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.

Saturn’s Moon May Provide Clues to the Search for Space Water

Scientists have received the latest clues to aid their hunt for water in outer space with photographs taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Images of Saturn’s moon, Dione, focus on the 500-mile-long mountain Janiculum Dorsa—a landmark scientists use to compare Dione to Saturn’s geyser moon, Enceladus. Using Janiculum Dorsa along with other findings, researchers speculate that Dione may have once had a geologically active subsurface ocean.

dione_cassini_bigDiscovering subsurface oceans on Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and now potentially Dione have led scientists to believe that there may be more worlds with water than previously imagined. These moons have played a crucial part in advancing the search for life beyond Earth.

Hints toward Dione’s possession of a subsurface ocean arose when Cassini detected a weak particle stream with its magnetometer. The spacecraft’s images suggest that a slushy liquid layer may exist beneath its icy crust along with fractures that spew water ice and carbon-containing particles. If the assumptions formed from Cassini’s images are correct and the moon does have a subsurface ocean, it would increase the moon’s chances for supporting life.

An intriguing clue toward Dione’s potential subsurface ocean is its mountain, Janiculum Dorsa. The mountain ranges from about 0.6 to 1.2 miles in height and appears to have deformed the crust beneath by 0.3 miles. Researchers believe that the deformation implies Dione has a warm surface, likely due to a subsurface ocean.

Cassini’s photographs have played a massive role in unlocking the mysteries of subsurface oceans on other worlds and the possibility of life in outer space. If scientists confirm the presence of a subsurface ocean on Dione, they may be able to find trends across multiple moons that could further their research into extraterrestrial life.

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