Download Dead Earth – Lesson 2 – Solar System

Ardrossan Academy
Dead Earth
Subtopic – SPACE –
the solar system
1
Ambition – Respect - Excellence
Lesson Title:
The Solar System
Learning Intention:.
To understand –
How conditions on planets change with
distance from the Sun, and what other
objects exist in the Solar system
I will be successful if I can :
Explain how the conditions on a planet change as
the distance from the Sun increases
2
Ambition – Respect - Excellence
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
• Our Solar System has EIGHT
planets
• Four inner TERRESTRIAL
planets - small and solid
• Four outer GAS GIANT planets
- huge and gaseous
• Planets are visible because
they reflect light from the Sun
MERCURY
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
58 million km from Sun
Year = 88 days
Day = 59 days
Similar size to our moon
No atmosphere
Max Temp > 400 ℃
Min Temp < -170℃
VENUS
•
•
•
•
•
110 million km from Sun
Year = 225 days
Day = 243 days
Similar size to Earth
Atmosphere of Sulphuric
acid
• Average Temp > 400 ℃
EARTH
•
•
•
•
150 million km from Sun
Year = 365 days
Day = 24 hours
Atmosphere of Nitrogen
& Oxygen
• Max Temp > 50 ℃
• Min Temp < -90℃
MARS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
230 million km from Sun
Year = 687 days
Day = 24½ hours
Approx half size of Earth
Atmosphere of CO2
Max Temp > 20 ℃
Min Temp < -140℃
JUPITER
• 780 million km from Sun
• Year = 11.9 years
• Day = 9 hr 50 min
• More than 1000 times larger
than Earth
• Atmosphere of hydrogen &
helium
• Average Temp - 110 ℃
• Red Spot is a storm twice the
size of the Earth
SATURN
• 1,430 million km from Sun
• Year = 29.4 years
• Day = 10 hr 14 min
• More than 700 times larger
than Earth
• Atmosphere of hydrogen &
helium
• Average Temp - 180 ℃
• Rings are 250,000 km across,
but only 1 km thick
URANUS
• 2,870 million km from Sun
• Year = 84 years
• Day = 17 hr 12 min
• More than 60 times larger
than Earth
• Atmosphere of hydrogen,
helium & methane
• Average Temp - 210 ℃
• Planet rotates on its side,
with south pole facing Sun
NEPTUNE
• 4,500 million km from Sun
• Year = 165 years
• Day = 16 hr 7 min
• About 50 times larger than
Earth
• Atmosphere of hydrogen,
helium & methane
• Average Temp - 220 ℃
• Has both a dark spot ‘storm’
and rings
DWARF PLANETS
• Until 2006 Pluto was
classified as a planet
• It was reclassified as other
similarly sized objects had
been found, but not classified
as planets
• These include the largest
known asteroid - ‘Ceres’ and a
large object beyond Pluto ‘Eris’
ASTEROIDS
• A band of rock fragments
between Mars and
Jupiter
• Many fragments are
extremely large - up to
1000 km across
• Can fall out of orbit
towards the Sun & Inner
planets
THE NIGHT SKY
• On a clear night, away
from bright lights in
towns and cities, many
bright objects can be
seen in the sky
• This picture was taken at
an observatory in the
Andes mountains in Chile
STARS
• Stars give out light, like
our own Sun
• They appear less bright
as they are very far away
• Our nearest star, Proxima
Centauri, is 4.3 lightyears away.
(40 million million km)
CONSTELLATIONS
• Constellations are groups
of stars
• They stay in the same
places compared to each
other, but move across
the sky as the Earth
rotates on its axis.
CONSTELLATIONS
• The constellation of ‘The
Plough’ moves across the
sky.
• The star near the centre
that doesn’t move is
‘Polaris’ - the star directly
above the North Pole.
GALAXIES
• Galaxies are massive
groups of stars
• There may be many
millions of stars in a
Galaxy
• Our galaxy is called ‘The
Milky Way’
(from the latin ‘Via Lactea’)
GALAXIES
• Many galaxies, including
our own, are spiral
shaped
• We can’t see all of the
Milky Way because we
are inside it
• We can see a band of
closely packed stars - one
spiral arm
COMETS
• A comet is a ball of ice and
dust that orbits the Sun
• Comets move slowly across
the sky, appearing for many
months
• As it approaches the Sun it
heats up, creating the ‘tail’
which always points away
from the Sun
COMETS
• In July 1994 a comet
called Shoemaker-Levy
crashed into Jupiter
• Jupiter’s gravity had
broken it up into a string
of smaller pieces which
left a trail in the
atmosphere
METEORS
• Meteors are small pieces
of rock
• As they pass into the
Earth’s atmosphere they
heat up
• They travel quickly across
the sky in a few seconds,
followed by a bright tail
METEORS
• As the Earth travels
around the Sun it
passes through areas
where there are
many meteors
• This causes ‘Meteor
Showers’