Orion Arm

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/orion-arm

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the location of solar system?The Orion Arm encompasses the Solar System, including Earth
2. What is the approximate dimensions?Approximately 3,500 light-years in width and 20,000 light-years in length
3. Where is our Solar System in the Orion Arm?Our Sun and Earth are inside the Orion Arm. This place gives us the right conditions to form planets.
4. Why is the Orion Arm called the Local Arm or Orion Bridge?It is called the Local Arm or Orion Bridge because it is close to us and looks like a bridge between bigger arms. The names show how near it is.

Milky Way Galaxy: Our home galaxy, a barred spiral galaxy containing billions of stars, gas, and dust, organized into a central bulge and spiral arms.
Spiral Arm: Elongated, star-forming regions that spiral out from the center of a spiral galaxy, characterized by higher densities of gas and young, bright stars.
Light-year: A unit of astronomical distance equal to the distance that light travels in one year, approximately 9.46 trillion kilometers or 5.88 trillion miles.
Interstellar Medium: The matter and radiation that exist in the space between the star systems of a galaxy.