fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pageiii THE SPACE BOOK Activities for Experiencing the Universe and the Night Sky MARC McCUTCHEON John Wiley & Sons, Inc. fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pageii fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pagei THE SPACE BOOK fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pageii fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pageiii THE SPACE BOOK Activities for Experiencing the Universe and the Night Sky MARC McCUTCHEON John Wiley & Sons, Inc. fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pageiv This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2003 by Marc McCutcheon. All rights reserved Illustrations copyright © 2003 by Tina Cash-Walsh Photo credits: page 10: D. Roddy/Lunar and Planetary Institute; pages 14, 37, 38, 41, 45, 50, 53, 55, 57, 86: Courtesy of NASA; pages 20 top, 93: NOAO/AURA/NSF; page 20 bottom: Courtesy of Big Bear Solar Observatory; page 27: Courtesy of SOHO/Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA; page 32: Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey; page 43 left: Courtesy of NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); pages 43 right, 47, 54: Courtesy of NASA/JPL; page 51: Courtesy of NASA/JPL/University of Arizona; page 58: Courtesy of Alan Stern (Southwest Research Institute), Marc Buie (Lowell Observatory), NASA, and ESA; page 80: Courtesy of National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Cornell U., NSF; page 95 bottom: Courtesy of Dave Palmer. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada Design and production by Navta Associates, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, email: [email protected]. The publisher and the author have made every reasonable effort to insure that the experiments and activities in the book are safe when conducted as instructed but assume no responsibility for any damage caused or sustained while performing the experiments or activities in this book. Parents, guardians, and/or teachers should supervise young readers who undertake the experi- ments and activities in this book. For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McCutcheon, Marc The space book : activities for experiencing the universe and night sky / Marc McCutcheon. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-471-16142-X (pbk. : acid-free paper) 1. Astronomy—Study and teaching (Elementary) 2. Astronomy—Study and teaching— Activity programs. I. Title. QB61 .M38 2002 372.3'5—dc21 2002032431 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27 PM Page v Contents Introduction 1 I PART EXPLORING OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 3 1 The Moon 5 2 The Sun 17 3 Planets, Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors 31 II PART NEXT STOP: OUTER SPACE 69 4 Stars 71 5 Galaxies, Quasars, and Nebulae 85 6 Extrasolar Planets and the Search 99 for Extraterrestrial Life Glossary 109 Index 115 v fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pagevi fm.qxd 9/18/02 4:27PM Pagevii THE SPACE BOOK