Distances

CHAPTER 2  - NUMBERS  here

It introduces children to or helps them revise very large numbers.

If they haven't looked at basics look here with them.  

Or go directly to the Moon.

 1   Venus-Mars-Moon Conjunction, February 20, 2015

1. Venus appears as a brilliant "star" on the left, with dimmer Mars above it. Note the nice "earthshine" illuminating the moon's dark side. 
2. 
   
3. Although the trio looked close together as viewed along our line of sight, the celestial bodies were actually situated far apart in space. 
4. 
   
5. Venus was 134 million miles - 215,652,096 km  - from Earth at the time, while Mars was 203 million miles -  326,696,832 km away. The moon was much, much closer — a "mere" 225,000 miles away. 
6. 
   
7. The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is 384 400 km (238 855 miles). 
8. 
   
9. When is the next Venus-Mars-Moon Conjunction?  Answer
10. 
    
11. Mars is the only bright planet to light up the evening sky throughout April 2021.  
12. 
    
13. Jupiter and Saturn are found in the predawn/dawn sky all month long, while Venus sits too close to the sunset glare to be easily seen).
14. 
    
15. [2021 Full Moon Calendar here] 

The distance from Earth to the Sun

1. The sun is the largest and most massive object in the solar system. 
2. 
   
3. It is about 93 million miles (149.5 million km) from Earth. 
4. 
   
5. That distance is called an astronomical unit, or 1 AU, and is used to measure distances throughout the solar system. 
6. 
   
7. The sun's light and heat takes about eight minutes to reach us, which leads to another way to state the distance to the sun: 8 light-minutes.  source - 3 here

However, to measure longer distances, astronomers use light-years, or the distance that light travels in a single Earth-year, which is equal to 63,239 AU.