Download The Solar System - the Scientia Review

The Solar System
Olivia Paquette
Table of Contents
1
The…………………………
Sun
………………………… 2,3
Mercury
………………………… 4,5
Venus
Earth………………………… 6,7
Mars………………………… 8,9
……………………… 10,11
Jupiter
………………………… 12
Saturn
………………………… 13
Uranus
………………………… 14
Neptune
………………………… 15
Pluto
Glossary ………….…… 16
The Sun
Although it may seem like the sun
rotates around the Earth, it is in fact the
center of our solar system. This means
that all of the 8 planets in our solar system
rotate around the sun.
The sun is the largest mass in the
solar system, taking up 98% of the mass
and able to hold 1.3 million earths. It is
the place where solar energy is created,
and it is 15 million degrees celsius in the
core. Composed of about 93% hydrogen,
the sun is a blazing ball of gas. It is not a
planet, but a star.
Mercury
Quick Facts
Diameter : 4,878 km
Distance from Sun: 57,910,000 km
Day: 58.65 Earth days
Year: 87.97 Earth days
The Smallest Planet after Pluto
Mercury is the innermost planet
in our solar system, as well as the
smallest planet. Its mass and volume
are a mere 5% of what Earth’s are.
The planet is, however, very large in
comparison to a human or a spaceship.
The mass is 303220000000000000000
000 kilograms. That adds up to the
mass of about 60 quintillion elephants.
Although this planet is small next to
Earth or Jupiter, it is still very big.
Craters
Mercury is a heavily cratered
planet, having thousands of them.
They give Mercury the appearance
of the moon on planet Earth.
The Path of a Planet
Major Axis
Minor Axis
It takes mercury 88 days to rotate around
the sun in its orbital path. When you picture
this process, your mind tends to see a sun
centered with 8 rings spaced perfectly to
keep the planets aligned. This is not how it
works. The various sizes, shapes, and
distances of the planets from the sun
changes the effect of gravity on the planets,
causing them to follow paths of their own,
called elliptical orbits. Ellipses is the term that
scientists gave to an oval, and each planet has
an ellipses with its own roundness, or eccentricity. An ellipse
has two foci. For the orbit of planets one of the foci is the
sun.The picture on the right models the basics of an ellipse.
Venus
Quick Facts
Diameter : 12,103.6 km
Distance from Sun: 108,200,000 km
Day: 243 Earth days
Year: 225 Earth days
A Unique Atmosphere
Venus has a very dense atmosphere, composed of
97% carbon dioxide. This creates a very large surface
pressure, about 90 times that of the pressure on earth.
The thick blanket of atmosphere causes the planet to
heat to 467 degrees celsius.
Venus is encapsulated in clouds containing sulfuric acid.
The clouds precipitate and acid rain known as vigra, which
evaporates before it can reach the surface of the planet. The
upper part of the atmosphere has strong winds that move
the clouds at 300 km/h.
Planets and the Gods
While each planet has a name that we use to
identify it, the Greeks and the Romans identified various
planets by naming them after mythological gods.
Planet
Mercury
Venus
Origin
God
Meaning
Messenger of
the gods.
Roman Hermes
Goddess of
love and
Roman Aphrodite beauty.
Earth
Greek
Gaea
Mars
Greek
Mars
Jupiter
Greek
Zeus
Saturn
Greek
Cronus
Uranus
Greek
Uranus
Naptune Greek
Poseidon
Pluto
Hades
Greek
Mother of all
land formations
and married to
Uranus
God of war and
architecture
King of the
gods, brother
of Neptune and
Pluto
God of
agriculture
Lord of the
skies
God of the
ocean
God of the
underworld
Quick Facts
Diameter : 12,756.3 km
Distance from Sun: 149,600,000 km
Day: 24 Earth hours
Year: 365.25 Earth days
The distance from the Earth to the sun is
known as 1 astronomical unit (AU).
Earth
Major Moons
Planets are not required to have a moon to be
considered a planet. Earth is one of multiple planets that
does have a moon. While Earth only has one moon, there
are some with so many that the names of the moons
have become number and letter combinations. Some of
the moons are so large that they would be considered
dwarf planets if they were in orbit with the sun.
