7 Hal Sepele Penyebab Penyakit Kronis

- Kehidupan kita tidak pernah luput dari masalah dan selalu saja kita terlibat suatu masalah, entah masalah keuangan ataupun masalah kesehatan, dan memang kalau masalah kesehatan sangatlah susah karena kesehatan gak bisa di beli cuman bisa di jaga(baca kanker serviks) dan gara-gara masalah sepele yang biasa terjadi kepada kita bisa berimbas parah terhadap tubuh kita, seperti dibawah ini ciri-cirinya.

Penyebab Penyakit Kronis

  Gangguan Tidur Amy Korn-Reavis, pakar terapi pernapasan dan gangguan tidur, memeringatkan kita agar tak abai dengan gangguan tidur. Wanita yang lama berkecimpung dengan persoalan ini melihat sangat jarang ada pasien yang datang ke dokter menceritakan memiliki masalah tidur.

"Padahal jika mereka memiliki masalah tidur, mendengkur, dan tingkat kelelahan tinggi, mereka harus berkonsultasi dengan dokter, untuk melihat kemungkinan terkait gangguan jantung, diabetes, atau tekanan darah tinggi," ujarnya.

•  Keputihan "Saya tidak menunda berkonsultasi dengan tim medis ketika vagina saya mulai mengeluarkan cairan yang mulanya saya pikir hanya infeksi bakteri biasa," kata Alyssa Phillips, asisten dokter dan pasien transplantasi tulang sumsum.

"Ternyata, itu adalah jenis kanker serviks agresif yang benar-benar langka, disebut Large Cell Cervical Neuroendocrine Cancer," kata wanita yang berhasil sembuh meskipun sel kankernya sudah berada di stadium IV.

•  SembelitHampir semua orang pasti mengalaminya. Pada kondisi terbaik, normalnya orang buang air besar satu sampai tiga kali sehari. Sulit buang air besar hingga beberapa hari bisa jadi itu gejala penyumbatan atau tumor di usus besar. "Segera periksakan ke dokter jika kerap mengalaminya," kata Dr Kathy Gruver, penulis The Alternative Medicine Cabinet'.

•  Sakit Kepala Kondisi ini juga sangat jamak dirasakan hampir semua orang. Namun, tak menutup kemungkinan terkait masalah kesehatan serius. "Jika sakit kepala disertai leher kaku, demam, muntah, dan berlangsung dalam waktu yang sangat lama, itu harus segera diperiksakan ke dokter," kata Dr Gruver. 

Gejala lain yang harus segera mendapat perhatian serius adalah jika sakit kepala parah datang tiba-tiba, disertai perubahan suara menjadi cadel, masalah penglihatan, kesulitan gerak lengan dan kaki, kehilangan keseimbangan, kebingungan, kehilangan memori, dan sakit kepala yang terus bertambah berat selama 24 jam.

•  Sakit gigi dan nyeri wajahDr Gruver memiliki sejumlah pasien yang mengalami kondisi ini dan hampir semua salah diagnosis. "Mereka pergi ke dokter gigi dan mengetahui ternyata mengalami gangguan saraf wajah," katanya. "Jika tidak ditangani dengan cepat, bisa mengarah pada neuropati menyakitkan dan permanen, bahkan bisa menyebabkan kebutaan."

•  Diare Terkesan biasa memang. Namun, jangan anggap remeh jika diare berlangsung hingga beberapa hari. Selain terancam bahaya kekuarangan cairan tubuh, kondisi ini juga bisa mengindikasikan masalah serius, seperti parasit, kanker, dan masalah pankreas atau empedu kandung. "Segera konsultasi ke dokter, karena jika ini terjadi konsumsi obat anti-diare bukanlah solusi," kata Dr Gruver.

•  Refluks Asam lambung Satu dari empat orang di Amerika Serikat menderita refluks asam, peningkatan asam lambung. Meski jamak, bukan berarti Anda bisa mengabaikan penyakit ini. "Asam lambung bisa mengakibatkan rasa mulas, erosi gigi, dan gejala seperti asma ketika isi perut tersedot ke paru-paru, bahkan kanker kerongkongan," kata Dr Carson Liu, ahli bedah bersertifikat.(source : vivanews)

makanya kita perlu memperhatikan pola hidup kita, dan perlu memperhatikan hal sepele yang ada di kehidupan kita, coz penyakit kronis awalnya juga dari penyakit ringan yang terkadang tidak perlu banyak menyita perhatian kita.

Manfaat Lidah Buaya untuk wajah, rambut, tubuh dan kesehatan Kita

bahas tentang obat-obatan herbal memang sangatlah asyik karena yang kita bahas ya sekitar tempat tinggal kita sendiri sih, ya gak usah jauh-jauh yaitu Manfaat Lidah Buaya yang baik untuk wajah, rambut dan tentu kesehatan kita karena memang organik bukan..?? dan bahas cara organik bisa juga tuh Cara Menghilangkan Jerawat dan juga Cara Menurunkan Berat Badan dengan alami dan bagaimana Manfaat Lidah Buaya Untuk Kulit kita yaitu.

Lidah Buaya

1.Mengatasi radang kulit

Radang kulit sering kali muncul, misalnya akibat sinar X kala operasi, terpapar sinar matahari terlalu lama ataupun luka akibat trauma. Banyak ahli yang mengandalkan cairan (gel) yang diambil dari daging daun lidah buaya untuk mengatasi keluhan/gangguan ini.

