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| Sunday, 26 September 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Sky-gazing Sky-gazing is a hobby that has interested both young and old alike from ancient times. Man's innate curiosity has led him to learn more about his origin, his environment and about the universe itself. What better way to learn about the secrets of the galaxies in this universe! Our solar system is only a small member of the Milky Way - and there are many more such galaxies we don't even know of.Man has used his knowledge of astronomy to help him understand complex subjects such as time keeping, the seasons, air and sea navigation and also explore the outer space, and even to look for life outside Earth. We have gone to the moon, and now we are exploring Mars. There was much excitement when signs of water were discovered on Mars. Watch out, one of these days, we'll be invaded by the Martians! Getting back to sky gazing, who will say no to it? It's a fascinating thing to do and if you have the inclination, ask your parents to take you to the local Planetarium. It is the best place to explore the mysteries of the Milky Way because we cannot see everything out there without a telescope.Who invented this wonderful object which enables us to watch the movements of the silvery moon, the twinkling stars eclipses of the sun and moon and other cosmic events? An Italian astronomer named Galileo....he was many centuries ahead of his time, and was often ridiculed for his ideas, which to the people of his era seemed unacceptable, naturally! During Galileo's time it was the popular belief that the earth was the centre of the universe. But Galileo, with the help of the strong telescopic lenses he had created as early as 1609, proved otherwise. **** Walking or floating?
With the aid of gas-powered thrusters that work like miniature rocket engines, the astronaut 'walks' in space. The suit and manoeuvring unit act like a personal space craft that carries him or her through space. **** Twinkle, twinkle, little star.... How I wonder What you are...Well, stars which stud the night sky, like diamonds on a black velvet cloth, are indeed fascinating and certainly keeps one wondering. A star is a glowing ball of hot gas, mostly hydrogen. Our sun is a star. Even though man has succeeded in landing on the moon we cannot land on the sun or any other star. The star has no solid surface and it is so hot that it would melt the space craft we travel in when it nears a star. Like people, stars too come in different sizes. The largest stars are known as the supergiants. The smallest stars are called dwarfs. Some which are termed white dwarfs are only about one per cent the diameter of the sun - no bigger than the Earth! Why do they twinkle? You will be surprised to learn that the twinkle does not come from the star itself but from the light from the star which passes through the Earth's atmosphere. Moving currents of air bend the star's light, so that the star seems to flash rapidly. It is particularly noticeable near the horizon. Some bright stars appear to flash many different colours, from red to blue. Depending how unsteady the atmosphere is, the twinkling will vary from night to night. **** Garbage dump in space We make a big hue and cry about the garbage we find everywhere, near our homes, on the streets, on the beach, rivers, lakes and so on. These are all garbage inside the earth's atmosphere but did you know that there is trash even in space now? Man is not only polluting the earth, he is polluting space too, and it's time to worry about this new kind of pollution. Trash in space, called space debris is, any man-made object that is no longer useful. And today there's plenty of it floating around. How did it get there, you may ask? The answer is by man, through space research. Since mankind began to explore the 'final frontier' and travel to where no man has gone before, he has launched more than 4,000 satellites. And where does all the unwanted parts from these satellites, space stations and rockets used in research end up? In space of course! The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USA monitors objects that are between 7-10 cm wide and they say that they amount to at least 13,000 in number. **** Is space hot or cold? What do you think? You may be surprised to learn that space is not totally cold. Way back in 1965 two Americanradio astronomers discovered that a slight warmth pervades the Universe!Today the Universe has a temperature of 270 degrees C (570 degrees F), which is just three degrees above absolute zero, the coldest temperature possible. This feeble glow is believed to be energy left over from the Big Bang explosion. |
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A space 'walk' is performed when an astronaut leaves a spacecraft
during a mission. Wearing a space suit, the astronaut really floats in
space but the astronaut does not use his or her legs to do this 'walk'.
