Beyond Earth

About this chapter

Beyond Earth is Chapter 12 of Class 6 Curiosity. Through the eyes of Yangdol and Dorjay, twins from Nubra in Ladakh, the chapter opens the night sky to the learner. It builds eight core ideas: stars and constellations (88 IAU regions, Orion, Canis Major with Sirius, Taurus, Big Dipper or Saptarishi, Little Dipper, the Pole Star or Dhruva tara, and nakshatras like Ardra, Krittika and Rohini); how light pollution and city skies hide stars while open dark areas like Hanle reveal them; the Solar System with the Sun as our nearest star, eight planets in order from Mercury to Neptune with Indian names like Budha, Shukra, Prithvi, Mangala, Brihaspati and Shani, and dwarf planets after the 2006 IAU redefinition; natural satellites, with the Moon at 27 days revolution and India's Chandrayaan missions including Chandrayaan-3 landing near the south pole on 23 August 2023 (National Space Day); asteroids and comets including Halley's Comet (76-year period, Sanskrit Dhumaketu); the Milky Way Galaxy or Akasha Ganga; and the Universe of many galaxies and the search for exoplanets. CTET Paper 2 Science tests this chapter through fact-pairings, ordering, identification, and ISRO mission specifics. The four tests cover these ideas at exam depth.