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Solar System Formation Your Parents’ Solar System st 21 Century Solar System The 21st Century Solar System Sun Terrestrial Planets Asteroid Belt Jovian Planets Kuiper Belt Oort Cloud The Solar System: List of Ingredients Ingredient Sun Jupiter Other planets Everything else Percent of total mass 99.8% 0.1% 0.05% 0.05% The Sun • A middle-aged, average star: – Mostly Hydrogen & Helium – 99.8% of the Solar System – ~4.6 billion years old • Shines because it is hot: – Surface Temp ~6000 C – Mostly Visible, UV & IR light • Kept hot by nuclear fusion in its core: – Builds Helium from Hydrogen fusion. – Will shine for ~12 billion years The Sun dominates the Solar System Terrestrial Planets • Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars – “Earth-Like” Rocky Planets – Largest is Earth – Only in the inner solar system (0.4 to 1.5 AU) • Rocky Planets: – – – – Solid Surfaces Mostly Silicates and Iron High Density: (rock & metal) Earth, Venus, & Mars have atmospheres The Terrestrial Planets Mercury Venus (0.055 M) (0.82 M) Earth (1 M) Mars (0.11 M) The Jovian Planets • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune – – – – Largest Planets: at least 15 times mass of Earth. Only in the outer solar system (5 to 30 AU) No solid surfaces (mostly atmosphere) Low density • Gas Giants: (Jupiter & Saturn) – Thick H/He atmosphere, liquid hydrogen mantle, ice core • Ice Giants: (Uranus & Neptune) – Ice/rock core & mantle, thin H/He atmosphere The Jovian Planets Jupiter (318 M) Saturn (95 M) Uranus Neptune (15 M) (17 M) If the Moon were replaced with some of our planets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usYC_Z36rHw (1.5 min) Is Pluto a Planet? What to consider? • Size? • Shape? • Orbit? • What is it made of? IAU Definition of a Planet In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a planet: orbits the Sun has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical), has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, is not a satellite IAU Definition of a Dwarf Planet In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a dwarf planet: orbits the Sun has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical), has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, is not a satellite Life on other planets?? • Why Mars Died, and Earth Lived (9.4 min) Or• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Kcw0 UrIFI (21 min) Water on the moon • http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/vide o-view.cfm?Vid_ID=3263 • Earth 100 Million Years From Now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcDed4x VD4