Stargazing

It’s a beautiful winter night, and Ms. Comet has a special treat for Oliver and his friends at the planetarium. She is excited to show them what’s in the night sky with her telescope.

Ms. Comet focuses the telescope on the moon. Oliver looks through the telescope and sees the craters.

He feels like he can almost reach out and touch the moon. The telescope makes things that are far away seem closer.

Ms. Comet explains that the stars look very small even through the telescope because they are millions and billions of miles away from Earth.

Rosie looks up and wonders what the row of three bright stars in the sky is.

Ms. Comet tells the children that it’s the constellation Orion. Long ago, people made up stories about the constellations. They said that Orion was once a mighty hunter. When he died, the gods placed him in the sky. You can see him there every night.

Orion has two very bright stars for his shoulders. The row of three stars that Rosie noticed is his belt. Two more bright stars are his feet.

Peter wonders about the really bright star that is twinkling like a rainbow.

That is Sirius, Ms. Comet explains. It is part of a constellation called the Big Dog. It is the brightest star in the sky. Sirius was very important to ancient Egyptians. They used its position in the sky to know when the Nile River would flood.

Just then, the children see a beautiful streak of light fly across the night sky.

It’s a meteor! A meteor is pieces of metal or stone that fly through space. Meteors travel so quickly through the air that they become hot and glow.

What a great way to end a night of stargazing! What can you stargaze where you live?