NCERT Solutions for Class 6th Science Chapter 12 Beyond Earth
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
Stars shine with their own light. Groups of stars that appear to make a pattern were called constellations . Today a constellation means a defined region of the sky — the International Astronomical Union has divided the whole sky into 88 such regions . The Pole Star (Dhruva tārā , Polaris) appears nearly stationary in the north , so it fixes the north direction in the Northern hemisphere. Find it from the two pointer stars at the end of the Big Dipper (Saptaṛiṣhi) cup — about five times the gap between them. The Sun is a star — the one nearest to us. It is about 100 times bigger than the Earth in diameter and about 150 million km away (that distance is called 1 astronomical unit, au). It is the main source of energy on Earth. A planet is a large, nearly spherical object that revolves aroun
- Chapter opening
- .1 Stars and Constellations
- .2 Night Sky Watching
- .3 Our Solar System
- .4 The Milky Way Galaxy and 12.5 The Universe
- Chapter exercise
- Projects and further exploration
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Example from the chapter | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star | A huge, extremely hot ball of gases that shines with its own light | The Sun, Sirius, Proxima Centauri | 233, 238 |
| Constellation | A defined region of the sky, usually containing a familiar pattern of stars | Orion, Taurus, Canis Major, Ursa Major | 233 |
| Pole Star / Dhruva tārā | The star that appears nearly fixed in the north; part of the Little Dipper | Located at about 5× the gap between the two pointer stars | 235 |
| Saptaṛiṣhi / Big Dipper | The seven-star pattern lying in the constellation Ursa Major | Seen as a grandmother's cot, or a boat, in Indian folk stories | 235 |
| Nakṣhatra | Indian term for a star or a group of stars | Ārdrā = Betelgeuse, Kṛittikā = Pleiades, Rohiṇī = Aldebaran | 234 |
| Light pollution | Excessive artificial light at night | Only a few stars are seen from a big city | 236 |
| Revolution | The movement of one object around another | Earth around the Sun: about 1 year; Moon around Earth: about 27 days | 240, 244 |
| Rotation | The spinning of a body about its own axis | Earth takes about 24 hours for one rotation — that is a day | 240 |
| Planet | A large, nearly spherical object that revolves around the Sun | Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | 240–241 |
| Satellite | An object that moves around a planet | The Moon; Mars has two moons; Jupiter has many | 244 |
| Asteroid | A small, rocky, irregularly shaped object; most lie between Mars and Jupiter | The asteroid belt; sizes from 10 m to about 500 km | 245 |
| Comet | A body of dust, gas, rock and ice that grows a long tail near the Sun | Halley's Comet, seen every 76 years; called Dhūmaketu | 245–246 |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — In-text Questions Page 232
- .1 Stars and Constellations — Activity 12.1: Let us draw Page 23212
- .1 Stars and Constellations — In-text Questions Page 233 & 23512
- .2 Night Sky Watching — In-text Questions Page 23612
- .2 Night Sky Watching — Activity 12.2: Let us try to locate Page 23812
- .2 Night Sky Watching — Activity 12.3: Let us try to identify Page 23812
- .3 Our Solar System — In-text Questions Page 238, 239 & 24012
- .3 Our Solar System — In-text Questions Page 242 & 24312
- .3 Our Solar System — Activity 12.4: Let us try to identify Page 24312
- .4 The Milky Way Galaxy and 12.5 The Universe — In-text Questions Page 246 & 24712
- Chapter exercise — Let us enhance our learning Page 249 – 251
- Projects and further exploration — Learning further Page 251 & 252