Download Solar System Cornell Notes - CE Williams Middle School

Pages 344-361
Our Solar System Notes
The Planets and Other Objects
Name the
planets in order
from the sun.
Solar System Data
Image
Planet
Mercury
Distance
from
Mass Radius Temperature
Atmosphere the sun
(ME) (RE)
(Fahrenheit)
(millions
of km)
None
58
0.06
0.38
600
Venus
Thick
108
0.82
0.95
900
Earth
Average
150
1.0
1.0
70
Mars
Thin
228
0.11
0.53
10
Jupiter Thick
780
318
11
-185
Saturn
Thick
1427
95
9.5
-200
Uranus
Thick
2871
15
4.1
-290
Neptune Thick
4497
17
3.8
-330
Pluto
5914
0.002 0.2
-410
Which are the
inner planets?
Are any planets
besides these
terrestrial?
Which planet is
called Earth’s
twin?
Thick
What planet has
the largest
known volcano
Inner Planets
in the solar
(All of these are terrestrial)
system?
Mercury:
(1) Has many craters like our moon
(2) Atmosphere is so thin that nights are cooler than on Venus
(3) Mariner 10 - main probe mission
Venus:
(1) Earth's "twin"
(2) Thick atmosphere 90X the pressure on Earth, of C02 causes
greenhouse effect. Sulfuric acid in clouds give yellow appearance.
(3) Has huge craters and cracks of volcanoes.
Which is the
(4) Venera (Russia) and Magellan (USA) main probe missions.
largest planet in Earth:
our solar
150 million km (1 AU - Astronomical Unit) from sun.
system?
Mars:
(1) Called Red Planet due to iron-oxide in soil.
(2) Has Solar System's largest volcano - Olympus Mons.
(3) Two moons - Phobos & Diemos
(4) 1 sol (1 Martian day) = 24.7 hrs.
(5) Viking 1& 2 ('76) and Pathfinder ('97) main probe missions.
What do
scientists think
the Great Red
Spot is on
Jupiter?
Why do you
think the four
largest moons
of Jupiter called
Galileo’s
moons?
The Outer Planets
Jupiter:
(1) Atmosphere mostly hydrogen and some helium. Could have become
our 2nd sun with more mass.
(2) Great Red Spot - large eternal storm
(3) the moon lo is very volcanic due to being pulled in two directions by
gravity of Jupiter and nearby moon Ganymeade.
(4) Ganymeade is the largest satellite in the solar system
(5) "Galileo's Moons" - lo, Europa, Ganymeade & Callisto
(6) Voyager 1 & 2 ('79) and Galileo ('95) main probe missions
Saturn:
(1) Density is so low it could float on water
(2) Titan is the largest of it's 18 moons
(3) Rings made of same materials as comets
(4) Voyager I ('80), Voyager 11 ('81), and Cassini (expected to arrive late
2003) main probe missions.
Uranus:
(1) Axis of rotation almost parallel to plane of orbit
(2) Like Neptune, appears blue due to methane gas in atmosphere (3)
Voyager II ('86)
Neptune:
(1) believed to have a middle water layer
(2) storm-like features on surface
(3)Triton, largest of 8 moons
(4) Voyager II
(5) is occasionally the 9th planet
What causes
Uranus and
Neptune to be
blue?
Kuiper Disk - ice dwarfs and minor planets on outer edge of solar system.
Contains the Oort cloud, origin of comets.
Other Objects in the Solar System
comets - large chunks of ice, dust, frozen gases and rock which orbit the
sun.
meteoroid - small pieces of rock moving through space which come from
broken up comets or asteroids.
meteor - a meteoroid which has entered Earth's atmosphere and starts to
vaporize. ("Shooting stars")
meteorite - when a meteor is so large that it doesn't completely vaporize in
Earth's atmosphere and reaches Earth's surface.
asteroid - large pieces of rock with same composition of planets. Large
What is the
asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter believed to be from unformed
Kuiper Disk?
planet.
Life Beyond Earth
* Space exploration began in 1957 with the Soviet launch of the first
satellite, Sputnik I
- satellite - any object that revolves around another object (moon or probe).
- orbit - the curved path an object falls into when attracted by the gravity of
a planet.
What is a
- space probe - an instrument which gathers data and sends it back to
comet?
Earth.
(ex. Voyager I & II which flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune)
What is the Oort * Note that probes do not revolve around an object like satellites do
Cloud?
extra- terrestrial life - life existing outside of Earth
- Any evidence?
(1) Mars has nano bacteria in 3 billion+ year-old rocks
Differentiate
between a
meteoroid,
meteor and
meteorite.
What is the
difference
between a
satellite and a
space probe?
What forms of
ET life have
been found on
other planets or
their moons?
(2) Triton, moon of Neptune shows evidence of organic molecules
(3) Europa, moon of Jupiter, could have ocean beneath icy surface.
Summaries