Want to help your children appreciate the planets in the Solar System, here are some suggestions:
Meanwhile, you can check out these amazing books for more information about the planet Mercury.
Find Mercury
This has to be one of the first things that you try and do. Mercury is one of the 5 planets visible to the unaided eye. If you know when and where to look, you and your children will be able to see Mercury with your own eyes. Mercury moves quickly on its journey around the Sun. Sometimes can be seen after the Sun has gone down, and other times it’s visible before the Sun has risen.
To find Mercury, you will need a clear view to the horizon, either in the West, to see Mercury after the Sun has set, or in the East, to see Mercury before the Sun rises.
Then you just have to find out a time when Mercury is going to be visible in the sky. We maintain a column here at Universe Today called What’s Up, that will announce when any planets are visible in the sky.
Build a Model of the Solar System
To help your kids appreciate the scale of distance in the Solar System, you should build a model of the Solar System. We’ve got a page describing how to do it, with scale distances for each of the planets in the Solar System. If you make a Sun that can fit on a regular sheet of paper, a scale version of Mercury should still fit inside your house. If you stand by the scale model of Mercury, you can appreciate how large the Sun would look in the sky.
Simulate the gravity on Mercury
The gravity of Mercury is 38% that of Earth’s gravity. Have your children stand on a scale, and then calculate what their weight would be on Mercury by multiplying their current weight by 0.38. Then let them stand on the scale, and hold them up until the scale shows their Mercury weight. They can feel less pulling them down towards the Earth – as long as you can support their weight.
See Mercury in a telescope
If you can find Mercury with your own eyes, it’s time to see the planet in a telescope. Find a friend with a telescope, or contact your local planetarium or astronomy club. Find out when they will be observing next and tag along, so you and your children can see Mercury through a telescope with your own eyes.
Comments on this entry are closed.