travel_exploreDiscovery · Big cosmic questions

🌌 Big cosmic questions

Why is Pluto not a planet anymore? Simple, true big cosmic questions facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

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Why is Pluto not a planet anymore? Revealexpand_more

Pluto used to be called the ninth planet, but scientists found many other icy worlds near it of a similar size. To keep things clear, they agreed on new rules for what counts as a planet, and Pluto did not quite fit. It is now called a dwarf planet, and it is still a fascinating place.

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Talk about itDo you think Pluto should be called a planet? Why or why not?

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Did you know?Pluto is so far away that sunlight there is dim, like a bright star rather than a warm Sun.

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Try itLine up balls of different sizes for the planets, then add a tiny one for Pluto. See why it stands apart.

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🌌🪐How did the solar system form?🌍How many planets are there?🌌What is the universe?

🤖Still curious?What are the rules that decide if something is a planet?arrow_forward

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How did the solar system form? Revealexpand_more

Long ago there was a giant spinning cloud of gas and dust. Gravity pulled most of it into the middle to make the Sun, and the leftover bits circling around slowly clumped together into the planets, moons and asteroids. Everything in our solar system was born from that same spinning cloud.

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Talk about itIf you could visit any world in the solar system, which would you pick?

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Did you know?The whole solar system, Sun and all, formed from one cloud about four and a half billion years ago.

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Try itSprinkle glitter on a spinning plate and watch it gather into rings and clumps, a bit like a forming solar system.

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🌌🌟How is a star born?🪐Why is Pluto not a planet anymore?🌍How many planets are there?

🤖Still curious?Why do all the planets circle the Sun in almost the same flat disc?arrow_forward

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What is the universe? Revealexpand_more

The universe is everything that exists, all the stars, planets, galaxies, light and empty space, all added together. It is so big that we cannot see its edges, and it holds more galaxies than anyone could ever count. Everything you have ever seen or touched is a tiny part of it.

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Talk about itThinking about the whole universe can feel dizzying. Does it make you feel small, special, or both?

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Did you know?Everything we can see through our best telescopes is still only a small part of the whole universe.

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Try itPoint at yourself, then your home, town, Earth, the Sun, the galaxy. Keep zooming out in your mind toward the whole universe.

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🌌🎈Is the universe getting bigger?🌌What is a galaxy?🔭How do we know about places we can never visit?

🤖Still curious?Does the universe have an edge or a centre?arrow_forward

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How do we know about places we can never visit? Revealexpand_more

We cannot travel to a distant star, but its light carries clues across space. By carefully studying that light with telescopes, scientists can work out what a star is made of, how hot it is and how it moves. We also send robot probes to nearby worlds to look, measure and send pictures home.

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Talk about itScientists learn by watching carefully from far away. What have you figured out just by observing?

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Did you know?A tool called a spectroscope can read the light of a star to reveal the very gases it is made of.

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Try itLook at light through a clear edge of a glass or a bubble and watch it split into colours. Those colours carry hidden information.

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🌌📏What is a light-year?🔭How do we see stars that are so far away?🌌What is the universe?

🤖Still curious?How do robot space probes send pictures back to Earth?arrow_forward

🌌 Big cosmic questions

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