February 28, 2024 • 19 mins
In this episode, we will learn more about the solar system, uncovering intriguing facts about the solar system and the moon, comets, and space travel. We will start with a brief recap of what we have previously explored about the solar system. With these new facts—from the moon's mysterious craters to the tail-spinning journeys of comets and the exciting realities of voyaging through space—you can share fascinating tidbits with your friends. 😊
Sleep Tight!,
Sheryl & Clark
❤️👂📖
---
📢 Have an interesting science topic you would like to investigate? Send us an email at hello@sleeptightscience.com , and we may feature it in an upcoming show.
👉 First time listening to Sleep Tight Science? Please follow us or listen on Spotify.
❤️ We would love to hear from you, reach out to us via email.
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About Sleep Tight Science
Sleep Tight Science is an engaging (but not too engaging) bedtime show for the whole family that answers the questions kids have about science. Each episode explores a fascinating topic in science and technology, from the mysteries of outer space to the wonders of the human body. Sleep Tight Science is the perfect bedtime companion for curious minds of all ages. Have an interesting science topic you would like featured? Send us an email at hello@sleeptightscience.com, and we may feature it in an upcoming show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to sleep Tight Science. Did you know that
astronauts don't do laundry in space? What? Since there's no
(00:22):
washing machine aboard the International Space Station, they simply wear
their clothes out then send them off into space to
burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. Imagine doing that with
your stinky socks. Hello, friends, and welcome back to sleep
(00:53):
Tight Science, a bedtime show that answers your questions about science.
In this episode, we are going to try something new.
Sometimes when we write, we gather much more information then
we can fit into one episode, So we decided to
combine all that information into one of our favorite formats,
(01:19):
lists of facts. We love these bite sized pieces of
information because they are fun, can be easy to remember,
lead to more questions, and you may find you will
impress your family and friends with all kinds of fun
science facts. We devoted an episode to the solar system
(01:44):
in season two, so today we will focus on that. First,
what do you remember about our solar system? Let's start
with a refresher. Our solar system is in a amazing family
of celestial objects, all orbiting around the Sun, our neighborhood
(02:06):
star and the glue that holds everything together. At the
heart of this family are the eight major planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune. The Sun is the giant of our solar system,
(02:29):
massively larger than Earth. You could fit a million earths
inside it. While there are stars much bigger than our
Sun out there in the universe, they are incredibly far
away from us. The Sun makes life on Earth possible,
creating the conditions for day and night, warm and cold,
(02:52):
and the changing seasons. These happen as Earth travels around
the Sun, showing different parts of itself to our star
at different times. Close to the Sun, we have the
four smaller rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These
(03:15):
are our space neighbors that share similar solid surfaces to
our home planet. Further out are the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune. These planets are enormous compared to Earth, but
are mostly made of gas, which makes them surprisingly light
(03:37):
for their size. They're composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Pluto,
once known as the ninth planet, is now classified as
a dwarf planet because of its small size. It's a distant,
icy world. That marks one of the many mysteries of
our Solar system. But our Solar system is just a
(04:01):
tiny part of a much larger galaxy called the Milky Way,
which is filled with billions of other solar systems, and
beyond that, the universe stretches out, filled with billions of galaxies,
each with their own stars and planets. Do you remember
(04:23):
the names of the eight planets in our Solar system
and their order from the Sun. An easy way to
remember this is to use a sentence in which each
word starts with the first letter of a planet. For example,
my very educated mother just served us noodles. The four
(04:46):
planets closest to the Sun are rocky, and the other
four are giant gassy planets. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
Did you know Jupiter has a storm bigger than Earth
(05:07):
that's been swirling for hundreds of years. It's called the
Great Red Spot, and it's essentially a giant, non stop tornado.
While most planets spin like tops around the Sun, Venus
dances to its own beat and spins the opposite way.
