Download Slide 1 - Students` Blog

• The planet Mercury is the
closest
planet
to
the Sunwithin the solar
system. Mercury was named
by the Romans after their
god of the same name. Due
to
its
small
angular
separation from the Sun,
which it orbits every 88 days,
Mercury is not easily seen
from Earth.
• Named for the Roman goddess
of love by the same name,
the planet Venus is the second
planet from theSun, at a distance
of
roughly
108,209,000
kilometers. With an orbital
circumference of 680,000,000
kilometers, Venus is just slightly
smaller than the Earth and has a
very
similar
chemical
composition. For this reason,
Venus is commonly referred to
as the Earth’s “sister” planet. It
takes Venus just under 225 days
to orbit the Sun on full time,
compared to the 365 day orbital
period of the Earth.
The Earth, which is located
three planets from the Sun, is the
only planet in the universe known
to support any kind of life. The
Earth
is
estimated
to
be
approximately 4.57 billion years
old. The moon followed not long
after. The Earth rotates around its
own north to south axis once every
23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.091
seconds (one day), and around the
Sun once every 365.2564 days
(one year).
Named after the Roman god of
war, the planet Mars is located
four planets from the Sun.
Commonly referred to as “The
Red Planet,” Mars tends to
give off a reddish hue when
viewed from Earth. This is
believed to be caused by an
abundance of iron oxide on the
planet’s surface. Mars is about
half the size of the Earth.
Jupiter is the largest planet within
our solar system, located five
planets from the Sun. Jupiter has
a total radius of nearly 70,000
kilometers, which is second only
to that of the Sun’s 696,000
kilometer radius. Jupiter’s overall
size is 318 times greater than that
of the Earth. Jupiter is 2.5 times
larger than all of the other planets
in the solar system combined. It
takes this massive planet a
whopping 4,333 days to orbit the
Sun one full time!
• Saturn
is
the
second
largest planet in our solar system,
making it about 95 times larger
than the Earth! The sixth planet
out from the sun, it takes Saturn
about 29.5 years to orbit
the sun one time, traveling a
distance of roughly 1,426,000,000
kilometers
for
one
single
revolution!
• Space.com allows you to discover
the planet Saturn like you never
have before! Check out our
comprehensive articles, photos
and interactive features to further
explore this distant planet famous
for its rings and more than 30
discovered moons!
The
mysteriously
tilted planet of Uranus is one
of the 4 gas giants, or planets
whose gas composes the
majority of its mass. The
planet Uranus is the seventh
from the sun. Its 51,117km
diameter classifies it as the
third largest planet in the solar
system. By mass, Uranus is
the fourth largest.
• Depending on its orbital position,
Neptune is often the eighth,
sometimes the ninth planet from
the sun. The planet Neptune is the
smallest of our gas giants, or the
planets in our solar system whose
mass is primarily made up of gas. It
is, like the other gas giants
of Saturn, Jupiter and Uranus,
without a well defined surface.
Therefore, descriptions such as
diameter and volume generally refer
to the outermost layer.
The icy, enigmatic planet of Pluto is
the ninth and furthest planet from
our sun. The planet Pluto is also the
smallest in our solar system; it is even
smaller than many of the moons that
orbit other planets.
While attempting to locate the cause
of Neptune’s orbital interruption, Clyde
W. Tombaugh discovered Pluto on
February 18, 1930. While mistaken to
believe that Pluto was the planet
causing the disturbance, Tombaugh
was correct about its presence.
When the Moon is not in its new
phase, it can be seen on clear days
or nights from anywhere on the
surface of Earth if you know when to
look. The Moon is the Earth’s only
natural satellite, and has never been
given any other scientific name. The
Moon is about 384,403 kilometers
from Earth, and has an approximate
diameter of 3,476 km. The Moon is
actually believed to be slowly
moving farther away from Earth, at
a rate of about 4cm per year!