Download Our Solar System

Our Solar System
Our Solar System
Our solar system is made up
of:
 Sun – Star in the center of a
solar system.
 Nine planets
 Their moons – a natural
satellite that orbits a primary
planet.
 Asteroids
 Comets
Size and Scale of the Universe
• The star that Earth
orbits
• Composed primarily
of hydrogen and
helium gas
• Uses nuclear fusion
in its core to
generate heat and
light to allow itself to
resist the crushing
weight of its own
mass
• Spherical in shape
• 1.39 Million km in
diameter
Image Credit: SOHO/NASA/ESA
Size and Scale of the Universe
• The Sun’s diameter is
109 times greater than
that of Earth
• Over 1 million Earths
would fit inside the
Sun’s volume
• The average distance
between the Earth and
the Sun is called an
Astronomical Unit (AU)
- it is about150 million
kilometers
• It would take 11,780
Earths lined up side to
side to bridge the gap
between Earth and
Sun (or 107 Suns)
Image Credit: SOHO/NASA/ESA
Terrestrial vs. Gaseous Planets
Terrestrial

1.
2.
3.
4.
Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars
Rocky
 More dense
Smaller
More closely spaced
Closer to the Sun
Gaseous

1.
Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune
Gaseous, has more
He and H

2.
3.
4.
Less dense (Saturn
would float)
Larger
Spaced farther apart
Farther from the Sun
5
Inner Planets
The inner four rocky
planets at the center
of the solar system
are:
 Mercury
 Venus
 Earth
 Mars
Mercury



Planet nearest the sun
Second smallest planet
Covered with craters



As a result of having no atmosphere
to protect it from foreign objects
hitting its surface.
Has no moons or rings
About size of Earth’s moon
Venus



Sister planet to Earth – similar in
size and density.
Has no moons or rings
Hot, thick atmosphere




High composition of CO2 (Greenhouse
Effect)
Very hot
Brightest object in sky besides sun
and moon (looks like bright star)
Covered with craters, volcanoes,
and mountains
Earth




Third planet from sun
Only planet known to have life and
liquid water(big reason for life).
Atmosphere composed of composed of
Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), and
other gases (1%).
Due to its position in the solar system
relative to the sun and composition of
atmosphere it makes it an ideal planet
for supporting life.
The Earth:
• -is the third planet from the Sun
• -rotates on its imaginary
axis counterclockwise every
24 hours or 1 day,
-revolves around the sun every
365 days or 1 year.
The path that the Earth and all the planets
follow around the sun is called an orbit.
What keeps planets in orbit?
• Due to the downward force of gravity and the
forward force due to the movement of the
planets.
• Gravity is the force of attraction between
objects that is due to their distance from one
another and their masses.
• The closer two objects are together the stronger
the force of gravity.
• The more massive two objects are the stronger
the force of gravity.
What keeps planets in orbit?
• Gravity also helps to explain why the planets
closest to the sun move around the sun at a
faster pace than those farther away from the
sun.
• This is due to the force of gravity being
stronger on the planets closest to the sun than
those farther away from the sun.
Mars





Fourth planet from sun
Appears as bright reddish color in
the night sky
Surface features volcanoes and
huge dust storms
Has 2 moons
Most studied planet other than
earth.

This is because its characteristics are
closest to being able to support life.
ASTEROID BELT
•Most asteroids can be found in the Asteroid Belt, which is
located between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids are rocky and
metallic objects that orbit the Sun, but are too small to be
considered planets. They are known as minor planets.
Asteroids range in size from Ceres, which has a diameter of
about 1000 km, down to the size of pebbles.
Asteroids




Small bodies
Believed to be left
over from the
beginning of the solar
system billions of
years ago
100,000 asteroids lie
in belt between Mars
and Jupiter
Largest asteroids
have been given
names
Meteoroids and Meteorite
Meteoroids are loose dust particles that come from Comeroid. Most are
Very small. When it enters Earth’s atmosphere it forms a bright light, a
shooting star. Most meteoroids break up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
When they break up it is called a meteorite.
Comets




They are like dirty
snowballs
Small icy bodies
Travel past the Sun
Give off gas and dust
as they pass by
Outer Planets
The outer planets
composed of gas are :
 Jupiter
 Saturn
 Uranus
 Neptune
Jupiter






