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Click www.ondix.com to visit our student-to-student file sharing network. Our solar system is a very complex place. In this paper I will identify the origin of the solar system, laws governing the solar system, the sun, the planets and the other bodies that are included. Our solar system is a collection consisting of the Sun and the bodies orbiting around it. Included in our dynamic system are nine major planets, numerous asteroids, at least 68 satellites, and the cosmic interplanetary medium. The inner solar system consists of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The outer solar system contains Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. "The largest part of the mass of our solar system (other than that constituting its central star) and almost all of its angular momentum is stored in four planets- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune." (Kapal, p.6) The planets, most of the satellites of the planets and the asteroids revolve around the Sun in the same direction, in nearly circular orbits. When looking down from above the Sun's north pole, the planets orbit in a counter-clockwise direction. The planets orbit the Sun in or near the same plane, called the ecliptic. The axis of rotation for most of the planets is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. The exceptions are Uranus and Pluto, which are tipped on their sides. Five billion years ago a cloud of hot swirling dust and hydrogen gas gave birth to our Sun and planets. As the cloud spun and collapsed inwards it flattened into a central mass with a surrounding disk. Dust and gases in the disk created small condensations each spinning about its own center. Gravitation condensed and heated the central mass. Density increased considerably and nuclear fusion began. Energy was released and our Sun flared into existence. The solar wind of the newly ignited Sun blew away leftover dust and gas in the vicinity of the inner condensations, leaving the rocky inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. In the outer regions of the disk, the solar wind was weaker. The left over gas and dust reduced into the larger gaseous planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The Sun and all the planets and their satellites formed through condensation in an interstellar cloud of gas and dust. The Horsehead Nebula in Orion consists of dust-laden material. Deep within the clouds of gas and dust, new stars are forming now, some maybe with planets. As the cloud of gas and dust that formed the solar system began to contract, it must have got rotation somehow, which led to faster rotation as the cloud shrank. This rotation tended to maintain the cloud against contraction in directions perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and thus led to a pancake-like shape for the contracted, rotating cloud. When the cloud that would form the solar system first began to contract, it must have done so as a condensation with some rotation. The rotation was slow at first but grew more rapid as the cloud shrank. The combined result of the contraction and rotation was a spinning, disk-like solar nebula, within which gas and dust had much greater density than they did before the contraction began. The nebula was densest of all at its center, where the proto-sun began its final condensation. By the time the sun grew so dense that nuclear fusion reactions began inside it, the pancake-shaped cloud had begun to form agglomeration at various distances from its center. The rather regular spacing of the planets' orbits from the sun apparently reflects the way in which matter accumulated within the disc-like configuration. The nine planets orbit the sun in nearly circular trajectories that all (except for Mercury and Pluto) lie in very nearly the same plane. The Sun contains 99.9 percent of the mass in the solar system, and the four giant planets have the bulk of the 0.1 percent residue. The Earth, largest of the four inner planets, has only 1/318 of Jupiter's mass and 1/329,000 of the sun's mass. The four giant planets differ most strikingly from the four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) in their size and composition. The giant planets are large, gaseous, rarefied, and hydrogen-rich, while the inner planets are small rocky, dense, and hydrogen-poor. Because the giant planets consist mostly of hydrogen and helium, they resemble the universe at large. The inner planets are distinctly different: Though the universe consists mostly of hydrogen, the Earth does not. A relatively simple explanation exists for the extreme differences between the four giant planets and the four inner planets. As nuclear-fusion reactions began in the sun's deep interior 4.5 billion years ago, the solar nebula close to the sun grew much warmer than the dust and gas at greater distances. This warming had a profound effect on the kinds of material that could condense and accumulate into "planetesimals," the