(05:29):
If you were on Venus, the Sun would rise in
the west and set in the east, making for a
very confusing day. Did you know that Olympus Monds on
Mars isn't just tall, It's the tallest volcano in the
Solar System, towering three times higher than Mount Everest. This
(05:54):
massive mountain reaches approximately twenty two kilometers about the teen
point six miles into the Martian atmosphere. Its base is
so vast that it could cover an area as big
as Alberta's Jasper National Park and British Columbia's Pacific rim
(06:15):
National Park Reserve combined. If you had a bathtub big enough,
Saturn would float. It's the only planet in our Solar
System less dense than water, making it the best candidate
for a supersized bath toy. Did you know that Urinus
(06:37):
doesn't spin upright like the other planets, It rolls along
its orbit on its side. This unique tilt of ninety
eight degrees means that Urinus has extreme seasons, with each
pole getting forty two years of continuous sunlight followed by
forty two years of darkness. Oh, if you lived on Urinus,
(07:02):
you'd have super long days and nights. Did you know
that winds on Neptune can reach speeds of up to
one thousand, five hundred miles per hour, faster than the
speed of sound on Earth. That's not a wind I
would want to be walking in Earth's main Moon is
(07:25):
pretty special. But did you know our planet occasionally captures
small asteroids that become temporary mini moons. These tiny celestial visitors,
known as temporarily captured orbiters, can orbit Earth or a
few months or even years before they break away and
(07:46):
continue their journey through space. Did you know that the
most recent moon landing took place on February twenty third,
twenty twenty four. The Odyssey Lunar lander, developed by Intuitive Machines,
successfully touched down on the Moon's surface. The last moon
(08:09):
landing was by Japan's Smartlander for investigating Moon, and before
that was India's Chandrayan three. Now what about our moon? Farse?
(08:38):
Moon is our closest neighbor and influences our life in
many ways. This natural satellite formed about four point five
billion years ago, possibly from a colossal impact between Earth
and a Mars sized object orbits our planet every twenty
(08:58):
seven point three days. The Moon's gravitational pull is responsible
for the ocean tides stabilizing Earth's tilt and climate over millennia.
Its surface, marked by craters, valleys, and dark plains called Maria,
(09:20):
tells a story of a violent past with no atmosphere
to erode these features away. Humans have gazed at the
Moon for centuries, using its phases to mark time, and
in nineteen sixty nine, Apollo eleven made history by landing
the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon.
(09:49):
Fun facts about the Moon. Did you know that the
distance between the Earth and the Moon varies a bit?
On average, it's three hundred and eighty four thousand in
four hundred and one kilometers or two hundred and thirty
eight thousand, eight hundred and fifty six miles away. The
far side of the Moon is always facing away from
(10:12):
the Earth. The first time it was seen by people
was in nineteen fifty nine, when a Soviet probe sent
pictures of it. The Moon is covered with craters left
by passing asteroids. The largest is a whopping one thousand,
three hundred and five miles or two thousand, one hundred
(10:33):
kilometers wide and seven point five miles or twelve kilometers deep.
Do you know that if you decided to walk on
the Moon, you could technically outpace a car. Since gravity
on the Moon is much weaker than on Earth, each
step you take would cover a lot more ground. Just
(10:56):
imagine moon walking faster than a speeding car. How cool
would that be? Did you know? The Moon has a
bunch of nicknames. Some people call it Luna, which is
Latin for moon, and in the past it's been called Selene,
which is Greek, and Cynthia, another Greek name. Are you
(11:18):
or your parents interested in golf? Astronaut Alan Shepherd played
golf on the Moon during the Apollo fourteen mission. With
the low gravity, the ball could fly huge distances, making
it possibly the longest drive in history. Just like Earth
(11:40):
has earthquakes, the Moon has well moonquakes. These tremors can
happen for various reasons, including the gravitational pull from Earth
causing the Moon's crust to crack and shift. Interestingly, moonquakes
can last much longer than earthquakes, up to an hour
(12:03):
because the Moon lacks water to dampen the seismic vibrations.