Largest planet in solar
system
Brightest planet in sky
60+ moons
Strong magnetic field
Giant red spot
Has small Rings
Saturn






6th planet from sun
Beautiful set of rings
31 moons
Largest moon, Titan,
Easily visible in the night
sky
Voyager explored Saturn
and its rings.
Uranus





7th planet from sun
Has a faint ring system
27 known moons
Covered with clouds
Uranus sits on its side
with the north and south
poles sticking out the
sides.
Neptune





8th planet from sun
Discovered through math
7 known moons
Triton largest moon
Great Dark Spot thought
to be a hole, similar to
the hole in the ozone
layer on Earth
Outermost Planet


Pluto, the outermost
planet, is a small solid
icy planet is smaller than
the Earth's Moon.
There is much debate to
its being considered a
planet and today it is
considered a dwarf
planet.
Explore the Universe and expand your
mind
Susan Hammond
TTl
June 2003
EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Size and Distance Scale Of The Solar System
• Our Earth is just one of several Planets that revolve around
our Sun, the primary and central object of our Solar System.
• Since the entire Solar System, including our Earth, was
created about the same time (about 4.6 billion years ago),
our understanding of the origin and properties of the Solar
System, the Sun, and its other members are important to
our understanding of Earth itself.
• We consider the size of our Earth to be very large, in
comparison with most sizes and distances we deal with in
our daily lives.
• However, the size of the Earth is very small compared to the
size of the Solar System, which consists of the Sun and its
family of planets, of which our Earth is only about average in
size.
The Size and Distance Scale Of The Solar System
• In turn, the size of our Solar System is very large compared
to the size of our Earth, or even the largest planet, Jupiter.
• The distance from our Earth to the Moon is about 238,000
miles or 384,000 kilometers (nearly 100 times Earth’s
diameter, or about 30 times the distance around the Earth
at its equator).
• The distance from our Earth to the Sun is about 93,000,000
miles or 149,600,000 kilometers (more than 390 times the
distance to the Moon).
• The most distant major planet from the Sun, Neptune, is 30
times Earth’s distance from the Sun.
• The nearest stars in our Galaxy, the star system of Alpha
Centauri, is 9,000 times Neptune’s distance from the Sun!
SIZES AND DISTANCES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Sizes
Diameters of Solar System Members:
Sun =
1,392,000 km
Mean Distance from Sun
Mercury =
Venus =
Earth =
Mars =
Jupiter =
Saturn =
Uranus =
Neptune =
Pluto =
4,878 km
12,104 km
12,756 km
6,794 km
142,984 km
120,536 km
51,118 km
49,530 km
2,304 km
57,900,000 km = 0.387 AU
108,200,000 km = 0.723 AU
149,600,000 km = 1.000 AU
227,900,000 km = 1.524 AU
778,300,000 km = 5.203 AU
1,427,000,000 km = 10.07 AU
2,871,000,000 km = 19.19 AU
4,497,000,000 km = 30.06 AU
5,914,000,000 km = 39.53 AU
Earth’s Moon =
3,476 km
Mean Distance from Earth = 384,400 km
Relative Sizes of Planets in Our Solar System
The Planets of Our Solar System
The Inner Planets
Sizes to Scale
Mercury
Venus
Earth and Moon
Mars
The Planets of Our Solar System
The Outer Planets
Jupiter
Saturn
Earth Included for Scale.
Uranus
Pluto
Neptune
The Size and Distance Scale of The Solar System
• The size of our Solar System, if defined by the diameter of
Pluto’s orbit, is about 40 times the diameter of Earth’s orbit
around the Sun.
• If we consider also the most distant Kuiper Belt objects
discovered to date, up to 90 times Earth’s distance from the
Sun, the diameter of our solar system would be increased
accordingly.
• However, the distance to the nearest star other than our Sun
is vastly larger than the size of our Solar System.
• The distances to stars can be estimated by comparing their
observed brightnesses with that of our Sun, if they are known
to be similar to our Sun in other respects (as determined, for
example, by spectroscopic measurements).
o The nearest stars to our solar system, the star system Alpha
Centauri, is at a distance about 9000 times Neptune’s distance,
or 6800 times Pluto’s maximum distance, from our Sun!
o If our solar system were scaled to the size of a quarter (with
Pluto’s orbit about 1 inch in diameter) the Alpha Centauri system
would be at a distance of about 285 feet!
Size and Scale of the Universe
Actual Size
Actual Size
Multiple
(diameter in km)
(in light-years)
“X” larger than Earth
12,700
(1.27E+4)
1.4 billionths
(1.4E-9)
1
salt grain
(0.1 mm)
1.39 million