2. Merawat kulit 

Lidah buaya juga melembapkan kulit. Khasiat ini sudah dikenal sejak zaman Cleopatra. Tak heran kalau hampir 70% produk kosmetik saat itu intisarinya adalah gel lidah buaya. Zat lignin yang dikandungnya diyakini dapat menembus sekaligus meresap ke dalam kulit serta menahan hilangnya cairan dari permukaan kulit. Dengan demikian kulit jadi tidak cepat kering sementara kelembapannya tetap terjaga.

dan Manfaat Lidah Buaya yang lainnya yaitu

• Mengobati luka usus

Ini terjadi karena makanan yang masuk tidak terkontrol atau terlalu sering mengonsumsi makanan "keras" yang kelewat merangsang asam lambung. Konsumsi lidah buaya diyakini dapat menyembuhkan luka usus karena mengandung zat saponin yang mampu membersihkan usus sekaligus bersifat antiseptik. Senyawa antrakuinonnya berfungsi sebagai antibiotik, dan zat-zat lainnya berfungsi menjalankan peran epitelisasi atau merangsang pertumbuhan jaringan kulit dari sel-sel baru.

• Menyembuhkan penyakit langganan

Siapa sangka kalau lidah buaya ternyata dapat mengatasi berbagai penyakit langganan pada anak-anak maupun dewasa, antara lain demam, nyeri lambung/mag, sembelit, wasir, bisul, batuk, radang tenggorokan, sariawan, ruam, gigitan serangga, bahkan menghilangkan jerawat dan mengikis noda hitam di wajah.

• Membantu metabolisme tubuh dan regenerasi sel

Kandungan enzim cellulose, amylose, protein dan biogenik simulator merupakan zat aktif dapat membantu metabolisme dan merangsang pertumbuhan dan regenerasi sel-sel kulit.

• Penyubur rambut

Cara Meramu: 2 pelepah lidah buaya dicuci lalu kupas. Isinya digosokkan pada kulit kepala yang telah dikeramas pada sore hari. Bungkus dengan kain. Keesokan harinya rambut dibilas. Lakukan setiap hari selama 3 bulan.

• Penurun kadar gula darah

Cara Meramu: 1 pelepah lidah buaya ukuran besar (kira-kira seukuran telapak tangan) dibersihkan dengan mengupas kulit dan durinya. Rendam sekitar 30 menit dalam air garam. Remas sebentar lalu bilas di bawah air yang mengalir (air kran). Rebus dengan 3 gelas air hingga mendidih. Dinginkan. Minum sebanyak 1/2 gelas, 2 sampai 3 kali sehari.

Lidah Buaya

serta Kandungan yang ada Di Lidah Buaya pun bejibun banyaknya  Lidah Buaya terbukti menyimpan zat-zat penting seperti vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B21, C, E, kolin, inositol, dan asam folat. Kandungan mineralnya adalah kalsium, magnesium, potasium, sodium, besi, zinc, dan kromium. Kandungan enzim-enzimnya, antara lain amylase, catalase, cellulose, carboxypeptidase, carboxyhelolase, dan brandykinase yang semuanya amat penting bagi metabolisme tubuh. Lidah buaya pun ternyata memiliki kandungan beragam asam amino, yakni arginine, asparagin, asparatic acid, analine, serine, valine, glutamat, threonine, glycine, lycine, yrozine, proline, histidine, leucine, dan isoliucine. ya itu hasil pencarian Media Online dari berbagai sumber semoga para pembaca tahu akan Manfaat Lidah Buaya yang ternyata baik untuk kita baik untuk kesehatan kita :)

Solar System Formation

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Do the planets and moons in our solar system tend to orbit and rotate in the same plane? If so, what would be the cause of such uniformity? Why do all the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction?

Yes, the planets and most other large bodies of the solar system do orbit the Sun in about the same plane. This plane that contains the orbits of most of the planets, moons, and asteroids is called the ecliptic plane. When viewed from overhead, the planets also rotate about the Sun in the same counter-clockwise direction. Most moons also rotate around their parent planets in this same direction. The reason for these behaviors relates to how the solar system was formed some 4.6 billion years ago. Bear in mind that the explanation we are about to discuss is only a theory that appears to explain the structure of the solar system as scientists currently understand it. As astronomers learn more about our own solar system as well as the planets orbiting other stars in the galaxy, it is very possible that this theory may change and evolve.

Planets of the solar system (not to scale) The leading hypothesis to explain how the solar system formed is called the condensation theory, which is based on a related explanation called the nebular theory. A nebula is a large cloud of gas and dust that exists in the depths of interstellar space. These clouds typically form during the death of a giant star when it goes supernova. This mighty explosion sends most of the star's mass outward into space as a massive wave of debris. The nebular cloud from which our solar system formed may have accumulated from one or more stars that went supernova billions of years ago. Astronomers have used the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories to discover similar nebular clouds where new stars and possibly planets appear to be in the process of being created.


Stars forming in small protrusions from the Eagle Nebula Astronomers estimate that the nebular cloud from which our solar system formed contained about two to three times the mass of the Sun and was about 100 astronomical units (AU) across. An astronomical unit is defined as the average distance between the Sun and Earth, or about 93 million miles (150 million km). This massive loosely-bound cloud of dust, ice particles, and gases (primarily hydrogen and helium) had some small rate of rotation due to the method in which it was formed. Over time, this nebular cloud began to collapse inward. The collapse may have itself been triggered by a supernova that sent shockwaves through the cloud causing it to compress. As the cloud compressed on itself, the gravitational attraction of the matter within increased and pulled the material in even further. The nebula continued to contract under the influence of gravity causing it to spin faster. The more the cloud contracted, the faster it rotated due to the conservation of angular momentum. The rate of contraction was greatest near the center of the cloud where a dense central core began to form. As the rate of rotation of the nebula continued to increase, centrifugal effects caused the spinning cloud to flatten into a disk with a bulge at its center.


Contracting nebular cloud increasing its rate of rotation The middle of this spinning disk further condensed to eventually form the Sun at the center of the solar system. The material spinning around this new star also condensed into several large chunks of material called planetoids. As these planetoids collided, they coallesced into larger bodies to form the planets that exist today. Because the Sun and planets all formed from the same nebular cloud, they all rotate in the same direction that was induced on the disk of material as it coallesced. Not only do the planets all rotate counter-clockwise around the Sun, but the Sun and nearly all the planets rotate counter-clockwise about their axes. The solar equator and the plane containing the orbits of the planets are also nearly identical, further supporting the formation theory described above.


