Astronomy Facts

Astronomy is the study of celestial objects outside of earth’s atmosphere as well as space and the entire physical universe. Almost every culture has had some form of astronomy and many of the ancient civilizations based daily life decisions on the movement of the planets.

Our advanced technologies now give us the ability to watch, monitor, and explore at even greater depths.

How many stars are in our Milky Way galaxy?

There are over 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. New stars are born while others die, so there is never an exact number that will stay the same.

How old is our sun?

It’s believed that the sun is around 4.6 billion years old.

One of our planets is known as both the Morning and Evening star. Which planet is it?

Venus. The reason that Venus was given this name is that you can visually see the planet early in the morning as well as at night after the sun has set.

Which planet in our solar system has the most moons?

Jupiter. While earth has only one moon, Jupiter boasts 66 moons circling the planet.

Which planets in our solar system have rings around them?

There are 4 planets that have rings: Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn. The planet that is known for the largest and most beautiful rings is Saturn. Scientists have said that the rings are made of dust, rocks, and ice.

What is the distance between the earth and our sun?

149,600,000 km or 92,960,000 miles

Which planet is called a “dwarf planet?”

Pluto. This planet was once included as our 9^th planet, then removed as a planet, and is now being called a “dwarf planet.” Pluto is smaller than many of the moons circulating around the other planets in our solar system.

Which civilizations named the planets after their gods?

Both the Greek and Roman civilizations believed that all of the planets, except earth, were home to their gods. Due to their limitations, they only named Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. After the creation of the telescope we could see other planets beyond these four and other names were given at that time.

What is our sun made of?

71% of Hydrogen, 26.5% Helium and 2.5% of other miscellaneous elements.

How old is our moon?

Scientists have studied the composition of the moon and believe that it is 4.527 billion years old.