Solar System		Planets
	Sun		Moon
	Meteorites		Comets
	Stars		Asteriods
	Galaxies		Explorations
	Dictionary

 Sun

Are a collection of gas, dust and stars.

The distance across them is usually very great and can be many light-years. For example, our Galaxy is made up of over 100 billion stars. The Sun is just one of them. Our Galaxy is over 100,000 light-years across and 3,000 light-years deep. Our Sun is about 30,000 light-years from the center of our Galaxy.

It is estimated that there are billions of other galaxies in the universe.

The Milky Way is the band of light that is produced by the thousands of stars that lie in the main section of our Galaxy.

Are divided into types. Spiral, ellipitical, lenticular, and irregular are the major types. We are part of a spiral galaxy.

The photograph at the top is an example of a distant spiral galaxy named M100.

Is a satellite of the Earth and orbits around it.

Is the only object in space that man has ever visited. One reason is that the Moon is much closer to Earth than the other planets (on average about 240,000 miles).

Has a diameter of about 3,476 kilometers.

Takes 27.3 days to make one orbit around the Earth. It also takes the Moon 27.3 days to complete one rotation on its axis.

Surface has many craters on it. These were formed by meteor crashes a long time ago.

Causes many of the tides in the Earth's oceans. This is because of the gravity force between the Earth and Moon.

Can be seen clearly with your eyes, binoculars, or a telescope.

Are objects made up of gas, ice and dust. They travel around the Sun in an orbit.

Are warmed up as they approach the Sun. This causes the Comet to form a head and tail. The head is the cloud-like mass we see in the front. The tail is the trailing part which is made up of small particles and ice. 

Lose mass each time they pass through the inner regions of the Solar System.

Are usually named after the person who discovered them.

Halley's Comet (above) and Hale-Bopp Comet (right) are two famous comets.

Are also known as the Minor Planets.

Orbit the Sun mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Usually range in size from 1 kilometer to 1000 kilometers across.

Are difficult to observe because of their small size. 

Gaspra (above) and Ida (right) are two known Asteroids. Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta are some other of the larger Asteroids.

Sometimes have moons that orbit them. Notice the small moon that orbits Ida (right).

This page is dedicated to those who have dared to reach for the stars. You will never be forgotten.

Above, astronauts Jarvis, Mcauliffe, Mcnair, Onizuka, Resnick, Scobee, and Smithm.

Left, astronauts White, Grissom, and Chaffee.

Man has always wanted wanted to explore space and in 1959 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected seven individuals to be our first astronauts.

Project Mercury and project Gemini were our first human space programs and they were mainly concerned with getting a spacecraft to orbit the Earth, having the humans beings aboard survive, and bringing the spacecraft safely back to Earth.

The Apollo program began in 1961 and its mission was to land a spacecraft on the Moon. After many years of preparation and test flights, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the Moon (July 1969, Apollo 11).

Since that historic moment, we have continued to have other spaceflight programs (Skylab, Apollo-Soyaz and the Space Shuttle) but we have never again landed humans on any other planet or object.

We have continued to send unmanned space vehicles (probes) to view the Solar System and land on other planets. Some of their names are Mariner, Pioneer 10 and 11, Viking 1 and 2, Pioneer Venus 1 and 2, Voyager 1 and 2, Magellan, Galileo, Explorer, Ranger, Surveyor, Lunar Orbiter, and Clementine.

In recent years, the Hubble Space Telescope has given us some of the most fantastic images of space that we have ever had.

If you have an interest in the Hubble Telescope, please visit the