small objects that can collide to form planets. At distances close to the sun - less than about five times the Earth-sun distance (5 astronomical units, or A.U.) - the sun's heat prevented ice from forming. This fact had significant consequences, since ice is potentially the most abundant solid in the universe There are also rules in our solar system. Before explaining some of the laws governing the solar system, here are the basic rules. The planets orbits deviate, but little from circles. The plane of such orbits cluster around the invariable plane of the system, through inclination to the solar equator is considerable. Lastly, the celestial bodies revolving in such orbits do so in the same direction. In explaining our dynamic space, people have come up with laws to explain this "phenomenon". For example, in Keplers Laws: The mass of all planets is low compared to the sun. The path of a comet, asteroid or planet is controlled only by the gravitational force of the sun, which is inversely proportional to the square of the heliocentric distance, in accordance with Newtons Law of Universal Attraction. For the motion of the planets there are three Empirical Laws. "1. The orbit of a planet is an ellipse, with the centre of the Sun at one of the foci. The movement of the object may be described as follows: r = a [(1-e^2 ) / (1+e cos 0)] Where r - heliocentric distance, a - semi-major axis of the ellipse, e - eccentricity, and 0 - angle, measured in radians. 2. The radius vector joining the centre of the Sun to the planets sweeps out equal areas in equal periods of time. This law of areas, which expressed as: (dA / dt) = (1 / 2) [(r^2) (d0 / dt)] = (h / 2) Where A - is the area swept out by the sun-planet radius, h - area constant 3. The ration of the cube of the semi-major axis to the square of the period is the same for all planets: a^3 / P^2 = 1 Where P - is orbital period in years, and a - semi-major axis, in Astronomical Units (Encrenaz, p.10) The Sun is a star of intermediate luminosity and size. Sunlight and other radiation are produced by the conversion of hydrogen into helium in the Sun's hot, dense interior. The Sun is so massive that it can continue to shine at its present brightness for six billion more years. The Sun is the richest source of electromagnetic energy in the solar system. It is because of its light and heat given off. The Sun's nearest known astral neighbor is Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star that is about 4.3 light years away. The whole solar system, together with the local stars visible on a clear night, orbits the center of our home galaxy, a spiral disk of two hundred billion stars we call the Milky Way. As mentioned before the Sun contains more than ninety-nine percent of the mass of the solar system, and the Sun lies at the center of the system. Solid grains of such debris, the space through which the planets travel contains protons, electrons, and ions of the abundant elements, are all streaming outward from the Sun in the form of the solar wind. Occasional giant flares on the Sun's surface expel matter, along with high-energy radiations, that contribute to this interplanetary medium. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and second smallest planet in the solar system. It moves quickly across our sky. Its diameter is 40% smaller than Earths. It is even smaller than Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Mercury's dust-covered hills have been eroded because meteoroids are constantly hitting it. Fault-cliffs rise for several kilometers in height and extend for hundreds of kilometers. Craters dot the surface. Although Mercury is not tidally locked to the Sun, its rotational period is tidally coupled to its orbital period. Mercury rotates one and a half times during each orbit. A day on Mercury is 176 Earth days long. Plains cover most of Mercury's surface. The smooth plains are younger still with fewer craters. Smooth plains can be found around the Caloris basin. Mercury does not have any moons or rings. Venus is the second planet, being .72 AU from the Sun. It is also the sixth largest. Venus' orbit is the most nearly circular of that of any planet, with an eccentricity of less than 1%. Its diameter is 12,103.6 kilometers and its mass is 4.869 kilograms. Venus' rotation is somewhat unusual in that it is both very slow and retrograde. Also, the periods of Venus' rotation and of its orbit are synchronized such that it always presents the same face toward Earth when the two planets are at their closest approach. Sometimes Venus is called Earth's sister planet. The pressure of Venus' atmosphere at the surface is 90 atmospheres. It is composed mostly of carbon dioxide. There are several layers of clouds many kilometers thick composed of sulfuric acid. These clouds completely obscure our view surface. This dense atmosphere produces a run-away greenhouse effect that raises Venus' surface temperature is hot enough to melt lead. The interior of Venus is probably very