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Lab title: Solar System
Developed by: Felisha Borg
Under the supervision and contribution of Barbara J. Shaw Ph.D.
Concepts Covered:
 Astronomy: planets in the Solar system
 Math: distance between and around planets, introduction to light years
Lab Goals:
 Students will begin to understand that there is more in the world then just earth, the
concept light years will be introduced as well.
Lab Objectives:
 Be able to explain why scientists use light years instead of other distance measurements
 Have a basic understanding of the solar system
 Start to grasp the concept of how huge the solar system and the things in it really are
 Further the virtue of cooperation in group work
 The sun is the center of the universe, everything revolves around it
Benchmarks Addressed:
Kindergarten
 K.1P.1 Compare and contrast characteristics of living and non-living things.
 K.3S.1 Explore questions about living and non-living things and events in the natural
world.
 K.3S.2 Make observations about the natural world
 K.4D.1 Create structures using natural or designed materials and simple tools.
 K.4D.2 Show how components of designed structures can be disassembled and
reassembled.
First grade
 1.1P.1 Compare and contrast physical properties and composition of objects.
 1.3S.1 Identify and use tools to make careful observations and answer questions about the
natural world.
 1.3S.2 Record observations with pictures, numbers, or written statements.
 1.3S.3 Describe why recording accurate observations is important in science.
Second grade
 2.2E.1 Observe and record the patterns of apparent movement of the sun and the moon.
 2.3S.1 Observe, measure, and record properties of objects and substances using simple
tools to gather data and extend the senses.
 2.3S.2 Make predictions about living and non-living things and events in the environment
based on observed patterns.
 2.3S.3 Make, describe, and compare observations, and organize recorded data.
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Felisha Borg
Third grade
 3.2E.1 Identify Earth as a planet and describe its seasonal weather patterns of
precipitation and temperature.
 3.3S.2 Use the data collected from a scientific investigation to explain the results and
draw conclusions.
 3.3S.3 Explain why when a scientific investigation is repeated, similar results are
expected.
Materials and Costs:
List the equipment and non-consumable material and estimated cost of each
Item
Cost
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Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost: .............................................................................$
List the consumable supplies and estimated cost for presenting to a class of 30 students
Item
Cost
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Time:
Initial preparation time: 1- 1 ½ hrs (material purchasing)
Set up time: 1 hr (copies and un-packaging)
Instruction time: 1 ½ -2 hrs
Clean-up time: 45 minuets
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Assessment (include all assessment materials):
They are all located within the different activities. Some of them have paragraphs and for the
others the presentations themselves are the assessment.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System
Teacher Background Information:
Planets and dwarf planets of the Solar System; while the sizes are to scale, the relative distances
from the Sun are not.
The Solar System, or solar
system, consists of the Sun and
the other celestial objects
gravitationally bound to it: the
eight planets, their 166 known
moons, three dwarf planets
(Ceres, Pluto, and Eris and their
four known moons), and
billions of small bodies. This
last category includes asteroids,
Kuiper belt objects, comets,
meteoroids, and interplanetary
dust.
In broad terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun, four terrestrial inner
planets, an asteroid belt composed of small rocky bodies, four gas giant outer planets, and a
second belt, the Kuiper belt, composed of icy objects. Beyond the Kuiper belt is the scattered
disc, the heliopause, and ultimately the hypothetical Oort cloud.
In order of their distances from the Sun, the terrestrial planets are:
 Mercury
 Venus
 Earth
 Mars
The outer gas giants (or jovians) are:
 Jupiter
 Saturn
 Uranus
 Neptune
The three dwarf planets are
 Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt;
 Pluto, the largest known object in the Kuiper belt;
 Eris, the largest known object in the scattered disc.
Six of the eight planets and two of the dwarf planets are in turn orbited by natural satellites,
usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon, and each of the outer planets is encircled by
planetary rings of dust and other particles. All the planets except Earth are named after deities
from Greco-Roman mythology.
Objects orbiting the Sun are divided into three classes: planets, dwarf planets, and small Solar
System bodies.
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Felisha Borg
A planet is any object in orbit around the Sun that has enough mass to form itself into a spherical
shape and has cleared its immediate neighborhood of all smaller objects. By this definition, the
Solar System has eight known planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune. From the time of its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was considered the Solar
System's ninth planet. But in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, many objects similar to Pluto
were discovered in the outer Solar System, most notably Eris, which is slightly larger than Pluto.
On August 24, 2006, the
International Astronomical
Union defined the term "planet"
for the first time, excluding
Pluto and reclassifying it under
the new category of dwarf planet
along with Eris and Ceres. A
dwarf planet is not required to
clear its neighborhood of other
celestial bodies. Other objects
that may become classified as
dwarf planets are Sedna, Orcus,
and Quaoar.
The zones of the Solar system: the inner solar system, the asteroid belt,
the giant planets (Jovians) and the Kuiper belt. Sizes and orbits not to scale.
The remainder of the objects in orbit around the Sun are small Solar System bodies (SSSBs).
Natural satellites, or moons, are those objects in orbit around planets, dwarf planets and SSSBs,
rather than the Sun itself.
Astronomers usually measure distances within the Solar System in astronomical units (AU). One
AU is the approximate distance between the Earth and the Sun, or roughly 149,598,000 km
(93,000,000 mi). Pluto is roughly 38 AU from the Sun while Jupiter lies at roughly 5.2 AU. One
light-year, the best known unit of interstellar distance, is roughly 63,240 AU. A body's distance
from the Sun varies in the course of its year. Its closest approach to the Sun is called its
perihelion, while its farthest distance from the Sun is called its aphelion.
Informally, the Solar System is sometimes divided into separate zones. The inner Solar System
includes the four terrestrial planets and the main asteroid belt. Some define the outer Solar
System as comprising everything beyond the asteroids. Others define it as the region beyond
Neptune, with the four gas giants considered a separate "middle zone.”
The ecliptic viewed in sunlight from behind the Moon in this Clementine image. From left to
right: Mercury, Mars, Saturn.
The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a main sequence G2 star that contains
99.86% of the system's known mass and dominates it gravitationally. Jupiter and Saturn, the
Sun's two largest orbiting bodies, account for more than 90% of the system's remaining mass.
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Most large objects in orbit around the Sun lie near the
plane of Earth's orbit, known as the ecliptic. The planets
are very close to the ecliptic while comets and Kuiper
belt objects are usually at significantly greater angles to
it.
All of the planets and most other objects also orbit with
the Sun's rotation (counter-clockwise, as viewed from
above the Sun's north pole). There are exceptions, such as
Halley's Comet.
The ecliptic viewed in sunlight from behind the Moon in this
Clementine image. From left to right: Mercury, Mars, Saturn.
Objects travel around the Sun following Kepler's laws of planetary motion. Each object orbits
along an approximate ellipse with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. The closer an object is to
the Sun, the faster it moves. The orbits of the planets are nearly circular, but many comets,
asteroids and objects of the Kuiper belt follow highly elliptical orbits.
To cope with the vast distances involved, many representations of
the Solar System show orbits the same distance apart. In reality,
with a few exceptions, the farther a planet or belt is from the Sun,
the larger the distance between it and the previous orbit. For
example, Venus is approximately 0.33 AU farther out than
Mercury, while Saturn is 4.3 AU out from Jupiter, and Neptune
lies 10.5 AU out from Uranus. Attempts have been made to
determine a correlation between these orbital distances (see TitiusBode law), but no such theory has been accepted.
