Standard 8.E.4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the universe and the predictable patterns caused by Earth’s movement in the solar system.

8.E.4A.1: Obtain and communicate information to model the position of the Sun in the universe, the shapes and composition of galaxies, and the measurement unit needed to identify star and galaxy locations

The Sun is a _______________ in the Milky Way galaxy located in a ________________________________ about ______________________ of the way from the center of the galaxy.

Galaxies are made up of _______________, ______________________, and billions of ______________________ held together by _________________________and have different shapes

Galaxies have __________ basic shapes

1. __________________________ – is a spherical or flattened disks or elongated (stretched oval shape) disk

2. __________________________– has a nucleus of bright stars and two or more spiral arms

3. ____________________________ – has no definite shape

Guess That Galaxy:

1. ____________________________ 2. _____________________________ 3. ___________________________

LIGHT YEARS

Because distances in space are so great that conventional numbers are too large to work with, astronomers use a unit of measurement called light year to measure the __________________________ to stars and galaxies in space. The distance in one light year is equal to the distance light travels in one year.

WHAT IS A LIGHT YEAR?

______________________________is a measure of distance, not time. It is the total distance that a beam of light, moving in a straight line, travels in one year.

Light travels 9.46 x 1012

km (5.88 x 1012

miles) in a year. This means that the light that we are seeing from objects in the sky is from the past.

The light from our star leaves the surface of the Sun ________________________ before it reaches us.

The light from the nearest large galaxy, ______________________________, was emitted 2.5 million years ago. Therefore, the images we see of these objects are how they looked at the time in the past when their light left them. The further away an object is, the ____________________ the light is that we are receiving from it.

The _________________________ of galaxies can change over time as a result of various factors including _________________________________ with other galaxies and the evolution of the galaxy itself.

IMPORTANT ASTRONOMERS

There are multiple historical figures that have contributed to our current understanding of the Sun’s location in the Milky Way. The following are included:

o Johannes Kepler o Galileo Galilei o Tycho Brahe

_____________________ Galilee:What he did:1. Father of modern astronomy (study of stars)2. Proved that the sun is the center of the Earth3. Improved the telescope

Johannes ________________________:What he did:1. Proposed elliptical orbit of planets around the sun 2. Also said earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around

Edwin ________________________:What he did:1. Classified galaxies by their shapes

We still use the names he came up with today!

DID YOU KNOW?

Both men got in trouble for saying that the earth revolved

around the sun because nobody believed them!