The Name Game

Though English is generally recognized

as the international language for
professional astronomy, other countries
call the Sun by another name in their
everyday language. How many can you
pronounce? Do any astronomical sounds
come from these names?
Spanish and Latin: Sol
French: Soleil
Italian: Sole
German: Sonne
Greek
Helios
Japanese: Taiyou
Korean: Taeyang
Hungarian: Nap
Cha ng i ng
Li ne up
E
very 238 years,
Pluto's shaky orbit
path brings it closer to
the Sun than the orbit
path of Neptune. Thus,
depending on how far
along it is in its orbit,
Pluto can be either the
eight or ninth planet
from the Sun.
A space shuttle landing takes
more than 30 minutes. The
return to Earth begins when
the astronauts sl ow the craft
and ease it into Earth's
atmosphere by using small
rockets in the craft's nose
and tail. After reentry, they
steer it like an airplane, using
rudders and flaps. Here it
sl ows down from 1,000 to 100
meters (about 3,300 to 330
feet) per second and
wi thstands temperatures of
up to 1,800F (1,000C).
Ideally, each shuttle
mission ends wi th a landing
at Florida's Kennedy Space
Center. However, when
weather conditions are poor
there, mission control directs
the shuttle to land on a dry,
desert lakebed at Edwards
Air Force Base in Southern
California. From there, the
shuttle rides back to Kennedy
atop a Boeing 747. After
being checked, it wi l l be
ready for another lift-off in
t wo weeks' time.
S T A R T O U R S
Q: Are there really shooting stars?
A: Not exactly, but meteoroids traveling in outer space
heat up and gl ow as they fall through Earth's atmosphere.
They're called "falling stars" as they fall to Earth.
Weighty Mat t er s
The entire atmosphere wei ghs
5,700,000,000,000,000 t ons
that's 57 trillion tons!
The largest meteorite ever
found on Earth fell in Nami bi a,
Africa. It originally wei ghed
100 tons.
Distorted Views
Through a telescope, Saturn
looks squished. That's because
it's mostly gas and liquid, and it
becomes slightly compressed
as it spins very quickly.
. HJ.
notable notes
Though Uranus was di scovered in 1781, the
only space expedi ti on to it was Voyager 2,
whi ch f l ew by in 1986.
Mer cur y whizzes around the Sun at 30
miles (about 50 km) per second.
If you are 12 years old on Earth, you' d be
only 1 year old on Jupiter.
Venus is not only the cl osest pl anet to
Earth, but also the bri ghtest as seen f rom
Earth. That's why you can someti mes see it
in daylight.
Orbitally speaki ng, the average Earth year
is actual l y 365 days, 5 hours, 48 mi nutes,
and 45.51 seconds. The average Earth day
is 23 hours, 56 mi nutes, and 4.09 seconds.
Saturn' s ring parti cl es vary in size f rom
grains of sugar to the size of a house.
When a comet approaches the Sun, its tail
i s f ol l owi ng; when i t moves away f rom the
Sun, its tai l is leading. That's because of the
pull of the Sun's gravity.
If you' re on the equator, you can vi ew all of
the constel l ati ons over the course of a year.
If you are on the North or South Pole, you
wi l l be able to see only one half of the sky
above you.
The solar system orbits the galaxy about
once every 250 million years. Thus, it has
gone around the gal axy only 15 to 20 ti mes.
See for Yourself:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why do stars twinkle?
2. How many stars can you see on a clear night?
3. Which planets can you see without a telescope?
4. Why does the Moon shine?
War of the Worlds
On October 30,
1938, mass hysteria hit the United States when
Martians invaded New Jersey ... or at least that's what
people believed. An hour-long radio broadcast by
actor Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater on the Air
brought an 1894 book by H. G. Wells, called War of the
Worlds, to life.
In a mock news broadcast that broke into the station's
regular music hour, the audience was told of an
invasion by "monsters" attempting to wipe out
civilization, beginning with New York and New Jersey.
Though an announcement stating that it was a
fictional play ran four times, many listeners tuned in
for only a short time, hearing the message and
reacting immediately. Police
switchboards lit up across the
country, and many people on
the East Coast ran into the
streets or called loved ones in
panic, thinking they would not
have long to live.
MOON MAN Have you ever heard of the man
in the Moon? For generations, some Americans have
claimed to see a human face in the crater-scarred moon.
Other cultures have passed on their own tales about the
figure. Native Americans tell a story of seeing a frog trying
to protect the Moon from a bear that wants to swallow it.
Scandinavian children are taught a folktale about Jack and Jill-type
characters, Hjukl and Bill, who are holding a pail of water and tumbling
down a hill as they are trying to run from their father.