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Astronomy The Solar System Our solar system consists of one Sun, eight planets, a few dwarf planets, and many, many, moons. The solar system also contains asteroids, meteors, meteorites, meteoroids and comets to name a few. The solar system also has man made items, also. Such as, satellites, rockets, a space station, and “space junk.” THE SUN The Sun is the closest star to us It is what gives us light and energy for life It is 92 million miles away from Earth = one astronomical unit (AU) It is like a giant nuclear power plant, constantly converting Hydrogen into Helium. (H -> He) It will eventually die out once it loses its fuel source, and the star will collapse The Sun’s Interior The Core: the location in the center of the star where the nuclear fusion is taking place The Radiation Zone: middle layer where the energy very slowly passes from the core outward The Convection Zone: outermost layer where the hot gases rises from the RZ and cool and then fall back towards the RZ—creating a convection current The Sun’s Interior Features on the Sun Sunspots: cool areas located on the Sun Prominences: loops of gas usually linking groups of sunspots Solar Flare: connected prominences that have so much energy that they are released from the Sun out into space They can be seen as auroras on Earth They can disrupt our satellite links and cell phone services Prominence Prominence and Solar Flares Sunspot Auroras Sun Spots Solar flare: March 9, 2012 http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=8575 486 Stars Stars are classified according to their color, temperature, size, composition, and brightness. Color: determined by the temperature (coolest) Red Red-Orange Yellow White Blue (hottest) 0C 3000 4500 5750 10,000 50,000 Size: Even though they all appear the same to us, they can be very different Composition: Helium, Hydrogen, Sodium, Calcium Brightness: depends on its size and temperature Apparent Brightness: Brightness as seen from Earth Absolute Brightness: Brightness of the star if we were all at equal distances to every star The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram The EIGHT Planets (plus Pluto) The Inner Planets Small and Rocky Few or no Moons Mercury Venus Earth Mars The Outer Planets Large and gaseous Many Moons All have rings Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Planets’ orbits around the Sun Poor Pluto Why doesn’t Pluto qualify as a planet? It’s too small It doesn’t fit the pattern of a planet in that location in our solar system Its orbit is out of sync with the other planets It is now considered a DWARF PLANET Sometimes called a sub-planet Mercury — Inner Planet Smallest Planet Closest to the Sun Has virtually no atmosphere, which is why it has so many craters Moon: none Day: 59 Earth days Year: 0.24 Earth Year ( about 88 days) Venus — Inner Planet Very similar is size and shape to Earth, so it is sometimes called “Earth’s Twin” Its atmosphere is so thick its always cloudy, but those clouds are acidic! Moon: none Day: 243 Earth days Year: 0.62 Earth Years ( 226 days) Earth — Inner Planet Rocky planet with an atmosphere which is mostly Nitrogen Only planet with Life Only planet with liquid water Moon: one Mars — Inner Planet The RED PLANET The atmosphere is 95% CO2. The planet has extreme temperature differences…70oF during the day and -225oF at night! Mars also is tilted like Earth, so it too has seasons Location we are planning on making a space station in the near future Moons: two Day: 24.7 Earth hours Year: 1.9 Earth Years (693 Earth Days) Asteroid Belt The inner planets and the outer planets are separated by an asteroid belt An asteroid is a small rocky substance that orbits the Sun Jupiter – Outer Planet Largest Planet Thick atmosphere made out of Hydrogen and Helium Probably has a dense core, but most of the planet is gaseous Has rings Moons: 60+ Day: 10 Earth Hours Year: 12 Earth Years Saturn—Outer Planet Second largest planet in the solar system Well known for its system of rings Gaseous planet made out of Helium and Hydrogen Moons: 31+ Day: 11 hours Year: 29 years Uranus—Outer Planet Also a gaseous planet, with traces of methane which makes it blue-green It axis of rotation is tilted so it rotates head over heel instead of spinning like a top Does have rings Moons:13+ Day: 16 hours Year: 84 Earth Years Neptune –Outer Planet Cold, blue planet It has clouds and storms, but not with water like ours Does have rings Moons: 13+ Day: 16 hours Year: 164 years Meteors/Meteorites/Meteroids Meteoroid: free floating rock in outer space Meteor: rock fragments burning as they make there way through our atmosphere; we see them as “Shooting Stars” Meteorite: If there are any pieces of rock that make it to the ground, the remaining piece is called a meteorite Meteor or shooting star Crater caused by meteorite Meteorites on Mars Black Holes An object in space whose gravity is so strong that not even light can escape Comet A comet is a ball of dust and ice that orbits the Sun Sometimes called a “Dirty Snowball” The most famous is Halley’s Comet that appears every 76 years, due in 2062, (last seen in 1986, next seen in 2062) The last comet we could see was HaleBopp in 1997 Comets Halley’s Comet Hale-Bopp 1997 Seasons The seasons on Earth are due to the tilt of the Earth, NOT how close we are to the Sun. We are actually closest to the Sun in the Winter, but the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, so we receive less direct Sun rays. Tilt of the Earth causes Seasons During the winter, we are tilted AWAY from the Sun. During the summer, we are tilted TOWARDS the Sun Distance of Earth to the Sun during its Orbit We are CLOSER to the Sun on January 2nd than on July 2nd Size Comparisons Size Comparisons Size Comparisons Size comparisons History of the Earth in 2 minutes Video clip