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Chapter 27.4
The Outer (Jovian) Planets
The Outer Planets are all
farther from the Sun than
Earth is.
Their names are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Characteristics of the
Outer (Jovian) Planets:
1. The planets are gas giants.
2. The planets have rings.
3. The planets have many moons.
Jupiter facts:
1. It is the 5th planet from the Sun.
2. It is the largest planet in the solar system (It
is more massive than twice the mass of the
other seven planets combined.).
3. It has a rotation on its axis, or day, of 9
Earth hours and 50 Earth minutes making it
the planet with the shortest day in our solar
system.
4. It has an orbital period, or year, of 12 Earth
years.
5. It has at least 60 moons (4 major) and several
thin rings.
More Jupiter facts:
6. Its 92% composed of hydrogen and helium.
7. It gives off twice as much energy as it receives and
is possibly a “failed star” that didn’t have enough
mass for nuclear fusion to begin.
8. Its core is a sea of liquid helium with temperatures
as high as 30,000C, intense pressures, and an
enormous electrical field.
9. Its atmosphere is made up of swirling orange, blue,
gray, and white bands of ammonia, methane, and
water. Atmospheric temperatures are as low as 160C. Probes indicate wind speeds over 600 km/hr.
In the atmosphere, fierce thunder and lightning
storms rage (ex. the Great Red Spot is a storm
that has been going since humans first viewed
Jupiter through a telescope!).
10. It was visited by Galileo in 1995.
Is Jupiter a Failed Star?
Jupiter is similar to the Sun because it is
composed mostly of gases and because it
gives off more (twice as much) energy than
it receives. Jupiter is possibly a “failed
star” that didn’t have enough mass for
nuclear fusion to begin.
Saturn facts:
1. It is the 6th planet from the Sun.
2. It is the second largest planet in
the solar system.
3. It has a rotation on its axis, or day,
of 10 Earth hours and 40 Earth
minutes.
4. It has an orbital period, or year, of
29.5 Earth years.
5. It has at least 47 moons.
More Saturn facts:
6. It has the most complex ring system of any
planet in our solar system.
7. It is the least dense planet in the solar
system with a density less than water.
8. Like Jupiter, it probably has an inner rocky
core, an outer liquid metallic hydrogen core,
and a dense hydrogen/helium atmosphere.
9. Like Jupiter, it has colored (gold) cloud
bands running parallel to its equator.
10.It has an average temperature of – 176C.
Uranus facts:
1. It is the 7th planet from the Sun.
2. It is the third largest planet in the solar
system.
3. It has a rotation on its axis, or day, of
17 Earth hours and 14 Earth minutes.
4. It has an orbital period, or year, of 84.1
Earth years.
5. Unlike the other planets, its rotational
axis is parallel (rather than perpendicular)
to its orbital plane.
More Uranus facts:
6. It has at least 24 moons and at least 11
small rings.
7. It probably has an inner core of rock and
metals, an outer liquid water and methane
core, and a hydrogen/helium atmosphere.
8. Its greenish cloud tops are – 195C while it
core may reach 7000C.
9. It was discovered in 1781 and was the first
planet discovered since ancient times.
10.It was visited by Voyager 2 in 1986
Rolling like a ball?
The axis of Uranus is unusual because,
unlike the other planets, its rotational axis
is parallel (rather than perpendicular) to its
orbital plane. It rotates like a rolling ball.
Neptune facts:
1. It is the 8th planet from the Sun.
2. It is similar to Uranus in size and mass.
3. It has a rotation on its axis, or day, of
16 Earth hours and 6 Earth minutes.
4. It has an orbital period, or year, of
164.8 Earth years.
5. It has 13 moons and possibly 6 rings.
More Neptune facts:
6. It has a hydrogen/helium/methane
atmosphere that is blue-green with bands
and white methane clouds.
7. It has the highest recorded wind speeds in
the solar system exceeding 1000 km/hr.
Like Jupiter is has gigantic storms (ex. the
Great Blue Spot is a storm the size of
Earth!)
8. It has an average temperature of – 200C.
9. It was predicted to exist before it was
discovered.
10.It was discovered in the 1800s.
Pluto facts:
1. It is the 9th planet from the Sun.
2. It is the smallest planet in the solar
system.
3. It has a rotation on its axis, or day, of
6.4 Earth days.
4. It has an orbital period, or year, of
248.6 Earth years.
5. Its orbital path is highly elliptical making
its average distance from the Sun as
much as 7.4 billion km and as little as 4.4
billion km. Although sometimes its orbit is
inside Neptune’s, usually its orbit is
outside of it (It may even have once been
a moon of Neptune!).
More Pluto facts:
6. It has 1 moon half its size called Charon. Pluto and
Charon are sometimes considered a double planet
system.
7. It’s made of frozen rock, ice, and methane with
methane ice caps and a thin atmosphere.
8. It has an average temperature of between – 208
and -233C.
9. It was discovered by accident while looking for a
“Planet X” believed to cause wobbles in the orbits
of Uranus and Neptune (It is too small to be Planet
X, which may still be out there.).
10. It was discovered in 1930.
Ninth Planet?
Pluto’s orbital path is highly elliptical
making its average distance from the Sun
as much as 7.4 billion km and as little as
4.4 billion km. Although sometimes its orbit
is inside Neptune’s, usually its orbit is
outside of it. As a result, it is considered
the ninth planet.
How do we remember the
order of the nine planets?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Try this mnemonic !
My very eager mother just served
us nine pizzas.
Coming Soon …
Asteroids and Comets!