1. What are asteroids ?Comets and asteroids are small planets, ranging in sizefrom baseball-sized meteors to 1/3 the size of the moon.They are the rocky and icy bodies left over from theformation of the solar system. Originally, the populationwas much larger. With time, however, most of these bodieshave either collided together to form the major planets,were ejected from the inner solar system into the Oortcloud, or were ejected out of the solar system altogether.The comets and asteroids we see today are the residualpopulation.

2. The Night SkyThese occurs in form of huge branch orcluster .such a group of stars is called agalaxy.The sun, the earth and other planet andall the stars we see in the sky belong tothe galaxy called milk way . It is alsocalled akash ganga 3. Star constellationStarHeavenly bodies thatgives out light regularly.we can see at night .ConstellationThe constellation aregroup of starforming somerecognizable shape 4. Constellation 5. Difference between galaxy andconstellationGalaxy ConstellationIt is a collection of billions ofstars.It is a collection of only a fewstars.Resembling human beings oranimals.Stars in the constellation arearranged in patternsresembling human beings orsome animals.There are billions of galaxies inthe Universe.There are only about 88constellations.There are not many galaxies,which are visible to the nakedeyes.There are many constellations,which can be observed withthe help of naked eyes. 6. Ursa Major Constellation (or GreatBear Constellation).The Indian name for the Ursa Major Constellation isSaptsrishi.This constellation consists of seven bright stars and is visible during thesummer season in the northern part of the sky.The arrangement of stars in this constellation. 7. Ursa Minor Constellation orLittle Bear ConstellationThe Ursa Minor Constellation also contains seven stars.The arrangement of stars in this constellation is similarto that in the Ursa Major, the only difference being thestars in the Ursa Minor Constellation are closertogether.The stars in the Ursa Minor are less bright than thoseof the Ursa Major Constellation. 8. ORION CONSTELLATION (OR HUNTERCONSTELLATION).The Indian name for Orion Constellation is Vyadha orMirga.The arrangement of stars in this constellation resembles ahunter.The seven major stars of this constellation supposed to beforming the body of the hunter are arranged.The three stars are the belt of the hunter. Some other starswhich from the head and limbs of the hunter have not beenshown in the figure.This constellation is visible during the winter season in thenorth eastern part of the sky. 9. Scorpio ConstellationThis constellation is usually visible in the summerseason. The arrangement of stars in this constellationclosely resembles a scorpion with tail and pincers asillustrated. The Indian name for the ScorpioConstellation is Vrishchika.Some important constellation areCancer,chitra,Leo,Pisces,Ashwani etc. 10. Moon 11. Phases of moonNew Moon - The Moon's unilluminatedside is facing the Earth. The Moon is notvisible (except during a solar eclipse). 12. Waning Gibbous - The Moon appears to bemore than one-half but not fully illuminatedby direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon'sdisk that is illuminated is decreasing.Last Quarter - One-half of the Moon appearsto be illuminated by direct sunlight. Thefraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminatedis decreasing.Waning Crescent - The Moon appears to bepartly but less than one-half illuminated bydirect sunlight. The fraction of the Moon'sdisk that is illuminated is decreasingNew Moon - The Moon's unilluminated side isfacing the Earth. The Moon is not visible(except during a solar eclipse).Waxing Crescent - The Moon appears to bepartly but less than one-half illuminated bydirect sunlight. The fraction of the Moon'sdisk that is illuminated is increasing.Full Moon - The Moon's illuminated sideis facing the Earth. The Moon appears tobe completely illuminated by directsunlight.Waxing Gibbous - The Moon appears to be morethan one-half but not fully illuminated by directsunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that isilluminated is increasing.First Quarter - One-half of the Moon appearsto be illuminated