Spinning cloud flattening into a disk and condensing into a star and planets Only a few exceptions to this explanation can be found in the solar system. The planet Venus actually rotates clockwise around its axis in what is called a retrograde motion. Uranus is also in an unusual orientation since the world is tilted on its side with its north and south poles in about the same plane as the planet's orbit around the Sun. Tiny Pluto is also tilted on its side and is the only planet with an orbit considerably outside of the ecliptic plane. While the reasons for these eccentricities are unknown, it is believed that large collisions with other large bodies during the formation of the solar system may account for the unusual characteristics of these planets.

Our Solar System

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About It

Our solar neighborhood is an exciting place. The Solar System is full of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, minor planets, and many other exciting objects. Learn about Io, the explosive moon that orbits the planet Jupiter, or explore the gigantic canyons and deserts on Mars.

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What Is The Solar System?

The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor planets, and dust and gas.

Everything in the Solar System orbits or revolves around the Sun. The Sun contains around 98% of all the material in the Solar System. The larger an object is, the more gravity it has. Because the Sun is so large, its powerful gravity attracts all the other objects in the Solar System towards it. At the same time, these objects, which are moving very rapidly, try to fly away from the Sun, outward into the emptiness of outer space. The result of the planets trying to fly away, at the same time that the Sun is trying to pull them inward is that they become trapped half-way in between. Balanced between flying towards the Sun, and escaping into space, they spend eternity orbiting around their parent star.

How Did The Solar System form?

This is an important question, and one that is difficult for scientists to understand. After all, the creation of our Solar System took place billions of years before there were any people around to witness it. Our own evolution is tied closely to the evolution of the Solar System. Thus, without understanding from where the Solar System came from, it is difficult to comprehend how mankind came to be.

Scientists believe that the Solar System evolved from a giant cloud of dust and gas. They believe that this dust and gas began to collapse under the weight of its own gravity. As it did so, the matter contained within this could begin moving in a giant circle, much like the water in a drain moves around the center of the drain in a circle.

At the center of this spinning cloud, a small star began to form. This star grew larger and larger as it collected more and more of the dust and gas that collapsed into it.

Further away from the center of this mass where the star was forming, there were smaller clumps of dust and gas that were also collapsing. The star in the center eventually ignited forming our Sun, while the smaller clumps became the planets, minor planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.

A Great Storm

Once ignited, the Sun's powerful solar winds began to blow. These winds, which are made up of atomic particles being blown outward from the Sun, slowly pushed the remaining gas and dust out of the Solar System.

With no more gas or dust, the planets, minor planets, moons, comets, and asteroids stopped growing. You may have noticed that the four inner planets are much smaller than the four outer planets. Why is that?

Because the inner planets are much closer to the Sun, they are located where the solar winds are stronger. As a result, the dust and gas from the inner Solar System was blown away much more quickly than it was from the outer Solar System. This gave the planets of the inner Solar System less time to grow.

Another important difference is that the outer planets are largely made of gas and water, while the inner planets are made up almost entirely of rock and dust. This is also a result of the solar winds. As the outer planets grew larger, their gravity had time to accumulate massive amounts of gas, water, as well as dust.

The Solar System Has Over 100 Worlds

It is true that there are only eight planets. However, the Solar System is made up of over 100 worlds that are every bit as fascinating. Some of these minor planets, and moons are actually larger than the planet Mercury!

Others, such as Io, have active volcanoes. Europa has a liquid water ocean, while Titan has lakes, rivers, and oceans of liquid Methane. You can read more about these amazing worlds by clicking here.

The Asteroid Belt, The Kuiper Belt, And The Oort Cloud

You have probably heard about the Asteroid Belt. This band of asteroids sits between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It is made up of thousands of objects too small to be considered planets. Some of them no larger than a grain of dust, while others, like Eros can be more than 100 miles across. A few, like Ida, even have their own moons.

Further out, beyond the orbit of the minor planet Pluto, sits another belt known as the Kuiper Belt. Like the Asteroid Belt, the Kuiper Belt is also made up of thousands, possibly even millions of objects too small to be considered planets. A few of these objects, like Pluto, are large enough that their gravity has pulled them into a sphere shape.

These objects are made out of mostly frozen gas with small amounts of dust. They are often called dirty snowballs. However, you probably know them by their other name... comets.

Every once in a while one of these comets will be thrown off of its orbit in the Kuiper Belt and hurled towards the inner Solar System where it slowly melts in a fantastic show of tail and light.

Beyond the Kuiper Belt sits a vast area known as the Oort Cloud. Here within this jumbled disorganized cloud live millions of additional comets. These comets do not orbit the Sun in a ring or belt. Instead, each one buzzes around in a completely random direction, and at extremely high velocities.

Beyond The Oort Cloud

The Sun's solar winds continue pushing outward until they finally begin to mix into the interstellar medium, becoming lost with the winds from other stars. This creates a sort of bubble called the Heliosphere. Scientists define the boundaries of the Solar System as being the border of the Heliosphere, or at the place where the solar winds from the Sun mix with the winds from other stars.

The Heliosphere extends out from the Sun to a distance of about 15 billion miles, which is more than 160 times further from the Sun than is the Earth.

Solar System Facts
Each page is full of fun and exciting facts about our Solar System. Take your time, and enjoy exploring our solar family.

Did you know that moons are also called satellites?

The Sun's Name Means:
The Romans called the sun Sol, which in English means sun. In ancient Greece, the sun was called Helios.

Our Sun is not unique in the universe. It is a common middle-sized yellow star which scientists have named Sol, after the ancient Roman name. This is why our system of planets is called the Solar System. There are trillions of other stars in the universe just like it. Many of these stars have their own systems of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.

