Download Guided Notes on Our Solar System

Guided Notes on Our
Solar System
Chapter 29, Section 1 and
Chapter 29, Section 4
1.
In 1543, Copernicus
suggested that the Sun was
the center of the Solar
System. This is known as
the heliocentric model of the
solar system.
2.
In a heliocentric model, the
inner planets move faster in
their orbits than the outer
planets do.
3. Kepler’s first law states that
each planet orbits the Sun in an
ellipse, rather than a circle. An
ellipse is an oval shape that is
centered on 2 points, instead of
a single point, as in a circle.
4.
Each planet’s elliptical orbit
is a different size and shape,
and the Sun is always at one
focus.
5.
The length of time it takes
for a planet to travel a
complete elliptical orbit
around the Sun is called the
orbital period.
6. Kepler’s second law found that
an imaginary line between the
Sun and a planet sweeps out
equal amounts of area in equal
amounts of time.
7. Issac Newton’s law of universal
gravitation states that every
pair of bodies in the universe
attract each other with a force
that is proportional to the
product of their masses and
inversely proportional to the
distance between them.
8.
Stars and planets form from
clouds of gas and dust,
called interstellar clouds,
which exist in space
between the stars.
9.
Hydrogen and Helium make
up most of the interstellar
cloud.
10. An interstellar cloud can start
to condense as a result of
gravity and become
concentrated enough to form a
star and planets. Astronomers
believe our solar system formed
this way.
A solar nebula is the disk of
dust and gas that formed
the Sun and planets.
11.
The growth of planets
occurs because of continued
collisions and mergers of
planetesimals.
12.
13. The inner planets are rocky
and dense because the Sun’s
gravitational force swept up
much of the gas in the area of
the inner planets.
Jupiter’s gravitational force
prevented the planetesimals
in the asteroid belt from
merging to form a planet.
14.
Asteroids range in size
from a few kilometers to
about 1000 km in diameter
and have pitted, irregular
surfaces.
15.
16. When interplanetary material
enters Earth’s atmosphere, it is
called a meteoroid. If it burns up in
Earth’s atmosphere, it will produce
a streak of light called a meteor.
Pieces that do not completely burn
up and collide with the ground are
called meteorites.
Comets are small, icy
bodies that have highly
eccentric orbits around the
Sun. They are made of ice
and rock.
17.