(1.39E+6)
1.5 ten-millionths
(1.5E-7)
109
(1.09E+2)
gum ball
(1.09 cm)
Solar System
30 billion
(3.0E+10)
0.0032
(3.2E-3)
2.34 million
(2.34E+6)
football stadium
(234 meters)
Solar
Neighborhood
378 trillion
(3.78E+14)
40
(4.0E+1)
30 billion
(3.0E+10)
~ size of Moon
(3,480 km)
946 quadrillion
(9.46E+17)
100,000
(1.0E+5)
75 trillion
(7.5E+13)
5.4 Suns
(7.5 million km)
Local Group
(of galaxies)
62 quintillion
(6.15E+19)
6.5 million
(6.5E+6)
4.8 quadrillion
(4.8E+15)
orbit of Mars
Local
Supercluster
1.2 sextillion
(1.2E+21)
130 million
(1.3E+8)
97 quadrillion
(9.7E+16)
orbit of Neptune
860.9 sextillion
(8.6E+23)
91 billion
(9.1E+10)
68 quintillion
(6.8E+19)
Oort Cloud-radius
(48,000 AU or
0.76 ly)
Realm
Earth
Sun
Galaxy
Universe
Scale Model
-diameter
(~3 AU)
-diameter
(~60 AU)
Size and Scale of the Universe
Image courtesy of The Cosmic Perspective by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, & Voit; Addison Wesley, 2002
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Remember that the sun is the center
of our solar system and the Earth is
revolving around the sun as the year
goes by and rotating on its axis.
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But at the same time,
the moon is revolving
around the earth and
rotating on its own axis.
The relative position of
the moon, Earth, and
the sun causes the
phases of the moons.
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The moon revolves around the earth approximately every 28
days. Its rotation is also approximately 28 days. So the same
side of the moon is always facing the earth.
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The Moon does not give off its own
light but reflects light from the sun.
Half of the moon that faces the earth
is not always the half that is being lit
by the sun.
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The light from the sun is
hitting the side of the
moon facing away from
the Earth.
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Approximately one
week later, we see
half of the lighted
side of the moon.
This is called a first
quarter moon.
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Two weeks after the
new moon, a full
moon appears. The
entire lighted side of
the moon is facing
earth.
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Three weeks after the
new moon, a third
quarter moon
appears. We can see
half of the lighted
surface of the moon
from earth.
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Four weeks after the new moon, another new
moon appears and the cycle starts again.
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Gibbous
means to be
Waxing means
to grow
humpbacked
In between each
of the quarter
phases are other
distinct phases.
Waning
means to
decrease
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•There are two high tides and
two low tides each day.
• Tides are caused by the pull
of both the sun and the moon
on the Earth.
•Changes in the positions of
the Earth, sun, and moon affect
the height of the tides
throughout the month.
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•Caused when the earth, moon, and sun are in a straight line
•The combination of the gravitational pull of the sun and moon cause the ocean
of the Earth to Bulge.
•Spring tides occur during new and full moons.
•Spring tides have the greatest range between high and low tides. Really high,
high tides and really low, low tides.
•Named from an Old English term meaning to jump -- NOT FROM THE
SEASON
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•When the earth, moon, and sun are at
a right angle
•Occur during first and third quarter
moons.
•Produce the least range between high
and low tide.
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A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets
between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts
a shadow over Earth.
•A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks
the sunlight from reaching the moon.
Question: Why does the full moon
appear to be red during certain times
of the year?
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Answer: The light from the
sun gets bent as it passes
through our atmosphere
causing it to appear red.
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Occurs when the moon
passes between the Earth
and sun, blocking the
sunlight from reaching
Earth.
Total solar eclipses are visible on Earth for
only a few hundred miles wide. A lunar
eclipse visible for at least half the earth.
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