moon and New Moon, we see different shapes of the Moon. On Full
Moon, we see the fully illuminated whole disc-shaped Moon. After that, every night the size
of the bright part of the Moon appears to be decreasing in size till it completely disappears
on the fifteenth day (called New Moon). The gradual decrease in the size of the moon is
called waning. On the night after the new Moon, we can see a slight sliver of the Moon,
which looks like a crescent. This is known as crescent Moon. The size of the crescent Moon
appears to increase every night. The gradual increase in size of the Moon is called waxing.

Fig. 18.19: Different phases of the Moon

Say it Correct Crescent-kree-sent.

When half of the moon becomes brighter and is visible to us, it is called the half Moon or first
quarter. The visible portion gradually increases and soon we can see more than half the
Moon. It is now called the gibbous Moon. This is followed by the full Moon and the entire
cycle repeats itself every 14 days. The time period from one full Moon to the next full Moon
is slightly longer than 29 days. In many calendars, this period is called a month,

OTHER CELESTIAL OBJECTS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Besides the planets, stars and Moon, some other celestial bodies are present in our solar
system. Let us learn about them.

Asteroids
In between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, there is a large number of small objects that
revolve around the Sun. These celestial objects are called asteroids (Fig. 18.20). It is
hypothesised that asteroids are the remains of another much bigger planet. The asteroids
revolve around the Sun like all the other celestial bodies in the solar system. As there are
many big and small

3 Illuminates: brightens

Fig. 18.20: Asteroids

249

asteroids in the region, it is called the asteroid belt. The most massive object to be found in
the asteroid belt is the 'Ceres (diameter 1003 km).

Comets

Comets (Fig. 18.21) also revolve around the Sun. A comet is made of ice, dust and gas.
They are like dirty snowballs. The orbits of comets are elliptical in shape. The period of
revolution of a comet is very long. For example, the orbit period of Haley's Comet is 75
years. As it was last seen in 1986, we will again see it in 2061. A comet appears to have a
bright head with a long tail. The Sun's heat vaporises some of the comet's material, thereby
releasing dust particles that were trapped in the ice. This forms the dust tail. The tail of a
comet is always directed away from the Sun. The length of the tail increases in size as it
approaches the Sun.

Fig. 18.21: Comets

Meteors and Meteorites

Have you ever noticed bright streaks of light in the sky? These are meteors which are also
commonly known as shooting stars. A meteor is a small object that enters the Earth's
atmosphere at very high speed. High speed and the friction of the atmosphere cause the
meteor to burn and evaporate quickly. As it is burning and glowing, it appears like a star.
Meteor moves at high speed and leaves behind bright streaks in the sky for a short time.
When a large number of meteors fall in the Earth's atmosphere at the same time, it is called
a meteor shower (Fig. 18.22). Some meteors are quite big in size and do not evaporate
completely in the atmosphere. Therefore, these meteors strike the Earth's surface and are
called meteorites. Scientists study these meteorites to understand how they were formed in
the solar system.

Fig. 18.22: Meteor shower

ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES
The human-made structures which are launched in the space with a specific purpose are
called artificial satellites (Fig. 18.23). They also revolve around the Earth but they are much
closer than the Moon.

The first satellite launched into space was called Sputnik 1. It was launched by erstwhile
USSR (now Russia) on 4 October 1957. India sent the first satellite into space on 19 April
1975.

Uses of Artificial Satellites

Fig. 18.23: Artificial satellite

Each satellite has a specific purpose or mission such as weather forecasting,

telecommunication, transmitting

radio and television signals and so on. How do you get daily weather forecasting? There are
weather satellites

which gather information. The information and images that are sent back by satellite helps
the meteorologists

to predict the upcoming weather. India has launched several artificial satellites. Some of the
famous Indian

satellites are Aryabhata, INSAT, IRS, Kalpana-1 and EDUSAT. Satellites take images of
celestial objects such

as the Moon and other planets and help us to know more about the solar system. They also
take photographs

of land on the Earth to identify deposits of various minerals. This process of collecting
information through a

remotely placed object is called remote sensing

JEXERCISE

A. Tick the correct answer.

1. Which one of the following constellations is associated with well-known ancient Indian
sages or ruhis?

a. Ursa minor

b. Ursa Major

c. Orion
2. Which one of the following planets is also referred to as Earth's twin sister?

a. Jupiter

b. Saturn

3. Which of these does not have any rocky surface?

a. Mercury

b. Venus

4. Which planet appears as if it is rolling on its sides?

a. Earth

b. Neptune

5. Venus can be seen in evenings in the

c. Uranus

Jupiter

c. Uranus

d. Cassiopeia

d. Venus

d. Earth

d. Saturn

a. Western sky

6. We call this a New Moon

a. When Moon is fully lit

b. Eastern sky

c. Northern sky

c. When half crescent-shaped Moon is seen

b. When Moon is dark

d. None of these.

7. Which one of the following celestial objects is also known as shooting star?

a. Meteor

B. Fill in the blanks.

1. are majorly made up of hydrogen and helium gas.