similar to that of Earth: an iron core about 3000 km in radius, a molten rocky mantle comprising the majority of the planet. Like our planet, convection in the mantle produces stress on the surface that is relieved in many relatively small regions instead of being mainly at plate boundaries, as is the case on Earth. Also like Mercury, Venus does not have any rings or moons. There is not too much to talk about our planet, since we all live here, and we know what it is like here. Earth is the fifth largest planet and the third from the sun, at a distance of 149,600,000 kilometers. Its mass is 5.9736e24 kilograms. Also, its diameter is 12,756.3 kilometers. The name derives from Old English and German. It was not until the 16th century that we realized that the Earth is just another planet. Mars, Earth's neighbor, is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars' bright appearance and reddish color stand out in the night sky. It has impressive surface features such as valleys that are frequently obscured by huge dust storms and volcanoes. The uniquely red surface of Mars has many features - some like those on the Earth and others strangely different. The rust in the soil causes its reddish color. Some of these features are volcanoes, canyon systems, riverbeds, cratered terrain, and dune fields. Of these features, the most interesting include the dead volcano named Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. Olympus Mons rises very high above the surrounding plains and is the highest known mountain in the Solar System. Valles Marineris is a giant canyon. The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than that of Earth. Surface temperatures range from -113oC at the winter pole to 0oC on the dayside during summer. A day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes. Mars' atmosphere is composed mainly of carbon dioxide. Oxygen makes up only 0.13% of the atmosphere at Mars. There is only one-fourth as much water vapor in the atmosphere. This planet is thought to have frozen ice at its poles. It has two moons; Phobos and Deimos. Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, has the most powerful winds and storms, but also the most majestic cloud patterns. It is the largest planet in our dynamic solar system. Jupiter is made of the simple molecules hydrogen and helium, and they become liquid in the environment that is found deep inside Jupiter. The atmosphere of Jupiter is only a narrow layer, compared to Jupiter's vast insides. The clouds of Jupiter are at different levels in the atmosphere. Motions inside Jupiter help form the powerful magnetosphere of Jupiter. Heat from within Jupiter contributes to the unusual movements of the atmosphere. Jupiter looks very colorful because molecules such as sulfur. Jupiter's magnetosphere is the biggest is the solar system. Jupiter has a donut-shaped cloud, which goes around inside the magnetosphere. Its called the Great Red Spot, which is similar to Neptune's'. Jupiter also makes radio signals. Jupiter has 17 moons and a ring system. The four moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are the most fascinating. Io has volcanoes, and Europa may have a water environment where life might be found. Jupiter's small moons are Metis Adrastea, Amalthea, Thebe, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae, Sinope and S/1999 J1. The sixth planet from the sun is Saturn. Saturn has 22 moons and huge rings that you can see in a picture of Saturn. The moon Titan is one of the only moons in the entire solar system with air. Mimas is one of Saturn's moons, shaped like the "Death Star". One of Saturn's moons is half-dark and half-bright. That one is called Iapetus. Saturn is composed of simple molecules hydrogen and helium, and they become liquid in the environment that is found deep inside Saturn. Heat from inside Saturn contributes to the unusual movements of the atmosphere. The clouds of Saturn aren't as colorful as those of Jupiter. Saturn's atmosphere is composed of more sulfur. Sulfur makes Saturn look yellow. The atmosphere of Saturn is only a narrow region, compared to Saturn's huge insides. The clouds of Saturn are to be found mostly low in the atmosphere. Smog can be found higher up. Saturn has very powerful winds. The rings of Saturn affect the motion of particles in the magnetosphere. Saturn's magnetosphere produces beautiful auroras. Also it produces radio waves. Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, is made of ice. The plain blue green face of Uranus shows that Uranus is made of only one thing. Heat from inside Uranus helps it to make unusual winds in the atmosphere. Although Uranus' atmosphere is still forming, is has clouds and smog. Motions in the cloud patterns indicate that, like Jupiter and Saturn, the winds of Uranus move in a striped pattern. Daytime on Uranus lasts for the whole summer and it is a sideways planet. The magnetosphere of Uranus has a very strange tilt. The extreme tilt, combined with the extreme tilt of Uranus itself, makes for a completely strange magnetosphere. Uranus has 21 interesting moons and a ring system. At Uranus there is even a half ring, or "ring arc". The moons are Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Oberon, 1986 U 10, Caliban, Sycorax, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Prospero, Setebos, and Stephano. The eight planet, Neptune's interior is mostly methane ice. Heat generated inside Neptune aids in the occurrence of unusual winds in the atmosphere. The composition of Neptune clouds is thought to be methane molecules. Neptune's atmosphere shows a striped pattern of clouds. This cloud pattern is close to Jupiter's' and Saturn's'. Neptune has a Great Dark Spot similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Neptune has a medium magnetosphere. Neptune has several moons and a complicated ring system. The ring system is a totally different type of ring system than Uranus' or Saturn's'. Neptune has eight moons. Neptune's major moon is called Triton. It is thought to have active geysers. Triton might also have a water environment like the one at our north pole. Life may exist there. This icy moon may have a thin atmosphere and an active interior. Other moons are Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Naiad, Proteus, Thalassa and Nereid. The ninth planet, Pluto shows remarkable dark markings very much like Saturn's moon Iapetus. Pluto is probably also made of ice, similar to the other icy moons, however not ice made of water, but ice made of frozen nitrogen. Winds of Pluto's atmosphere may sweep the ices away and leave dark markings on the surface. The interior of Pluto is probably similar to that of major icy moons such as Ganymede. The evolution of the double planet Pluto and Charon may be like only one other planet in the solar system, that of the Earth and its moon. Sometimes there are times when Pluto is closer to the sun than is Neptune, making it the 8th planet for roughly 20 years at a time. During that time ice on Pluto's surface evaporate and form an atmosphere. The air is made mostly of nitrogen gas. It is also possible that the presence of nearby moon, Charon draws molecules to it, which is escaping from Pluto's atmosphere. Pluto may well have a magnetic field, being warmed by tidal forces stemming from its dual orbit with its moon Pluto's moon, Charon, is 12,200 miles from the planet and has a diameter of 1,200 kilometers. Charon was first seen from Earth in 1978. Pluto and Charon are almost the same size, and they act like a double planet. Comets are lumps of ice and rock that randomly come into the center of the solar system from somewhere, and some comets make several trips. The nucleus of comets can be oddly shaped and can be only a few miles across. When comets get close enough to the Sun, heat makes the nucleus start to evaporate. A cloud of gas and dust called the coma forms. The coma can reach a similar diameter to that of a giant planet! Jets of gas and dust form long tails that we can see from Earth. Asteroids are small bodies that are believed to be left over from the beginning of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. They are rocky objects with round or irregular shapes up to several hundred km across, but most are much smaller. More than 100,000 asteroids lie in a belt between Mars and Jupiter. These asteroids lie in a location in the solar system where there seems to be a jump in the spacing between the planets. Some think that this debris may be the remains of an early planet, which broke up early in the solar system. Several thousand of the largest asteroids in this belt have been given names. Asteroids can be a few feet to several hundred miles wide. The belt probably contains at least 40,000 asteroids that are more than 0.5 miles across. The Kuiper Belt is a disk-shaped region past the orbit of Neptune roughly 30 to 100 AU from the Sun containing many small icy bodies. It is the source of the short-period comets. Sometimes the orbit of a Kuiper Belt object will be disturbed by the interactions of the giant planets in such a way as to cause the object to cross the orbit of Neptune. It is estimated that there are at least 35,000 Kuiper Belt objects greater than 100 km in diameter, which is several hundred times the number of similar sized objects in the main asteroid belt. Exactly where the boundary between the interstellar medium and the interplanetary medium lies has not yet been determined, but four spacecraft have recently passed the orbit of Pluto with velocities that will allow them to escape from the solar system. Thus, this boundary may be crossed in the near future. Works Cited Britannica Online Site. 4 Nov. 2000 http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/2/0,5716,118792+2+1101143,00.html Encarta Msn Site. 2 Oct 2000 http://Encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1"pg=2"ti=01831000 Nine Planets Site. 2 Oct 2000 http://lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets.html Encrenaz, Therese. The Solar System. Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1990. Kopal, Zdrenek. The Solar System. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1972. Nourse, Alan Edward. Nine Planets. New York: Harper, 1960. Keywords: solar system very complex place this paper will identify origin solar system laws governing solar system planets other bodies that included collection consisting bodies orbiting around included dynamic nine major planets numerous asteroids least satellites cosmic interplanetary medium inner consists mercury venus earth mars outer contains pluto neptune uranus saturn jupiter largest part mass other than that constituting central star almost angular momentum stored four planets jupiter saturn uranus neptune kapal most satellites asteroids revolve around same direction nearly circular orbits when looking down from above north pole orbit counter clockwise direction orbit near same plane called ecliptic axis rotation most nearly perpendicular ecliptic exceptions uranus pluto which tipped their sides five billion years cloud swirling dust hydrogen gave birth cloud spun collapsed inwards flattened into central mass with surrounding disk dust gases disk created small condensations each spinning about center gravitation condensed heated central mass density increased considerably nuclear fusion began energy released flared into existence wind newly ignited blew away leftover dust vicinity inner condensations leaving rocky inner mercury venus earth mars outer regions disk wind weaker left over reduced into larger gaseous jupiter saturn neptune their satellites formed through condensation interstellar cloud horsehead nebula orion consists laden material deep within clouds stars forming some maybe with that formed began contract must have rotation somehow which faster rotation shrank this tended maintain against contraction directions perpendicular axis thus pancake like shape contracted rotating when would form first began contract must have done condensation with some slow first grew more rapid shrank combined result contraction spinning like nebula within which much greater density than they before contraction nebula densest center where proto final condensation time grew dense nuclear fusion reactions inside pancake shaped begun form agglomeration various distances from center rather regular spacing orbits from apparently reflects matter accumulated within disc like configuration nine orbit nearly circular trajectories except mercury pluto very same plane contains percent four giant have bulk percent residue earth largest four only giant differ most strikingly venus mars their size composition giant large gaseous rarefied hydrogen rich while small rocky dense hydrogen poor because consist mostly helium they resemble universe large distinctly different though universe consists mostly does relatively simple explanation exists extreme differences between nuclear fusion reactions deep interior billion years close grew much warmer than greater distances this warming profound effect kinds material could condense accumulate planetesimals small objects collide form distances close less about five times distance astronomical units heat prevented forming fact significant consequences since potentially abundant solid universe there also rules before explaining some laws governing here basic rules orbits deviate little circles plane such cluster around invariable through inclination equator considerable lastly celestial bodies revolving such direction explaining dynamic space people come laws explain phenomenon example keplers compared path comet asteroid planet controlled only gravitational force inversely proportional square heliocentric distance accordance newtons universal attraction motion there three empirical planet ellipse centre foci movement object described follows where heliocentric distance semi major axis ellipse eccentricity angle measured radians radius vector joining centre sweeps equal areas equal periods time areas expressed where area swept planet radius area constant ration cube semi major square period orbital period years semi astronomical units encrenaz star intermediate luminosity size sunlight other radiation produced conversion helium dense interior massive continue shine present brightness billion more richest source electromagnetic energy because light heat given nearest known astral neighbor proxima centauri dwarf star about light away whole together local stars visible clear night home galaxy spiral hundred stars call milky mentioned before contains more ninety nine percent lies solid grains such debris space through travel protons electrons ions abundant elements streaming outward wind occasional flares surface expel matter along high energy radiations contribute interplanetary medium closest second smallest moves quickly across diameter smaller earths even smaller moon ganymede covered hills been eroded because meteoroids constantly hitting fault cliffs rise several kilometers height extend