The orbits of the bodies in the Solar System
to scale (clockwise from top left)
The Solar System is believed to have formed according to the nebular hypothesis, which holds
that it emerged from the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud 4.6 billion years ago.
This initial cloud was likely several light-years across and probably birthed several stars. Studies
of ancient meteorites reveal traces of elements only
formed in the hearts of very large exploding stars,
indicating that the Sun formed within a star cluster, and in
range of a number of nearby supernovae explosions. The
shock wave from these supernovae may have triggered
the formation of the Sun by creating regions of
overdensity in the surrounding nebula, allowing
gravitational forces to overcome internal gas pressures
and cause collapse.
Artist's conception of a protoplanetary disk
The region that would become the Solar System, known as the pre-solar nebula, had a diameter
of between 7000 and 20,000 AU and a mass just over that of the Sun (by between 0.1 and 0.001
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solar masses). As the nebula collapsed, conservation of angular momentum made it rotate faster.
As the material within the nebula condensed, the atoms within it began to collide with increasing
frequency. The centre, where most of the mass collected, became increasingly hotter than the
surrounding disc. As gravity, gas pressure, magnetic fields, and rotation acted on the contracting
nebula, it began to flatten into a spinning protoplanetary
disc with a diameter of roughly 200 AU and a hot, dense
protostar at the centre.
Studies of T Tauri stars, young, pre-fusing solar mass
stars believed to be similar to the Sun at this point in its
evolution, show that they are often accompanied by discs
of pre-planetary matter. These discs extend to several
hundred AU and reach only a thousand kelvins at their
hottest.
Hubble image of protoplanetary disks in the Orion Nebula, a light-years-wide "stellar
nursery" likely very similar to the primordial nebula from which our Sun formed.
After 100 million years, the pressure and density of hydrogen in the centre of the collapsing
nebula became great enough for the protosun to begin thermonuclear fusion. This increased until
hydrostatic equilibrium was achieved, with the thermal energy countering the force of
gravitational contraction. At this point the Sun became a full-fledged star.
From the remaining cloud of gas and dust (the "solar nebula"), the various planets formed. They
are believed to have formed by accretion: the planets began as dust grains in orbit around the
central protostar; then gathered by direct contact into clumps between one and ten metres in
diameter; then collided to form larger bodies (planetesimals) of roughly 5 km in size; then
gradually increased by further collisions at roughly 15 cm per year over the course of the next
few million years.
The inner Solar System was too warm for volatile molecules like water and methane to
condense, and so the planetesimals which formed there were relatively small (comprising only
0.6% the mass of the disc) and composed largely of compounds with high melting points, such as
silicates and metals. These rocky bodies eventually became the terrestrial planets. Farther out,
the gravitational effects of Jupiter made it impossible for the protoplanetary objects present to
come together, leaving behind the asteroid belt.
Farther out still, beyond the frost line, where more volatile icy
compounds could remain solid, Jupiter and Saturn became the gas
giants. Uranus and Neptune captured much less material and are
known as ice giants because their cores are believed to be made
mostly of ices (hydrogen compounds).
Artist's conception of the future evolution of our Sun.
Left: main sequence; middle: red giant; right: white dwarf
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Once the young Sun began producing energy, the solar wind blew the gas and dust in the
protoplanetary disk into interstellar space and ended the growth of the planets. T Tauri stars have
far stronger stellar winds than more stable, older stars.
Astronomers estimate that the Solar System as we know it today will last until the Sun begins its
journey off of the main sequence. As the Sun burns through its supply of hydrogen fuel, it gets
hotter in order to be able to burn the remaining fuel, and so burns it even faster. As a result, the
Sun is growing brighter at a rate of roughly ten percent every 1.1 billion years.
Around 7.6 billion years from now, the Sun's core will become hot enough to cause hydrogen
fusion to occur in its less dense upper layers. This will cause the
Sun to expand to roughly up to 260 times its current diameter, and
become a red giant. At this point, the sun will have cooled and
dulled, because of its vastly increased surface area.
Eventually, the Sun's outer layers will fall away, leaving a white
dwarf, an extraordinarily dense object, half its original mass but
only the size of the Earth.
The Sun as seen from Earth
The Sun is the Solar System's parent star, and far and away its chief component. Its large mass
gives it an interior density high enough to sustain nuclear fusion, which releases enormous
amounts of energy, mostly radiated into space as electromagnetic radiation such as visible light.
The Sun is classified as a moderately large
yellow dwarf, but this name is misleading as,
compared to stars in our galaxy, the Sun is
rather large and bright. Stars are classified by
the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a graph which
plots the brightness of stars against their surface
temperatures. Generally, hotter stars are
brighter. Stars following this pattern are said to
be on the main sequence; the Sun lies right in
the middle of it. However, stars brighter and
hotter than the Sun are rare, while stars dimmer
and cooler are common.
It is believed that the Sun's position on the main
sequence puts it in the "prime of life" for a star,
in that it has not yet exhausted its store of
hydrogen for nuclear fusion. The Sun is growing
brighter; early in its history it was 75 percent as
bright as it is today.
The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram;
the main sequence is from bottom right to top left.
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Calculations of the ratios of hydrogen and helium within the Sun suggest it is halfway through its
life cycle. It will eventually move off the main sequence and become larger, brighter, cooler and
redder, becoming a red giant in about five billion years. At that point its luminosity will be
several thousand times its present value.
The Sun is a population I star; it was born in the later stages of the universe's evolution. It
contains more elements heavier than hydrogen and helium
("metals" in astronomical parlance) than older population II stars.
Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were formed in the
cores of ancient and exploding stars, so the first generation of stars
had to die before the universe could be enriched with these atoms.
The oldest stars contain few metals, while stars born later have
more. This high metallicity is thought to have been crucial to the
Sun's developing a planetary system, because planets form from
accretion of metals.
The heliospheric current sheet
Along with light, the Sun radiates a continuous stream of charged particles (a plasma) known as
the solar wind. This stream of particles spreads outwards at roughly 1.5 million kilometres per
hour, creating a tenuous atmosphere (the heliosphere) that
permeates the Solar System out to at least 100 AU (see
heliopause). This is known as the interplanetary medium. The
Sun's 11-year sunspot cycle and frequent solar flares and coronal
mass ejections disturb the heliosphere, creating space weather. The
Sun's rotating magnetic field acts on the interplanetary medium to
create the heliospheric current sheet, the largest structure in the
solar system.
Aurora australis seen from orbit.
Earth's magnetic field protects its atmosphere from interacting with the solar wind. Venus and
Mars do not have magnetic fields, and the solar wind causes their atmospheres to gradually bleed
away into space. The interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field creates the aurorae
seen near the magnetic poles.
Cosmic rays originate outside the Solar System. The heliosphere partially shields the Solar
System, and planetary magnetic fields (for planets which have them) also provide some
protection. The density of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium and the strength of the Sun's
magnetic field change on very long timescales, so the level of cosmic radiation in the Solar
System varies, though by how much is unknown.
