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Science A
Physics – P1
Topic 7c :
The Solar System & its place
in an evolving Universe
Distances in Space - Astronomical Unit
One astronomical unit is the average distance
from the Earth to the Sun - 150,000,000 kilometres.
1 AU
Mean distance from the Sun
Planet
AU
(million km)
Mercury
0.39
58
Venus
0.72
108
Earth
1
150
Mars
1.52
228
Jupiter
5.19
778
Saturn
9.53
1430
Uranus
19.13
2870
Neptune
30
4500
39.3
5900
Pluto
Distances in Space - Light Year
Distances from the Earth to the stars are too great to be
expressed in Astronomical Units and so the Light Year is used.
A light year (ly) is the distance travelled by light in one year.
The distance is equivalent to 9,460,730,472,580.8 km.
Proxima Centauri
After our Sun, the nearest star to the Earth is Proxima Centauri,
one of the 3 stars in the Alpha Centauri star system.
Proxima Centauri is 4.22 light years away - about
forty trillion (4 x 1013) kilometres).
Eagle Nebula
The Eagle Nebula, which is a giant gas cloud, is believed to
contain newly forming stars.
It is 7,000 light years away from the Earth.
Galaxy NGC 4414
This spiral galaxy is approximately 60 million light years from
the Earth.
The central region is composed of older yellow and red stars, while
the spiral arms contain younger blue stars.
Moon Landings
In the 1960’s, America planned
to send astronauts to the Moon,
as part of their space
exploration programme.
On July 16th 1969, Apollo 11
was launched, with the aim of
putting the first men on the
surface of the Moon.
On July 20th Neil Armstrong set
foot on the surface of the Moon.
His first words from the
surface were...
“That's one small step
for man, one giant
leap for mankind.”
The Moon was later further explored by using roving vehicles.
It is still only the moon landings that have allowed humans to
personally make observations of the Earth from the surface of
another celestial body.
Probing The Solar System
There are two types of probe (unmanned flights) that are used to
investigate the solar system:
Fly-bys
These are probes that fly close by to a celestial body or go into
orbit around one, e.g. Voyager I and II.
Landers
These are daughter probes released form a parent probe and
which land on the surface of a celestial body, e.g. the Rover
landings on Mars.
Fly-bys (Voyager I and Voyager II)
In 1977, Voyager I and Voyager II were launched to study the outer
planets and eventually to leave the Solar System, travelling into
outer space.
Fly-bys (Voyager I and Voyager II)
As they passed by planets, Voyager I and II sent back amazing
photographs revealing great detail.
Fly-bys (Getting Close To A Comet)
Unmanned probes have now been able to get
close to comets and provide valuable data.
Landers - Mars Exploration Rover Mission
In 2003, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
launched the Mars Exploration Rover Mission, which placed two
robots on the surface of the planet Mars.
Landers - Mars Exploration Rover Mission
The purpose of the mission was to study the surface of Mars,
and to gain a greater understanding of the origins
of both Mars and the Solar System.
Landers - Destroying a NEO
In January 2005 NASA successfully launched a probe called
‘Deep Impact’ which had a smaller lander probe that was
designed to impact with comet Tempel 1 in July of that year. The
mother probe will return to Earth in January 2008. The impactor
(lander) probe formed a crater and provided information as to
the makeup of a comet. However, the impactor could well have
carried a nuclear warhead to shatter or realign the comet.
Moons of the Solar System
More recently unmanned probes have visited the outer reaches of
the solar system and new moons have been discovered...
All moons are drawn to the scale of the Earth’s moon.