Download Outer Planets

Characteristics of
Outer Planets
By: Holly Fowle
Jupiter
•Jupiter is the fifth planet from
the Sun.
•It takes 11.9 Earth years just to
complete one full orbit.
•It is the biggest planet in the
solar system, with twice the
mass as all of the other planets
combined!
Jupiter’s atmosphere
•Jupiter has a very gaseous
surface.
•It contains alternating lightand dark-colored bands.
•The dark bands are areas of
sinking gas and light bands
are areas of rising gas.
Jupiter’s Winds
•Jupiter’s winds blow parallel to
its equator
•Winds at the equator move east
at the average speed of 400
kilometers per hour.
•Winds traveling north and
south move at 100 kilometers per
hour.
Great Red Spot
•Jupiter’s “Great Red
Spot” is the most striking
feature on Jupiter’s
surface.
•It rises 8 kilometers
above its clouds.
•It is just one of Jupiter’s
several different spot.
Jupiter’s Magnetic Field
•Jupiter has the strongest
known magnetic field.
•The interaction between
solar wind and the
magnetic field cause
Jupiter to have auroras.
•It also has intense lightning
storms
Jupiter’s Radiation
•Jupiter radiates between 1.5
and 2.0 times as much heat
back into space as it obtains
from the sun.
•The extra heat is thought to
come from Jupiter’s original
heat of formation and from
contraction due to its gravity.
Saturn
•Saturn is the sixth
planet from the sun.
•It takes nearly 30 Earth
years to complete one full
orbit.
•It turns on its axis once
every 10.7 Earth hours.
Saturn’s bands
•Saturn has colored bands like
Jupiter, which are different
areas of rising and sinking air.
•Saturn has fewer bands than
Jupiter and its wind speed is
faster: about 1800 km. per hour.
•Saturn’s density is low like
Jupiter’s – less than 1 gram per
cubic centimeter.
Saturn’s Radiation
•Saturn radiates between 1.5
and 2.5 times as much
energy as it receives from the
sun.
•Similar to Jupiter, it obtains
sources of internal heat.
•It has a weak magnetic field.
Uranus
•Uranus is the seventh planet
from the sun.
•It takes 84 Earthly years to
complete one full orbit.
•It turns on its axis once every
17.2 hours!
•Its axis of rotation is very
unusual; Uranus is tipped
almost completely over!
Uranus’s Magnetic Field
•Uranus’s magnetic field is
produced at its core, which
rotates at the same rate as the
planet itself.
•The spiral pattern traced by
the magnetic field made it
possible to figure out Uranus’s
rate of rotation precisely.
Uranus’s Temperature
•Uranus’s temperature is
very strange.
•The side of Uranus facing
the sun is not hotter than
the side not facing the
sun; they are the same
temperature.
Neptune
•Neptune is the eighth
planet from the sun.
•It was discovered in
1846.
•It takes 16.1 Earth
years to complete one
full orbit
•Neptune’s magnetic field
is tipped 47 degrees.
•Its wind speeds up to 2200
kilometers per hour.
•Neptune gives off 2.7 times
more energy than it
obtains from the sun.
•Its temperature was once
o
measured at –214 C.
•Pluto is the coldest,
smallest, and most distant
known planet in our solar
system.
•It was discovered in 1930.
•Its surface temperature is
below –220oC.
Pluto’s Atmosphere
•Most of its atmosphere of
helium and methane is
frozen to its surface.
•That’s why Pluto seems
to be made of just water,
ice, and rocks.
•Pluto takes 248 Earth
years to complete an
orbit.
•At one point, Pluto’s
orbit comes closer to
the sun than
Neptune’s.
Pluto Now
•Right now, though,
Neptune is closer to the
sun than Pluto.
•Pluto was closer to the
sun between the years
1969 and 1999.
Bibliography
Malin, Stuart. The Planets.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
1989. 15-18.
Spaulding, Nancy E., and
Samuel N. Namowitz. Earth
Science. Dallas: McDougal
Littell, 1999. 386-418.
Interactive Websites
•http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov
/academy/space/solarsyste
m/solarsystemjava.html
• http://www.brainpop.com/science/
seeall/