A star is a huge ball or disk of plasma that is primarily held together by gravity. On a clear night on Earth, we are able to see a lot of Stars. We can see 3000 stars on a typical night with the un-aided eye. The closest Star to Earth, is the Sun. Which is the main energy source for us.

The most visible stars on the celestial sphere were grouped together into constellations. The most brigthest Stars were also given names.

For the majority of a Star's life, it shines very brightly because of thermonuclear fusion in its core. Which is then radiated into outer-space.

A star begins as a dying or collapsing cloud. The cloud is composed of helium, helium, and other heavy elements. After the cloud's core, is very dense. Then some of the Hydrogen is converted into Helium. Which is a process known as nuclear fusion.

There are 18 different types of Stars and groups. Binary Stars, Black Dwarfs, Black Holes, Brown Dwarfs, Galaxies, Main-Sequence Stars, Nebulas, Neutron Stars, Novas, Pulsars, Quasars, Red Giants, Star Colours, Supergiants, Supernovas, Variable Stars, White Dwarf, and a Wolf-Rayet Star.

Astronomer's determine the mass, and age of a Star by viewing a Star's spectrum, luminosity, and it's motion through space. The mass of a Star determines it's future.

To get to our nearest Star (or closest to The Sun) it would take us approximately 118, 000 years!

After a Star runs out of hydrogen to fuse into Helium. Then the Star dies. A Star can die in several different ways, depending on it's type.

Introduction

Our solar system consists of the Sun, eight planets, the Asteroid belt, and the Kuiper belt. Originally, we had nine planets. But Pluto didn't meet the proper requirements that a planet must have to be classified as a planet. So it's no longer considered to be an actual planet. Planets as small as Pluto, are now known as Dwarf planets. As of now, there are 5 Dwarf planets. The four inner planets are called terrestrial planets and the four outer planets are called gas giants.

The Sun

The Sun is by far the largest object in our Solar System. It holds 99.8 % of the entire mass of our Solar System. The Sun is an ordinary Star, just like billions of other ones in the Universe. The Sun is classified as a normal main-sequence G2 Star. The Sun is composed of 70 % Hydrogen and 28 % Helium. Everything else (metals) amounts to less than 2 %. The Sun has been shining for about 4.6 Billion years, and it will continue to do so for about another 5 Billion year. Or until it runs out of Hydrogen to burn. The Sun has eight planets and many smaller objects orbiting it.

Key Details:

* Diameter: 1, 390, 000 KM

* Mass: 1.989e30 KG

* Temperature: 5800 K (Surface) 15, 600, 000 K (Core)

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It's also the eighth largest. Due to Mercury's short distance from the Sun, temperatures get fairly high on Mercury. Mercury has an extremely thin atmosphere. It has a lot of atoms flying off it's surface by the Solar Wind. Mercury has no Moons.

Mercury has been visited by two space-crafts. NASA, recently in 2004, launched a new space-craft to Mercury. It will send back much higher quality images, than the old space-crafts did. Mercury has a very weak magnetic field. It's strength is about 1 % of Earth's. It takes Mercury only 88 days to make a complete orbit around the Sun.

Key Details:

* Orbit: 57, 910, 000 KM (0.38 AU) from the Sun

* Diameter: 4, 880 KM

* Mass: 3.30e23 KG

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and the sixth largest. Venus is the most brightest object in the sky. (Not including The Sun or the Moon). Venus is also called Earth's sister planet, at times, due to the two planets close similarities. Venus does not have any Moons.

There are very strong winds raging on the cloud tops of Venus. It's believed, that at one time Venus had liquid water on it's surface. But all the water has now boiled away. Venus is very dry now. Venus also has several active volcanoes on it's surface. It takes Venus 225 Earth days to complete an orbit around the Sun.

Key Details:

* Orbit: 108, 200, 000 KM (0.72 AU) from the Sun

* Diameter: 12, 103, 6 KM

* Mass: 4.869.24 KG

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It's also the fifth largest. Earth has been divided into several layers, which have distinct chemical and seismic properties (depth in kilometers). Earth only has one Moon, but NASA has placed their own artificial satellites to orbit Earth. One of the most interesting things about Earth is that it's the only known Planet in which water can exist in liquid form. 71 % of Earth's surface is covered with water. Thanks to Earth's rich atmosphere, Earth is full of life. You can almost find life anywhere.

Earth is the only planet, whose name does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology. In the "ancient times" Earth was considered to be the center of the Universe. All these beliefs were brought to rest in the late sixteenth century by Copernicus. It was then proved, that Earth is a regular planet, orbiting a star. Just like billions of other ones in the Universe.

Key Details:

* Orbit: 227, 940, 000 KM (1.52 AU) from the Sun

* Diameter: 6, 794 KM

* Mass: 3.4219e23 KG

Mars

Mars, also known as the "red planet". Is the forth planet from the Sun. It's also the seventh largest. Early in Mars history, it was very similar to Earth. The very first space-craft to visit Mars was Mariner 4. It sent back detailed pictures to NASA. The pictures confirmed that Mars doesn't have any life on it. However, evidence was found that millions of years ago, Mars could've supported life. Before the pictures were received, many people (even scientists) believed that Mars might have living creatures on it. But all those beliefs were brought to rest. Evidence from the pictures that NASA received from their space-crafts, also shows that Mars could've had liquid water on it's surface in the past.

