Our Home In Space ! - Aranya Ghosal

Our Home In Space ! 

Aranya Ghosal - Class V

Image Courtesy-http://earthspacecircle.blogspot.com/p/solar-system.html 

Do you know where we live? 

Yes, of course, that’s a silly question. 

We all know that we live on our beautiful planet Earth, which is the third of the eight planets circling our local star- the Sun. This system of the Sun, the eight planets, three small dwarf planets, and some masses of dust, rocks and gasses called comets and asteroids together is called the one and only- Solar System.

The Solar System, in turn, along with thousands of other stars and heavenly bodies, slowly circles the centre of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The Milky Way, with a staggering number of other galaxies, and other matter, forms the Universe, of which only a fraction is visible to us. The rest remains a mystery, though scientists do have different hypotheses and opinions about what might be there. We call the part of the Universe which is visible to us “The Observable Universe”.

Anyway, getting back to our discussion about the Solar System. The whole of the Solar System orbits the Sun, a huge ball of burning iron. It has some parts which are moderately cool, though the heat is still enough to burn human bodies. In the other areas, the Sun is super, super hot. If any of the planets were to go too close to the Sun, the Sun would burn them down to ashes. Bye planets!

Earlier, there used to be nine planets orbiting the Sun- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Most of these planets have been named after Greek or Roman gods. 

Recently, Pluto has been demoted to the rank of a dwarf planet. There are a few requirements that a heavenly body must fulfil to be considered a planet. It has recently been found that Pluto does not fulfil all these requirements. Pluto is now one of the three dwarf planets in our Solar System.

Now, from the eight planets that remain orbiting the Sun, four of the planets are mostly composed of hard rock. These are the inner planets- Mercury is the smallest of these planets. Then comes Venus, the second planet orbiting the Sun. Next comes our very own planet Earth, the only planet known to have life forms. The last of the inner planets is Mars- the Red Planet. It is called so because of its reddish appearance, caused by iron on the planet’s surface. Scientists think that there might be some life forms on Mars, because ice has been found in the planet’s poles. Good luck to the scientists to find other planets with life!

After the inner planets, comes the Asteroid Belt. This is a pretty large mass of dust and rocks and space debris. These ‘rocks’ are called comets and asteroids. Along with the planets, this Belt also orbits the Sun. When an asteroid comes too close to the Earth, it disintegrates in the Earth’s atmosphere. The asteroid breaks into a meteor, which enters the atmosphere and forms a meteorite. These meteorites seem to fall across the sky, making it look like a ‘shooting star’. (Don’t waste your time wishing for gifts if you see a shooting star, because now you know that it is just a meteorite, and it won’t grant your wish!)

Anyway, after the Asteroid Belt comes the outer planets. These planets have rings around them, all made of ice and rocks. These planets are mainly made of gas, with just the core made of rock. If you were to punch these planets, your hand would just go clean through the gas! How weird is that?

First up, we have Jupiter, the king of all planets. It is the largest planet in the Solar System. Jupiter is also the record holder for the most moons- the number being around 60. Jupiter is so huge that around 250 Earth-sized planets could probably fit inside it! Jupiter looks as if many red, mauve and orange and brown clouds are circling it, in layers. Jupiter’s main attraction is ‘The Great Red Spot’, a massive storm that has been raging on the planet’s surface for 200 years or more. This storm is greater and powerful than all the storms that have ever happened on the Earth. (Yikes!)

Coming next, after Jupiter, comes Saturn. This is the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. People other than scientists and astronomers have known this planet solely for one reason- its rings. (The outer planets have rings around them, made of all ice and rock.) Saturn’s rings are the most prominent and visible of all. They are made of solid ice chunks and dust and rocks from space. These rings are beautiful to watch. Find a very powerful binocular set or telescope, and you will be able to stare away at this natural beauty for hours at a time.

Then comes Uranus. This planet is special, because it is the only planet which is tilted completely on its side. The rings of Uranus are not as prominent as Saturn’s, but you can see that the rings run from north to south instead of east to west. This planet is completely blue- and it is somewhat around 5 times the size of Earth. Uranus’s brother in arms is Neptune. It is also completely blue, and a little larger than Uranus. Neptune is known for its storms. It is the eighth and last planet in the Solar System.

After that comes Pluto and the other dwarf planets. And last comes the Kuiper Belt. It is kind of like the Asteroid Belt. Only larger and with more comets and asteroids. (Well you know all about the Asteroid Belt!)

 

The Sun and The Palm Trees - Ahana Saha

The Sun and The Palm Trees - Artist : Ahana Saha, Class IV

Lucario! - Mitadru Chakraborty

Lucario! Artist : Mitadru Chakraborty (Meet), Class V

Note From The Editor

My Little Friends,

Hope you are all doing just great, lapped up all the good matches the ICC cricket world cup had offered, and next, are waiting for the delicious Hilsa to adorn your dinner plates with!

The monsoon is here, so is the fun, puddle, Hilsa and last but not the least, Mr Virus. Keep drinking lots of water as that's what the doctor prescribes to keep Mr. Virus at bay. However when you quench your thirst, do remember that Lachhmi who lives in Chennai and who is of your age is, at this moment looking blankly at the dry well in front of her. She has a bucket in her hand, she is thirsty, she wants to draw some water from the well, but.... the well has dried up.