The interplanetary medium is home to at least two disc-like regions of cosmic dust. The first, the
zodiacal dust cloud, lies in the inner Solar System and causes zodiacal light. It was likely formed
by collisions within the asteroid belt brought on by interactions with the planets. The second
extends from about 10 AU to about 40 AU, and was probably created by similar collisions within
the Kuiper belt.
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The inner Solar System is the traditional name for the region comprising the terrestrial planets
and asteroids. Composed mainly of silicates and metals, the objects of the inner Solar System
huddle very closely to the Sun; the radius of this entire region is shorter than the distance
between Jupiter and Saturn.
The four inner or terrestrial planets have dense, rocky compositions, few or no moons, and no
ring systems. They are composed largely of minerals with high melting points, such as the
silicates which form their solid crusts and semi-liquid mantles, and metals such as iron and
nickel, which form their cores. Three of the four inner planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) have
substantial atmospheres; all have impact craters and tectonic surface features such as rift valleys
and volcanoes. The term inner planet should not be confused with inferior planet, which
designates those planets which are closer to the Sun than Earth is (i.e. Mercury and Venus).
The inner planets. From left to right: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars (sizes to scale)
Mercury
Mercury (0.4 AU) is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet (0.055 Earth
masses). Mercury has no natural satellites, and its only known geological features besides
impact craters are "wrinkle-ridges", probably produced by a period of contraction early in
its history. Mercury's almost negligible atmosphere consists of atoms blasted off its
surface by the solar wind. Its relatively large iron core and thin mantle have not yet been
adequately explained. Hypotheses include that its outer layers were stripped off by a giant
impact, and that it was prevented from fully accreting by the young Sun's energy.
Venus
Venus (0.7 AU) is close in size to Earth, (0.815 Earth masses) and like Earth, has a thick
silicate mantle around an iron core, a substantial atmosphere and evidence of internal
geological activity. However, it is much drier than Earth and its atmosphere is ninety
times as dense. Venus has no natural satellites. It is the hottest planet, with surface
temperatures over 400 °C, most likely due to the amount of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere. No definitive evidence of current geological activity has been detected on
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Venus, but it has no magnetic field that would prevent depletion of its substantial
atmosphere, which suggests that its atmosphere is regularly replenished by volcanic
eruptions.
Earth
Earth (1 AU) is the largest and densest of the inner planets, the only one known to have
current geological activity, and the only planet known to have life. Its liquid hydrosphere
is unique among the terrestrial planets, and it is also the only planet where plate tectonics
has been observed. Earth's atmosphere is radically different from those of the other
planets, having been altered by the presence of life to contain 21% free oxygen. It has
one natural satellite, the Moon, the only large satellite of a terrestrial planet in the Solar
System.
Mars
Mars (1.5 AU) is smaller than Earth and Venus (0.107 Earth masses). It possesses a
tenuous atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide. Its surface, peppered with vast volcanoes
such as Olympus Mons and rift valleys such as Valles Marineris, shows geological
activity that may have persisted until very recently. Its red color comes from rust in its
iron-rich soil. Mars has two tiny natural satellites (Deimos and Phobos) thought to be
captured asteroids.
Asteroids are mostly small Solar System bodies
composed mainly of rocky and metallic nonvolatile minerals.
The main asteroid belt occupies the orbit
between Mars and Jupiter, between 2.3 and
3.3 AU from the Sun. It is thought to be
remnants from the Solar System's formation that
failed to coalesce because of the gravitational
interference of Jupiter.
Asteroids range in size from hundreds of
kilometres across to microscopic. All asteroids
save the largest, Ceres, are classified as small
Solar System bodies, but some asteroids such as
Vesta and Hygieia may be reclassed as dwarf
planets if they are shown to have achieved
hydrostatic equilibrium.
Image of the main asteroid belt and the Trojan asteroids
The asteroid belt contains tens of thousands, possibly millions, of objects over one kilometre in
diameter. Despite this, the total mass of the main belt is unlikely to be more than a thousandth of
that of the Earth. The main belt is very sparsely populated; spacecraft routinely pass through
without incident. Asteroids with diameters between 10 and 10-4 m are called meteoroids.
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Felisha Borg
Ceres
Ceres (2.77 AU) is the largest body in the asteroid belt and
is classified as a dwarf planet. It has a diameter of slightly
under 1000 km, large enough for its own gravity to pull it
into a spherical shape. Ceres was considered a planet when
it was discovered in the 19th century, but was reclassified
as an asteroid in the 1850s as further observation revealed
additional asteroids. It was again reclassified in 2006 as a
dwarf planet.
Asteroid groups
Asteroids in the main belt are divided into asteroid groups and families based on their
orbital characteristics. Asteroid moons are asteroids that orbit larger asteroids. They are
not as clearly distinguished as planetary moons, sometimes being almost as large as their
partners. The asteroid belt also contains main-belt comets which may have been the
source of Earth's water.
Trojan asteroids are located in either of Jupiter's L4 or L5 points (gravitationally stable regions
leading and trailing a planet in its orbit); the term "Trojan" is also used for small bodies in any
other planetary or satellite Lagrange point. Hilda asteroids are in a 2:3 resonance with Jupiter;
that is, they go around the Sun three times for every two Jupiter
orbits.
The inner Solar System is also dusted with rogue asteroids, many
of which cross the orbits of the inner planets.
The middle region of the Solar System is home to the gas giants
and their planet-sized satellites. Many short period comets,
including the centaurs, also lie in this region. It has no traditional
name; it is occasionally referred to as the "outer Solar System",
although recently that term has been more often applied to the
region beyond Neptune. The solid objects in this region are
composed of a higher proportion of "ices" (water, ammonia,
methane) than the rocky denizens of the inner Solar System.
From top to bottom: Neptune,
Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter (not to scale)
The four outer planets, or gas giants (sometimes called Jovian planets), collectively make up 99
percent of the mass known to orbit the Sun. Jupiter and Saturn's atmospheres are largely
hydrogen and helium. Uranus and Neptune's atmospheres have a higher percentage of “ices”,
such as water, ammonia and methane. Some astronomers suggest they belong in their own
category, “ice giants.” All four gas giants have rings, although only Saturn's ring system is
easily observed from Earth. The term outer planet should not be confused with superior planet,
which designates planets outside Earth's orbit (the outer planets and Mars).
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Felisha Borg
Jupiter
Jupiter (5.2 AU), at 318 Earth masses, masses 2.5 times all the other planets put together.
It is composed largely of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter's strong internal heat creates a
number of semi-permanent features in its atmosphere, such as cloud bands and the Great
Red Spot. Jupiter has sixty-three known satellites. The four largest, Ganymede, Callisto,
Io, and Europa, show similarities to the terrestrial planets, such as volcanism and internal
heating. Ganymede, the largest satellite in the Solar System, is larger than Mercury.
Saturn
Saturn (9.5 AU), famous for its extensive ring system, has similarities to Jupiter, such as
its atmospheric composition. Saturn is far less massive, being only 95 Earth masses.
Saturn has sixty known satellites (and 3 unconfirmed); two of which, Titan and
Enceladus, show signs of geological activity, though they are largely made of ice. Titan
is larger than Mercury and the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial
atmosphere.
