Kids Questions

Why can't I take my kitten to the moon? (Emma – 6 years)
Your kitten can't go to the moon because the moon has no air so when the astronauts went to the moon they had to wear a space suit. Space suits have not been made for animals to walk on the moon so it would have to stay inside the lunar landing module while you were on the moon and it could get very lonely.

How come Saturn's rings are hard to see at the moment?
Every 14 to 15 years the Saturn goes through a “ring plane crossing”. As it orbits the Sun, Saturn changes its tilt in relation to Earth. This gives the appearance of the rings disappearing at times and at other times the rings are almost full on. By September 4 2009, they will have completely disappeared before slowly becoming visible again over the following year!

Why is Pluto no longer a planet? Where did it go?
Pluto is still in the same place in the Solar System as it was before but it has just had a name change. This is because of its size. Pluto is smaller than our moon and because of the size it does not have enough gravity to influence other objects in its vicinity. Pluto is now a “dwarf planet” and one of many dwarf planets that orbit the sun in an asteroid belt beyond Neptune, called the Kuiper Belt It was a case of having a Solar System consisting of tens of planets or defining what a planet is. In August 2006 this was done.

Now a planet

This is why Pluto is no longer a Planet because it has not cleared the neighbourhood of its orbit (the Kuiper Belt).

WHAT IS A SHOOTING STAR?

A “shooting” or “falling” star is not a star at all but a piece of rock from space called a meteor. It is pulled to earth by the earth's gravity. As it comes through the earth's atmosphere the friction caused by the speed it travels through the atmosphere (thousands of kilometres an hour) cause the rock to get so hot it vaporises. Larger rocks are to hot to be completely destroyed and these fall to the earth as meteorites When a meteor appears it seems to move quickly (or shoot) across the sky itss brilliance and small size make it appear as a star.

WHAT IS A METEOR SHOWER?

A meteor shower is when there are a meteors coming from the same part of the sky over a short period of time. As comets go around the sun the melted, dusty material is left behind. If the earth travels through this debris path we get a meteor shower. Meteor showers are called after the constellation that they appear to come from and are best seen after midnight. Some meteor showers are...