Galaxies+-+TS

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Rubric: [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.doc]], [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.pdf]]

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Visuals Make sure to include the location of your image; add a caption with this information A whirpool galaxy || A spiral galaxy || == == Andromeda Galaxy ||
 * [[image:http://galenet.galegroup.com/images/itkids/pct/00184380-t.jpg width="118" height="146" link="http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits?subTopic=Space%2B%2526%2BAstronomy&locID=s0002&failover=0&srchtp=topic&topic=Science%2B%2526%2BMath&c=6&searchTerm=Galaxies&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=tsrch&relDocDisplay=00184380.jpg&docNum=BX3200950607&bConts=39"]]
 * [[image:http://galenet.galegroup.com/images/itkids/pct/00008346-t.jpg width="110" height="110" link="http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits?subTopic=Space%2B%2526%2BAstronomy&locID=s0002&failover=0&srchtp=topic&topic=Science%2B%2526%2BMath&c=7&searchTerm=Galaxies&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=tsrch&relDocDisplay=00008346.jpg&docNum=BX3200950590&bConts=39"]] || [[image:http://galenet.galegroup.com/images/itkids/pct/SIDOC0113IMG002-t.jpg width="342" height="118" link="http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits?subTopic=Space%2B%2526%2BAstronomy&locID=s0002&failover=0&srchtp=topic&topic=Science%2B%2526%2BMath&c=5&searchTerm=Galaxies&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=tsrch&relDocDisplay=SIDOC0113IMG002.jpg&docNum=BX3200520113&bConts=39"]] || [[image:http://galenet.galegroup.com/images/itkids/pct/00207794.jpg width="129" height="129" caption="Image of "Cylinder Galaxy""]] ||
 * A whirpool galaxy || The milky way is part of a cluste of galaxies in a local group. || Cylinder Galaxy ||

**Works Cited** **Sources** : Include the source information for all of the magazine articles, reference sources (encyclopedias) and web site pages that were used to complete your project. The source information for encyclopedias may be found at the end or beginning of each entry in iCONN. When using periodicals, the publication information will be at the beginning or end of the article. This needs to be formatted for MLA standards. If it is not labeled 'Source Citation' it can be formatted appropriately by using EasyBib.com. You should use EasyBib for the web sites. The final Works Cited should be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. "Milky Way." //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. "The Milky Way." //WMAP's Universe//. NASA, 28 June 2010. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. . Vergano, Dan. "Galaxy Bracketed by Big Bubbles." //USA Today// 10 Nov. 2010: 05A. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.
 * Sample:**

1.[] 2.[]
 * Your Source List:**

**Topic: Research Focus**
 * What is your topic?**
 * State the focus of your research:**

**Notes** ==== Include notes, statistics and facts that you will use to write your final paper. You may want to label sections of your notes to help you be more organized as you write. As you take notes from a source, you should list the source citation in the Works Cited section above. ==== A galaxy is a very large group of stars or planets. Galaxies contain a huge number of stars. All these stars move around a center of gravity. Gravity is the pull between objects. This center is called the nucleus. In the nucleus, billions of stars are very close together. These stars are so close, they look like one bright circle of light. Everything in space is part of the universe. The universe holds billions of stars and planets. It holds billions of galaxies, too. Scientists think there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Each galaxy contains billions of stars.

The Milky Way
Earth is part of a galaxy called the Milky Way. The Milky Way looks like a bright band of light in the sky. Because this white light looks like milk, people named it the Milky Way. Every star we see at night is part of the Milky Way galaxy. The sun is part of the Milky Way, too. There are more than 200 billion stars in the Milky Way. Scientists who study stars are called astronomers. Astronomers think that the Milky Way is shaped liked a spiral. However, they are not really sure. Since Earth is inside the Milky Way, no one can really see what this galaxy looks like. An astronomer would have to travel far into space to see the Milky Way.