Despite their duration, moonquakes are generally weaker than their earthly counterparts.
So if you are standing on the Moon someday during one,
you might just feel a gentle rumble under your feet.
(12:25):
Did you know there's an old myth that the Moon
is made of cheese, while we know it's made of
rock and dust. Imagine having an unlimited supply of cheese
for your crackers, hamburgers, or pasta. Did you know that
the Moon is slowly shrinking over time, causing wrinkles on
(12:47):
its surface. This occurs because the Moon's interior is cooling
and contracting. As it shrinks, its brittle surface crust breaks
and forms threat rust faults, where one section of the
crust is pushed up over an adjacent area, creating what
(13:07):
looks like wrinkles or vidges. Despite this shrinkage, the change
is so gradual that you don't need to worry about
the Moon disappearing anytime soon. If you ever visit the Moon,
you could jump six times higher than on Earth. Imagine
what you could do if you could jump six times higher.
(13:27):
Join the NBA at six years old. Next, let's learn
(13:50):
a little about comets. Comets are interesting objects in our
Solar system, often called cosmic snowballs because they're made of ice, rock,
and dust. As they move through space, they leave behind
bright trails that can be seen from Earth. People have
(14:12):
been amazed by comets for thousands of years, seeing them
as both beautiful sights in the sky and sometimes as
signs of bad omens in old stories. Here are five
fascinating facts about comets. Comets are believed to originate from
(14:34):
two main areas in our solar system, the Kuiper Belt,
which lies just beyond Neptune, and the Ort Cloud, a
distant spherical shell surrounding the Solar system. These regions are
very cold and help preserve ancient debris. As a comet
approaches the Sun, it heats up and releases gases and dust,
(14:59):
creating two distinct tails. The gas tail, made of ions,
always points directly away from the Sun due to the
solar wind. The dust tail, made of tiny particles, lags
behind the comet, forming a curved tail. Comets are made
(15:21):
of ice, water, ammonia, and methane mixed with rocky material.
This composition gives clues to the conditions of the early
Solar system. Some comets are regular visits to the inner
Solar System, like Haley's Comet, which swings by Earth every
(15:41):
seventy six years. Its appearances have been recorded by human
observers for millennia, with its next visit anticipated in twenty
sixty one. Scientists speculate that comets could have played a
crucial role in delivering water and organic compounds to Earth,
(16:04):
possibly contributing to the emergence of life. As comets collided
with the young Earth, they may have deposited these essential ingredients.
Before you decide to start making a rocket in your
(16:26):
backyard and fly to the moon or try to catch
a comet, here are five effects of space travel on
the body that you might want to know first. In space,
the absence of gravity means that astronauts muscles don't have
to work as hard as they do on Earth, leading
(16:47):
to muscle weakness. This lack of gravity also causes a
decrease in bone density, particularly in the pelvis and legs,
since bones aren't supporting as much weight. To combat these effects,
astronauts use exercise machines while in orbit. Because there is
(17:08):
no gravity to keep body fluids in the usual places,
liquid can travel through the body to different areas. Liquid
travels up from the legs into the face, which causes
skinny legs and moonface. Without gravity, the size and shape
(17:29):
of the heart changes, the blood isn't pumped around the
body efficiently, the heart rate slows and blood pressure goes down.
Another challenge of space travel is the increased exposure to
space radiation as Earth's atmosphere, which normally offers protection, is absent.
(17:51):
This exposure can lead to symptoms of radiation sickness and
increases the risk of developing cancer. Walking on side ground
can be challenging after being in space for some time.
