Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void
Like Duolingo, but for Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
77 levels across 8 sections, about 154 minutes end to end, roughly 31 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Our Local Wonders, The Secret Life of Stars, The End of the Road, The Gravity Extremes, Worlds Beyond Our Sun, Visitors from the Deep, Reading the Night Sky, and The Big Picture. It starts from scratch.
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Key ideas in Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void
- The Moon's source of light
- The effect of tidal locking on our view of the Moon
- Half of the Moon is always lit by the Sun regardless of its phase
- Phases change based on how much of that lit half is angled toward Earth
- A Full Moon occurs when the entire sunlit side faces us
- Eclipses only happen when the Sun, Earth, and Moon form a straight line
- A solar eclipse blocks the Sun from our view
- A lunar eclipse involves the Moon falling into Earth's shadow
- The progression of Moon phases based on sunlit perspective
- Distinguishing between solar and lunar eclipse alignments
- The Moon's gravitational pull 'tugs' on Earth's water
- Tides rise and fall as different parts of Earth rotate under the Moon's pull
- The Moon is the primary cause of high and low tides
- The Moon's influence on Earth's oceans
- Moons formed from local debris disks follow stable, circular paths
- Jupiter's massive gravity pulls and squeezes Io's interior
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
How does the Moon's rotation speed compare to the time it takes to complete one orbit around Earth?
Get it right to open this lesson and 76 more in the app.
Where Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void takes you
Journey from the familiar glow of our Moon to the crushing gravity of black holes. Master the life cycles of stars and discover the strange worlds orbiting distant suns.
- 1
Our Local Wonders
- The Moon and its Secrets
- Moons of the Solar System
- 2
The Secret Life of Stars
- Stellar Nurseries
- The Main Sequence
- Stellar Classification
- 3
The End of the Road
- Red Giants and White Dwarfs
- Supernovae: The Great Explosion
- Neutron Stars and Pulsars
- 4
The Gravity Extremes
- Black Holes: The Point of No Return
- Time and Space Near a Black Hole
- White Holes and Wormholes
- 5
Worlds Beyond Our Sun
- Hunting for Exoplanets
- Strange New Worlds
- The Search for Life
- 6
Visitors from the Deep
- Comets: The Dirty Snowballs
- Asteroids and Meteors
- 7
Reading the Night Sky
- Constellations and Navigation
- Measuring the Universe
- 8
The Big Picture
- The Milky Way and Beyond
- Dark Matter and Dark Energy
8 sections · 20 units · 77 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
More Science on Tomo
The Night Sky and Beyond
Journey from your backyard to the edge of the observable universe. Learn to navigate the constellations, understand the lives of stars, and explore the mysteries of black holes and dark energy.
The Universe Above Us
Journey from your own backyard to the edge of the observable universe. Discover how stars are born, why time slows down near black holes, and how we are searching for life among the billions of galaxies.
The Universe Above Us
Journey from your backyard to the edge of time. Discover how stars are born, why planets stay in orbit, and what lies within the deepest mysteries of the cosmos.
The Universe Above Us
Look beyond the horizon to understand the stars, planets, and the vast mysteries of the cosmos. Learn to navigate the night sky and discover the forces that shaped our universe.
Navigating the Cosmos
Move beyond the names of planets and dive into the mechanics of space travel, the life cycles of stars, and the strange behavior of time and gravity in the deep universe.
The Cosmos and Beyond
Go beyond the basics of the solar system to master the mechanics of orbital motion, stellar evolution, and the deep-space structures that define our universe.
Start Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void today.
Download Tomo, search Stars, Planets, and the Cosmic Void, and play your first lesson in under a minute.