Hi everyone!
For my celestial body project, I was the first one in line to present. And you know why? Because I was studying the Sun, the center of our solar system and since we were going in order of the planets, the Sun has to start. After me, we go in order; Mercury-Venus-Earth... So I'm going to tell you more about the Sun in this post!
First of all, the Sun is not, I repeat NOT a planet. It is a star and that is what makes it special! It got its name from the Romans who named it "Sol". That is also how solar system got its name - because the Sun is the center of it! It has been known forever - all the discoverer had to do was look up! It is also 4.6 billion years old, which makes it middle-aged. As we learned from Ms. D, it is also middle-sized and middle-hot!
First of all, the Sun is not, I repeat NOT a planet. It is a star and that is what makes it special! It got its name from the Romans who named it "Sol". That is also how solar system got its name - because the Sun is the center of it! It has been known forever - all the discoverer had to do was look up! It is also 4.6 billion years old, which makes it middle-aged. As we learned from Ms. D, it is also middle-sized and middle-hot!
Here you can see a comparison of the sizes of planets (including the Sun), but also how small the Sun is to some other stars:
It is, as you can see in the video, much bigger than all the planets and is the biggest celestial body in our solar system. Its symbol is a circle with a dot in the middle.
It looks like this:
The Sun was born in a spinning cloud of gas and dust that was held together by gravity, which later formed a ball. The Sun also rotates, just like Earth; but it takes longer. One rotation takes 25.38 Earth days at the Equator and 35 days at the poles! This is because at higher latitudes, there is less solid, so it is harder for the gas to spin. All planets revolve around the Sun - so you must think that the Sun doesn't revolve. But it does! It revolves around the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which takes 225-250 million years. This can also be called a cosmic year. The star is one of over 200 billion in the Milky Way galaxy!
Do you like numbers? Well, you will see a lot of them when talking about the Sun!
- The distance to Earth is 149,598,000 km, also known as an Astronomical Unit (AU).
- The diameter is 1,393,000 km (approximately 110 x Earth's diameter.
- The density is 1.409 g/cm^3 (approximately 0.26 x Earth's density)
- The mass is 1.989 x 10^30 kg (approximately 333,000 x Earth's mass)
- The circumference is 4,370,005.6 km (approximately 1100 x Earth's circumference)
- The volume is 1,409,272,569,059,860,000 km^3 - (approx. 1,300,000 x Earth's volume).
There are also storms on the Sun. One type of storm is a Solar Flare. This is an explosion in the atmosphere of the Sun, and happen when the magnetic fields tangle. Another type of storm is a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) which happens in the corona (you can read more about the corona below) and increase solar winds which show up as auroras, or Northern and Southern lights, here on Earth!
Here is an example of an aurora:
The Sun is always hot and doesn't change climates, but it does affect the climate we have on Earth! You can read more about that at this website.
Basically, the Sun is just a big ball of hot gas, and in the core, nuclear reactions happen which produce light, energy, and radiation from the sun. Here's something interesting: Galileo Galilei, a famous Italian scientist (whom you can read more about here), thought that there was no solid material in the Sun at all, but NASA has now proven that there is solid in the core, made up of calcium ferrite (calcium + iron). There are also three layers of the atmosphere:
- The photosphere, which people consider to be the surface, is made up of hydrogen and helium gas (as is the whole Sun) and is approximately 5,000 km thick. Most of the light we see comes from here.
- The chromosphere is 2500 km thick, and is less dense but way hotter.
- The outmost layer, the corona, is visible from Earth only when there is a solar eclipse (the corona is the white part around it) because it is so thin and the photosphere blocks the view at all other times.
- Chandra, launched in 1999, which focuses on taking x-ray pictures of the Sun and other stars. It takes very crisp and clear pictures and helps scientists study the universe. You can read more about it and see photos from it here.
- SoHo (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) was launched in 1995 by NASA and the ESA and is locked in orbit around the Sun just like Earth, which means that it travels at the same speed as us. It helps scientists study the Sun the way we see it, but closer. You can read more about it at its website.
And here are some interesting facts:
- There are things called "sunspots" which are "colder" spots (temperature "only" 3500 degrees Celcius... You can see these at 1:22 (they are the white spots) on the video above.
- Every 11 years, the Sun's magnetic poles (which we have on Earth, too) flip! This happens when there are lots and lots of sunspots on the surface. You can read more about them in this outdated yet informative article.
