Astronomy Talk

Astronomy Talk

Thanks to John, Val, John and Mick from the Irish Astronomical Society for the great talk.

On the 11/9/17 sixth class went to the DLR Lexicon for a talk on astronomy.

First they talked about the Soviet Space Program especially the spacecraft Sputnik

Launched in 1957. Sputnik was the world’s first spacecraft whizzing across the night’s sky. It frightened and inspired million’s.

Next they talked about are Solar System and how the earth compared to other planetary masses like the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn. They then talked about asteroids, comets, and meteors. Meteors are burning up pieces of asteroid that enter are atmosphere, comets are chunks of

ice that warm up and release plumes of gas, and asteroids are blocks of extra-terrestrial material (most commonly rocks or metal).They then passed around pieces from a comet and a moon rock.

Later on they spoke about the universe and the speed of light. The speed of light is unbelievably fast and in one second a car travelling at the speed of light could circle the earth over 7 times.

Finally they talked about the different types of telescopes. Thanks again to the Irish Astronomical Society for giving the talk.