Uranus
Uranus (19.6 AU), at 14 Earth masses, is the lightest of the outer planets. Uniquely
among the planets, it orbits the Sun on its side; its axial tilt is over ninety degrees to the
ecliptic. It has a much colder core than the other gas giants, and radiates very little heat
into space. Uranus has twenty-seven known satellites, the largest ones being Titania,
Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda.
Neptune
Neptune (30 AU), though slightly smaller
than Uranus, is more massive (equivalent to
17 Earths) and therefore denser. It radiates
more internal heat, but not as much as Jupiter
or Saturn. Neptune has thirteen known
satellites. The largest, Triton, is geologically
active, with geysers of liquid nitrogen.
Triton is the only large satellite with a
retrograde orbit. Neptune is accompanied in
its orbit by a number of minor planets in a
1:1 resonance with it, termed Neptune
Trojans.
Comets are small Solar System bodies, usually only
a few kilometres across, composed largely of
volatile ices. They have highly eccentric orbits,
generally a perihelion within the orbits of the inner
planets and an aphelion far beyond Pluto. When a
comet enters the inner Solar System, its proximity to
the Sun causes its icy surface to sublimate and
ionise, creating a coma: a long tail of gas and dust
often visible to the naked eye.
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Comet Hale-Bopp
Felisha Borg
Short-period comets have orbits lasting less than two hundred years. Long-period comets have
orbits lasting thousands of years. Short-period comets are believed to originate in the Kuiper belt,
while long-period comets, such as Hale-Bopp, are believed to originate in the Oort cloud. Many
comet groups, such as the Kreutz Sungrazers, formed from the breakup of a single parent. Some
comets with hyperbolic orbits may originate outside the Solar System, but determining their
precise orbits is difficult. Old comets that have had most of their volatiles driven out by solar
warming are often categorised as asteroids.
Centaurs
The centaurs, which extend from 9 to 30 AU, are icy comet-like bodies that orbit in the
region between Jupiter and Neptune. The largest known centaur, 10199 Chariklo, has a
diameter of between 200 and 250 km. The first centaur discovered, 2060 Chiron, has
been called a comet since it develops a
coma just as comets do when they
approach the Sun. Some astronomers
classify centaurs as inward-scattered
Kuiper belt objects along with the
outward-scattered residents of the
scattered disc.
The area beyond Neptune, or the "transNeptunian region", is still largely unexplored. It
appears to consist overwhelmingly of small
worlds (the largest having a diameter only a
fifth that of the Earth and a mass far smaller
than that of the Moon) composed mainly of rock
and ice. This region is sometimes known as the
"outer Solar System", though others use that
term to mean the region beyond the asteroid
belt.
Plot of all known Kuiper belt objects, set against the four outer planets
The Kuiper belt, the region's first formation, is a great ring of debris similar to the asteroid belt,
but composed mainly of ice. It extends between 30 and 50 AU
from the Sun. It is composed mainly of small Solar System bodies,
but many of the largest Kuiper belt objects, such as Quaoar,
Varuna, (136108) 2003 EL61, (136472) 2005 FY9 and Orcus, may
be reclassified as dwarf planets. There are estimated to be over
100,000 Kuiper belt objects with a diameter greater than 50 km,
but the total mass of the Kuiper belt is thought to be only a tenth or
even a hundredth the mass of the Earth. Many Kuiper belt objects
have multiple satellites, and most have orbits that take them
outside the plane of the ecliptic.
Diagram showing the resonant and classical Kuiper belt
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Felisha Borg
The Kuiper belt can be roughly divided into the "resonant" belt and the "classical" belt. The
resonant belt consists of objects with orbits linked to that of Neptune (e.g. orbiting twice for
every three Neptune orbits, or once for every two). The resonant belt actually begins within the
orbit of Neptune itself. The classical belt consists of objects having no resonance with Neptune,
and extends from roughly 39.4 AU to 47.7 AU. Members of the classical Kuiper belt are
classified as cubewanos, after the first of their kind to be discovered, (15760) 1992 QB1.
Pluto and Charon
Pluto (39 AU average), a dwarf planet, is the largest known
object in the Kuiper belt. When discovered in 1930 it was
considered to be the ninth planet; this changed in 2006 with
the adoption of a formal definition of planet. Pluto has a
relatively eccentric orbit inclined 17 degrees to the ecliptic
plane and ranging from 29.7 AU from the Sun at perihelion
(within the orbit of Neptune) to 49.5 AU at aphelion.
Pluto and its three known moons
It is unclear whether Charon, Pluto's largest moon, will
continue to be classified as such or as a dwarf planet itself.
Both Pluto and Charon orbit a barycenter of gravity above
their surfaces, making Pluto-Charon a binary system. Two
much smaller moons, Nix and Hydra, orbit Pluto and
Charon.
Pluto lies in the resonant belt, having a 3:2 resonance with
Neptune (it orbits twice round the Sun for every three
Neptunian orbits). Kuiper belt objects whose orbits share
this resonance are called plutinos.
Black: scattered; blue: classical; green: resonant
The scattered disc overlaps the Kuiper belt but extends much
further outwards. This region is thought to be the source of shortperiod comets. Scattered disc objects are believed to have been
ejected into erratic orbits by the gravitational influence of
Neptune's early outward migration. Most scattered disc objects
(SDOs) have perihelia within the Kuiper belt but aphelia as far as
150 AU from the Sun. SDOs' orbits are also highly inclined to the
ecliptic plane, and are often almost perpendicular to it. Some
astronomers consider the scattered disc to be merely another region
of the Kuiper belt, and describe scattered disc objects as "scattered
Kuiper belt objects."
Eris and its moon Dysnomia
Eris
Eris (68 AU average) is the largest known scattered disc object, and caused a debate
about what constitutes a planet, since it is at least 5% larger than Pluto with an estimated
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diameter of 2400 km (1500 mi). It is the largest of the known dwarf planets. It has one
moon, Dysnomia. Like Pluto, its orbit is highly eccentric, with a perihelion of 38.2 AU
(roughly Pluto's distance from the Sun) and an aphelion of 97.6 AU, and steeply inclined
to the ecliptic plane.
The point at which the Solar System ends and interstellar space begins is not precisely defined,
since its outer boundaries are shaped by two separate forces: the solar wind and the Sun's gravity.
The solar wind is believed to surrender to the interstellar medium at roughly four times Pluto's
distance. However, the Sun's Roche sphere, the effective range of its gravitational influence, is
believed to extend up to a thousand times farther.
The heliosphere is divided into two separate regions. The solar wind travels at its maximum
velocity out to about 95 AU, or three times the orbit of Pluto. The edge of this region is the
termination shock, the point at which the solar wind collides with the opposing winds of the
interstellar medium. Here the wind slows, condenses and becomes
more turbulent, forming a great oval structure known as the
heliosheath that looks and behaves very much like a comet's tail,
extending outward for a further 40 AU at its stellar-windward side,
but tailing many times that distance in the opposite direction. The
outer boundary of the heliosphere, the heliopause, is the point at
which the solar wind finally terminates, and is the beginning of
interstellar space.