The Sun was born in a vast cloud of gas and dust around 5 billion years ago. Indeed, these vast nebulae are the birth places of all stars. Over a period of many millions of years, this gas and dust began to fall into a common center under the force of its own gravity.

At the center, an ever growing body of mass was forming. As the matter fell inward, it generated a tremendous amount of heat and pressure. As it grew, the baby Sun became hotter and hotter. Eventually, when it reached a temperature of around 1 million degrees, its core ignited, causing it to begin nuclear fusion.

When this happened, the Sun began producing its own light, heat, and energy.

What is Thermonuclear Fusion?

Thermonuclear fusion is the process in which a star produce its light, heat, and energy. This happens at the core of the star. The core is superheated to millions of degrees. This heat travels towards the surface and radiates out into the universe. Through this thermonuclear process, stars "burn" a fuel known as hydrogen. The result is that they create another type of fuel known as helium. However, stars do not burn in the same way that a fire does, because stars are not on fire.

Convection

Heat rises, while cooler gas falls. Have you ever noticed that your basement is always much cooler than upstairs. The same laws of physics apply within stars. Because heat rises while cooler gases fall, the gas within a star is constantly rising and falling. This creates massive streams of circular motion within the star. This is called convection.

As the gases near the core of the Sun are heated, they begin to rise towards the surface. As they do so, they cool somewhat. Eventually they become cool enough that they begin to sink back down towards the core. It can take an atom millions of years to complete one complete cycle around a convection stream. As a result of this process, the temperature on the surface of the Sun is around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much cooler than its superheated core.

Sun Spots

We don't often think of the Sun as having cooler areas on its surface. The Sun is far too hot for an astronaut to ever visit, but there are areas which are slightly cooler than others. These areas are known as sun spots. Sun spots are still very hot. However, because they are slightly cooler than the rest of the surface of the Sun, they appear slightly darker in color. The gravitational forces in Sun spots are also stronger than the other hotter areas. Of course, you cannot look directly at the Sun to see these spots because you would damage your eyes. Astronomers have to use special telescopes with filters and other instruments to be able to see the cooler spots on the surface of the Sun.

Sun spots come and go on a regular basis. At times, there are very few, if any sun spots. At other times there are far more. They generally increase in intensity and then decrease over a period of 11 years. This 11 year cycle is known as the Saros Cycle.  To learn more, click here.

Solar Flares

During periods of high solar activity, the Sun commonly releases massive amounts of gas and plasma into its atmosphere. These ejections are known as solar flares. Some solar flares can be truly massive, and contain impressive power. On occasion, these more powerful flares can even cause satellites orbiting the Earth to malfunction. They can also interact with Earth's magnetic field to create impressive and beautiful light shows known as the Northern and Southern lights. In the northern hemisphere, these lights are commonly known as the Aurora Borealis.

Solar Winds

As the Sun burns hydrogen at its core, it releases vast amounts of atomic particles, or pieces of atoms, into outer space. These atomic particles along with the Sun's radiation create a sort of wind, known as the solar wind.

This wind blows particles outward in all directions from the Sun. Even as you read this, there are atomic particles which are traveling from the Sun towards you. Often, particles pass right through your body without you ever realizing it.

Eventually this wind reaches out beyond the Solar System and begins to mix with the winds from other stars. The bubble around the Sun where the solar winds are still strong enough to blow outward is known as the heliosphere (note the Greek name Helios). The area of space where the winds are too weak to continue pushing outward and instead begin to mix with the winds of other stars is known as the interstellar medium.

The Sun's Family

The Sun is by far the largest object in the Solar System. 98% of all matter within the Solar System is found within the Sun. This means that all the planets, moons, asteroids, minor planets, comets, gas, and dust would all combine to make up only 2% of all the matter in the Solar System. The Sun is so large that the Earth could easily fit inside the Sun a million times.
Because the Sun is so large compared to everything else, it is easily able to hold on to the rest of the matter, causing everything else to orbit around it.

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Light from the Sun can reach the Earth in only 8 minutes! This is called the speed of light. The Sun is nearly 93 million miles (approx 145 million km) from Earth.

  

What are asteroids? An asteroid is a large rock in outer space. Some, like Ceres, can be very large, while others are as small as a grain of sand. Due to their smaller size, asteroids do not have enough gravity to pull themselves into the shape of a ball.  Astronomers group asteroids into different categories based on the way they reflect sunlight. The asteroid belt is divided into an inner belt and an outer belt. The inner belt, which is made up of asteroids that are within 250 million miles (402 million km) of the Sun, contains asteroids that are made of metals. The outer belt, which includes asteroids 250 million miles (402 million km) beyond the Sun, consists of rocky asteroids. These asteroids appear darker than the asteroids of the inner belt, and are rich in carbon. Where did the Asteroid Belt come from?

Asteroids are left over materials from the formation of the Solar System.  These materials were never incorporated into a planet because of their proximity to Jupiter's strong gravity.

omets
Among the most brilliant and most rare objects in the night sky. These soaring beacons with their beautiful tails come from the outer realms of the Solar System

Wishing on a meteorite!

                                                           Written for the KidsKnowIt Network by:
                                                                               Gemma Lavender, MPhys, FRAS
                                               
    Image: NASA

You have probably heard of a shooting or falling star, but have you ever seen one? If you have ever spent any amount of time looking up at the night sky, then you probably have - a flash of light streaking high above through the darkness for just a moment, disappearing just as quickly as it appeared - sometimes so quick that you cannot be sure if you have really seen something or imagined it. You might think that your eyes are playing tricks on you, but shooting stars are definitely real! Your parents may have told you to quickly make a wish on a shooting star before it vanishes - what will your next wish be when you get to see one?

