Reach for the stars

Form 6 has been glancing at galaxies with an evening of stargazing, followed a few days later by a visit to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Here are some of the interesting facts that Form 6 learnt:

  • The sun is called also known as Sol and that is why we call it the Solar system
  • There are up to 400 billion stars in our galaxy

  • There are trillions of galaxies 

  • There are more than 200 moons in our solar system

  • The dark patches on the moons are called seas and the light patches are called the highlands

  • To travel from the earth to the moon it takes two to three days, but from earth to Mars it takes six to eight months

  • There are eight spacecrafts currently orbiting Mars

  • Mars used to be a blue planet meaning it had water

Using Mr McCarthy’s telescope, the children were able to see Jupiter and four of its moons; Europa, Io, Callisto and Ganymede.

Tagged  Form 6