- I'm sure you love being out in the Sun, but be careful of its ultraviolet (UV) rays! They can burn your skin and cause you to have skin cancer! You might end up looking like this:
- Also, solar energy has become very popular these days. You can heat and cool your house with it, as well as get electricity through solar panels! It saves both money and the environment!
The next scribe should be Sophie - she was the only person who finished her presentation other than I, and if you are looking for any of our notes, visit the Moodle page for this week! There you will also be able to find blogging directions.
Good luck to the next presenter (who already started), Teréz!!
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Vocabulary used in this scribe post:
Note: all definitions are from Merriam-Webster
Star: A self-luminous gaseous spheroidal celestial body of great mass which produces energy by means of nuclear fusion reactions
Solar System: The Sun together with the group of celestial bodies that are held by its attraction and revolve around it
Aurora: a luminous phenomenon that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet's magnetic polar regions and is caused by the emission of light from atoms excited by electrons accelerated along the planet's magnetic field lines
Nuclear Reaction (from http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Nuclear_reaction): A process in which two nuclei or nuclear particles collide, to produce products different to the initial products
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ESA: European Space Agency
Note: ^ stands for exponent!
Hey Viktor-
ReplyDeleteYour post looks great! It is colorful, very informative and you put in helpful videos that explained very well how the Sun is huge in comparison to other planets in our solar system and the pictures of SoHo and Chandra. I thought that your font could have stayed the same throughout the whole blog post, and your spacing could have been a bit more clear at times. I also think that you could have explained what an AU is a bit futher, We know what it is, but others maybe do not. You did write the distance that one AU is, but you could have explained that it is the distance from the cener of the Sun to the center of Earth. That's it. All in all, great post! :D
Hi Viktor.
ReplyDeleteYour post seems an improvement from the last one. It's a good post and I like the hyperlinks you used, also the pictures, font type, the good data for the Sun, and some interesting facts. You could improve, though. You should organize your post better by adding subtitles, changing font size. You should include more scientific explanations such as the structure (core etc.) and the life cycle of the Sun with the red giant phase, which will destroy the Earth. You should be careful with the colors, because the Galileo hyperlink is the same color as the text. At the bottom of the post you put the explanations for the different words, which should have been included in the post itself. The notes you wrote in the word document are exactly the same as the ones in your scribe post. You should add more photos and links about the Sun. Dave :-D
Hey Viktor!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post! I liked the hyperlinks you used and they all stood out so nice job there. The pictures were good and relevant to your scribe post. I liked how you got the video onto the post so we didn't have to follow the hyperlink to youtube. The colors are all visible, and the post is organized well. I enjoyed how your post was casual when leading into a section, but then you became scientific to talk about the data, for example, number facts about the sun. You were pretty much perfect in spelling and grammar. For the new part of scribing, real life examples, I feel you did good. The links and videos helped with that. For suggestions, all I see is maybe more words for definitions, such as Ultraviolet rays and the Astronomical Unit. Other than that small detail, you did awesome for your last post!
Nice Job,
Ben
Hey Viktor! First of all, I love that you have the definitions of the different words for example, aurora. The colors, spelling and grammar, links, and writing are all great. The two video's are cool and helpful. I especially the one about how big the Sun is compared to the rest of the Solar System, it made me understand better. The only criticism I have is that you could have had at least one more pic of the Sun. Overall, good job!
ReplyDeleteHey Viktor!
ReplyDeleteI really liked you post!It was great that you gave the definitions of words such as Aurora. I liked your videos and pictures as well, because they were very helpful. You talked about the ultraviolet rays and what they can do to you, but you could have explained what they are and what they have to do with the sun. However, apart from this, I really liked your post. I think I understood more about the three layers of the Sun's atmosphere from the blog post than I did before. Great job!
Hi Viktor
ReplyDeleteI liked your post. When I first look at it looked a bit boring; however, after I read it was fine. You included a lot of information. For me it was a bit hard to read it, because I think that your font is too small; however you had good color. You could tell as what is a celestial body. Because you are keeping repenting this word, which sound very confuse. I also don't understand what does this mean (cm^3). In the sentence: Earth; but it takes longer. In stead of but you could put how ever and then a comma. You had some spelling and grammar mistake. Your Links were helpful. I liked your picture, especially the Aura one. You could give more definition, but it was great that you put some of them at the end. Over all it was a nice end post. Good Job.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think that your posts was very good for various reasons. One reason that is not so scientific is that you included enough visuals and you also chose to embed your videos. Another reason that your post was good was because of your science. I think that its good that you included what people use the sun for. I think that some of your post was a little excessive. Some of your definitions were a little unesscary. I think that you had a little too much color. Overall I really thought that your post was detailed.
