Celestial Bodies and Our Solar System

Astronomy is the study of everything in space, and organisations like NASA help us explore beyond Earth. You'll be amazed to know that what you call a "shooting star" isn't actually a star at all!

Meteors are the scientific name for shooting stars - they're caused by tiny bits of space dust or small rocks called meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere. Sometimes they're even pieces of paint from rockets or tools dropped by astronauts! If a meteor actually makes it to Earth's surface, it becomes a meteorite.

Asteroids range from boulder-sized rocks to mountain-sized chunks floating in space. Most hang out in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Don't worry about spacecraft hitting them though - space is so enormous that collisions are incredibly rare.

Comets are roughly the size of a small town and spend most of their time far from the sun. When they do swing close, the ice and gases melt off them, creating those spectacular tails you see in pictures.

Quick Fact: The distances between planets are mind-blowing - we're talking millions to hundreds of millions of kilometres apart!

Our solar system has two main types of planets: the rocky inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and the gas giants further out (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). Remember that a satellite is any object orbiting another celestial body, whilst a moon is specifically a natural satellite of a planet.