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Project Summary
| Difficulty | 6 |
| Time required | Average (about one week) |
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| * Note: This is an abbreviated project idea, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk. |
Abstract
Use your Internet sleuthing skills to learn about solar system objects. Create a table of measurements of moons and asteroids in order to determine if there is a size threshold for roundness. A good source of information would be an online guide such as The Nine Planets (Arnett, W.A., 2006). You'll find information about planetary satellites, including dimensions and accompanying pictures. From the pictures, classify the satellites and asteroids according to how round they are. Can you think of a way to quantify roundness? See if you can determine what the minimum mass seems to be before solar system objects become spherical (Odenwald, 1997).Bibliography
- Arnett, W.A., 2006. "The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System," [accessed July 31, 2006] http://www.nineplanets.org/.
- Odenwald, S., 1997. "Do you have any science fair suggestions for Middle School students?" Ask the Astronomer, Astronomy Cafe website [accessed July 31, 2006] http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q2077.html.
Variations
- For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Astronomy Project Ideas.
Last edit date: 2006-12-14 13:45:10
Career Focus
If you like this project, you might want to think about career opportunities in
Astronomy.
Astronomers think big! They want to understand the entire universe—the nature of the Sun, Moon, planets, stars, galaxies, and everything in between. An astronomer's work can be pure science—gathering and analyzing data from instruments and creating theories about the nature of cosmic objects—or the work can be applied to practical problems in space flight and navigation, or satellite communications. Learn more about this career: Astronomer.
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