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Table
of Contents

Lesson 1
Introduction
Lesson 2
What is astronomy?
Lesson 3
How big is the universe?
Lesson 4
The origin of the universe
Lesson 5
Watching the sky
Lesson 6
Why did God create the heavenly bodies?
Lesson 7
Space exploration
Lesson 8
A Tour of the Solar System
Lesson 9
A Tour of the Solar System—The Sun and the Moon
Lesson 10
Stars and galaxies
Lesson 11
Cosmic Catastrophes
Lesson 12
Catastrophes in the Solar System
Lesson 13
Are there other planets in the Solar System?
Author: Dr. Jonathan Henry For thousands of years, people have gazed at the night sky and the bright morning and wondered, ‘What’s out there?’. Our universe is so vast and awe-inspiring that to learn about it is to learn about ourselves. The Astronomy Book will show you: What long-ago astronomers thought about other worlds Solar system facts How constellations relate to astrology The history of space exploration Whether black holes exist The origin and age of the moon Why Mars doesn’t support life The composition of stars Supernova remnants The myth of star birth Asteroid legends and the extinction of the dinosaurs Whether planets outside our solar system could be home to intelligent life What UFOs are The age of comets and meteor showers Hardcover. (Junior High–Adult) 80 pages.

The Astronomy Book
by Dr Jonathan Henry

Lesson 1

Introduction

Textbook:

The Astronomy Book

Text:

Introduction, page 5

Scripture:

Genesis 1:1-19
Psalms 147:4

Vocabulary Words:

  • nebula
  • light-year
  • constellation

Questions:

  1. Use the glossary (pp. 77-78) to define the vocabulary words.
  2. On which Creation day did God create the sun, moon, and stars?
  3. In Astronomical Insights the author describes the Pleiades and Orion. Have the student write a brief research paper on these constellations. Younger students may draw these constellations.
  4. What is a ‘constellation’?
  5. In How can we see distant starlight?, we read about stars being many light years away. What is a light year?
  6. In Moving with the planets, the author discusses several astronomers. Have the student write a short essay on the contribution of each astronomer (Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Brahe, Einstein).
  7. In Are stars forming today? three types of nebulae are discussed. What are they? Give a short description of each one.

Activities:

  1. Use the glossary (pp. 77-78) to define the vocabulary words.
  2. Have student draw a picture of Day 4 of creation.
  3. Visit a planetarium to get an overall view of the stars, planets, constellations. (Caution: We know of no planetarium that presents the development of the lights in the heavens as recent, i.e., less than 10,000 years ago.)