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Texas ISD School Guide
Texas ISD School Guide







Short Stories for Teachers

The Study of Astronomy
By:Shawna S. Ruppert

Astronomy trivia is so interesting because the universe is something that we are constantly learning more about. It would be impossible for any one person to learn everything there is to know about astronomy, as the nearly endless night sky provides endless opportunities for the interested person to continue learning.

An Astronomy quiz might involve the study of the planets, the stars, or other heavenly bodies such as comets and meteors. A common place for the beginning student of astronomy to learn about is the planets in our own Galaxy. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Formerly, Pluto was known as a planet but it has since been declassified as such.

The study of astronomy often begins with an interest in the constellations that are visible in the night sky. A constellation is a configuration of stars that astronomers have grouped together into patterns which represent certain symbols as a way of recognizing or remembering them. One of the most commonly seen constellations that is recognized the most easily is the Big Dipper.

There are many other constellations which can be easily recognized even by someone with just a passing interest in Astronomy trivia. Orion's belt, a series of three aligned stars is one of the easiest to see. There are actually 88 official constellations, which include those that represent all the signs of the zodiac.

An interesting point for any Astronomy quiz is that the constellations as humans have identified them are only a creation based on human perception. Our eyes are unable to differentiate the vast differences in distance between many of the stars which are part of the same constellations. Some times stars in the same constellation will actually be millions of light years apart, but our inability to perceive depth in the night sky makes them appear in such a way that we can imagine them as a pattern.

Another point worth noting for someone interested in astronomy is that it has been posited by astronomers that many of the stars that we see in the night sky are no longer even there. Because of the vast distances across space that separate the stars from earth, the light from the stars takes an incredibly long amount of time to reach earth. That period of time is such that many of those stars have likely burnt out since the time that they were actually light.

Masters of Trivia is a website dedicated to trivia games and quizzes that cover several different areas of interest. The various trivia questions available on the site can be easily accessed and played by going to http://www.mastersoftrivia.com.






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