When they return to Earth, many astronauts find the pressure
on their feet painful. They also feel dizzy and have
(18:13):
trouble staying upright. So when you are designing your next spaceship,
add some exercise machines and some shielding from the harmful
rays of the Sun. In this episode, we learned a
(18:34):
little bit more about the Solar System with some facts
about the Solar System, the Moon, and comets. We did
a quick review about what we had learned in the
past about the Solar System, and then gave you some
new facts to share with your friends about the Solar System,
the Moon, comets and space travel. Do you like Liss
(19:00):
Would you like to see more? If you have any feedback,
please send it our way, and if you want to
make sure you get all the episodes. Please ask your
parents to subscribe. You can find us on Apple Podcasts
or wherever your parents listen to podcasts. And please, if
you love learning about science with us, leave us a review.
(19:24):
It may help others to find our show. If you'd
like to send us your questions, please send them to
Hello at sleep tightscience dot com sleep tight
You're listening to sleep Tight Science. Did you know that
astronauts don't do laundry in space? What? Since there's no
(00:22):
washing machine aboard the International Space Station, they simply wear
their clothes out then send them off into space to
burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. Imagine doing that with
your stinky socks. Hello, friends, and welcome back to sleep
(00:53):
Tight Science, a bedtime show that answers your questions about science.
In this episode, we are going to try something new.
Sometimes when we write, we gather much more information then
we can fit into one episode, So we decided to
combine all that information into one of our favorite formats,
(01:19):
lists of facts. We love these bite sized pieces of
information because they are fun, can be easy to remember,
lead to more questions, and you may find you will
impress your family and friends with all kinds of fun
science facts. We devoted an episode to the solar system
(01:44):
in season two, so today we will focus on that. First,
what do you remember about our solar system? Let's start
with a refresher. Our solar system is in a amazing family
of celestial objects, all orbiting around the Sun, our neighborhood
(02:06):
star and the glue that holds everything together. At the
heart of this family are the eight major planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune. The Sun is the giant of our solar system,
(02:29):
massively larger than Earth. You could fit a million earths
inside it. While there are stars much bigger than our
Sun out there in the universe, they are incredibly far
away from us. The Sun makes life on Earth possible,
creating the conditions for day and night, warm and cold,
(02:52):
and the changing seasons. These happen as Earth travels around
the Sun, showing different parts of itself to our star
at different times. Close to the Sun, we have the
four smaller rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These
(03:15):
are our space neighbors that share similar solid surfaces to
our home planet. Further out are the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune. These planets are enormous compared to Earth, but
are mostly made of gas, which makes them surprisingly light
(03:37):
for their size. They're composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Pluto,
once known as the ninth planet, is now classified as
a dwarf planet because of its small size. It's a distant,
icy world. That marks one of the many mysteries of
our Solar system. But our Solar system is just a
(04:01):
tiny part of a much larger galaxy called the Milky Way,
which is filled with billions of other solar systems, and
beyond that, the universe stretches out, filled with billions of galaxies,
each with their own stars and planets. Do you remember
(04:23):
the names of the eight planets in our Solar system
and their order from the Sun. An easy way to
remember this is to use a sentence in which each
word starts with the first letter of a planet. For example,
my very educated mother just served us noodles. The four
(04:46):
planets closest to the Sun are rocky, and the other
four are giant gassy planets. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
Did you know Jupiter has a storm bigger than Earth
(05:07):
that's been swirling for hundreds of years. It's called the
Great Red Spot, and it's essentially a giant, non stop tornado.
While most planets spin like tops around the Sun, Venus
dances to its own beat and spins the opposite way.
