Download The Solar System consists of the Sun and the celestial objects

SCIENCE
The Heliosphere
ESO level 1
Apendix 2
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the celestial objects bound to it by
gravity , all of which formed from the colapse of a giant molecular cloud
aproximately 4,5 billions years ago. The Sun´s retinue of objects circle it in a nearly
flat disc called the ecliptic plane, most of the mass of which is contained whithin
eight relatively solitary planets whose orbits are almost circular. The four smollar
inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, also called the terrestial planets, are
primarily composed of rock and metal. The four outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune, also called the gas giants, are composed lagerly of hydrogen
and helium and they are far more massive than the terrestrial.
The Solar System is also home to two main belts of small bodies. The asteroid
belt, which lies between Mars ans Jupiter, is simillar to the terrestrial planets as it is
composed mainly of rock and metal. The Kuiper belt (and its subpopulation, the
scatered disc) which lies beyond Neptune´s orbit, is composed mostly of ices such as
water, ammonia and methane. Within this belts, five individual objects: Ceres, Pluto,
Francisco González Moreno [email protected]
Francisca Jurado Lorente [email protected]
CEIP DUNAS DE DOÑANA
MATALASCAÑAS (HUELVA)
1
SCIENCE
The Heliosphere
ESO level 1
Apendix 2
Haumea, Makemake and Eris are recognised to be large enough to have been
sorounded by their own gravity, and are thus termed dwarf planets. The
hypothetical Oort cloud, which acts as the source for long-period comets, may also
exsit at a distance roughly a thousand times beyond these regions.
Within the Solar System, several populations of small bodies, such as comets,
centaurs and interplanetary dust, freely travel between these regions, while the
solar wind, a flow of plasma from the Sun, creates a bubble in the interstellar
medium known as the heliosphere, which extends out to the end of the scatered
disc.
Six of the planets and three of the dwarf planets are orbited by natural
satellites, usually termed “moons” after the Earth´s Moon. Each of the outer planets
is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other particles.
(Adapted from the English Wikipedia)
Francisco González Moreno [email protected]
Francisca Jurado Lorente [email protected]
CEIP DUNAS DE DOÑANA
MATALASCAÑAS (HUELVA)
2