Planet
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
# of Moons Major Moons
0
0
1
2
63
59
27
13
3
Luna
Deimos, Phobos
Europa, Io
Titan, Rhea
Titania, Oberon
Triton
Charon
Quick Facts
Diameter : 6,779 km
Distance from Sun: 229,000,000 km
Day: 24 hours 1 minute
Year: 687 Earth days
Mars
A Unique Surface
Mars is a planet with a very unique surface. It
has a signature red color, which makes it stand out
in any picture or drawing of the solar system. The
red color is created by rust in the soil of the planet.
Mars has dried out river channels, similar to those
channels on Earth. Many experts believe that there
is still water on Mars. It is also home to the largest
canyon and the highest volcano in the solar system.
Valles Marineris is a canyon 1,300 miles long and
5 miles deep. It would cover from New York City to
Califormia. Olympus Mons is a whomping 14 miles
high, and the base of this giant volcano is the size
of Missouri. There are also giant ice caps on Mars
that are made of frozen carbon dioxide, commonly
known as dry ice.
Jupiter
Quick Facts
Diameter : 143,000 km
Distance from Sun: 777,000,000 km
Day: 10 Earth hours
Year: 12 Earth years
A Planet With a Lot of Character
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system,
its mass being equal to that of 310 Earths. Jupiter has
a very interesting structure and history. It is home to
the four Galilean satellites, Io, Europa, Ganymeds, and
Callisto. These are four of Jupiter’s moons and were
discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Jupiter has a
striped atmosphere and swirling red clouds on it that
are a storm. Jupiter does not have a solid surface and
is not a rocky planet. It is composed of dense hydrogen,
helium, water, nitrogen, and a combination of various
other gases. Jupiter also has a planetary ring system
made of dust particles, which makes it very difficult to
see the ring, unlike Saturns very prominent rings. As you
can see, this planet has a lot of interesting aspects.
Saturn’s Rings
Although Saturn is not the only
planet that has rings around it, this
is the planet identified by its rings. These
can stretch 273,000 km across,
but each of them can only be 9 to 90
meters thick. The rings, unlike those of
Jupiter, are made of ice and rock particles
as large as a minivan. They were first
discovered by Galileo Galilei in the year 1610.
Quick Facts
Diameter : 120,500 km
Distance from Sun: 1.43 billion km
Day: 11 Earth hours
Year: 29.4 Earth years
Saturn
Uranus
Quick Facts
Diameter: 51,000 km
Distance from Sun: 2.9 billion km
Day: 17 Earth hours
Year: 84 Earth days
Quick Facts
Diameter : 50,000 km
Distance from Sun: 4.5 billion km
Day: 16 Earth hours
Year: 165 Earth years
Neptune
The Planet That Was
Pluto was the smallest of the nine
planets in our solar system. Recently,
in 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf
planet. It was a planet for 76 years, but
once atronomers discovered its moon,
Charon, they were able to determine the
actual mass of Pluto and realized that it
was a lot smaller than any of the other
planets. There are now 8 planets.
Pluto
Quick Facts
Diameter : 2,390 km
Distance from Sun: 5.6 billion km
Day: 6 Earth days
Year: 248 Earth days
Glossary
Atmosphere
Crater
Dwarf Planet
Ellipses
Galileo Galilei
Moon
Orbit
: An envelope of gases that
surround a planet.
: A large, bowl-shaped cavity on
the surface of a planet. One is
typically caused by an explosion or
impact from a meteor.
: A rounded body that rotates
around the sun, but is not large
enough to pick up other objects in
its orbit.
: A regular oval shape.
: Physicist, astronomer,
mathematician, and philosopher
who lived during the 1500s and
1600s
: A natural satellite of any planet.
: The curved path of a celestial
object around a star, planet, or
moon.
About The Author
Olivia Paquette is an eleventh grade student at the Massachusetts
Academy of Math and Science at WPI in Massachusetts. She enjoys being in
school, playing soccer, snowboarding, and watching the stars. She loves to learn
new things and hopes that all the children who read this book learn something
new.