by direct sunlight. Thefraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminatedis increasing 13. Mercury1.Mercury is the eighth largest planet (or second smallest) in the Solar System.2. The orbital speed of Mercury is 47.8 km/sec3. Mercury has no atmosphere and no known satellites, perhaps because of itsproximity to the Sun.4. The diameter of Planet Mercury is 4,878 km5. The only visit to Mercury was a flyby made by the Mariner 10spacecraft in1974.6. Mercury, often identified with the Greek god, Hermes, is the messenger of thegods in Roman mythology.7. Mercury orbits the sun once every 87.97 Earth Days8. A day, from sunrise to sunrise, on Mercury is equivalent to 176 Earth Days9. Mercurys maximum distance from the Sun = 70 million km (43.5 millionmiles)10. Mercurys minimum distance from Earth = 77 million km (48 million miles)11. Mercury is known as a terrestrial planet consisting of about 70% metallic and30% silicate material.12. Galileo first observed Mercury during the 17th century.13. If you weigh 100 lbs., your weight on Mercury would be 38 lbs. (Multiplyyour actual weight by 0.38) 14. Mean distance from Sun: 0.3871 AU (57,910,000 km/35,980,000mi)Length of Year: 88 daysRotation period: 58.65 daysMean orbital velocity: 48 km/s (30 mi/s)Inclination of axis: 2Average temperature: 800 F (427 C) day-300 F (-183 C) nightDiameter: 4,878 km (3,031 mi)Number of observed satellites: 0Comparisons with Earth:Diameter: 0.38 x Earth'sMean Distance from Sun: 0.387 x Earth'sEarth's Mass: 0.055 x Earth'sDensity: slightly less than Earth's 15. Venus1. The diameter of Venus is 12,100 km (7,522 miles)2. The interior of Venus is composed of a central iron core and a molten rocky mantle, similar tothe composition of Earth.3. The surface of Venus is very dry with flat plains, highland regions, and depressions.4. Venus is the sixth largest planet in the Solar System5. Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun.6. Planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty.7. The atmosphere of Venus is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (96%) and nitrogen (3%),with traces of other gases and little to no water vapor.8. Similar in size, density, and mass, Venus and Earth often referred to as sister planets.9. The orbital speed of Venus is 35 km per second.10. Maximum distance of Venus from the Sun is 109 million km (68 million miles)11. Minimum distance of Venus from the Earth is 40 million km (25 million miles)12. Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System.13. Venus is one of the brightest objects in the sky, next to the Sun and Moon.14. It takes 243 days for Venus to rotate on its axis.15. The surface of Venus may have been formed by a lot of volcanic activity. It is said to have 167volcanoes that measure up to 100 km across.16. If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Venus would be 88 lbs. (multiply your actual weight by0.88) 16. Mean distance from the Sun: 0.7233 AU (108,200,000 km/67,230,000 mi)Length of year: 225 daysRotation period: 243 days (retrograde)Mean orbital velocity: 35 km/sec (21.8 mi/sec)Inclination of axis: 177.3Diameter: 12,102 km (7520 mi)Number of observed satellites: 0Comparisons with Earth:Mean distance from Sun: 0.723 x Earth'sDiameter: 0.95 x Earth'sMass: 0.81 x Earth'sDensity: 0.9 x Earth's 17. Earth1. The Earth is around 4.6 billion years old.2. The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.3. The Earths atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (.93%),and carbon dioxide (0.03%).4. Earths atmosphere divided in 5 sections from the surface: Troposphere (0-13 km), OzoneLayer (13-25 km), Stratosphere (25-50 km), Mesosphere (50-75 km), and Thermosphere (75-150 km)5. Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar System.6. The Diameter of the Earth is 12,756 km (7,926 miles)7. The earths orbital speed is 29.8 km per second.8. Earth has only one satellite, the Moon. The Moon is the second brightest object in the skyfrom Earth.9. Earth has an average surface temperature of 13 degrees C (55.4 degrees F).10. The greenhouse effect raises Earths temperature 35 degrees C (95 degrees F).11. Earths distance from the Sun Min. 146 million km (91million miles) Max. 152 million km(94.5 million miles).12. Earth is composed of: iron (32%), oxygen (30%), silicon (15%), magnesium (14%), sulfur(3%), nickel (2%), calcium (1.5%), aluminum (1/4%) and the remainder made up of otherelements.13. Earths main tectonic plates: African plate, Antarctic plate, Indo-Australian Plate, EurasianPlate, North American Plate, South American Plate, and the Pacific Plate.14. Earth has several layers with unique chemical and seismic properties: Crust (0-40 km),upper mantle (40-400 km), transition region (400-650 km), lower mantle (650-2700 km), Dlayer (2700-2890 km), outer core (2890-5150 km), and the inner core (5150-6378 km) from thesurface. 18. Mean distance from the Sun: 1 AU (149,600,000 km/ 92,960,000 mi)Length of year: 365.26 daysRotation period: 23.93 hoursMean orbital velocity: 29.79 km/sec (18.6 mi/sec)Inclination of axis: 23.45Average temperature: 59 F (15 C)Diameter: (equatorial) 12,756 km (7,926 mi)Number of observed satellites: 1 19. Mars1. Known as the Red Planet, Mars is characterized by its red, dusty landscape.2. The atmosphere on Mars is very thin, composed mainly of carbon dioxide (95%), nitrogen (2.7%),and argon (1.6%), with traces of oxygen and water.3. The orbital speed of Mars is 24.2 km per second.4. Temperatures on Mars vary from a maximum of 0 degrees C (32 degrees F) to minimum -100degrees C (-148 degrees F).5. The diameter of the planet Mars is 6,785 km6. A Mars year is equal to 686.98 Earth Days7. A day in Mars is equal to 24.6 Earth Hours8. Mars maximum distance from the Sun = 249 million km (155 million miles)9. Mars is 35 million miles from Earth10. Mars is the god of war in Roman mythology (Ares).11. Mars has two small satellites named Phobos and Deimos.12. Asaph Hall discovered both of Mars moons, Phobos and Deimos, in August 1877.13. Mariner 4 first successful flyby mission to Mars. Launched on November 28, 1964 and arrivedat Mars on July 14, 1965.14. Mariner 9 first successful orbit of Mars. Launched May 30, 1971 and began orbit November 13,1971.15. Viking 1 Successful orbit and landing on surface of Mars. Launched August 20, 1975 andarrived at Mars July 20, 1976.16. If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Mars would be 38 lbs. (multiply your actual weight by 0.38) 20. Mean distance fromSun:1.524 AU(228,000,000km/141,700,000 mi)Diameter: 6,792 km (4,220 mi)Length of year: 687 daysRotation period: 24 hr 37 min24.14 km/sec (15Mean orbital velocity:mi/sec)Inclination of axis: 25.2Mean density: 3.95 grams/cmInclination to ecliptic: 1.85Number of observedsatellites:2 21. Saturn1. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest.2. Saturn was the god of agriculture in Roman mythology. Saturn is also the father of Jupiter, the kingof the Roman gods.3. Saturn is flattened at the poles, due to a fast rotation on its axis.4. Saturn has 62 known moons, fifty-three have been named. Most of them are small in size.5. Names of some of Saturns moons: the largest is Titan, discovered in 1655; Tethys, Dionne, Rhea, &Impetus, discovered from 1671 to 1672; Mimas & Enceladus, discovered in 1789; and Hyperion,discovered in 1848.6. A year on Saturn is equal to 29.5 Earth Years7. Saturn is the only planet in our solar system that is less dense that water.8. A day on Saturn is equal to 10 hours and 14 minutes in Earth days.9. Diameter of Saturn is 119,871 km (74,500 miles)10. Saturns maximum distance from the Sun is 1.5 billion km (938 million miles)11. Saturns minimum distance from Earth is 1.2 billion km (746 million miles)12. Saturn has fourteen subdivisions of its rings, the widest is at 25,500 km, the B ring.13. Saturns rings are made primarily of water ice mixed with dust and other chemicals.14. Saturns fame has been observed going back to ancient times, the Babylonians, Romans, Greek,Hindus, and many more ancient civilizations have taken great interest in studying this ringed planet.15. If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Saturn would be 108 lbs. (multiply your actual weight by 1.08)16. The temperature on Saturn by the clouds is at -274 F. 22. Mean Distance from the Sun:9.539 AU1, 427,000,000 km /886,700,000 miLength of Year: 29.46 Earth yearsRotation Period: 10.66 hoursMean Orbital Velocity: 9.64 km/s (6 mi/s)Inclination of Axis: 26.73 degreesDiameter: 120,536 km (74,901 mi)Number of Observed Satellites: >25Comparisons With Earth:Diameter: 9.4 X Earth'sAverage Distance from the Sun: 9.5 X Earth'sMass: 95 X Earth'sDensity: 0.13 X Earth's 23. 