Here’s another question for you, a little bit harder this time: do you know what a shooting star is? Their names are a little misleading and this causes some people to think that these fast moving trails of light really are stars that have fallen out of the sky. However, this is not true. Our Sun is a star, our closest star, and the other stars are many many miles away (it would take more than your lifetime to travel to them!) and since they are much bigger than a shooting star, they are certainly not responsible, so we can count them out. If you are still not sure of the answer, then you might be surprised to learn that shooting stars are just tiny bits of dust entering the Earth’s atmosphere from space. Tiny particles, like grains of sand or pebbles on a beach, like to crash into the atmosphere at amazingly fast speeds - some faster than a car travelling at his highest speed along the motorway! But don’t worry - they are not big enough to harm you! If you pick up a stone from the beach, however, you will find that a fast moving pebble does not quite look the same as a shooting star, no matter how hard you throw it. This is because the light that you see is the heat of the air around them as they fly into the atmosphere and burn up.

 

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Image: NASA Sometimes something a little bigger than a pebble will shoot through the atmosphere and we seem them as fireballs - if you are lucky enough to see one of these then you might see flames shooting from it! But don’t worry, fireballs are not dangerous - like shooting stars, they are high above us.

The point in the sky where a meteor shower originates is called the radiant point.  It is much like the center of a bicycle wheel with the meteors radiating outward from the center.  During a meteor shower, the radiant point will move across the sky as the Earth continues to rotate.  Keep reading below to see all the different meteor showers that occur during the year, and learn how the showers got their names.

Occasionally, however, the piece of rock can be big enough so that it does not all burn up while entering the atmosphere and it will hit the ground. We call these meteorites (while they are flying through the atmosphere as shooting stars we call them meteors, and while they are in space we call them meteoroids - it is important to remember the difference!). A whopping 38,000 meteorites have been found on Earth so far, from all over the world, but most are found in the hot desert or in freezing cold Antarctica. You may have heard stories of someone you know that has found a meteorite or maybe you have even found one yourself! If you have never had the chance to touch or see a meteorite, then you might not know that these space rocks are quite different to the ones that you are likely to find in your backyard, but not in the way that you might think.

Image courtesy of Lunar and Planetary Institute
This map shows some of the locations in Antartica where many meteorites have been found.

There are three main types of meteorites: stony, iron and stony-iron. A lot of them have been smashed off from very large chunks of rock, called asteroids, in collisions before eventually finding their way to our planet. Iron meteorites, for example, are bits of metal iron cores of large asteroids that were once hot enough to have melted, causing all of their iron to sink to the centre. Stony meteorites look most like the stones that you find on Earth and come from the outer layer of asteroids, whereas stony-iron meteorites are a mixture of the two.

Image courtesy of NASA Johnson Space Center
This meteorite came from the moon.

Comets and asteroids are leftover debris from the when the planets were being built in the Solar System. Just like asteroids, comets make falling stars, but rather than seeing one of them every so often (that are easy to miss!), there is a shower of them - astronomers call these meteor showers and they are made when the Earth moves through the tail of a comet that has been left behind after one of these icy and dusty bodies have swooped past us. You can usually see at least a few meteors during a shower, but on a particularly good show, you can sometimes see hundreds of shooting stars per hour - you can be sure not to miss one then! The best meteor showers are the Quadrantids that are at their best on the 3rd January every year, the Lyrids that are at their best on 22nd April, the famous Perseids on 12th August, the Orionids on 22nd October, the Leonids on 17th November and the Geminids on 14th December. The Geminids, it is thought, are actually dust from an asteroid called Phaethon rather than a comet - and it has been shown that Phaethon was originally part of the second biggest asteroid Pallas, but was smashed off in a mighty collision with another asteroid billions of years ago. Meteor showers are named after the constellation that they appear to be falling from. For example, the Geminids will be shooting away from the constellation, Gemini (The Twins), whereas the Perseids are from Perseus (The Hero). Why don’t you grab a map of the constellations and, with your friends, see if you can find them in the night sky before the meteor showers start?

So, ready to go meteor spotting? Check out the box, How to watch a meteor shower, to find out how!

Image: NASA

How to watch a meteor shower Watching a meteor shower can be one of the most enjoyable things about observing the night sky, waiting with tense excitement to see the next shooting star. The best meteor shower is the Perseids - not just because it has the most meteors (although it does have as many as 100 per hour) - but because you can sit out in the garden during the warm summer night to watch them, rather than having to wrap up in your scarf, bobble hat and wooly mittens during the middle of winter, as you would have to for watching the Geminids in December!   Image: NASA   For the best meteor viewing, it is best to find a dark corner of your garden or from wherever you are observing them. Give time for your eyes to get used to the darkness, and use a red light flashlight rather than a normal flashlight, so that you do not ruin your night vision when looking at maps of the night sky. If you do not have a red light flashlight, then you can just cellotape some red see-through paper over a normal flashlight - it works just as well! To avoid going back inside, bring a water bottle and some snacks out into the garden with you. Make sure that you wrap up warm - even in August for the Perseids, it can still get chilly late at night. Remember that a hat is essential, as your body loses much of its heat through your head. Now, you have probably found that when looking at the stars that straining your neck to look up all the time can quickly become uncomfortable. For meteor watching, a deck chair is ideal - you are angled comfortably so you do not have to strain your neck. Image: NASA Simply watching for meteors and counting up how many you see in your head is fun, but if you want to be a proper scientist then you need to record your results, as you would during a real science experiment. With a clipboard, pen and paper, write down the time that you see each meteor, in which direction the meteor comes from, its colour (if you can see any colour!), and how bright it was compared to other stars in the constellations that surround it. Remember that a star map will be able to help you with how bright certain stars are in a constellation.                                   The meteorites you see during a meteor shower might appear to be very close, but did you know that those tiny particles of burning space debris are actually about 30 to 40 miles (48 to 64km) above Earth's surface?  Pretty amazing that you are able to see such a tiny piece of space dust from so far away!

