Exploring the Stars!

周越

Dad and I bought a new telescope for our cottage last week！ Before using it we read a lot about our solar system the different planets asteroids and so much more.

Dad told me that constellations are patterns of stars that ancient travellers used for navigation before there were maps. He also said that we as Canadians are extremely fortunate to experience the Aurora Borealis which is also known as the Northern Lights. It is an absolutely majestic display of neon green purple and yellow lights lighting up the night sky！ After learning all this we plan to travel to Iqaluit Nunavut to try and witness the Northern Lights together.

Even though I could go on mentioning the amazing and almost magical world of astronomy I would like to write about my favourite partthe galaxies！ A galaxy is a huge collection of gas dust and billions of stars. There are more that 100 billion galaxies in the universe and ours is called the Milky Way. It can be seen as a broad bright band that stretches across the dark sky.

Another reason I love to study astronomy is that it helps my dad and me track and watch meteor showers in the summer months from our own backyard. They look like countless shooting stars across the night sky. I always make wishes on these shooting stars and the most amazing part is that most of my wished have come true！

In out solar system there are eight planets that orbit the sun. The planets are in the following order from the sun： Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupitar Saturn Uranus Neptune. Located between the orbits of Mars and Jupitar is the Asteroid belt which consists of billions or maybe trillions of stars.

Practice：

1.Astronaut

2.Comet

3.Rocket

4.Big Dipper

A. a person who has undergone training in Order to travel in

a spacecraft

B. a selfpropelling device that can be launched into space

C. an icy celestial object that orbits the sun and can be seen

with a bright tail in the night sky

D. a group of seven bright stars that resemble a dipper and

can be used to locate Polaris（The North Star）