The Voyagers entering the heliosheath
The shape and form of the outer edge of the heliosphere is likely affected by the fluid dynamics
of interactions with the interstellar medium, as well as solar magnetic fields prevailing to the
south, e.g. it is bluntly shaped with the northern hemisphere extending 9 AU (roughly 900
million miles) farther than the southern hemisphere. Beyond the
heliopause, at around 230 AU, lies the bow shock, a plasma
"wake" left by the Sun as it travels through the Milky Way.
No spacecraft have yet passed beyond the heliopause, so it is
impossible to know for certain the conditions in local interstellar
space. How well the heliosphere shields the Solar System from
cosmic rays is poorly understood. A dedicated mission beyond the
heliosphere has been suggested.
Artist's rendering of the Kuiper Belt and hypothetical Oort cloud
The hypothetical Oort cloud is a great mass of up to a trillion icy objects that is believed to be the
source for all long-period comets and to surround the Solar System at around 50 AU, and
extending out to roughly 50,000 AU (around 1 LY), and possibly to as far as 100,000 AU (1.8
LY). It is believed to be composed of comets which were ejected from the inner Solar System by
gravitational interactions with the outer planets. Oort cloud objects move very slowly, and can be
perturbed by infrequent events such as collisions, the gravitational effects of a passing star, or the
galactic tide.
Sedna and the inner Oort cloud
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90377 Sedna is a large, reddish Pluto-like object with a gigantic, highly elliptical orbit
that takes it from about 76 AU at perihelion to 928 AU at aphelion and takes 12,050 years
to complete. Mike Brown, who discovered the object in 2003, asserts that it cannot be
part of the scattered disc or the Kuiper belt as its perihelion is too distant to have been
affected by Neptune's migration. He and other astronomers
consider it to be the first in an entirely new population,
which also may include the object 2000 CR105, which has a
perihelion of 45 AU, an aphelion of 415 AU, and an orbital
period of 3420 years. Brown terms this population the
"Inner Oort cloud," as it may have formed through a
similar process, although it is far closer to the Sun. Sedna
is very likely a dwarf planet, though its shape has yet to be
determined with certainty.
Telescopic image of Sedna
Much of our Solar System is still unknown. The Sun's gravitational
field is estimated to dominate the gravitational forces of
surrounding stars out to about two light years (125,000 AU). The
outer extent of the Oort cloud, by contrast, may not extend farther
than 50,000 AU. Despite discoveries such as Sedna, the region
between the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud, an area tens of
thousands of AU in radius, is still virtually unmapped. There are
also ongoing studies of the region between Mercury and the Sun.
Objects may yet be discovered in the Solar System's uncharted
regions.
Location of the Solar System within our galaxy
The Solar System is located in the Milky Way galaxy, a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter of
about 100,000 light-years containing about 200 billion stars. Our Sun resides in one of the Milky
Way's outer spiral arms, known as the Orion Arm or Local Spur. The Sun lies between 25,000
and 28,000 light years from the Galactic Centre, and its speed within the galaxy is about 220
kilometres per second, so that it completes one revolution every 225–250 million years. This
revolution is known as the Solar System's galactic year.
The Solar System's location in the galaxy is very likely a factor in the evolution of life on Earth.
Its orbit is close to being circular and is at roughly the same speed as that of the spiral arms,
which means it passes through them only rarely. Since spiral arms are home to a far larger
concentration of potentially dangerous supernovae, this has given Earth long periods of
interstellar stability for life to evolve. The Solar System also lies well outside the star-crowded
environs of the galactic centre. Near the centre, gravitational tugs from nearby stars could perturb
bodies in the Oort Cloud and send many comets into the inner Solar System, producing collisions
with potentially catastrophic implications for life on Earth. The intense radiation of the galactic
centre could also interfere with the development of complex life. Even at the Solar System's
current location, some scientists have hypothesised that recent supernovae may have adversely
affected life in the last 35,000 years by flinging pieces of expelled stellar core towards the Sun in
the form of radioactive dust grains and larger, comet-like bodies.
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The immediate galactic neighbourhood of the Solar System is known as the Local Interstellar
Cloud or Local Fluff, an area of dense cloud in an otherwise sparse
region known as the Local Bubble, an hourglass-shaped cavity in
the interstellar medium roughly 300 light years across. The bubble
is suffused with high-temperature plasma that suggests it is the
product of several recent supernovae.
The solar apex, the direction of the Sun's path through interstellar
space, is near the constellation of Hercules in the direction of the
current location of the bright star Vega.
Artist's conception of the Local Bubble
There are relatively few stars within ten light years (95 trillion km) of the Sun. The closest is the
triple star system Alpha Centauri, which is about 4.4 light years away. Alpha Centauri A and B
are a closely tied pair of Sun-like stars, while the small red dwarf Alpha Centauri C (also known
as Proxima Centauri) orbits the pair at a distance of 0.2 light years. The stars next closest to the
Sun are the red dwarfs Barnard's Star (at 5.9 light years), Wolf 359 (7.8 light years) and Lalande
21185 (8.3 light years). The largest star within ten light years is Sirius, a bright main sequence
star roughly twice the Sun's mass and orbited by a white dwarf called Sirius B. It lies 8.6 light
years away. The remaining systems within ten light years are the binary red dwarf system Luyten
726-8 (8.7 light years) and the solitary red dwarf Ross 154 (9.7 light years). Our closest solitary
sunlike star is Tau Ceti, which lies 11.9 light years away. It has roughly 80 percent the Sun's
mass, but only 60 percent its luminosity. The closest known extrasolar planet to the Sun lies
around the star Epsilon Eridani, a star slightly dimmer and redder than the Sun, which lies 10.5
light years away. Its one confirmed planet, Epsilon Eridani b, is roughly 1.5 times Jupiter's mass
and orbits its star every 6.9 years.
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Activity #1
My Size Solar System
Procedure:
This activity will act as a science project and art project. In terms of art this is an introduction to
art mediums.
1. Copy 1 solar system set per student. The solar system copies are two sided. To copy, you
will need to have the landscape copies with the first page right side-up, and the second page
upside down. ** do not copy the teacher facts page that is for your knowledge or for older
grades. Gather 1 basketball, salt, beads, marbles, bouncy balls (smaller than ping pong balls
but larger than marbles), and ping pong balls, glue, and tape.
2. Ask students to tape the appropriate sized bead, marble or ball (or glue salt) to the correct
card. It is as follows:
a. Mercury – small bead
b. Venus – large bead
c. Earth – large bead
d. Mars – small bead
e. Asteroid belt – salt
f. Jupiter – ping pong ball
g. Saturn – bouncy ball
h. Uranus – marble
i. Neptune – marble
j. Kuiper Belt (including Pluto) – salt
k. Oort Cloud – chalk
3. Before going outside have each of the students color the planets on the back of the sheets.
They will need posters/books or other forms of visuals to be able to create an accurate
portrayal of the planets.
4. Take the basketball and the cards out to the playground (you will need about ¼ of a mile to
walk the whole solar system, so find as much room as you can.)
5. Before starting the walk have all of your students lay down in the grass head toe head toe (in
a straight vertical line) place a marker at one end then walk all the way down to the other
end. Have all the students stand up and back up to look at how long their class is. Measure
the distance and do a calculation of how many of your classes it would take to make up a
mile. When they see this they will have a better understand of how far apart the planets are
and how big the planets are.