So you’ve spent some time out in the garden, watching and recording meteors. What do you do with your results then? Some scientists can use your results, such as those at astronomical associations, and they will look for trends in the meteor shower - for example, were they more or less active than in previous years? If so, why? If you are unsure of who to contact, you should ask your teacher or parents to help you. Who knew that by watching a meteor shower and reporting what you see could allow you to contribute to real life science! How exciting is that?! Near the Grand Canyon in Arizona is Meteor Crater (above).  It was formed about 50,000 years ago when a meteor about 30 meters wide and weighing 100,000 tons struck the Arizona desert at an estimated speed of 20 kilometers per second (12 miles per second).

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What  are comets? A comet is a small world which scientists sometimes call a planetesimal. They are made out of dust and ice, kind of like a dirty snow ball. Where do they come from? Comets come from two places:  The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.

Many people think that a comet's tail is always following behind it, but actually the coma, or tail, can either be behind the comet or in front of it. Which way the tail is pointing depends on where the Sun is. That's right, the Sun's heat and radiation produce a wind called the Solar Wind, as a comet gets close to the Sun it begins to melt. The gas and dust that melt off are blown away from the Sun by the solar winds. So if a comet is traveling towards the Sun then the tail will follow behind, but if the comet is traveling away from the Sun the tail will be in front of the comet.

Imagine a place far, far away at the very edge of the Solar System. A place where millions of comets can be seen swishing around in every direction. These icy comets are orbiting the Sun in two different places, both of which are very distant.  One place is called the Oort cloud, and the other is called the Kuiper Belt. 

Why do Comets leave their home in the Oort Cloud or Kuiper Belt?
A comet will spend billions of years in the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud.  Sometimes two comets will come very close to each other, or even crash into one another.  When this happens the comets change directions.  Sometimes their new path will bring them into the Inner Solar System.

This is when a comet begins to shine. Up until now the comet has been among millions of others exactly the same, but as they approach the warmer Inner Solar System they begin to melt leaving behind magnificent tails.

Unfortunately, comets don't live very long once they enter the warmer part of the Solar System. Just like a snowman melts in the summer, comets melt in the Inner Solar System.   Although it is the most glorious part of their lives, traveling through the Inner Solar System eventually kills them.  After several thousand years they melt down to a little bit of ice and dust, not nearly enough to leave a tail. Some even melt away completely.

To learn about Halley's comet, click here.

Would it be safe to fly through the tail of a comet?
Unlike a recent blockbuster movie showing a space ship flying past giant rocks the size of houses, a comet's tail is actually quite safe. The only thing that would hit your ship would be microscopic pieces of dust.

Enjoy these pictures of real comets.

How many asteroids are there?

26 very large asteroids have been discovered, which is probably most of the big ones. But there are still millions of smaller ones that we have yet to see because they are too tiny, only a mile or so across.

If we stuck all the asteroids together, how big would the new planet be?
If all the materials of all the asteroids were squashed up into one planet it would be smaller than our moon.

While most asteroids can be found in the Asteroid Belt, others are in strange orbits straying far from home. It is currently believed that at least 5000 asteroids cross the Earth's orbit, some coming very close. Don't worry though, asteroids and comets only hit the Earth every 100 million years or so.

 

Quaoar
Quaoar is the largest known non-planet object in the Solar System.  It is one tenth the size of the Earth, and is larger than all other asteroids put together.	No picture currently available

Ceres
For many years Ceres was thought to be the biggest asteroid in the Solar System. It is about 600 miles wide and contains about 25% of the mass of all the asteroids combined.  However, in the summer of 2001 scientists discovered an even bigger asteroid orbiting the Sun near Pluto.	No picture currently available

2001 KX76 The New Asteroid King
On August 23, 2001, astronomers announced the discovery of a new asteroid.  The new asteroid is even bigger than Ceres, which for over two hundred years had been thought to be the largest asteroid in the Solar System.  It was discovered looking at old photographs taken of the sky.

Ida and Dactyl
Ida is a neat little asteroid about 36 miles wide. It is unique because it has its own little moon called Dactyl.	Ida Dactyl

Earth – Overview

Physical Characteristics
Earth, our home, is the third planet from the sun. It is the only planet known to have an atmosphere containing free oxygen, oceans of liquid water on its surface, and, of course, life.
Earth is the fifth largest of the planets in the solar system — smaller than the four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, but larger than the three other rocky planets, Mercury, Mars and Venus. It has a diameter of roughly 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers), and is round because gravity pulls matter into a ball, although it is not perfectly round, instead being more of an "oblate spheroid" whose spin causes it to be squashed at its poles and swollen at the equator.
Roughly 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered by water, most of it in the oceans. About a fifth of its atmosphere is made up of oxygen, produced by plants.

Earth's climate has enabled life to evolve on our planet. Life, in turn, has had effects on the climate.
CREDIT: Reto Stöckli, Nazmi El Saleous, and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC

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Earth's climate has enabled life to evolve on our planet. Life, in turn, has had effects on the climate.
CREDIT: Reto Stöckli, Nazmi El Saleous, and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC

Earth's climate has enabled life to evolve on our planet. Life, in turn, has had effects on the climate.
CREDIT: Reto Stöckli, Nazmi El Saleous, and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC

