Build a Solar System Model. Solar System, Solar System Information. Our Cosmic Neighborhood From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects "planets," meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities—Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the goddes of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture.
The stargazers also observed comets with sparkling tails, and meteors or shooting stars apparently falling from the sky. Since the invention of the telescope, three more planets have been discovered in our solar system: Uranus (1781), Neptune (1846), and, now downgraded to a dwarf planet, Pluto (1930). In addition, there are thousands of small bodies such as asteroids and comets. Most of the asteroids orbit in a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, while the home of comets lies far beyond the orbit of Pluto, in the Oort Cloud. Stanford Solar Center. Home. Meteor over Canada. NASA IMAGE Education. This web site provides teachers, students and the interested public with the latest information about auroral science, and the study of Earth's magnetic field. The goal of the IMAGE mission's education and public outreach program (POETRY) is to explain how solar storms affect the Earth, and to correct misconceptions about Earth's magnetic field, its radiation belts, and why we have aurora.
Here are some questions that you may have encountered in your textbooks: What causes aurora? Answer What is the solar wind? What is a magnetic field? What are the Van Allen Belts? What is space weather? How does space weather affect us Answer. Amazing Space T&L Resources. Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.com.