Period Of Twenty Million Years The Star example essay topic

(Insert Name) (Insert Class) (Insert Date Due) Astrology, Our World, Our Adventure... Astrology, and the wonders of the solar system... Astrology is not just about the stars; it's about the stars, constellations, the nine planets, meteors and asteroids, the sun, moons, and the constellations. The solar system is very complex, yet it has many extraordinary objects. There are four different types of stars: Protostars, Bright Stars, Red Giants, and White Dwarfs. Protostars are stars that are just in the verge of being born.

They are glowing clouds of interstellar dust and gas. Causing the proto star to collapse, gravity pulls on every atom moving them towards the center. Over a period of twenty million years the star begins to form, and in 10 million years after the pocket of gas formed, a star is born. The second types of stars, Bright Stars, are formed when the new star has completed about 35 million years of its life cycle.

A star's life cycle is a lot like a human's, except a star's years are in millions. When a star is about 10 million years old, it is in the same stage as a regular human-for instance in 10 million years a star is in the same stage as a human that is about twenty. The birth and death of stars are also called Stellar Evolution. A Bright star occurs when nuclear fusion doubles the star in size. The third types of stars, Red Giants, are made because the outward flow of the star's core energy stops. Gravity then steps in, squeezing the star making it decrease in size.

The core's heat increases and it starts releasing small amounts of energy, the energy holds a large amount of hydrogen gas. The star then begins to grow larger, but it does not get brighter. As a result of the sudden and quick temperature-drop, the star's color changes from blue-white to a red. In groups called Globular Clusters (groups of up to one million stars that move through space), are where most of the Red Giants have been found. In the fourth types of stars, White Dwarfs, the star begins cooling off; and as a result of that, the outer gas layer spreads out.

The star's temperature drops again, making the gas layer spread out even more. Eventually, the outer layer spreads out so far, it separates from the star. Then, a Planetary Nebula (cloud of glowing atoms), moves in all directions. The star's core isn't giving out any more energy and is to the point of collapsing bit-by-bit. All of the matter the star had in the beginning is still there, but it is compressed more tightly. Having been packed so tightly the star is now as big as planet Earth.

The star is still extremely hot, so hot that it gives off a glowing white light. That is why it is called a "White Dwarf". Out of the twenty stars that are closest to Earth, 2 are White Dwarfs. The next big thing about the solar system is the Planets. The planets have a big place in our solar system; they have been studied to the extreme although there is still a lot to learn about them. The nine planets are Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Mars, Venus, and Mercury.

Mercury, also known as the planet of Hot days and Cold nights, has the shortest year out of all of the planets (88 days). Mercury orbits the sun at an average distance of 36 million miles. Daytime temperatures of Mercury can reach up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit and at night down to as low as -279 degrees Fahrenheit. Venus, also known as the Cauldron, has a yearlong period of 243 Earth days.

This planet is very unique among the other planets because scientists have discovered that Venus actually rotates backwards also. Mars, also known as the planet of Martians, has such thin air that it is not breathable. The air is made up mostly of Carbon Dioxide. Mars' atmosphere is so thin, that if you were to stay out as long as 15 minutes you would already be sunburned. Jupiter, also known as the Giant planet, has at least 16 moons orbiting it. Jupiter is a volume one thousand times that of the Earth's, thus the name Giant planet comes into play.

Saturn, the planet with the rings, was examined and found to be quite like the planet Jupiter. Other than its markings being much fainter because of thick smog, there are a few small dot-like vertices, but nothing compares to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Saturn's rings have long been known to be made up of millions of tiny moons. In the year, 1781 a German-born astronomer named William Herschel discovered there must be one more planet, Uranus. Up until that year, astronomers thought there to be only six planets. Uranus is a gaseous planet with green stripes; it was also a known fact that Uranus was tipped over on its axis, greater that any other planet's tilt.

Uranus is also surrounded by about nine rings, scientists also discovered that Uranus had around 10 moons that had what looked like ice volcanoes, valleys, and racetrack-like ridges, grooves, and patterns. The discovery of Uranus was accidental, unlike Uranus Neptune's discovery wasn't. In 1845, two young mathematicians, John Couch Adams from England and Urbain Leverrier from France, were trying to solve a very big problem with the orbit of Uranus. The orbit of Uranus was not on the path expected, they had come to think that an unknown planet was pulling on Uranus.