Orbital Characteristics
The Earth spins on an imaginary line called an axis that runs from the north pole to the south pole, while also orbiting the sun. It takes Earth 24 hours to complete a rotation on its axis, and roughly 365 days to complete an orbit around the sun.
The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted in relation to the ecliptic plane, an imaginary surface through Earth's orbit around the sun. This means the northern and southern hemispheres will sometimes point toward or away from the sun depending on the time of year, varying the amount of light they receive and causing the seasons.
Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, but is rather an oval-shaped ellipse, like that of the orbits of all the other planets. Earth is a bit closer to the sun in early January and farther away in July, although this variation has a much smaller effect than the heating and cooling caused by the tilt of Earth's axis. Earth happens to lie within the so-called "Goldilocks zone" around its star, where temperatures are just right to maintain liquid water on its surface.
History
Earth probably formed at roughly the same time as the sun and other planets some 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system coalesced from a giant, rotating cloud of gas and dust known as the solar nebula. As the nebula collapsed because of its gravity, it spun faster and flattened into a disk. Most of the material was pulled toward the center to form the sun. Other particles within the disk collided and stuck together to form ever-larger bodies, including the Earth. The solar wind from the sun was so powerful that it swept away most of the lighter elements, such as hydrogen and helium, from the innermost worlds, rendering Earth and its siblings into small, rocky planets.
Scientists think Earth started off as a waterless mass of rock. Radioactive materials in the rock and increasing pressure deep within the Earth generated enough heat to melt Earth's interior, causing some chemicals to rise to the surface and form water, while others became the gases of the atmosphere. Recent evidence suggests that Earth's crust and oceans may have formed within about 200 million years after the planet had taken shape.
The history of Earth is divided into four eons — starting with the earliest, these are the Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic. The first three eons, which together lasted nearly 4 billion years, are together known as the Precambrian. Evidence for life has bee found in the Archaean about 3.8 billion years ago, but life did not become abundant until the Phanerozoic.
The Phanerozoic is divided into three eras — starting with the earliest, these are the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. The Paleozoic Era saw the development of many kinds of animals and plants in the seas and on land, the Mesozoic Era was the age of dinosaurs, and the Cenozoic Era we are in currently is the age of mammals.
Most of the fossils seen in Paleozoic rocks are invertebrate animals lacking backbones, such as corals, mollusks and trilobites. Fish are first found about 450 million years ago, while amphibians appear roughly 380 million years ago. By 300 million years ago, large forests and swamps covered the land, and the earliest fossils of reptiles appear during this period as well.
The Mesozoic saw the ascendence of dinosaurs, although mammals also appear in the fossil record about 200 million years ago. During this time, flowering plants became the dominant plant group and continue to be so today.
The Cenozoic began about 65 million years ago with the end of the age of dinosaurs, which many scientists think was caused by a cosmic impact. Mammals survived to become the dominant land animals of today.
Composition & Structure

• Atmosphere

The atmosphere is roughly 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, with trace amounts of water, argon, carbon dioxide and other gases. Nowhere else in the solar system can one find an atmosphere loaded with free oxygen, which ultimately proved vital to one of the other unique features of Earth — us.
Air surrounds Earth and becomes thinner farther from the surface. Roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) above Earth, the air is so thin that satellites can zip through with little resistance. Still, traces of atmosphere can be found as high as 370 miles (600 kilometers) above the surface.
The lowest layer of the atmosphere is known as the troposphere, which is constantly in motion, causing the weather. Sunlight heats the Earth's surface, causing warm air to rise. This air ultimately expands and cools as air pressure decreases, and because this cool air is denser than its surroundings, it then sinks, only to get warmed by the Earth once again.
Above the troposphere, some 30 miles (48 kilometers) above the Earth's surface, is the stratosphere. The still air of the stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which was created when ultraviolet light caused trios of oxygen atoms to bind together into ozone molecules. Ozone prevents most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth's surface.
Water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun, warming Earth. Without this so-called "greenhouse effect," Earth would probably be too cold for life to exist, although a runaway greenhouse effect led to the hellish conditions now seen on Venus.
Earth-orbiting satellites have shown that the upper atmosphere actually expands during the day and contracts at night due to heating and cooling.

• Magnetic field

The Earth's magnetic field is generated by currents flowing in Earth's outer core. The magnetic poles are always on the move, with the magnetic north pole recently accelerating its northward motion to 24 miles (40 km) annually, likely exiting North America and reaching Siberia in a few decades.
Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too — globally, the magnetic field has weakened 10 percent since the 19th century. These changes are mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past — sometimes the field completely flips, with the north and the south poles swapping places.
When charged particles from the sun get trapped in Earth's magnetic field, they smash into air molecules above the magnetic poles, causing them to glow, a phenomenon known as the aurorae, the northern and southern lights.

• Chemical composition

Oxygen is the most abundant element in rocks in Earth's crust, composing roughly 47 percent of the weight of all rock. The second most abundant element is silicon at 27 percent, followed by aluminum at 8 percent, iron at 5 percent, calcium at 4 percent, and sodium, potassium, and magnesium at about 2 percent each.
The Earth's core consists mostly of iron and nickel and potentially smaller amounts of lighter elements such as sulfur and oxygen. The mantle is made of iron and magnesium-rich silicate rocks. (The combination of silicon and oxygen is known as silica, and minerals that contain silica are known as silicate minerals.)

