Exploring the universe: Changes in the solar system - Part 1

From small we look at the sky trying to understand that there are beyond all these bright spots, and as we grow, the curiosity to discover the mysteries of the universe becomes bigger. In the school there are few classes for children that explain how our solar system is composed, the function of each planet, the movement of the sun and moon, or how meteorites act to mention only some things that we can discover by studying space.

Based on my own experience, and considering that the study of the universe is important to explain to children and adults that we are part of it and we are still oblivious to much information, I will share several posts exploring the universe in a practical, simple and motivating way, to that children and adults are interested in this topic.

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Did you know:

Now there are 8 planets that make up the solar system!

The solar system was made up of nine planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. But from 2006 a group of scientists and astronomers decided that Pluto no longer belonged to this group, because the current research determined that it did not have the same characteristics as other planets. This decision was not unanimous but it was by majority. If in your time you learned that there were nine planets that made up the solar system, let me tell you that there are now eight.

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Why did Pluto become a dwarf planet?

Each planet has its own characteristics and according to this, they determined that Pluto did not look like the others, since a planet is big enough to have a round shape and this is almost round, plus Pluto is only half the size of its moon, generating a disordered orbit, while the true planets are much larger than their respective moons and have enough capacity to clean their orbital neighborhoods.

For this reason, Pluto became a dwarf planet, currently there are 44 dwarf planets, highlighting Ceres, Eris, Makemake and Haumea, with Pluton being the second largest. There may be other dwarf planets that have not yet been discovered.

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Order of the planets according to their distance from the sun.

Mercury is the planet closest to the sun and the smallest in the solar system. Venus follows the most luminous planet after the sun and the moon thanks to its silver color. The third place according to the distance to the sun is the Earth, our home considered the only habitable planet thanks to the water reserves it has. Then follows Mars, the so-called red planet due to its color, it is the most similar to the earth, unlike water, which would not be habitable, although NASA continues to investigate because it may have frozen water. We continue with Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. Saturn is the sixth planet and is notable for its mysterious and great ring, the most visible of all. Then, Uranus is the third largest planet, and the first to be discovered by a telescope and finally Neptune, the coldest planet because it is the furthest from the sun and reaches temperatures of 230 degrees below zero.

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Having knowledge about the universe brings great benefits to humanity because we are part of it and any situation that occurs outside the planet Earth, can affect us as humanity.

Activity questions:

1. Currently how many planets make up the solar system? Eight.
2. What is the new dwarf planet? Pluto.
3. What is the name of the planet where we live? Planet Earth.
4. What is the planet closest to the sun? Mercury.
5. What is the red planet? Mars.

Source of information:

• http://www.astromia.com/astronomia/planetasolar.htm

• http://legacy.spitzer.caltech.edu/espanol/edu/askkids/planets_order.shtml

• https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_solar

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://vitafl02.vornix.blog/2018/07/09/exploring-the-universe-changes-in-the-solar-system-part-1/

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