6. Place the basketball at the beginning. “If we could get a humongous shrinking machine for
our solar system, and we could shrink everything down proportionally, how far away is the
Kuiper Belt if the sun were shrunk down to the size of a basketball?
7. Read Mercury. Instead of measuring out feet and inches, it has generally been converted to
an average child’s pace of 2.5 feet.) Walk 14 steps. Mercury would be shrunk down to the
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size of this small bead, and would be about 14 steps away from the sun.
8. Continue with each of the planets in order (see sheets below), until you reach the Kuiper
Belt. If you run out of room, you can always switch back and return along the same path.
9. Once you have walked the solar system take a minute to look at it with your students. Ask
them about their ideas what are they thinking? Looking at where earth is do they think that it
is possible for life to live on any of our solar systems planets? Why or why not?
10. Answer any questions they might have, if they ask ones you don’t know it’s ok to day I don’t
know lets write it down and look it up when we get in to the classroom. it’s perfectly
acceptable not to know everything plus this shows the children it’s ok to find answers to
questions. Collect all materials, and return to the classroom.
11. In the classroom, remind the students that their walk was as if all the planets were aligned.
That is very rare, (every million years or so, and even then, it is very hard). Instead, the
planets could be even further away. If Jupiter is on the far side of the sun, it would be
another 93 million miles further (and thus another 36 steps) than it was in this model.
12. On the opposite side of the solar system stroll, the cards are chalk full of information about
the planets or belts. As a class you can calculate how old they would be on each of the
planets/ belts, and how much they would weigh.
a. Cheat sheet: multiply their age or weight with the number in parenthesis in the
category “YEAR” or “GRAVITY.” That is the fractional ratio between their age on
earth, the orbit of the earth to the sun, and the orbit of that planet to the sun.
i. EXAMPLE: The student is 100 pounds and 10 years old on earth. On
Mercury, s/he would be:
100 x 0.38 = 38 pounds and
10 x 4.15 = 41.5 years old.
Activity #2
The world doesn’t revolve around you!
We have all heard our mother tells us “well the world doesn’t revolve around you!” sadly
she is right and it’s time to teach our children that she is.
This activity will work best if you do the My Size Solar System first.
One day in the classroom use a white board marker (works best with a dark color) and
every hour or so take a second to get the children to pay attention to the sun. Each time color a
circle on top of where the sun is on your classroom windows. DON’T FREAK OUT if you make
sure to use a white board maker it will wipe off just as easy as it does on the white board. Other
marking options would be to use the liquid glue stick. This option would require you to make
circles the day before so they have time to dry.
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This will track the apparent movement of the sun across the windows. At the end of the
day ask the students to discuss in groups what they think is happening. Come together as a class
and ask them what their groups think. After hearing everyone who wants a chance to talk ask
them to think back to their My Size Solar System. Where was the sun located? Place a solar
system picture up on the Doc Cam/overhead projector/computer screen/white board whatever
technology your classroom has.
This should start to point them in the right direction. Have each student write a paragraph
and their ideas were and what they are now. This will catch any of the students with incorrect
lingering ideas.
**** If you chose to do activity 3, 4, and 5 make sure that the children are choosing
different planets each time. Also activity 3, 4, and 5 basic concepts were gotten from
anglefire.com but I changed everything to fit my classroom
Activity #3
What planet am I?
Split your classroom in to groups of eight. Have each student pick a planet. Then they
will use books, the internet, or My Size Solar System to find our facts and information about
their planet. Each student will then write a paragraph about their planet without using its name.
It will be given to you for proof reading and typing after returning it to the student they
will draw and paste a picture of their planet with its name at the bottom. I like the idea of
drawing and clip art because it makes the image more concrete in their heads. I would suggest
either laminating each page or covering it with contact paper at this point to ensure that the book
will last.
In their groups they will assemble a book in whatever order they decide. It will then be
presented too the class with guessing being made!!! The books will also have a correct order
picture of the solar system to ensure the students don’t get confused.
The books will be placed in the classroom library so other students maybe go and read
them as they wish. This will also be a nice thing to pull out during parent teacher conferences.
Super fun activity kids will love it especially that part where their friends get to guess.
Activity #4
Advertisements
Each student will pick any planet that they want. They will do research any way
they wish on their planet. They will create advertisements for people to come and visit their
planets. Before beginning this particular project you may want to go through some magazines
and get examples of advertisements. Have a class discussion about what work and what doesn’t.
this is pretty much an open activity you can add more or less restrictions if you want. On the
advertisement there has to be a picture, the name, and facts about the planet. They may add
whatever else they think they need to in order too get the most visitors.
Activity #5 My Grand Vacation!!
This is a great follow up from the activity above! Make sure that in the after reading the
post cards you ask each student what in the advertisements made them want to go to that planet?
Using blank large index card or cutting card board students will pick a planet of their
choosing from the advertisements (they can not do the same one they already did). They will
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write and design a postcard from that planet. They will describe what their planet looks like, how
well they are surviving (example it’s freezing here on Jupiter hope it warms up soon) and what
they are doing there. On the front of the card they will draw a picture of their choosing you might
want to caution them that it needs to be a relative picture. An example being a picture of their
planet, their sisters and them playing jumping asteroid but not something like them on a beach.
This is a great way to tie language arts, science and arts all in one project! After that each
student will place their postcards in the mailbox on your desk. You can read them to the class as
if the student really did send them from their vacation! Feel free to make it in to a game ask them
further questions. How did you ever get home? did you like it there? Did you meet any fun
people?
Activity #6
Edible planets by Ashley Moore-Rivera
http://www.sciencea2z.com/z_etomite/index.php?id=100
Today the students will be learned the physical characteristics of the planets by creating their
own cookies. Along with creating the planets they will also be using their math skills to measure
each item with measuring cups.
1. Copy large colored pictures of the planets. Depending on the class size (30-32), give
each group of 8 (appx 4 groups) a copy of the planet pictures.
Gather Ingredients:
 1 ¼ cup of peanut butter
 1 ¼ cup of honey
 ½ cup of wheat germ
 ¾ cup of plain or cinnamon graham crackers
 2 ½ cups of powdered milk
Gather Materials: (4 of everything for each group)
 Measuring cups ( ¼ , ½ , and 1 cup)
 Large mixing bowl
 Large spoon
 Powdered sugar/cocoa, cake decorations/colored sprinkles
 Rubber spatula (optional)
 Food coloring (optional)
 Paper plates
Substitutes:
Peanut butter substitute
Soy nut butter
http://www.soynutbutter.com/Section/Shop/Peanut_Butter_Substitute/index.html
Powdered milk substitute
Powered soy milk
Trader Joes
2. Have students go wash their hands because they will be sticking them in the batter.
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3. Ask the students to break up into their groups as you pass out the packet of eight colored
prints of the planets. In their groups, have them look them over for detail and have each
person pick a planet they want to make into their edible planet.
4. Have each group designate three group leaders to grab the ingredients and all materials
except powdered sugar/cocoa, cake decoration/colored sprinkles, paper plates and food
coloring this will be given after batter is made.(total batter will make all 8 planets)
5. Once batter is mixed have the students divide the batter appropriately to what they
learned earlier from the My Size Solar System lab. No need to be exact but for example
their Venus and Earth should be approximately the same size.
6. After batter is divided have the group leaders bring the ingredients back up and grab the
decorating materials. Have the students roll their planets into balls and start decorating.
