Distances in Space Assignment
1) The closest distance from Earth to Saturn is around 800 million miles
(that’s 800 with six zeros after it!). When the Cassini spacecraft made
its voyage toward Saturn, it traveled at a speed of 42,561 miles per
hour (mph). Answer questions a-c about traveling to Saturn.
Be sure to show your math for each question.
a) How many hours did it take for Cassini to travel from the Earth to Saturn? Round your
answer to the nearest hour.
800,000,000 / 42,561 = 18,797 hours.
b) If you traveled at the same speed from Earth to Saturn, how many days would it take?
Round your answer to the nearest whole day.
800,000,000 / 42,561 = 18,797 hours / 24 hours a day = 783 days.
c) How would your age change from when you leave Earth and arrive at Saturn?
I would be 13 years old by then. I'm 11 currently, and 783 days is over 2 years from now.
11 + 2 = 13. I would be 13 years old.
2) Answer each question below. Be sure to show your work if there are calculations.
Distances within our solar system are often measured in
astronomical units (AU), with 1 AU being equal to about
93 million miles.
a) Which distance in our solar system is the AU based on? Is this an absolute distance or
a mean distance?
AU is based on the distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is a mean distance.
b) Based on the closest distance from Earth to Saturn, how many AU would you travel to
make the journey? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.
800,000,000 / 93,000,000 = 8.6 AU The absolute distance in AU is 8.60215054 AU.
c) Mercury orbits the Sun at an average distance of 0.4 AU. Neptune orbits the Sun at an
average distance of 30 AU. How do their average distances in miles from the Sun compare?
Neptunes distance from the Sun compared to Mercury's is 75 times greater. 30 AU/0.4
AU = 75 AU. 30 / 0.4 = 75. We found 0.4 like this: 30 / 75 = 0.4.
d) Which property of light is measured with the light year (ly)?
distance
e) Vega is a bright star visible in the Northern Hemisphere, and it is about 25 light years
away from Earth. When you look up at Vega at night, how long did the light travel before
reaching your eye?
I didn't see Vega, but the light that travelled from Vega is from 25 years ago.
f) In 2018, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope orbiting the Earth spotted Icarus, a faraway
star. How many light years away is it? What was happening on Earth when Icarus’ light
began its journey?
Icarus is 9 billion light years away. The solar system didn't exist when Icarus's light
started travelling. 4.8 billion years after Icarus's light started travelling, Earth formed.
3) Write a letter from the Milky Way galaxy to the Andromeda galaxy to
catch up and plan an upcoming visit. Include the answers to the following
questions in your letter, and write your response in complete sentences.
a) How far away are the galaxies from each other?
b) How long does it take a letter to travel between them (at the speed of light)?
c) Can they see each other?
d) How do their shapes compare?
e) What is their size difference?
f) How do their star numbers compare?
g) What is located at the center of each galaxy?
h) When will they visit each other?
i) What will happen during this visit?
Andromeda is 2.5 million light years away from the Milky Way. It will take 2.5 million years for
this letter to reach Andromeda. Humans can see Andromeda, so they can see each other. Each
Galaxy' shapes are Barred Spiral Galaxy shapes, which is simply a spiral shape, but with a straight
bar of matter (such as gas and stars) going down the middle and center of a galaxy. These types
of galaxies can look different with the spiral arms connecting the bar of matter at the center.
Andromeda is significantly larger than The Milky Way, being 220,000 light years in diameter,
while The Milky Way is 100,000 light years in diameter. Andromeda has around 1 trillion stars,
while The Milky Way has a mean amount of 250 billion (100 billion to 400 billion). At the center
of each galaxy, a supermassive black hole is present. Our black hole is called Sagittarius A*.
Andromeda's supermassive black hole is named M31\*. They will visit in 4.5 billion years,
colliding as a result. This will make a new galaxy called "Milkdromeda."
