• Question: hi gem i would like to ask you some qustions the galaxy. have you ever found out that if the sun moves and how and how far? how high can birds fligh andhow far do the rootes of the trees go down the ground

    Asked by shamsham13 to Andrew, Ash, Gem, Paige, SJ on 28 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Andrew Thomas

      Andrew Thomas answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      Yes the sun moves. Just like the moon goes round the earth and the earth round the sun the sun moves around the milky way. And the milky way is moving too.

      As for your other questions it will depend on the species of bird or tree. Some trees have very deep roots so they can seek out water deep beneath the ground, especially in hot countries.

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Yes the sun moves, we just don’t perceive it because WE (the Earth) is moving around the sun! But the sun is moving around our galaxy, the milky way, which is itself twirling around in space!

      In space, nothing really stands still.

    • Photo: Gemma Staite

      Gemma Staite answered on 1 Jul 2012:

      As Andrew and Paige have already said, yes the sun does move. It orbits the milky way. Based on a distance of 30,000 light years and a speed of 220 km/s, the Sun’s orbit around the center of the Milky Way once every 225 million years. The period of time is called a cosmic year.

      Trees will tend to have much deeper roots when they have to travel further to find water, such as in the desert. The tree holding the record for the deepest roots to date (I believe) is the Boscia albitrunca.

      Birds generally fly at below 500 feet, but fly much higher when they are migrating. When migrating they can fly as high as 20000feet.

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