If Humans are to ever in-habit another planet, then the biggest candidate is Mars. Not only have we found evidence of previous life their, but Mars isn't very far from us either. U.S.A is planning a man mission to Mars sometime in 2040. The entire trip to Mars, and back would take us about 2 and a half years. (Traveling at today's modern speed). This is without mentioning the risks and dangerous factors of the trip. Mars has two moons.

Key Details:

* Orbit: 227, 640, 000 KM (1.52 AU) from the Sun

* Diameter: 6, 794 KM

* Mass: 6.4219e23 KG

Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. It's by far the largest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all the other planets in our Solar System combined.

The "great red spot" is a massive storm that's been raging on Jupiter for more than 300 years, now. The storm is so huge, it can hold up to two Earth's in it. Some scientists are starting to think that the great red spot might become a permanent feature of Jupiter. Jupiter is 1300 times more larger than Earth. Jupiter is also the fourth brightest object in the sky. Jupiter has a mind rattling 63 Moons. There could still be more.

Due to Jupiter's strong gravitational pull (massive size) it has a strong influence on each of the planets, orbits around the Sun. Jupiter has been visited by several space-crafts. The space-craft "Galileo" orbited Jupiter for eight consecutive years. Sending back important pictures, and information regarding Jupiter, back to NASA.

Key Details:

* Orbit: 778, 330, 000 KM (5.20 AU) from the Sun

* Diameter: 142, 984 KM (Equatorial)

* Mass: 1.900e27

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun, and it's the second largest. Saturn is the least dense of all the planets in our Solar System. Saturn has been visited by many space-crafts. The most fascinating feature of Saturn, is it's rings. There are four main groups of rings and three fainter, narrower groups of rings. Saturn's rings are very thin. The origin of Saturn's rings is completely unknown.

Saturn radiates more energy into space, than it receives from the Sun. Saturn has 34 known Moons. Scientists believe there could be more. But they can only speculate. Saturn and Jupiter are composed of similar chemicals. Which is why the two, are so alike.

Key Details:

* Orbit: 1, 429, 400, 000 KM (9.54 AU) from the Sun

* Diameter: 120, 536 KM (Equatorial)

* Mass: 5.68e26 KG

Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, and it's the third largest. Uranus has only been visited by one space-craft. But that one space-craft, answered many questions related to Uranus, and a lot more. The space-craft confirmed that Uranus does have 21 Moons. Uranus is some times pronounced the wrong way. The wrong way to pronounce it is "your anus", the proper way to pronounce it is "yoor a nus".

Uranus is the first planet to be discovered in modern times. Uranus has very dark rings. Which makes it fairly difficult to see them. Uranus is sometimes barely visible on a very clear night. It can be easily spotted with binoculars, though. Unlike Saturn and Jupiter, Uranus is mostly composed of rocks and various ices.
Key Details:

* Orbit: 2, 870, 990, 000 KM (192.218 AU) from the Sun

* Diameter: 51, 118 KM (Equatorial)

* Mass: 8.683e25 KG

Asteroid Belt

The Asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. Many irregular shaped bodies, known as asteroids, or minor planets. Reside within the Asteroid belt. The very first object of the Asteroid belt was discovered in 1801. Now known as Ceres.

Kuiper Belt

The Kuiper belt is a disk-like shaped region beyond the orbit of Neptune. It's roughly 30-50 AU from the Sun. It's very similar to the Asteroid belt. Being home to many small icy bodies, minor planets, and dwarf planets. The former planet, Pluto lies within the Kuiper belt.

It is 40 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin represented mankind on another world - the Moon. It is 40 years since experts suggested that we would soon have a Moonbase and would be walking on another planet: Mars; perhaps even building a permanent base there. It is now 40 years on and we seem to be no nearer to achieving these goals.

This is getting somewhat frustrating because Homo sapiens is a naturally inquisitive primate who simply has to explore new lands in search of more fertile habitats for the species to multiply and prosper. We can clearly see around the world that things are getting rather congested in places, especially in the developed world, and new lands to discover and explore have now gone. We have mapped the whole surface of the planet - we are even making online street maps! There clearly is not much to explore unless we go underground into subterranean caves. But we can't prosper as a species down there.

To continue as pioneers and to explore new lands where the species can multiply and prosper, we must clearly find a new world. Mars is the obvious choice for now. Thanks to the spacecraft and rovers that have so far successfully taught us so much about Mars, we are much wiser now than we were 40 years ago. Spacecraft like the Viking Landers, the rovers Sprit and Opportunity, and those which mapped the planet from orbit, are in effect our current pioneers. They are Man's creations - conceived by the human brain. They act as out eyes. But there is only so much they can do for us for they cannot think like us and act accordingly. They are just our tools.

