Download 20.2-the-Solar_System

The Sun
Solar Wind
The Sun
• Our Solar System’s Star
• Current Age- 5 Billions years old
• Life Time Expectancy- 10 Billions years
• 99.8 % of our solar systems total mass.
• 108 Earth fit across the diameter
The Core
• Center of the Sun
• Nuclear Fusion
– Hydrogen fused to helium.
– Releases huge amounts of energy.
• 15,000ºC
Chromosphere
• Means “Color Sphere”
• A part of the Sun’s atmosphere
• Glows red during a partial eclipse
• 5,000ºC- 10,000ºC
Photosphere
• Means “Light” Sphere
• Sun’s Surface
• Layer that we see
• 5,000ºC-8,000ºC
Sun Spots
• Areas of cooler gas on the
photosphere
• Don’t give off as much light
• Occur in pairs
• 10-11 year cycle
Prominence
• Reddish loops of gas.
• Connect sunspots.
• Help ventilate the sun.
• Solar Flares-
– Huge explosions of
gas.
– Increase the solar wind.
hydrogen
Corona
• Outer layer of the
atmosphere.
• Gives off the solar wind.
• Only seen during a total solar eclipse.
• Looks like a halo.
• 2,000,000ºC
Solar Wind
• Electrically charged particles
from the corona.
• Earth’s magnetic field acts as a shield.
• Some enters at the north
and south poles.
– Produces the Auroras
or Northern Lights.
Mercury
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1st Planet 58,000,000km
Rotation 59 Earth days
Revolution 88 Earth Days
Solid, rocky, surface.
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-173C to 427C
Very cratered
• Very thin atmosphere- Sodium and other Elements.
• No Moon
• Factoids: Very hard to get a good view, has an
extreme temperature range.
Venus
• 2nd Planet 108,000,000km
• Rotation Period- 243 Earth Days
– Retrograde rotation- rotates east to west.
• Revolution Period- 225 Earth Days
• A solid, rocky, cratered surface with
volcanoes.
– 460ºC hot enough to melt lead.
– Greenhouse effect- traps heat in the
atmosphere, due to Carbon Dioxide.
• Very thick atmosphere, cloud covered.
• No Moon
Earth
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3rd Planet 150,000,000 km
Rotation 24 Earth hours
Revolution 365.25 Earth Days
Solid, rocky, surface, 71% liquid water
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-88°C to 58°C
• Atmosphere- nitrogen and oxygen
• One natural satellite - Moon
• Factoids: living beings and all that is needed
to sustain life
Earth’s Moon
Mars
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4th Planet 228,000,000km
Rotation 1.03 Earth Days
Revolution- 687 Earth Days
Solid, rocky, surface. (the red planet)
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-87°C to -5°C
Once believed there were canals.
Has ice caps (made of frozen carbon dioxide and
water.)
Has seasons. (dust storms)
• Very thin atmosphere- mostly carbon dioxide
• 2 Moons-Phobos and Deimos
Asteroid Belt
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Between Mars and Jupiter.
Over 10,000
Too small and numerous to be planets.
Ceres is a dwarf planet
An asteroid might have made the
dinosaurs extinct.
Jupiter
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5th Planet 778,000,000km
Rotation .41 Earth Days
Revolution 12 Earth Years
Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in)
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1.8987 x 1027 kg
300 times more massive than Earth
solid core of rock and ice
• Very dense atmosphere- hydrogen and helium
– Great Red Spot (giant hurricane – fit 3 Earths)
• Moons: 62 (Io, Ganymede, Calisto, Europa)
Saturn
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6th Planet 1,427,000,000km
Rotation .43 Earth Days
Revolution 29 Earth Years
Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in)
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5.6851 x 1026 kg
solid core of rock and ice
less dense than water
• Very dense atmosphere- hydrogen and helium
• 1000’s of rings (made of rock and ice)
• Moons: 60 (Titan)
Uranus
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7th Planet 2,871,000,000km
Rotation .72 Earth Days
Revolution 84 Earth Years
Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in)
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8.6849 x 1025 kg
solid core of rock and ice
rotates on its side
• Very dense atmosphere- traces of methane
• Thin rings (made of rock and ice)
• Moons: 27
Neptune
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8th Planet 4,479,000,000km (30 Earth’s)
Rotation .67 Earth Days
Revolution 165 Earth Years
Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in)
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1.0244 x 1026 kg
solid core of rock and ice
found by a mathematician
• Very dense atmosphere- traces of methane
– The Great Dark Spot (Didn’t last long)
• Thin rings (made of rock and ice)
• Moons: 13 (Triton)
Pluto
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9th Planet (Dwarf Planet)
Rotation 6.4 Earth Days
Revolution 248 Earth Years
Solid, rocky, icy surface.
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less than 2/3 the size of our moon
-233°C (-369°F)
• Very thin atmosphere- frozen
• Moon – Charon (one of 3 moons)
• Factoids: too small to be a planet
Comet
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“Dirty snowballs”
Chunks of ice and rock
Very long and elliptical orbits
Sun melts the ice into gas and forms a
tail.
• Solar wind pushes tail away from the
sun.
• Halley’s comet- Every 76 Years (2062)
Parts of a Comet
1.Coma- gas and
dust from the inner
layer.
2.Nucleus- Central
part of a comet.
3.Tail- gas and
dust, pushed away
from the sun due
to solar wind.
Meteoroid
• A chunk of space rock in space.
• Usually from a comet or asteroid.
Meteor
• Meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere
and burns due to friction leaving a
streak of light.
• Shooting Star
Meteorite
• Too big to burn up.
• Hits the Earth’s surface.