(05:29):
If you were on Venus, the Sun would rise in
the west and set in the east, making for a
very confusing day. Did you know that Olympus Monds on
Mars isn't just tall, It's the tallest volcano in the
Solar System, towering three times higher than Mount Everest. This
(05:54):
massive mountain reaches approximately twenty two kilometers about the teen
point six miles into the Martian atmosphere. Its base is
so vast that it could cover an area as big
as Alberta's Jasper National Park and British Columbia's Pacific rim
(06:15):
National Park Reserve combined. If you had a bathtub big enough,
Saturn would float. It's the only planet in our Solar
System less dense than water, making it the best candidate
for a supersized bath toy. Did you know that Urinus
(06:37):
doesn't spin upright like the other planets, It rolls along
its orbit on its side. This unique tilt of ninety
eight degrees means that Urinus has extreme seasons, with each
pole getting forty two years of continuous sunlight followed by
forty two years of darkness. Oh, if you lived on Urinus,
(07:02):
you'd have super long days and nights. Did you know
that winds on Neptune can reach speeds of up to
one thousand, five hundred miles per hour, faster than the
speed of sound on Earth. That's not a wind I
would want to be walking in Earth's main Moon is
(07:25):
pretty special. But did you know our planet occasionally captures
small asteroids that become temporary mini moons. These tiny celestial visitors,
known as temporarily captured orbiters, can orbit Earth or a
few months or even years before they break away and
(07:46):
continue their journey through space. Did you know that the
most recent moon landing took place on February twenty third,
twenty twenty four. The Odyssey Lunar lander, developed by Intuitive Machines,
successfully touched down on the Moon's surface. The last moon
(08:09):
landing was by Japan's Smartlander for investigating Moon, and before
that was India's Chandrayan three. Now what about our moon? Farse?
(08:38):
Moon is our closest neighbor and influences our life in
many ways. This natural satellite formed about four point five
billion years ago, possibly from a colossal impact between Earth
and a Mars sized object orbits our planet every twenty
(08:58):
seven point three days. The Moon's gravitational pull is responsible
for the ocean tides stabilizing Earth's tilt and climate over millennia.
Its surface, marked by craters, valleys, and dark plains called Maria,
(09:20):
tells a story of a violent past with no atmosphere
to erode these features away. Humans have gazed at the
Moon for centuries, using its phases to mark time, and
in nineteen sixty nine, Apollo eleven made history by landing
the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon.
(09:49):
Fun facts about the Moon. Did you know that the
distance between the Earth and the Moon varies a bit?
On average, it's three hundred and eighty four thousand in
four hundred and one kilometers or two hundred and thirty
eight thousand, eight hundred and fifty six miles away. The
far side of the Moon is always facing away from
(10:12):
the Earth. The first time it was seen by people
was in nineteen fifty nine, when a Soviet probe sent
pictures of it. The Moon is covered with craters left
by passing asteroids. The largest is a whopping one thousand,
three hundred and five miles or two thousand, one hundred
(10:33):
kilometers wide and seven point five miles or twelve kilometers deep.
Do you know that if you decided to walk on
the Moon, you could technically outpace a car. Since gravity
on the Moon is much weaker than on Earth, each
step you take would cover a lot more ground. Just
(10:56):
imagine moon walking faster than a speeding car. How cool
would that be? Did you know? The Moon has a
bunch of nicknames. Some people call it Luna, which is
Latin for moon, and in the past it's been called Selene,
which is Greek, and Cynthia, another Greek name. Are you
(11:18):
or your parents interested in golf? Astronaut Alan Shepherd played
golf on the Moon during the Apollo fourteen mission. With
the low gravity, the ball could fly huge distances, making
it possibly the longest drive in history. Just like Earth
(11:40):
has earthquakes, the Moon has well moonquakes. These tremors can
happen for various reasons, including the gravitational pull from Earth
causing the Moon's crust to crack and shift. Interestingly, moonquakes
can last much longer than earthquakes, up to an hour
(12:03):
because the Moon lacks water to dampen the seismic vibrations.
Despite their duration, moonquakes are generally weaker than their earthly counterparts.
So if you are standing on the Moon someday during one,
you might just feel a gentle rumble under your feet.
(12:25):
Did you know there's an old myth that the Moon
is made of cheese, while we know it's made of
rock and dust. Imagine having an unlimited supply of cheese
for your crackers, hamburgers, or pasta. Did you know that
the Moon is slowly shrinking over time, causing wrinkles on
(12:47):
its surface. This occurs because the Moon's interior is cooling
and contracting. As it shrinks, its brittle surface crust breaks
and forms threat rust faults, where one section of the
crust is pushed up over an adjacent area, creating what
(13:07):
looks like wrinkles or vidges. Despite this shrinkage, the change
is so gradual that you don't need to worry about
the Moon disappearing anytime soon. If you ever visit the Moon,
you could jump six times higher than on Earth. Imagine
what you could do if you could jump six times higher.