1. Jupiters equatorial diameter is 142,984 km2. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is 318 times larger than Earth.3. The orbital speed of Jupiter is 13.1 km/sec4. A year on Jupiter is equal to 11.9 Earth Years5. A day on Jupiter is equal to 9.8 Earth Hours6. Jupiter, sometimes called Jove, was the King of the gods in Roman mythology and the son ofSaturn.7. Jupiters maximum distance from the Sun = 817 million km (508 million miles)8. Jupiters minimum distance from Earth = 588 million km (365 million miles)9. Pioneer 10 first spacecraft sent to explore Jupiter in December 1973. Pioneer 10 only did a flyby.10. Jupiter has sixty three moons or satellites, eight are regular and 55 irregular.11. Jupiters four largest moons are named: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.12. Voyager 1 provided some of the earliest clear and up close photographs of Jupiter in January of1979.13. Jupiter has rings, the third planet discovered to have a ring system in our Solar System.14. Jupiters rings are identified as: Halo ring, Main ring, Amalthea gossamer ring, and Thebegossamer ring.15. Jupiters rings were discovered by Voyager 1 in 1979.16. If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Jupiter would be 234 lbs. (multiply your actual weight by2.34)Jupiter 24. Mean distance from the Sun: 5.203 AU(778,400,000 km/483,700,000 mi)Length of Year: 11.86 yearsRotation Period: 9.92 hoursMean Orbital Velocity: 13.06 km/s (8.1 mi/s)Inclination of Axis: 3.12Diameter: 142,980 km/88,846 miNumber of observed satellites: >60 25. Uranus1. Uranus is named after the Greek god of the sky. Uranus was the husband of Gaia, the goddess ofthe Earth.2. The orbital speed of Uranus is 6.6 km/sec3. A year on Uranus is equal to 84.01 Earth Years4. Uranus is the third largest planet in the Solar System.5. The atmosphere of Uranus is composed of hydrogen, helium, and methane. The methane in theatmosphere absorbs red light, giving the planet a blue-green color.6. Uranus is considered unusual because the planet is tipped on its side. The poles actually pointtowards the Sun. This is due to the fact that its magnetic field is tilted 60 degrees from the axis ofrotation.7. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus.8. Like Venus, Uranus spins from east to west, which is opposite from the spin of Earth.9. A day on Uranus is equal to a little more than 17 hours on Earth.10. Uranus maximum distance from the Sun is 3 billion km (1.88) billion miles11. Uranus minimum distance from the Earth is 2.6 billion km (1.6 billion miles)12. Diameter of Uranus is 51,488 km (32,000 miles)13. The 27 moons of Uranus are named after characters created by William Shakespeare andAlexander Pope.14. William Herschel identified Titania and Oberon in 1787, these are the first two moons ofUranus that were discovered.15. If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Uranus would be 89 lbs. (multiply your actual weight by0.89) 26. Mean distance from Sun: 19.19 AU (2.871 billion km/1.784 billionmi)Length of year: 84.01 Earth yearsRotation period: 17.24 hoursMean orbital velocity: 6.81 km/s (4.2 m/s)Inclination of axis: 97.92Diameter: 51,118 km (31,765 mi)Number of Observed Satellites: >20Diameter: 4.0 x Earth'sMean Distance from Sun: 19.2 x Earth'sMass: 14.5 x Earth'sDensity: 0.22 x Earth's 27. Neptune1. Neptune is the fourth largest planet in the Solar System.2. Neptune is a gaseous planet, composed of hydrogen, helium, methane, with traces of ammonia andwater.3. Neptune was discovered by Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams, and Johann Galle on September23, 1846.4. The only spacecraft ever to visit Neptune was Voyager 2 in 1989.5. In Roman mythology, Neptune is the god of the sea.6. Neptune has strong winds which is more than any other planet in the Solar System. Winds onNeptune can get up to 2,000 km/hour (1,200 miles/hour). The Scooter is a cloud that moves aroundNeptune about every 16 hours.7. The blue color of the planet is