2. The appears to be moving as a whole from East to West. appears like a distorted M or W
in the sky.

b. Comet

c. Asteroid

around them. 4. All gaseous planets have

is the closest planet to the Sun. 5.

6. is also known as Shukra in India.

7 is the coldest planet of our solar system.

8. The gradual increase in the size of the Moon is called

9. The most massive object to be found in the asteroid belt isdo

10. The first satellite to go in space was called

C. Write T for True and F for False. Correct the false statement(s).

1. Planets twinkle at night.

2. The light coming from the stars passes through the layers of atmosphere before reaching
the Earth.

3. Orion constellation is also known as great bear.

4. All planets revolve around the Sun in a fixed elliptical path known as rotation.

5. The atmosphere of Earth has a protective layer called ozone.

6. Mercury is the outermost planet of the solar system.

7. When a large number of meteors falls in the Earth's atmosphere at the same time, it is
called meteor shower
8. India sent her first satellite in space on 19 April 1975.

d. Southern sky

d. None of these

252

. Match the following.

Column A

1. Celestial bodies

2. Big Dipper

3. Saturn

4. Orion

5. Mars

6. 365.25 days

E. Very short answer questions

Column B

a. Period of revolution of Earth

b. Also known as Hunter

c. Planet with orange-reddish colour

d. Natural bodies present in the sky

e. Ursa Major

1. Planet with magnificent rings

Give two examples of each of the following.

1. Constellations

F. Short answer questions

2. Inner planets
3. Outer planets

4. Ice giants

5. Artificial satellites

1. What are celestial bodies? Give two examples:

2. Define the term galaxy. Give an example,

3. Why cannot we see stars in the day time

4. Calculate the time taken by the light to reach the Earth from the Sun.

Draw a diagram depicting our solar system. Label the planets. 6. Why is the Earth the only
planet in the solar system to have life?

7. Why do we see only one side of the Moon?

8. Why are there craters on the surface of the Moon?

9. Differentiate between the following:

a. Planet and star

h. Inner planets and outer planets

c. Asteroid and meteorite

d. Meteor and meteorite

G. Long answer questions

1. Write a short note on the following constellations.

a. Ursa Major

b. Ursa Minor

c. Orion

d. Scorpius

e. Cassiopeia

2. How will you locate the position of Pole Star? Explain with the help of an activity.
3. Describe all the planets of our solar system briefly.

4. Explain the various phases of the Moon using a diagram.

5. What are comets? Why do they appear to have a tail?

6. What are artificial satellites? How are they helpful to us? Give a few examples.

THINK AND ANSWER

1. Why is it summer on the eve of Christmas in Australia?

2. Imagine you are on Venus. How will the night sky appear to you? Will it be the same as
the night sky on Earth? Explain

3. What would have happened if we did not have an atmosphere?

DISCUSS

In a solar system, all celestial bodies need each other and also affect each other. Do you
agree? Give reasons to support your answer.

FUN ACTIVITIES

Solve the crossword using the clues.

Across

1. The protective layer of the Earth's atmosphere

2. The constellation which appears like a distorted letter W or M 3. The objects that revolve
around the Sun and are majorly present between Mars and Jupiter

4. The least dense planet of our solar system

Down

5. The mass of this planet is about 318 times that of the Earth

6. The fixed elliptical path on which planets revolve

7. The first Indian satellite

SKILLS FOR LIFE

Name and draw the different phases of the Moon. What is the significance of New Moon and
Full Moon days?
What would happen if there is no Moon?

Have you ever tried to watch a night sky? What do you see? You may see the Moon, stars,
constellations and clouds sometimes.

AF

There are galaxies and worlds far beyond our own, and these have existed and will exist far
beyond our time on the Earth. What do you feel when you realize this?

SUBJECT CONNECT GENERAL KNOWLEDGE •

Find out and write the following information about ISRO

1. Full form of ISRO

2. Headquarters

3. Chairman of ISRO

4. ISRO's mission to Moon and Mars, respectively

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES Skills assossed: Presentation, Information literacy, Research,

Creative thinking

1. Field visit: Visit a planetarium. Note down your experience on an A4 sheet of paper and
paste the relevant pictures. Compare with that of your friends.

2. PowerPoint presentation: Make a PowerPoint presentation on different constellations. Use

one slide for describing each constellation. You may apply a suitable theme and sounds to
your presentation. Apply suitable Animation and Transition effects to make it look interesting.
Present to the class.

3. Model making: Make a scaled 3D model of the Solar system using textured paper,
thermocol sheets, thread, colour, glitter, glue and so on.

OLD IS GOLD

Q: How did people in ancient India study celestial objects?

A: Since ancient times, India has made immense contributions towards the understanding of
the celestial bodies The Vedas mention details about the celestial bodies. In the 5th century,
the great Indian astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata advanced the heliocentric theory
(a theory that the Sun is the centre of the universe) and also mentioned his idea that the Sun
is the source of moonlight. He also studied eclipses. At that point of time. he relied on Vedas
which gave him enough understanding to calculate all these facts, Gola yantra, also known
as the armillary sphere, was used for observation and also finds mention in the works of
Aryabhata. In the

13th century, his books were translated into Latin which influenced many European
mathematicians and

astronomers.

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