Hello Viktor,
ReplyDeleteYour post looks great! I really like the pictures, the font you chose, the videos and lastly the interesting facts. Talking about the science, you have so much information I am not sure you can improve much more, you definitely went in depth with this Scribe Post. The only thing you could have changed is explained a bit better what an AU is (the distance from the center of the earth to the center of the Sun). Another thing you should go more in depth with is UV rays, or other kinds of solar radiation, and you should talk about how to protect yourself. Except that, I honestly believe that your post is great and you covered every single requirment.
All the best,
Cip
Hi Viktor
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post. I really liked all of the pictures and videos that you used. The colors were good but maybe were a bit to much. It is good that you explained your knowlege that you used in your blog post. Some of the hyperlinks were hard to find, and some sentences did not make sence to me. Also when you said that Sophie should be the next scriber, it was wiered because she posted before you. Overall your post was "hot".
Hi there Viktor,
ReplyDeleteThis post is AMAZING!!! You used great language, great pictures, and your font was the right size and colorful! Also, you showed feelings in your post, like excitement and so on, which made it much easier and funner to read. You had links, which is always great, and they really helped me understand more on the planets. Unlike Reza said, I thought that your post was really scientific, and that you explained everything really well. I also thought that the definitions at the end were very helpful to someone that didn't attend your class (like me). Without them, I wouldn't have understood what you meant. You also had great pictures, even though one or two more would have made your post more interesting. You also could have been more through in talking about the sun, but you gave excellent background information. Also, the fact that the sun is partially made up of calcium ferrite was very helpful, since I didn't know it! Overall, great job, even better than last quarter's! Keep up the excellent work!
Davide
Hi Viktor,
ReplyDeleteSo your presentation was good in class it explained alot, and you post complements it nicely. Your pictures were great and your videos were really helpful. I understood everything really well but I must say that you need to include a little more description for some of your science. You included alot of science but not all of it was explained well enough. You should in the future explain a bit more but all in all you did a great job. I think this is the best post you have done all year. And a side note it is called a Prezi not Pretzi(you know what I am talking about).
Calvin
Wow Viktor!!! That's a VERY nice post! I really liked reading it, because first of all, it was interesting and VERY detailed and the topic itself was cool, I guess. And you really improved as a blogger, because the last post you did was a bit boring to read, comparing to this one! I can see that you have many links, videos, and some weird pictures! You have defenitions of all the scientific words/terms and many HYPERLINKED links. The information you put here was very helpful. Your post is a bit too long though....
ReplyDeleteStill, GREAT JOB!
Tamara
Hey Viktor,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, 'Great Post!' It has tons of details, and hyperlinks, videos, pictures... and I can definitely tell that you read the rubric. You have all the info, which was very interesting and your post was very colorful too! But (like Tamara said) your post is a bit too long and hard to read. This post is a very big improvement from last times! i like the fact that you included defintions and a video, both very helpful!
Great job,
Court :)
Nice Viktor! This is great, i love that you put a lot of colors, and that you put two videos, and that you put a lot of pictures and information. The videos were great, only i didn't quite understand the second one, all the pictures looked the same to me. But the pictures you put on your post were really funny. I like how you put a lot of information and how you explained your science in a very... funny and understandable way. You had a lot of fun and interesting facts, and I really liked that your post was not only one color. Over all great post!
ReplyDeleteViktor - nice work overall on your post. I do think your strength lies in the multimedia you incorporate into your blog writing - great job there. Scientifically, I like that you have included some defined words at the end of your post to help the reader, but do think you could have some more there - AU. Ultraviolet radiation, any radiation that differs from visible light. I also think you needed to discuss nuclear fusion, not nuclear reactions and the process a star uses to give off light and heat. This is very important in the study of stars; as are the ingredients that make up the stars. I think these things could have been explained further. Nice work on the title, labels and labeling of pictures. Your blog posts and commenting have gotten better and better. Well done! ~ Ms. D.
ReplyDelete