Astronomy Basics & Space Glossary
Ever wondered what makes up our universe? Surprisingly, ordinary matter accounts for only 4% of it, while dark matter (23%) and dark energy (73%) make up the rest!
Stars come in different colors based on their temperature. The hottest stars are blue (37,000°F), followed by yellow stars like our Sun (10,000°F), with red stars being the coolest (below 5,500°F). When looking at planets, Earth, Neptune, and Uranus appear blue because of their gaseous composition.
Our cosmic neighborhood includes several key structures. Galaxies are massive systems containing billions of stars, with our galaxy being the Milky Way. Our solar system consists of the Sun at its center, nine planets orbiting it, plus satellites, asteroids, comets, and meteorites.
Did you know? A light year isn't a measure of time but distance—specifically how far light travels in one year. This is how astronomers measure the vast distances between stars!
The Sun is our closest star—a medium-sized yellow dwarf that's mostly hydrogen (92%) and helium (7%). It has several layers the core (where fusion occurs), radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, and the outer chromosphere and corona. At its core, the temperature reaches a scorching 15 million Kelvin!