The Solar System | …And Beyond! Module Outline |

The Solar System | …And Beyond Module Outline

ABY.A | The Outer Limits

So here we are, teasing the edge of the Solar System and ready to jump into the Galaxy, right? Not so fast – there’s still more Solar System out there, and we’re not finished exploring it yet!

ABY.B | Pluto & Trans-Neptunian Objects

Planet, not a planet. Planet, not a planet. Planet….well, you get the idea. Pluto’s changed status a LOT, but it’s become everyone’s favorite underdog. We vote for planet, but that’s us. What do YOU think?

ABY.C | The Kuiper Belt

Comets and asteroids and ice, oh my! There’s a lot to explore in the Kuiper Belt, and we don’t mean just dodging huge rocks! What is this region and how is it different from the Asteroid Belt?

ABY.D | Space Through the Ages

Exploration is in our DNA as humans, and space exploration in particular has sparked our imaginations since we started looking up at the night sky. Explore some of the most momentous highlights of our journey as a species into that great unknown.

ABY.E | What’s Really Out There?

Join us as we explore the absolute furthest reaches of our neighborhood, imagining life in space as we ultimately travel out into our own Milky way. There’s so much more to see!

ABY.F | X, Planet X

For decades scientists have believed that there must be another planet in our Solar System , exerting its influence over its own neighbor planets. Just what is this mysterious Planet X, and does it actually exist at all?

ABY.G | You ‘Oort-a’ See This

The Oort Cloud – it’s not another Asteroid belt, but what exactly IS it? Well, we’re completely sure, but astronomers have some interesting ideas about it and we’re going to check them out!

ABY.H | New Horizons & The Voyager Probes

How do we know so much about our far distant neighbors in our Solar System and even beyond? Meet some of the most ambitious inventions in human history as they open our eyes to the universe!

ABY.I | Ground Control to Major Tom

We’ve been looking for extraterrestrial life for decades, and have been beaming radio and TV signals to the stars inadvertently since they were invented, but have we ever sent out deliberate messages to the stars, and if so, what did we send?

ABY.J | Review Quizzes, Games & Bonus Questions

Time for a final review of the Solar System and our time exploring it – how much do you remember?

ABY.K | Dive Deeper

There’s much more to explore in our Solar System – wander through the resources we’ve gathered for you here.

Your ABY Module Progress

10 Fun Facts: The Hab

1. Aquarius is the the world’s only permanent undersea research station.

2. Most missions last about two or three weeks.

3. Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau, beat his grandfather’s record month-long underwater expedition by spending 31 days on the Aquarius Reef Base in 2014.

4. The lab is used by NASA, the US Navy, and researchers and educators from around the globe for training and research.

5. The internet connection is better in the Hab than at many places above the water.

6. You have to swim underneath the facility in order to enter it.

7. Crew members are called aquanauts (NOT aquaNUTS!)

8. In 1994, a crew of scientists and divers had to evacuate Aquarius and climb up a rescue line to the surface in 15-foot seas after one of the habitat’s generators caught fire.

9. Aquarius was featured in the comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon in 2012.

10. The Hab was originally built in Texas.

10 Fun Facts: Coral

1. Reefs usually grow up on the east shore of land masses.

2. Parts of a coral reef can be harvested to make medications to treat cancers and other illnesses.

3. A coral reef isn’t a single organism; it’s actually a community of life that lives and thrives in one location.

4. Only about one percent of the world’s oceans contain coral reefs. That’s about the size of France.

5. Coral reefs are the largest biological structures on earth.

6. Corals are related to jellyfish and anemones.

7. There are over 2,500 species of corals. About 1,000 are the hard corals that build coral reefs.

8. Reefs grow where there are stronger wave patterns and currents to deliver food and nutrients.

9. The Great Barrier Reef is 500,000 years old.

10. Most coral reefs grow just about two centimeters per year.

10. Most coral reefs grow just about two centimeters per year.

10 Fun Facts: Invasive Species

1. To be considered invasive, a species must adapt to a new area easily. It must reproduce quickly. It must harm property, the economy, or the native plants and animals of the region.

2. Some invasive species are introduced accidentally, but others are brought deliberately.

3. Ship ballast water transports between 3,000 and 7,000 foreign species daily around the globe.

4. The total loss to the world economy as a result of invasive non-native species has been estimated at 5% of annual production

5. Invasive species have contributed to 40% of the animal extinctions that have occurred in the last 400 years.

6. Rodents are some of the worst invasive species.

7. There are an estimated 50,000 wild ring-necked parakeets in parks across London and southeast England.

8. Black and Norway rats annually consume stored grains and destroy other property valued over $19 billion.

9. Northern Pacific seastars reproduce very quickly. In one area where they were introduced, their population reached an estimated 12 million seastars in just two years.

10. Starlings were introduced to New York in the late 1800s, as part of an attempt to bring animals that were mentioned in Shakespeare‘s work to America.