due to the absorption of red light by methane in the atmosphere.8. The orbital speed of Neptune is 5.4 km/second.9. The diameter of Neptune is 49,493 km10. One Neptune day is equal to 16 hours in Earth time.11. One Neptune year is equal to 164.83 Earth Years12. Neptunes maximum distance from the Sun 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion miles)13. Neptunes minimum distance from Earth 4.3 billion km (2.7 billion miles)14. Neptune has 13 moons, the largest of which is named Triton. The other moons are: Naiad, Thalassa,Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia, Neso, and Psamathe.15. Neptune has five main rings, they are named after the people who had been doing work on theplanet; the rings are: Halle, Le Verrier, Lassell, Arago, and Adams.16. If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Neptune would be 113 lbs. (multiply your actual weight by1.18) 28. Mean Distance from the Sun: 30.06 AU (4.497 billion km/2.794 billionmi)Length of year: 165 yearsRotation period: 16.11 hoursMean orbital velocity: 5.43 km/s (3.3 mi/s)Diameter: 49,528 km/30,775 miInclination of axis: 29.6Number of observed satellites: 8Comparisons with Earth:Diameter: 3.883 x Earth'sAverage distance from Sun: 30.06 x Earth'sMass: 17.14 x Earth'sDensity: 0.31 x Earth's 29. Pluto1. Pluto is the smallest planet in the Solar System, smaller than Earths Moon, and half the width of Jupiters moon,Ganymede.2. Plutos journey around the Sun takes 248 Earth years. This means that, since its discovery in 1930, it still has 177years to go until it has made a complete orbit around the Sun.3. Plutos atmosphere is composed of a thin layer of gas containing carbon monoxide, methane, and nitrogen. Itsatmospheric pressure has been estimated to be 1/700,000 compared with that of earth.4. Pluto was the only planet to have been discovered in the Twentieth Century.5. Pluto is the only planet in the Solar System that has not yet been visited by a space probe.6. Pluto orbits the Sun on a different plane than the other 8 planets, going over them and below them.7. Pluto has four identified moons, Charon, the largest is not much bigger than Pluto itself. (Pluto is 2,280kilometers wide, Charon is 1,212 kilometers wide). The other 3 are Nix, Hydra, and newly discovered S/2011 P 1on July of 2011.8. A day on Pluto is equivalent to Earths 6 days and 9 hours, meaning that it has the second slowest rotation in theSolar System (after Venus, which takes 243 days to turn on its axis).9. Plutos orbit is elliptical, meaning that it can come closer to the Sun than Neptune, but then go almost two billionkilometers further away from Neptunes orbit.10. Pluto is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. When viewed through a telescope, it looks like a star.11. Pluto is cold: -233 C (-390 F), just 40 C (72 F) above absolute zero. At this temperature, all elements would befrozen except for neon, hydrogen, and helium.12. Pluto maximum distance from the Sun 7.38 billion km (4.6 billion miles)13. Plutos minimum distance from Earth 4.28 billion km (2.7 billion miles)14. In 2006, Pluto was declassified as a planet by the IAU (International Astronomical Union) and has classifiedPluto as a dwarf planet.15. If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Pluto would be 7 lbs. (multiply your actual weight by .05) 30. Artificial starlight are used for longdistance communication , research,remote sensing and defense 31. Indian satellite 32. Aryabhata was India's first satellite, named after thegreat Indian astronomer of the same name. It waslaunched by the Soviet Union on 19 April 1975from Kapustin Yar using a Cosmos-3M launchvehicle. It was built by the Indian Space ResearchOrganization (ISRO) to gain experience in buildingand operating a satellite in space. 33. causes of EarthquakesEarthquakes are caused when tension is releasedfrom the rocks in the Earth's crust and upper mantle.This tension is due to friction between whatscientists believe are large 'plates' floating onmagma on the Earth's surface. Sometimesearthquakes happen when the rocks in the earth'scrust bend and break. This causes shock waves totravel on the earth's surface, resulting in widespreaddestruction. 34. Done by :-Maheen &Shifa