There are many like Lachhmi my friends who do not have access to drinking water, so do not waste even a drop !

Best Blogger : Ganesh - Pathikrit Dutta, Class I

The Hut - Pradipta Pain - KG-I

Ma Durga with Family ! Aranya Ghosal , Class V

Repost for Excellence : Neymar and Ronaldo - Swastik Chakraborty

Best Blogger : Clay Pot - by Ahona Saha, Sunayana Saha and Sayari Patra

The Rose - Sunayana Saha, Class V

Best Blogger : The Tea Shop - Saptarshi Saha, Class VI

Expression - Rupamanjari Das, Class V

The Village Girl - Ananya Kumari, Class III

Best Blogger : A Walk in the Orange Afternoon - Satvik Dutta , Class VI

Bursting Colors - Ananyo Bhattacharya, Class IV

Best Blogger : The Village Landscape - Avishikta Banerjee , Class V

Stillness - Sayari Patra , Class V

Editorial

My Little Friends,

Do you know about Greta Thunberg? If not , do look her up in the Wikipedia. Greta Thunberg is a 16 year old Swedish school girl, who had started a "school strike for climate" in front of the parliament of Sweden, back in August 2018 ,urging the Swedish government to reduce carbon emissions to combat the climate change. Do you know our earth is facing a climate change that we must curb with all our might? Climate change , if we do not do anything to stop it, will wreak havoc on our weather, health, agriculture, water supply and everything that we need and treasure to sustain life on earth. Yes, friends, it is that serious!! So take up your cudgel against carbon emission, plastic pollution ,waste generation. Do not use plastic, do not waste water and try using green energy as far as possible. The threat is global and urgent!

Talking about this month's Jonaki, we have got great contributions from nearly 17 of your friends. All of you , Ahona, Abheri, Pathikrit, Urbi, Rishikesh, Saronik, Reyangsh, Swastik, Sunayana, Tannishtha, Sayari, Sohom,  Jian, Srijita have created amazing pictures!!

The "Best Bloggers Of The Month" for March are Anusha Adhikari for her magnificent scenary "Serenity", Ananya Bharracharya for his beautiful painting "Spring"and Aranya Ghosal for his interesting story "The Fairyland".

A very special mention for Rohit Sarengi who has touched upon one of the most important topics of today in his article "Pollution - The Silent Killer" .

Ahona Saha's painting the 'The Sunset' which was published in one of our ealier posts, has been selected as the "Re-post of the month" for its beautiful warm colors!

Please click on the pages 'Bold Lines', 'Colorful Pastel', 'Article' and 'Story' on the navigation panel on your right to see the blog entries.

ইতালির সারডিনিয়া দ্বীপের পোর্তো সার্ভো শহরের সমুদ্রতীরে ভেসে উঠলো একটা তিমি মাছ। মৃত। কেন মারা গেলো তিমি মাছটা?  ও কি খুব বুড়ো  হয়ে গেছিলো? না তো!!

বিজ্ঞানী আর পরিবেশবিদরা তার পেট কেটে দেখলেন  ভেতরে ২২ কেজি প্লাষ্টিক আর একটি মৃত শিশু তিমি।  খাবার ভেবে মা তিমি মাছটা  খেয়ে ফেলেছিলো সমুদ্রের গভীরে ভাসতে থাকা প্লাস্টিকের স্ট্র ,প্যাকেট, ক্যাপ, হয়তো আরো সাত সতেরো রকম প্লাস্টিকের জিনিসের টুকরো যা তুমি আমি রোজ ব্যবহার করি, আর কাজ হয়ে গেলে ছুঁড়ে ফেলে দেই যেখানে সেখানে।.. সেখান থেকে জঞ্জাল হয়ে সেগুলো বিসর্জিত হয় সমুদ্রে।  আর তিমি মাছের মতো আরো যারা আছে...সমুদ্রের তলায় যাদের ঘর.. সেই সব মাছ , সীল, ডলফিন , সামুদ্রিক কচ্ছপ এগুলোকে খেয়ে ফেলে খাবার মনে করে...এই প্লাষ্টিক  তাদের শরীরে জমে জমে বন্ধ করে দেয় তাদের খাদ্য নালী , বিষাক্ত করে তোলে তাদের শরীর।..ডেকে আনে যন্ত্রনাময় মৃত্যু।

শুধু তিমি মাছেরই নয় , এই বিষাক্ত প্লাষ্টিক ঢুকে যাচ্ছে আমাদের শরীরেও। সমুদ্রের মাছ , কাঁকড়া, আর যা যা মানুষ খায়, তার মধ্যে দিয়ে বিষ ঢুকে যাচ্ছে মানুষের শরীরে। তাই শুধু তিমি মাছই নয়, মরছে মানুষও।

তোমরা কি কিছু করতে পারো যাতে এই তিনশো কোটি টন প্লাস্টিকের জঞ্জাল , যা আমরা প্রতি বছর সমুদ্রে ফেলছি, তা আর তৈরিই না হয়?

বন্ধ করে দাও প্লাস্টিকের বোতল, স্ট্র, টিফিন বাক্স , খেলনা ব্যবহার করা। ...ওই কচ্ছপটার কথা বলো তোমার বন্ধুদের, বলো ওই তিমি মাছ টার কথা....