Remind the students to try and make their edible planet look like the real thing. Which
planets are rocky? Which have clouds? Which have craters or volcanoes? Which are
particular colors? (remind them that it only takes a drop or two of food coloring for the
younger students you may want to just want to have pre made and colored dough setting
aside)
7. After all groups are done have them place the planets on the clean paper plates in order
and observe each others wonderful work. Have students get into a discussion of what
they used for a volcano or to make clouds ect…this will help them remember and
reinforce what they have been learning with the Solar System.
Assessment: Have students write a descriptive science fiction story about the planet that they
chose.
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Teach Facts Cheat Sheet
Mercury
Sun
Diameter:
Composition:
3030 miles
Dense iron and nickel core
surrounded by rock. Surface
is covered with craters,
smooth lava plains and
scrapes (long, steep cliffs)
Atmosphere
Almost no atmosphere.
Traces of helium, hydrogen,
and oxygen gasses
1 Day
1,416 hours (59 Earth days)
Year:
88 Earth days (4.15x)
Number of Moons: 0
Temperature Range: -292 - 800°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 0.38
Fun Facts:
Caloris Basin, a crater on
Mercury that was blasted out
by a huge asteroid, is wider
than the distance between
New York, New York and
San Francisco, California.
Mean diameter:
Equatorial radius:
Circumference:
Flattening:
Surface area
Volume:
Mass:
Average density:
Gravity:
Temperature:
Composition:
How old would you be on Mercury? ____________
Fun Facts:
How much would you weigh on Mercury? _______
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1.392×109 m
6.955×108 m
109 Earths
4.379×109 m
109 x that of Earth
9×10−6
6.0877×1018 m²
1.4122×1027 m³
11,990 Earths
1.9891 ×1030 kg
1,300,000 Earths
≈1.409 ×103 kg/m³0
332,946 Earths
27.94 g
28 x Earth's surface gravity
of surface 9,941°F
of corona ~8,999,540°F
of core ~28259540°F
Hydrogen 73.46%
Helium 24.85%
Oxygen 0.77%
Carbon 0.29%
Iron 0.16%
plus trace elements
More that 8 818 490 487.4
pounds of matter is converted
to light energy every second.
Our sun will live for about 10
billion years.
Teacher Facts Cheat Sheet
Earth
Venus
Diameter:
Composition:
7928 miles
Iron and nickel core
surrounded by rock. Threequarters of rocky survace
covered with water.
Atmosphere
Nitrogen 78%, Oxygen 21%,
trace elements for the
remaining 1%
1 Day
24 hours
Year:
365.25 days (1x)
Number of Moons: 1
Temperature Range: -130 – 136°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 1
Fun Facts:
Each year, the Earth’s
continents drift a distance of
¼ to 4 inches. At this rate of
travel, Australia could bump
into Asia in only another 50
million years!
Diameter:
Composition:
7520 miles
Iron and nickel core
surrounded by rock. Surface
is covered with flat rocks,
rolling hills, and mountains
Atmosphere
Very dense carbon dioxide
atmosphere. Planet
surrounded by thick sulfuric
acid clouds
1 Day
5,832 hours (243 Earth days)
Year:
225 Earth days (1.62x)
Number of Moons: 0
Temperature Range: 848 - 908°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 0.91
Fun Facts:
People once thought that
Venus might be covered with
lush gardens and exotic life
forms. Actually, it is a harsh
planet with constant thunder
booms and lightening flashes.
How old are you on Earth? ____________
How old would you be on Venus? ____________
How much do you weigh on Earth? _______
How much would you weigh on Venus? _______
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Teach Facts Cheat Sheet
Asteroid Belt
Mass:
Number:
Mars
More than half of the entire
mass of the Asteroid Belt is
found in Ceres, 4 Vesta, 2
Pallas, and 10 Hygiea. All of
these have mean diameters of
more than 400 km, while
Ceres, the main belt's only
dwarf planet, is about 950 km
in diameter. The remaining
bodies range down to the size
of a dust particle. The
asteroid material is so thinly
distributed that multiple
unmanned spacecraft have
traversed it without incident.
Nonetheless, collisions
between large asteroids do
occur, and these can form an
asteroid family whose
members have similar orbital
characteristics and
compositions. Collisions also
produce a fine dust that forms
a major component of the
zodiacal light.
700,000 to 1.7 million
asteroids with a diameter of
1km or more.
Diameter:
Composition:
4220 miles
Iron core surrounded by rock.
Surface is covered with
reddish, canyons, craters, and
mountains. Polar caps of
frozen carbon dioxide and
water.
Atmosphere
Thin carbon dioxide
atmosphere with trace gasses
1 Day
24 ½ hours
Year:
687 Earth days (0.53x)
Number of Moons: 2
Temperature Range: -190 – 80°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 0.38
Fun Facts:
Valles Marineris, and
Martian canyon, is longer
than 13 Grand Canyons
placed end to end. Olympus
Mons is the tallest mountain
in the solar system – 88,580
feet above the surface of the
planet, which is 3 times taller
than Mt. Everest!
How old would you be on Mars? ____________
How much would you weigh on Mars? _______
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Teacher Facts Cheat Sheet
Saturn
Jupiter
Diameter:
Composition:
74,560 miles
Small rocky core surrounded
by metallic and liquid
hydrogen. Gaseous surface
Atmosphere
Hydrogen and traces of
helium, methane, and
crystallized ammonia
1 Day
10 hours (less than ½ Earth
day)
Year:
8,030 days or 2 years
(0.04545x)
Number of Moons: 22 currently known
Temperature Range: -292 to -259°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 1.07
Fun Facts:
The winds on Saturn can
blow at speeds of up to 1,100
miles per hour. The density
of Saturn is so low, it would
float in water.
Diameter:
Composition:
88,750 miles
Small rocky core surrounded
by metallic and liquid
hydrogen. Gaseous surface.
Atmosphere
Layers of brightly colored
clouds made up mostly of
hydrogen. There are also
small amounts of helium,
methane, and ammonia
1 Day
10 hours (less than ½ Earth
day)
Year:
4,380 days or 12 years
(0.08333x)
Number of Moons: 16 currently known
Temperature Range: -238 to -148°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 2.5
Fun Facts:
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a
three century old storm,
could swallow three Earths!
How old would you be on Jupiter? ____________
How old would you be on Saturn? ____________
How much would you weigh on Jupiter? _______
How much would you weigh on Saturn? _______
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Teacher facts Cheat Sheet
Neptune
Uranus
Diameter:
Composition:
30,200 miles
Rock and ice core surrounded
by both liquid and gaseous
hydrogen. Gaseous surface
Atmosphere
Hydrogen, helium and
methane gases. Atmosphere
is a bluish color.
1 Day
18 hours (¾ day)
Year:
60,225 days or 165 years
(0.00606x)
Number of Moons: 3 currently known
Temperature Range: -306°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 1.2
Fun Facts:
Even if people could stand
the conditions on Neptune,
nobody would live to be even
1 year old! Why? (Look at
the length of 1 year on
Neptune.) This planet was
predicted to be in the general
locality because of
gravitational pull.
