What is the universe?
During the day, the Sun shines brightly in the sky. At night, the sky is full of twinkling Stars and Moons. The Stars, the Moon and the Sun are called heavenly bodies.
The universe is everything. It includes all the space and all the matter and energy that space contains. It even includes time itself, and of course, it includes you.
Earth and the moon are part of the universe, as are the other planets.
The universe is a big, open space which contains billions of stars gathered together in large groups called galaxies. There are many galaxies in the universe.
The Sun
The Sun is a huge ball of fiery gases. It is the star nearest to the Earth. The Sun gives light and heat to all living things on Earth. The Earth and seven planets revolve around the Sun.
The Solar System
The Solar System or the Sun's family has eight planets and many small planets, satellites, comets and asteroids. The Sun is at the centre of the Solar System. The largest planet is Jupiter and the smallest is Mercury. Pluto is considered a dwarf planet.
(1) Neptune (2) Saturn (3) Uranus (4) Mars (5) Venus (6) Mercury (7) Earth (8) Jupiter
Planets are heavenly bodies that move around a star. They are usually round in shape. Some planets are made of rocks, while others are made of gases. Planets do not have heat or light of their own. They get heat and light from the stars they move around.
Unlike the stars, planets do not twinkle when seen from the earth. They shine with a steady light.
The Moon
Our nearest neighbour in space is the Moon. It moves around the Earth. Its shape is round like the Earth's. The Moon has no light of its own. It shines by the light of the Sun. There is on air or water on the moon.
We see different shapes of the moon everyday. These are called the phases of the Moon. The first person to set foot on the moon was an American astronaut named Neil Armstrong. In July 1969, he landed his spacecraft Apollo 11 on the Moon.
Stars
In the clear sky, we can see thousands of twinkling lights. These twinkling lights are stars. A star is a huge ball of hot, burning gases. It gives out heat and light. There are millions and millions of stars in the universe. These stars are very far from us. That is why they look so small.
Constellations
If you look up at the night sky keenly, you will see that some groups of stars appear to make patterns in the sky. These groups of stars are called constellations. The constellations are named after creatures and persons from myths or legends. Some of the well-known constellations are Leo, Ursa Major (also called the Great Bear and the Orion respectively). The Great Bear is known as Saptarishi in India.
Leo, the lion
Ursa Major
The Great Bear or the Saptarishi