Ultimately we must get off this planet and prosper elsewhere, for the Earth cannot give us much more. We can forget about going to the stars and attempting to find Earth-like worlds which we could freely take over; the sheer distances involved prevents that. What we must do is look at the solar system, for that contains all the elements and minerals necessary for life. We know this because we are here!

Since the Earth contains all the 92 life-giving natural elements (thanks to a supernova explosion in the vicinity during times long since gone), it follows that the whole solar system does too, for the whole system was created from the one primordial nebula. The only difference between the Earth and the other planets and satellites in the solar system is the presence of liquid water. It is water in its liquid state that must be present for carbon-based life to flourish.

Mars has water - and we now know it has plenty of it - in the solid state. This needs sorting out. It needs to be melted with a man-made heat source. Now there is a technological challenge for us. Can our scientists and engineers construct a boiler to can melt the water ice on Mars? It doesn't have to be huge, just adequate enough to supply biomes, like those at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England. And when photosynthesis occurs, oxygen will escape into the Martian atmosphere. Yes, the Martian sky can turn blue.

We also know that there is lots of water on the Jovian satellite Europa. It cannot be beyond the means of Man to figure out a way of transporting free water from that moon to Mars, especially with the low escape velocity needed to lift the stuff off Europa.

So now you know why we are still stuck on this planet: we are still at the planning stage. It is great that the Indians, the Chinese, and the Japanese are seriously going into space with their own planned manned Moon landings. We have an evolving International Space Station. The European Space Agency is working well. And now the US via NASA wants to put men back on the Moon with Project Constellation.

There is nothing as good as honest competition. Things, it seems, are going to accelerate from now on, so get ready for a fantastic ride over the decades to come!

A Dwarf planet (as defined by the International Astronomical Union) is "a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite."

This terms was developed in 2006 during the time when a lot of astronomers weren't accepting Pluto as a planet due to it's small size. Some astronomers argued that just because of Pluto's small size, doesn't mean it's not a planet. But later there was a discovery of a new planet, known as Eris, which was found in 2005 by Mike Brown. This new planet was 27% more massive than Pluto. Which meant that we would know have 10 planets. To date, Eris is the largest Dwarf planet in our Solar System that we know of. The discovery of Eris and the small size of Pluto were the two main factors that drove the International Astronomical Union to classify these smaller planets as something else.

As of now, there are a total of 5 Dwarf planets. Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

If the International Astronomical Union had not created the term "Dwarf Planets". Then there would be over 20 different planets in our Solar System. As of now, we only have 8 planets.

Some astronomers believe that there are another 40 planets in our Solar System that are Dwarf planets. The majority of them haven't been discovered yet, though. They also believe that there are about 200 Dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg, the methane or the life on Mars; this is the confounding questions of late...methane must mean bio material is degrading, or it simply means we don't know anything for sure.

If you know we are a planet and the twinkling little lights in the sky are the same or similar to the planet we live on, you would have to have had a lobotomy not to think it possible that life could exist on a plant other than Earth.

Now, zoom to present day and all the scientific technological advances; we should be able to determine if Mars was ever able to support life. The truth is, NASA has sent probes up, rovers, spacecraft to circle the red planet and take pictures, spent millions of dollars to answer this very question and as of yet there is no conclusive evidence to support the hypothesis that life did exist on Mars.

If someone were to come to Earth after its terrain and atmosphere failed, don't you think they could figure it out in about, oh...say five minutes. We the people of earth would have left stuff there, like landfills, old buildings that surely would have survived storms, freezing temperatures, sun storms, lava, and the hell that a natural living planet could produce. We still don't know for sure who shot President Kennedy either.

The point is that until we get up there, dig deeper and get conclusive evidence, then the answer to the 'Life on Mars' question has to be approached the Joe Friday way, "Just the facts...". The truth is the facts would tell us and the fact that we don't have any solid facts yet, well that just means Life on Mars shall remain a fiction until sometime in the future. No mystery, just no life that's all. So all the bored people of this planet spend time turning tales and letting their over active imaginations skew their practical senses. Go do something with your life and worry about Mars when the little green men show up.

When we talk about the Space Race, it is amazing how little media coverage that we see about other nations and all that they are doing. We see our own space shuttle take off and land and we hear about the ISS or International Space Station, and the Hubble Space Telescope, even the rover on Mars, but have you ever wondered what advances the Chinese are making for instance?

Well did you know that the Chinese have been busy mapping the moon terrain using sophisticated lasers that measure down to less than a meter? Or did you know that the Chinese are launching a Mars probe to do the same thing later this year, one which will be sent into space on Russian Rockets? They will be looking for water and measuring the surface. China even is building a space capsule that can dock with the International Space Station.

Could it be that we here in the US are having our attention diverted from what else is going on in space? It appears we have some competition out there, and we are getting more of it every day. Once the United States dominated space technologies, today, we surely have the know-how, but we do not seem to be putting our financial backing behind it in the way that makes sense to keep up with our own achievements and accomplishments.

Space exploration is not something you finish, it is an on-going process, and if you stop, you will be passed by just like if you have a flat tire on the freeway, and decide not to fix it. Please consider all this.