hundreds kilometers craters surface although tidally locked rotational period tidally coupled orbital rotates half times during each days long plains cover surface smooth plains younger still fewer craters smooth plains found caloris basin does moons rings second being also sixth largest circular eccentricity less diameter kilometers kilograms somewhat unusual both very slow retrograde also periods synchronized always presents face toward when closest approach sometimes called sister pressure atmosphere atmospheres composed mostly carbon dioxide there several layers clouds many thick composed sulfuric acid these clouds completely obscure view atmosphere produces away greenhouse effect raises temperature enough melt lead interior probably similar iron core radius molten rocky mantle comprising majority convection mantle produces stress relieved many relatively regions instead being mainly plate boundaries case does rings moons much talk since live here know what here fifth third kilograms diameter name derives english german until century realized just another neighbor fourth bright appearance reddish color stand night impressive features valleys frequently obscured huge storms volcanoes uniquely many features those others strangely different rust soil causes reddish color these features volcanoes canyon systems riverbeds cratered terrain dune fields these interesting include dead volcano named olympus mons valles marineris olympus mons rises high above surrounding highest known mountain valles marineris canyon atmosphere thinner temperatures range winter pole dayside during summer hours minutes composed mainly carbon dioxide oxygen makes only fourth water vapor thought frozen poles moons phobos deimos fifth powerful winds storms majestic patterns dynamic made simple molecules helium they become liquid environment found deep inside narrow layer compared vast insides different levels motions inside help powerful magnetosphere heat contributes unusual movements looks colorful molecules sulfur magnetosphere biggest donut shaped goes magnetosphere called great spot similar makes radio signals ring europa ganymede callisto fascinating volcanoes europa water environment life might found metis adrastea amalthea thebe leda himalia lysithea elara ananke carme pasiphae sinope sixth huge rings picture moon titan entire mimas shaped death half dark half bright iapetus simple molecules become liquid environment contributes unusual movements aren colorful those sulfur sulfur makes look yellow narrow region compared huge insides smog higher powerful winds affect motion particles produces beautiful auroras radio waves seventh made plain blue green face shows made thing helps make winds although still forming smog motions patterns indicate move striped pattern daytime lasts whole summer sideways strange tilt extreme tilt combined extreme tilt itself completely strange interesting ring even ring cordelia ophelia bianca cressida oberon caliban sycorax desdemona juliet portia rosalind belinda puck miranda ariel umbriel titania prospero setebos stephano eight methane generated aids occurrence composition thought methane shows striped pattern pattern close great dark spot similar great spot medium several complicated totally type eight moon triton thought active geysers triton might water north pole life exist thin active despina galatea larissa naiad proteus thalassa nereid ninth shows remarkable dark markings iapetus probably however frozen nitrogen sweep ices leave markings probably ganymede evolution double charon sometimes times closer making roughly time during evaporate nitrogen possible presence nearby charon draws escaping well magnetic field being warmed tidal forces stemming dual charon miles first seen almost size double comets lumps rock randomly come somewhere comets make trips nucleus comets oddly miles across enough nucleus start evaporate coma forms coma reach jets long tails asteroids believed left over beginning objects round irregular shapes hundred across smaller belt between location seems jump spacing between think debris remains early broke early thousand belt been given names feet hundred miles wide belt least kuiper region past roughly containing source short sometimes kuiper object will disturbed interactions cause object cross estimated least kuiper objects greater number sized main asteroid exactly boundary interstellar interplanetary lies been determined spacecraft recently passed velocities will allow them escape thus boundary crossed near future works cited britannica online site http britannica bcom article html encarta site http encarta find concise site http arizona nineplanets html encrenaz therese berlin york springer verlag kopal zdrenek london york oxford university press nourse alan edward york harper Keywords General: Essay, essays, termpaper, term paper, termpapers, term papers, book reports, study, college, thesis, dessertation, test answers, free research, book research, study help, download essay, download term papers