Astronomy Basics

Observing the Sky

• On a clear night, we can see many stars in the sky that are far away from the Earth.
• Some stars are prominent, while others are tiny and faint.
• Many stars twinkle, but some do not.

Heavenly Bodies

• The sun, moon, stars, planets, and other objects in the sky are known as heavenly bodies.
• The sun and moon are relatively close to the Earth, and we can see their round shapes clearly.

Stars

• Stars are heavenly bodies that twinkle.
• Stars have their own light.
• The sun is a star, but it appears big and brilliant because it is closer to us than other stars.

Planets

• Planets are heavenly bodies that do not twinkle.
• Planets do not have their own light, but get light from the stars.
• Planets revolve around a star and rotate around themselves.

The Solar System

• Our Earth is a planet that gets its light from the sun and moves around it.
• The movement of the Earth around the sun is called the revolution of the Earth.
• There are seven other planets that revolve around the sun: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Orbits and Paths

• Each planet in the solar system revolves around the sun along a specific path called its orbit.

Other Heavenly Bodies

• Satellites are heavenly bodies that revolve around planets and get their light from the sun.
• Dwarf planets are smaller heavenly bodies that revolve around the sun independently.
• Asteroids are small heavenly bodies that revolve around the sun, found between Mars and Jupiter.

Learn about the basics of observing the sky, heavenly bodies, and stars. Understand the differences between prominent and faint stars, and the characteristics of celestial objects.