Download Our Solar System

Our Solar System
SC.E.1.2.4, SC.E.1.2.5
Earth and Space
Our Solar System
• Our solar system is made up of our Sun,
along with the planets and all the other
objects that orbit around it.
Our Solar System
• A planet is a large, nearly spherical (round)
body in space that orbits in a cleared path
around a star.
• All eight of the planets in our solar system orbit
around the Sun.
– Orbit: the path the planets take around the sun to
complete a revolution.
Orbit is the
path the
planet takes
around the
Sun
The Earth’s orbit
Sun
– Gravity is one of the forces that keep the planets in
orbit.
Our Solar System
• Ellipse: flattened, oval shape of the orbit.
The ellipse
Sun
Ellipse is the
shape of the
path (orbit)
the planet
takes
around the
Sun
Our Solar System
• The amount of time it takes each planet to
make one revolution around our Sun depends
on how far the planet is from the Sun.
• Revolution: one complete path of a planet on its
orbit. It takes the Earth 365 ¼ days to complete one
Revolution
revolution. That is why we have 1 year.
one
complete
path (orbit)
the planet
takes
around the
Sun
•
Sun
Start (Day 1)
Finish (Day 365 ¼)
One
complete
revolution
around the
Sun
The farther away the planet is from the Sun, the
longer it takes to complete one revolution (therefore,
the length of a planet’s year, which is one revolution
around the Sun, varies from planet to planet).
Our Solar System
• All of the planets rotate on their axes.
– Axis: imaginary line that runs through a planet on
which it rotates (turns) on.
– Rotation: one complete turn of a planet on its axis.
Rotation is
one
complete
turn of a
planet on its
axis
– The length of the day, or time the planet takes to
rotate, also varies from planet to planet.
• On Earth it takes 24 hours for one complete rotation.
Our Solar System
• The Inner Planets
– Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
• They are small and rocky
Our Solar System
• Mercury (closest to the Sun)
– The closest to planet to the Sun.
– Its surface is very hot, and it has many craters, like
Earth’s moon.
• Venus (2nd from the Sun)
–
–
–
–
The second planet from the Sun.
Its surface is very hot.
Its atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide.
It has volcanoes on its surface similar to those found
on earth.
Our Solar System
• Earth (3rd from the Sun)
– The third planet from the Sun.
– The only planet in our solar system where life has
been found.
– There is water on Earth’s surface and its
atmosphere contains gases that support life.
– Without the blanket of gases that cover Earth,
humans would not be able to live on Earth.
Our Solar System
• Mars (4th planet from the Sun)
– Also known as the red planet.
– Mars’s red color comes from the rust-like
substances on its surface.
– The surface of Mars is very cold.
– There is some evidence that water once flowed
over the surface of Mars.
Our Solar System
• The Outer Planets
– Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
• The outer planets are large and made mostly of gas.
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Our Solar System
• Jupiter (5th planet from the Sun)
– Largest planet in our solar system.
– Its outer layer are made up of swirling gases.
– Jupiter’s atmosphere is very colorful and it has an are
called the Great Red Spot.
• This spot is a storm that has been raging from hundreds of
years and is three times larger than Earth in diameter.
– A second red spot, about half the size of the Great Red
Spot, has recently formed as well.
– Jupiter also has thin dark rings that are not easily
observed.
Our Solar System
• Saturn (6th planet from the Sun)
– The second largest planet in our solar system.
– Saturn is made up of swirling gases.
– Saturn is best known for its large system of rings,
each made up of countless tiny bits of ice and
rock.
Our Solar System
• Uranus (7th planet from the Sun)
– Has an atmosphere that includes green gases and
frozen water.
– It has rings, but far fewer than Saturn.
– The axis of Uranus is so tilted that the planet
rotates on its side!
Our Solar System
• Neptune (farthest (8th)planet away from the
Sun)
– It is similar to Uranus except that is does not have
as much of a ring system and does not rotate on
its side.
Our Solar System
• Dwarf Planets
– In the summer of 2006, astronomers reclassified
Pluto and some other bodies in our solar system
as dwarf planets.
– Pluto is small and rocky, and it has much in
common with comets.
– The smallest dwarf planet in our solar system is
Ceres. It is located in the asteroid belt.
Our Solar System
• The Asteroid Belt
– Asteroids are large chunks of metal or rock that
orbit the sun in a belt, or region of the solar
system.
– There are thousands of them.
– Most are found between planets Mars and Jupiter.
Our Solar System
Asteroid impact to the Earth
About 9 football fields
Our Solar System
• Trick to help you remember the order of the
planets in our solar system.
My Very Eccentric Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas
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Our Solar System
Video
Solar System Exploration
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/science/spacesci/exploration/voyager-sci.html