Space Probability Statements

I was tidying up my virtual desktop this evening and found this fun bit of probability we did a week or so ago. The thing about space is that it is so vast it is hard to say whether something is certain or not. You will notice some statements are in a few different columns - we just couldn't decide on one!

Red sky in the morning...

... shepherd's warning. That's how the saying goes and yet today seems to be a great day. You could look up where and when this saying originated and see if it makes sense for New Zealand in 2010 or not.

This is the view from my back door at 6.30 this morning.

This view is slightly more to the East.

I found an explanation  here, but it's a bit tricky to understand. There are some other sayings to help predict the weather at this site too.

Some Space Questions to Ponder

1. How long does it take for Earth to travel around the Sun?

2. How long does it take for the moon to travel around Earth?

3. How long does it take for Earth to spin around on its axis?

4. How long have humans known this?

Planets, Suns and all that Jazz

We thought this website was worth sharing. It gives quite a good idea of how big the planets are in comparison with each other.