(13:27):
Join the NBA at six years old. Next, let's learn
(13:50):
a little about comets. Comets are interesting objects in our
Solar system, often called cosmic snowballs because they're made of ice, rock,
and dust. As they move through space, they leave behind
bright trails that can be seen from Earth. People have
(14:12):
been amazed by comets for thousands of years, seeing them
as both beautiful sights in the sky and sometimes as
signs of bad omens in old stories. Here are five
fascinating facts about comets. Comets are believed to originate from
(14:34):
two main areas in our solar system, the Kuiper Belt,
which lies just beyond Neptune, and the Ort Cloud, a
distant spherical shell surrounding the Solar system. These regions are
very cold and help preserve ancient debris. As a comet
approaches the Sun, it heats up and releases gases and dust,
(14:59):
creating two distinct tails. The gas tail, made of ions,
always points directly away from the Sun due to the
solar wind. The dust tail, made of tiny particles, lags
behind the comet, forming a curved tail. Comets are made
(15:21):
of ice, water, ammonia, and methane mixed with rocky material.
This composition gives clues to the conditions of the early
Solar system. Some comets are regular visits to the inner
Solar System, like Haley's Comet, which swings by Earth every
(15:41):
seventy six years. Its appearances have been recorded by human
observers for millennia, with its next visit anticipated in twenty
sixty one. Scientists speculate that comets could have played a
crucial role in delivering water and organic compounds to Earth,
(16:04):
possibly contributing to the emergence of life. As comets collided
with the young Earth, they may have deposited these essential ingredients.
Before you decide to start making a rocket in your
(16:26):
backyard and fly to the moon or try to catch
a comet, here are five effects of space travel on
the body that you might want to know first. In space,
the absence of gravity means that astronauts muscles don't have
to work as hard as they do on Earth, leading
(16:47):
to muscle weakness. This lack of gravity also causes a
decrease in bone density, particularly in the pelvis and legs,
since bones aren't supporting as much weight. To combat these effects,
astronauts use exercise machines while in orbit. Because there is
(17:08):
no gravity to keep body fluids in the usual places,
liquid can travel through the body to different areas. Liquid
travels up from the legs into the face, which causes
skinny legs and moonface. Without gravity, the size and shape
(17:29):
of the heart changes, the blood isn't pumped around the
body efficiently, the heart rate slows and blood pressure goes down.
Another challenge of space travel is the increased exposure to
space radiation as Earth's atmosphere, which normally offers protection, is absent.
(17:51):
This exposure can lead to symptoms of radiation sickness and
increases the risk of developing cancer. Walking on side ground
can be challenging after being in space for some time.
When they return to Earth, many astronauts find the pressure
on their feet painful. They also feel dizzy and have
(18:13):
trouble staying upright. So when you are designing your next spaceship,
add some exercise machines and some shielding from the harmful
rays of the Sun. In this episode, we learned a
(18:34):
little bit more about the Solar System with some facts
about the Solar System, the Moon, and comets. We did
a quick review about what we had learned in the
past about the Solar System, and then gave you some
new facts to share with your friends about the Solar System,
the Moon, comets and space travel. Do you like Liss
(19:00):
Would you like to see more? If you have any feedback,
please send it our way, and if you want to
make sure you get all the episodes. Please ask your
parents to subscribe. You can find us on Apple Podcasts
or wherever your parents listen to podcasts. And please, if
you love learning about science with us, leave us a review.
(19:24):
It may help others to find our show. If you'd
like to send us your questions, please send them to
Hello at sleep tightscience dot com sleep tight
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