That planet was Neptune. Pluto, also known as the Ice planet, was last to be discovered. Pluto is the mystery planet, it is so small and travels in near darkness that when pictures of it come up, it often shows up as a small blurred dot; but scientists, scanning the pictures carefully each time, noticed a small bump. The bump was proven to be a moon by the name of Cher on.

Another great feature about the solar system is its moons. The solar system has many different moons. Jupiter has four Galilean moons, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and Io. Around Jupiter are about 16 moons orbiting the planet. Saturn's rings are thought to be made up of millions of tiny moons. These are called "Shepherding" moons.

Titan is the most interesting and second largest moon. It is also the only one to be known to have an atmosphere. Triton is one moon of Neptune, the other, Nerved, has an 800,000-mile orbit. The orbit requires a year to fully complete. The atmosphere is made up of Nitrogen like the Earth's, but it contains no oxygen, making it unbreathable. Uranus has 5 moons.

Oberon, Uranus' most outer moon, has been discovered to have various ice volcanoes. Ariel was thought to have almost no geological activity because its diameter of 725 miles. Miranda, the weirdest of the moons, has a huge cliff nearly 10 miles, and its surface has small racetrack-like patterns, ridges, and grooves. Constellations are names for groups of stars that appear to form shapes in the sky. They were given their names many hundreds of years ago to help stargazers and astrologists remember which stars are which. Astrologers use constellations to divide up the sky; finding one can help them find another because constellations move so slowly that they will always be found in about the same place.

The most famous constellation is called the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper is made up of a group of seven stars, 3 that form a handle and four that form a bowl. The Big Dipper is actually not a constellation itself, but part of the constellation Ursa Major, or Great Bear (see appendix A). The Little Dipper is a mirrored version of the Big Dipper (see appendix B).

Another famous constellation is Orion. Orion was an ancient Greek hunter and warrior. The constellation Orion resembles him wearing a club and shield, and a sword dangling from his belt. Orion has more Bright stars than that of any other constellation; the two brightest are Betelguese (shoulder), and Rigel (foot). Cassiopeia is another well-known constellation. Cassiopeia is found next to the Big Dipper and Orion.

Its shape is an exact M, or W, formed by 5 bright stars. Cassiopeia is the mythological Queen of Ethiopia (see appendix C). The Seven Sisters were said to be the daughters of Atlas and the objects of Orion's affection. The Pleiades (seven sisters), are yet another well-known constellation. The Pleiades has 7 stars, yet most people can only see 6 of them. A description of the seven sisters that came from 19th Century Poet Lord Tennyson said: "Many a night I saw the Pleiades rising through the mellow shade, glimmer like a swarm of Fireflies, tangled in a silver braid...

". . The Pleiades are a true cluster of stars swimming in Gas (see appendix D). Constellations are probably the most interesting thing in the solar system.

Most people look at them as an exciting look at the mythological part of the solar system, and others think they are just another interesting part of the night sky. The Universe is something no one can explain. The stars have a big part in the solar system. They help light the sky at night. The four types of stars are Protostars, Bright stars, Red Giants, and White Dwarfs. The birth and death of stars is called Stellar Evolution.

Mercury is known as the planet of hot days and cold nights because of its high temperatures during the day and cold temperatures during the night. Venus is known as the cauldron because it is so hot. Mars is known as the planet of Martians because of its name, Mars, and the stereotype of it having extra-terrestrials. Jupiter is known as the giant planet because it is so big.

It has a volume one thousand times that of the Earth's. Saturn is called the planet of the rings because, well, it has visible rings around it. Uranus is known to be the very gaseous planet. Scientists accidentally found Neptune, not much is known about it. The same with Pluto, scientists do not know much about Pluto because it is so small. It is known as the ice planet.

The constellations are the mythological part of the solar system. Behind every constellation there is a story or tale of some sort. Many objects in the Solar System have yet to be discovered and may never be, but it will always be there and may never change for generations to come.

Bibliography

Kelsey, Larry, Hoff, Darrel. Recent Revolutions in Astronomy. Science Impact. New York, NY: Franklin Watts, Copyright 1987.
Shostak, Seth. "Threats from a Stormy Sun". Odyssey Magazine. October 1999, 28-32.
The Nine Planets. [On-line] Available web December 7, 2000.
Keyword [On-line] Available web December 7, 2000.