Diameter:
Composition:
31,570 miles
Rock and ice core surrounded
by both liquid and gaseous
hydrogen. Gaseous surface
Atmosphere
Hydrogen, helium and traces
of other gases. Methane
gives atmosphere a greenish
tint.
1 Day
13-24 hours (½ to 1 day)
Year:
30,660 Earth days or 84 years
(0.01190x)
Number of Moons: 15 currently known
Temperature Range: -330°F
Gravity (Earth = 1) 0.93
Fun Facts:
On Uranus, winter and
summer each last 21 Earth
years. Night and day can
each last as long as 42 yearth
years. Why? (Think about
the tilt of the planet.)
How old would you be on Uranus? ____________
How old would you be on Neptune? ____________
How much would you weigh on Uranus? _______
How much would you weigh on Neptune? _______
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Teacher Facts Cheat Sheet
Oort Cloud
Kuiper Belt
The Oort cloud is a spherical cloud of comets
believed to lie roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a lightyear, from the Sun; this distance places the cloud at
nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri,
the nearest star to the Sun. The Kuiper belt and
scattered disc, the other two known reservoirs of
trans-Neptunian objects, are less than one
thousandth the Oort cloud's distance. The outer
extent of the Oort cloud defines the boundary of our
Solar System.
The Oort cloud is thought to comprise two separate
regions: a spherical outer Oort cloud and a discshaped inner Oort cloud, or Hills cloud. Objects in
the Oort cloud are largely composed of ices such as
water, ammonia and methane. Astronomers believe
that the matter comprising the Oort cloud formed
closer to the Sun, and was scattered far out into
space by the gravitational effects of the giant
planets early in the Solar System's evolution.
Although no confirmed direct observations of the
Oort cloud have been made, astronomers believe
that it is the source of all long-period and Halleytype comets entering the inner Solar System. The
outer Oort cloud is only loosely bound to the Solar
System, and thus is easily affected by the
gravitational pull both of passing stars, and of the
Milky Way galaxy itself.
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
29
Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond
the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune (at
30 AU) to approximately 55 AU from the Sun. It is
similar to the asteroid belt, although it is far larger;
20 times as wide and 20–200 times as massive.
Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small
bodies (remnants from the Solar System's
formation) and at least one dwarf planet – Pluto.
But while the asteroid belt is composed primarily of
rock and metal, the Kuiper belt objects are
composed largely of frozen volatiles (dubbed
"ices"), such as methane, ammonia and water.
Since the first was discovered in 1992, the number
of known Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) has increased
to over a thousand, and more than 70,000 KBOs
over 100 km in diameter are believed to reside
there. The Kuiper belt is dynamically stable, and
that it is the farther scattered disc, a dynamically
active region created by the outward motion of
Neptune 4.5 billion years ago, that is their true place
of origin. Pluto, a dwarf planet, is the largest
known member of the Kuiper belt. Originally
considered a planet, it is similar to many other
objects of the Kuiper belt, and its orbital period is
identical that of the KBOs known as "Plutinos".
Felisha Borg
The Sun
Mercury
If the sun were the size of a basketball, then…
Mercury is 57,600,000km from the sun (36,000,000
miles). In our scale, that is 36 feet, 5.15 inches
from the basketball.
Walk 14 steps from the basketball sun.
(basketball)
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
(small bead)
30
Felisha Borg
Mercury
The Sun
For this planet use Charcoal
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
Use glue and yellow pom poms to make the sun
31
Felisha Borg
Venus
Earth
Venus is 108,200,000km from the sun (67,000,000
miles). In our scale, that is 67 feet, 11.54 inches
from the basketball.
Earth is 149,600,000km from the sun (93,000,000
miles). In our scale, that is 94 feet, 0.30 inches
from the basketball.
Walk 12 steps from the small bead Mercury, or a
total of 26 steps from the basketball sun.
Walk 10 steps from the large bead Venus, or a total
of 36 steps from the basketball sun.
(large bead)
(large bead)
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
32
Felisha Borg
Earth
Venus
Use tempera paints to paint the world
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
Use brown color pencils to color Venus
33
Felisha Borg
Mars
Asteroid Belt
Mars is 227,900,000km from the sun (141,600,000
miles). In our scale, that is 143 feet, 2.74 inches
from the basketball.
The center of the Asteroid Belt is 418,880,000km
from the sun (260,400,000 miles). In our scale, that
is 263 feet, 10.80 inches from the basketball.
Walk 19 steps from the large bead Earth, or a total
of 55 steps from the basketball sun.
Walk 51 steps from the small bead Mars, or a total
of 106 steps from the basketball sun.
(small bead)
(salt)
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
34
Felisha Borg
Asteroid Belt
Mars
Get a q-tip and a little bit of white paint and dot
paint the asteroid belt
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
35
Use the barbeque grill coal and rub it to color Mars
Felisha Borg
Jupiter
Saturn
Jupiter is 778,400,000km from the sun
(483,700,000 miles). In our scale, that is 489 feet,
2.00 inches from the basketball.
Saturn is 1,427,000,000km from the sun
(886,700,000 miles). In our scale, that is 897 feet,
0.80 inches from the basketball.
Walk 82 steps from the salt Asteroid Belt, or a total
of 188 steps from the basketball sun.
Walk 148 steps from the ping pong ball Jupiter, or a
total of 336 steps from the basketball sun.
(ping pong ball)
(bouncy ball)
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
36
Felisha Borg
Saturn
Jupiter
Watercolor pencils will really make this planet
come alive and for the rings maybe we should use
pipe cleaners.
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
37
Pull out the oils pastels for the planet.
Felisha Borg
Uranus
Neptune
Uranus is 2,871,000km from the sun (1,784,000,000
miles). In our scale, that is 1,804 feet, 4.50 inches
from the basketball.
Neptune is 4,498,000,000km from the sun
(2,795,000,000 miles). In our scale, that is 2,828
feet, 9.60 inches from the basketball.
Walk 354 steps from the bouncy ball Saturn, or a
total of 690 steps from the basketball sun.
Walk 390 steps from the marble Uranus, or a total
of 1080 steps from the basketball sun.
(marble)
(marble)
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
38
Felisha Borg
Neptune
Uranus
Get some glue and tissue paper or construction
paper and create a planet
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
39
Use watercolors for Uranus
Felisha Borg
Kuiper Belt
Oort Cloud
Pluto, part of the Kuiper Belt, is located at about
6,000,000,000km (3,728,000,000 miles). In our
scale, that is 3,737 feet, 1.60 inches from the
basketball. Pluto is thought to be one of the very
largest objects found there. The Kuiper Belt
extends to the Oort Cloud, about 186 billion miles
from our sun.
The Oort Cloud is thought to be the last part of our
solar system. It starts at about 186 billion miles and
ends at about 18.6 trillion miles.
To reach the end of the Oort Cloud, you need to
walk 7,233,333 steps from the salt Kuiper Belt, that
is 3,425 miles from the basketball sun.
Walk 340 steps from the marble Neptune, or a total
of 1,420 steps from the basketball sun.
(salt)
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
(Chalk rubbings)
40
Felisha Borg
Oort Cloud
Kuiper Belt
Pull cotton balls apart and glue them on
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
Find the whole punch and make some punch outs
and glue them around
41
Felisha Borg
Portland State University
Geo Space Science
42
Felisha Borg