Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System

Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System — page 1 — INTRODUCTION PEOPLE LOVE TO MAKE LISTS OF THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST ALMOST TWENTY FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO A GREEK WRITER NAMED HERODOTUS MADE A LIST OF THE MOST AWESOME THINGS EVER BUILT BY PEOPLE THE LIST INCLUDED BUILDINGS STATUES AND OTHER OBJECTS THAT WERE LARGE WONDROUS AND IMPRESSIVE LATER OTHER WRITERS ADDED NEW ITEMS TO THE LIST WRITERS EVENTUALLY AGREED ON A FINAL LIST IT WAS CALLED THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD The list became so famous that people began imitating it They made other lists of wonders They listed the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages People also made lists of wonders of science and technology OUT OF THIS WORLD But Earth isn't the only place with wonders Our planet shares the universe with many other wondrous places Earth is one of eight planets that orbit or circle the Sun The Sun and everything that circles it including the planets and their moons make up a place called the solar system Beyond the solar system the universe holds billions and billions of stars These stars are all suns similar to the Sun What worlds might circle them What wonders might they contain

Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System — page 2 — On a cloudless night far from city lights you can see countless stars in the sky Each of these stars is a sun similar to our Sun BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System will take you on an amazing journey to faraway places On this journey we'll learn about stars that are being born and stars that have already died We'll explore very tiny stars as well as stars as big as our whole solar system We'll learn how astronomers or space scientists look for new stars and planets We'll even join astronomers as they search for life on other planets We'll also examine giant clusters of stars called galaxies We'll learn how galaxies cluster together to create the biggest thing there is the universe itself Read on to visit this fascinating world billions of miles away in space

Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System — page 3 — 1 The Tarantula NEBULA The Tarantula Nebula is a birthplace for new stars

Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System — page 4 — STARS ARE HUGE BALLS OF GAS IN SPACE THAT GIVE OFF LIGHT HEAT AND OTHER KINDS OF ENERGY THE SUN BELOW IS A STAR THE UNIVERSE CONTAINS BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF STARS Like people stars are born Unlike people stars are born inside clouds The clouds that give birth to stars are vast areas of dust gas and ice in space Most of the gas is hydrogen The universe is filled with millions of such clouds Some are small and some are enormous These clouds are called nebulae Nebula referring to only one cloud means cloud in Latin The Tarantula Nebula is the biggest nebula anyone knows about It is trillions of miles wide

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