• Internal structure

The Earth's core is about 4,400 miles (7,100 kilometers) wide, slightly larger than half the Earth's diameter and roughly the size of Mars. The outermost 1,400 miles (2,250 kilometers) of the core are liquid, while the inner core — about four-fifths as big as Earth's moon at some 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) in diameter — is solid.
Above the core is Earth's mantle, which is about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) thick. The mantle is not completely stiff, but can flow slowly. Earth's crust floats on the mantle much as a wood floats on water, and the slow motion of rock in the mantle shuffles continents around and causes earthquakes, volcanoes, and the formation of mountain ranges.
Above the mantle, Earth has two kinds of crust. The dry land of the continents consists mostly of granite and other light silicate minerals, while the ocean floors are made up mostly of a dark, dense volcanic rock called basalt. Continental crust averages some 25 miles (40 kilometers) thick, although it can be thinner or thicker in some areas. Oceanic crust is usually only about 5 miles (8 kilometers) thick. Water fills in low areas of the basalt crust to form the world's oceans. Earth has more than enough water to completely fill the ocean basins, and the rest of it spreads onto edges of the continents, areas known as the continental shelf.
Earth gets warmer toward its core. At the bottom of the continental crust, temperatures reach about 1,800 degrees F (1,000 degrees C), increasing about 3 degrees F per mile (1 degrees C per kilometer) below the crust. Geologists think the temperature of Earth's outer core is about 6,700 to 7,800 degrees F (3,700 to 4,300 degrees C), and the inner core may reach 12,600 degrees F (7,000 degrees C), hotter than the surface of the sun. Only the enormous pressures found at the super-hot inner core keep it solid.
Orbit & Rotation
Average Distance from the Sun
English: 92,955,820 miles     
Metric: 149,597,890 km
Perihelion (closest)
English: 91,400,000 miles
Metric: 147,100,000 km
Aphelion (farthest)
English: 94,500,000 miles                 
Metric: 152,100,000 km
Average Length of Solar Day
24 hours
Length of Year
365.24 Earth days
Equatorial Inclination to Orbit
23.45 degrees
(Source: NASA.)
Moon
Earth's moon is 2,159 miles (3,474 kilometers) wide, about one-fourth of Earth's diameter. Earth has one moon, while Mercury and Venus have none and all the other planets in our solar system have two or more.
The leading explanation for how the moon formed was that a giant impact knocked off the raw ingredients for the moon off the primitive molten Earth and into orbit. Scientists have suggested the impactor was roughly 10 percent the mass of Earth, about the size of Mars.
Species Overview
Earth is the only planet in the universe known to possess life. There are several million known species of life, ranging from the bottom of the deepest ocean to a few miles into the atmosphere, and scientists think far more remain to be discovered.

10 Easy Ways To Be Green

1. Reduce Just by turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or shaving, you can save more than 200 gallons of water per month. Here are some other effective ways you can help to conserve resources …

• Turn off the lights when leaving a room.
• Use both sides of the paper when printing and copying.
• Walk or bike instead of driving.
• Take short showers.
• Drink tap water instead of bottled water.
• Remove unnecessary items from your car to reduce weight.
• Regularly replace the filter on your HVAC system.
• Install faucet aerators.
• Use cold water to wash clothes.
• Stop junk mail.
• Install a programmable thermostat in your home.

(Source: U.S. EPA)
2. Unplug Unused Electronics Did you know that a cell phone charger can still consume electricity even when a phone isn't connected to it? In the average home, 25% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. To stop these "phantom loads" when devices are not in use, unplug them or connect them to power strips, which can then be turned off. (Source: U.S.DOE)
3. Recycle By recycling materials such as aluminum cans, newspapers, and glass jars, you can save energy and landfill space, conserve natural resources, and also prevent pollution. Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, three cubic yards of landfill space, two barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity – enough energy to power the average US home for five months. Visit our recycling directory to find recycling opportunities in your community. (Source: U.S. EPA)
4. Look For The ENERGY STAR Label If a product has the ENERGY STAR seal, it meets certain energy efficiency standards. Home appliances, electronics, windows, and roofing are just a few of the products that can qualify, so check a product’s box or manual, or speak to a salesperson to see if it is ENERGY STAR compliant. In 2006, ENERGY STAR products helped US consumers save an estimated $14 billion on their utility bills. In addition to energy savings, there are rebates and federal tax credits available for some ENERGY STAR products. Visit ENERGYSTAR.gov or our energy section for more information. (Source: ENERGY STAR)
5. Use Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) Almost all of the electricity used by an incandescent bulb is converted to heat and not light; CFLs provide a much more efficient alternative. ENERGY STAR labeled CFLs use up to 75 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, saving an average of $30 over the lifetime of each bulb. To maximize their effectiveness, check the packaging to make sure that each CFL is the proper type and wattage for your lamps. (Source: ENERGY STAR)
6. Fix Leaks A faucet that leaks one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year. A leaky toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water every day. To determine whether your toilet has a leak, place a drop of food coloring in the tank; if the color appears in the bowl without flushing, you have a leak. To find and fix air leaks, ENERGY STAR offers a free guide. (Source: U.S. EPA)
7. Buy Recycled Look for the words "postconsumer" or "recycled" when shopping. There are over 4,500 recycled-content products available including paper towels, printer paper, note pads, packing boxes, sleeping bags, laundry detergent bottles, glass containers, nails, carpeting, trash cans, and trash bags. The amount of postconsumer content can vary from a small percentage to 100 percent, so look for labels that indicate the highest percentage. (Source: U.S. EPA)
8. Computer Power Management Enable low-power sleep modes and turn off computers and monitors at night. General Electric implemented power management features on 75,000 of its computers, annually saving the company $2.5 million dollars and preventing 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. For step-by-step instructions on how to optimize the settings on your computer, visit ENERGY STAR. Network administrators can also set system wide power management settings by using EZ GPO, a free software tool from ENERGY STAR. (Source: ENERGY STAR)
9. Properly Dispose of Hazardous Waste Electronics, CFLs, certain batteries, and other household hazardous wastes contain toxic materials so they should not be sent to landfills where they can pollute the surrounding land and water. A single computer monitor may contain 4 pounds of lead as well as other toxic heavy metals. Many companies and municipal governments offer free collection programs, and in some cases you can even get paid to recycle old electronics. Visit our collection events page to find disposal options. (Source: U.S. EPA)
10. Fresh, Local, Organic Food travels an average of 1,200 miles before it reaches your plate, so buy locally produced items to save energy and prevent emissions from going into the air. Visit USDA.gov to find a farmers market in your area. Also, choose fresh foods instead of frozen, since frozen foods require 10 times more energy to produce. Finally, organic foods are both good for the environment and good for your health since synthetic hormones, most conventional pesticides, as well as other potentially hazardous practices are not used. (Source: U.S. EPA)

Are you looking to do more? Calculate your carbon footprint and discover other important changes that you can make. To find more information and take additional steps, visit government websites such as epa.gov, energy.gov, fueleconomy.gov, and energystar.gov.