Galaxy Groups and Types
Most galaxies are in groups. Some groups are large, and some groups are small. There is nothing but empty space between the galaxies. Galaxies come in three different shapes. Some are round, or elliptical. These galaxies are the most common. Elliptical galaxies are small and dim, so they are hard to see. Spiral galaxies are shaped like pinwheels. These galaxies contain both old stars and new stars. The last group of galaxies is called irregular. These galaxies have odd shapes. There are large amounts of gas and dust in irregular galaxies. There are two irregular galaxies that are close to the Milky Way. Someday, astronomers think they might join the Milky Way. Then they will all be part of one huge galaxy.

Studying Galaxies
Galaxies are important. They help scientists measure the size of the universe. They also help scientists learn how old the universe is. The distance between galaxies is so large that astronomers measure it in light-years. A light-year is the distance light travels through space in one year. That is about six trillion miles. It takes many light-years for light to travel between galaxies. If a galaxy is ten billion light-years away, that means it took ten billion years for its light to travel to Earth. Galaxies can teach us a lot about space. But there is still a lot we do not know about galaxies. Scientists keep studying these star groups to learn more about our universe.

A galaxy is a very large group of stars or planets. A galaxy contains a huge number of stars. These stars all move around a center of gravity. Gravity is the pull between objects. This center is called the nucleus. In the nucleus, billions of stars are very close together. These stars are so close, they look like one bright circle of light. Scientists think there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Each galaxy contains billions of stars. Earth is part of a galaxy called the Milky Way. The Milky Way looks like a bright band of light in the sky. This white light looks like milk. That is how it got its name. The Milky Way is shaped like a spiral. Every star we see at night is part of the Milky Way galaxy. The sun is part of the Milky Way, too. There are more than 200 billion stars in the Milky Way. Most galaxies are in groups. Some groups are large. Some groups are small. There is nothing but empty space between the galaxies. Galaxies come in three different shapes. Some are round, or elliptical. Some are spirals. Some are odd shapes. Galaxies are important. They help scientists measure the size of the universe. They also help scientists learn how old the universe is. There is still a lot we do not know about galaxies. Scientists keep studying these star groups to learn more about our universe.

The history of galaxy discovery is also the history of advances in the telescope. About 150 c.e., Claudius Ptolemy catalogued the heavens as seen with the unaided eye, listing several patches of "misty" light in the sky. After inventing the astronomical telescope in 1609, Galileo observed that the largest misty patch, the Milky Way, consists of millions of stars. In fact, the Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Sun. William Herschel used his much bigger telescope starting in 1783 to study thousands of misty patches, which are called nebulas (from Latin for "clouds"). Herschel guessed that some "nebulas" might actually be like the Milky Way, islands of stars too far away for his telescope to distinguish individually. In 1845, William Parsons, the Earl of Rosse [English: 1800-1867], built the largest telescope to that date with which he observed that some misty patches have the shape of a spiral. About 20 years later, William Huggins [English: 1824-1910] found that light from one of these spirals, a large patch in Andromeda, matches light emitted by stars and not light emitted by glowing gas, even though the telescope that Huggins used was too weak to detect individual stars. Astronomers argued over whether the spirals were part of the Milky Way or farther away. In 1908, Henrietta Leavitt found a new way to measure distances to stars. Her methods showed that 2 large misty patches that good telescopes revealed as collections of stars, the Magellanic Clouds, are outside the Milky Way. Edwin Hubble in 1924 used Leavitt's method with a new large telescope to show that spirals are far outside the Milky Way. The distant islands of stars, surrounded by vast amounts of empty space, were christened "galaxies," from the Greek name for the Milky Way. Hubble identified three major classes of galaxies: spirals like Andromeda and the Milky Way; irregular galaxies like the Magellanic Clouds; and balls of stars called elliptical galaxies. Galaxies are linked into groups called clusters, which contain dozens or hundreds of galaxies. The clusters group into large regions of hundreds of clusters, called superclusters. Regions between the superclusters, called voids, have few or no galaxies.