Download Soaring Through the Solar System

By: Ms. McHugh
The Universe
• What is the universe? Are there more than 1?
• What about a galaxy?
– Milky Way
– Andromeda
• Solar System- it is our neighborhood in
the Milky way. Are there other Solar
systems? Has anyone been to one?
Inner and Outer Planets
Which planets do you think are the inner planets?
Mercury,
Venus,
Earth,
Mars
Which planets do you think are the outer planets?
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Inner and Outer Planets
What separates the inner from the outer planets?
The Asteroid Belt!!!!
The asteroid belt is a ring of asteroids
orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
What is an asteroid?
An asteroid is a large rocky
object that looks like this:
Inner and Outer
Planets
• So what are the differences between the
inner planets and the outer planets?
• You have to find out!
• This is your chance to research!
• Use your science book and the internet to
see. Hint: Inner=Rocky Outer=Gas
Name that Planet!!
I am the Roman goddess of
love & beauty
Venus
I am named after the god of the
skies!
Uranus
Named after Roman god of the
underworld.
I am the messenger god!
Mercury
I am the Roman god of
war!
I am King of the gods, or
Zeus!
Pluto
Jupiter
Some say named for god
of fertile soil!
I am named after the
god of the sea- I’m
blue!
Neptune
Mars
I am named after god of
agriculture- also father of
Jupiter!
Mercury
• Closest planet to the sun
• 2nd smallest planet
• makes one complete orbit
around the sun every 87.97
days
• its covered with
mountains, craters, ridges
and valleys
• diameter is 3,031 miles
• grayish black planet
Venus
•
•
•
•
2nd planet from the sun
diameter is 7,521 miles
orbits around the sun in 225 days
brightest object in the sky other
than the sun and moon
• it’s orbit is the closest to a
perfect circle
• atmosphere is so thick it would
crush you
• clouds of sulfuric acid that
smell like rotten eggs
Mars
•
•
•
•
•
•
4th planet from the sun
bright and reddish color
diameter is 4,217 miles
temperature is –207 degrees
rotates in 24 hours 37 minutes
has Olympus Mons, highest
known mountain in the solar
system
• has Valles Marineris, a giant
canyon about the size of the
U.S.
Jupiter
• 5th planet from the sun
• Largest planet in the solar
system
• striped and colorful because
of its sulfuric atmosphere
• diameter is 88,730 miles
• rotates in 9 hours 50 minutes
• rotates around the sun in 11.9
years
• “Great red spot” similar to a
hurricane on earth
Saturn
• 6th planet from the sun
• its diameter is 74,900 miles
• it rotates in 10hrs and 39
minutes
• it orbits the sun in 29.5
years
• Saturn is known for its
rings, which are the most
spectacular in the entire
solar system
Uranus
• 7th planet from the sun
• diameter is 31,763 miles
• rotates in 17 hours, 54
minutes
• orbits the sun in 84
years
• made of ice
Neptune
• 8th planet from the sun
• very cold / bluish color b/c of
methane atmosphere
• diameter is 30,775 miles
• orbits the sun every 165 years
• it has a rocky core
surrounded by ice, hydrogen,
helium, and methane
• “the Great dark spot”
Pluto
•
•
•
•
9th planet from the sun
diameter is 1,430 miles
rotates in 6 days 9 hours
orbits the sun in 248 earth
years
• smallest planet
• part ice, part frozen
nitrogen
What is a planet?
•
•
•
•
Planets have moons
Planets orbit the sun
Planets are round
How many planets in
our solar system
• How many moons
does the Earth have?
What is a moon?
• Moons orbit a planet
• Sometimes moons are
not round
• Also called satellites
• There can be many
moons orbiting one
planet! Example:
Jupiter has 18 moons!
Lunar Phases
• Lunar describes things about the moon
• Why would the moon change shape through out the
moon?
Earth
• 3rd planet from the sun
• Beautiful blue and white ball
•
•
•
•
•
•
Largest of the inner planets
core is 9000 degrees Fahrenheit
diameter is 7,926
orbits around the sun in 365 days
made up of mostly rock and metal
only planet known to support life
and have liquid water on the
surface
What’s so great about Earth?
• Why can we live on Earth?
• Close/far enough to the
sun
• Water/ Air
• Orbit
• Seasons
• Gravitational pull
• What else?
Sun
• closest star to earth
• center of the solar system
• giant spinning ball of very
hot gas
• heats our earth making
life possible
• active star
Learning Activities
Create Your
Own Planet
Awesome
Astronomy
Sites
Fun Cards