Build Your Own Planet

What is a simply DIY craft project that you and your space-crazed kid can complete together? Try making this easy, mess-free solar system to hang in your Blaster’s room!

Materials

The materials you need to complete this galactic task are as follow:

  • Color paper
  • Scissors
  • Compass or several circular objects (mugs, bowls, plates, etc.)
  • Pencil
  • Fishing line
  • Stapler
  • Glue
  • Star-shaped stickers (optional)

StackedStapledFishing Line

Steps:

  1. To create our hometown, Earth, you will need blue, green, brown, and white colored paper.
  2. To be precise, you can set your compass’ width to be 7 cm, which means the diameter of your circles will be 14 cm in total. Or you can use a large mug instead, and trace the outline onto the colored paper by using your pencil.
  3. Using your scissors, cut out the circles. Then, fold them in half.
  4. As shown in the image, stack the paper and staple across the crease that you just folded to keep the paper intact
  5. Then, fold the paper backwards to create a 3-dimensional shape.
  6. Tie the fishing line around the center seem.
  7. Tie a knot and your Earth is completed!
  8. Optional: You can purchase star-shaped stickers and use it as a label for the planet and to cover up the knot you tied in step 7.
  9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 to create Saturn, but this time, use orange, yellow, brown, and white colored paper instead, and set your compass’ width to 10 cm, or find a bigger circular object.
  10. To create the ring, simply create two circles in white and brown respectively that are just a tiny bit smaller than the ones you did to create the spherical shape of Saturn.
  11. Glue them together by slightly overlapping them, and slide it over the 3D Saturn.
  12. Repeat steps 1 to 8 to create the other planets, but make sure you alter the measurement of your compass slightly to show the scale between the different planets.

Complete

Note:

  • The more circles you cut out, the more detailed your planets will look, but it will also be harder to staple all the paper together.
  • Assist your kid when using the compass – the sharp tip can be hazardous.

Scientists May Have Discovered First Meteorite from Mercury

Last year, a green meteorite known as NWA 7325 was discovered in Morocco. Part of a group of 35 recovered meteorites, NWA 7325 is believed to be the first known meteorite from Mercury. Found by Anthony Irving, he and his team dated the space rock to be about 4.56 billion years old.

nwa7325-mercury-meteorite

There are a few important characteristics about NWA 7325 that give Irving reason to believe that the meteorite is from Mercury. First, scientists believe that Mercury’s surface is very low in iron. NWA 7325 is also low in iron, suggesting that the rock must hail from Mercury or another planet with a similar makeup.

Second, meteorites tend to have chemical characteristics distinct to the larger planets or asteroids that they come from. Having studied numerous rocks from Mars and other major asteroids, Irving has found that NWA 7325 has a unique chemical makeup, eliminating the possibility that it came from Mars or other previously studied asteroids.

Finally, NWA 7325 has a magnetic intensity—magnetism passed from a cosmic body’s magnetic field to the rock—that is lower than that found on any previously discovered meteorite. Data recently received from NASA’s Messenger spacecraft indicates that the magnetic intensity of Mercury closely resembles that of NWA 7325.

The discovery of NWA 7325 has been an exciting opportunity for scientists. As potentially the first meteorite to be studied from Mercury, the rock can provide vast amounts of insight into the solar system’s innermost planet that may otherwise be unattainable.

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