Stars

1. Stars

2. Brightest Stars • Some stars are brighter than others. The 21 brightest stars are called first magnitude stars. The five brightest are: • Sirius • Canopus • Alpha Centauri (also the closest) • Arcturus • Vega

3. Stars • It is also possible to see planets in the night sky. However, most people mistake them for bright stars. However, there are several ways to determine whether what you see is a star or a planet: • Planets are usually brighter than even the brightest stars. • Planets do not twinkle (flash) whereas stars do • Planets change position each night • Planets have unique colors. Mars is red; Jupiter and Saturn are yellow; Venus and Mercury are white. • Venus is the brightest planet. It can only be seen at sunset (in the west) or just before sunrise (in the east). • http://www.beaconhillacademy.org/lessons/stars-lesson-plan.html

4. Constellations • How are constellations named?
Most of the constellation names we know came from the ancient Middle Eastern, Greek, and Roman cultures. They identified clusters of stars as gods, goddesses, animals, and objects of their stories. It is important to understand that these were not the only cultures populating the night sky with characters important to their lives. • There are 88 constellations. • Orion • Ursa Major (Bear)

5. Constellations • What's a constellation?
A constellation is a group of stars that appears to form a pattern or picture like Orion the Great Hunter, Leo the Lion, or Taurus the Bull. Constellations are easily recognizable patterns that help people orient themselves using the night sky. There are 88 “official” constellations.

6. stars

7. Stars

8. Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcz4vGvoxQA

9. Links • http://hubblesite.org/gallery/ • http://www.middleschoolscience.com/earth.htm