Category Kids Queries

Our moon is literally a chip off the old block, formed around 4.5 billion years ago when a roving ‘’rogue planet’’ the size of Mars collided with the infant Earth and knocked a cloud of debris into orbit. That debris scrunched down into the ball of rock, becoming our moon. But it’s hardly the only moon in the solar system. Roughly 140 natural satellites (another name for moons) orbit the other seven planets, but ours is the only one known simply as ‘’the moon.’’ It’s also the only heavenly body visited by human beings.

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1. Stick to the shade when the sun is strongest – typically between 10 a.m, and 4 p.m.

2. If you can’t avoid the rays, cover up. Smear your exposed skin evenly with sunblock and reapply every two hours.

3. If you don’t like applying sticky sunscreen, wear UV-blocking clothing instead.

4. Just because it’s cloudy out doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. Clouds don’t block UV rays.

5. Take extra precautions in regions closer to the Equator, where the sun is much stronger, or around reflective terrain such as snow, sand, or water.

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• Sun damage to eyes can occur anytime during the year, not just in the summertime, so be sure to wear UV-blocking sunglasses and broad-brimmed hats whenever you’re outside.
• Don’t be fooled by clouds: the sun’s rays can pass through haze and thin clouds.
• Never look directly at the sun. Looking directly at the sun at any time, including during an eclipse, can lead to solar retinopathy, which is damage to the eye’s retina from solar radiation.
• Don’t forget the kids and older family members: everyone is at risk, including children and senior citizens. Protect their eyes with hats and sunglasses.

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The ultraviolet (or UV) light given off by the sun is murder on your eyeballs. (Ever wonder why welders wear helmets? The intense heat of a welding torch generates the same eye-damaging UV light as the sun.) Even the sun’s reflection off water sand, or snow can sunburn our corneas (the clear surface of our eyes), making it feel like the inside of each eyelid is coated with sandpaper. Staring at the sun will damage our retinas, the cells at the rear of the eyes the sense light and color. Recovery from sun damage can take months. In some cases it caused permanent blindness.

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Yes, the sun will eventually burn out. But not for a long, long time.

The sun has used up about half of its hydrogen fuel in the last 4.6 billion years, since its birth. It still has enough hydrogen to last about another 5 billion years. The temperature of the sun’s surface is about 10,340 degrees Fahrenheit (5,726 degrees Celsius).

The sun burns using a nuclear fusion process, combining hydrogen into helium. When the sun runs out of hydrogen, it will fuse helium and other heavier elements until it runs out of fuel.

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It’s not the sun that soars across the sky. The Earth itself is rotating on its axis – one full rotation per day – and that spin makes heavenly bodies appear to rise in the east and set in the west to us Earthlings on the ground.  If viewed from above the celestial north, the Earth would appear to be rotating counter-clockwise. Because of this, to those standing on the Earth’s surface, the Sun appears to be moving around us in a westerly direction at a rate of 15° an hour (or 15? a minute). This is true of all celestial objects observed in the sky, with an “apparent motion” that takes them from east to west.

Picture Credit : Google