Download AIM: What is the Solar System?

AIM: What is the Solar System?
• Do Now:
Do Now: What major
characteristic must a planet
have in order to be part of
our solar system?
I. The Sun
• largest mass in the solar system.
• all objects revolve around the sun.
• light takes 8 min to travel to Earth.
• Fusion powers the sun by turning Hydrogen into
Helium which releases large amounts of Energy.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen
II. Planets
How are they different?
• Size and Solar System
Position are the most obvious
differences.
What are they made of?
• Terrestrial – small and rocky
• Jovian – large and mostly gas
•
-
Terrestrial Planets (Earth-like):
Rocky planets.
Smallest diameters.
Smallest masses
Mars:
Venus:
Mercury:
Mars:
Earth:
• can be commonly seen from Earth
•••covered
by thick
clouds
inner
most
• intelligent
• known
life
as planet
the
forms?
Red Planet
••can
be seen in night sky
extremes
of
• only
•greatest
possibilities
knowntemperature
planet
of water
with flowing
on Mars,
water
or any
once
•planet
known
on Mars
as(drainage
Earth’s sister
patterns
planet
in due
crust,
to
similar
evaporate
size minerals)
• Jovian Planets:
- Mostly gaseous planets
- Largest Diameters
- Largest masses
Jupiter:
Neptune:
• Red Spot is a giant cyclonic
Uranus:
• Cirrus clouds visible in
storm.
atmosphere
• rotation
is parallel to its
• Bands
are multi colored clouds
orbit,
tilted
• 13not
known
moons, Triton
•being
•Prominent
28makes
known
the largest
moons
• this
it features
appear (toIO,
rollEuropa,
include
Ganymede
the
and Callisto
of
are the
instead
spinRings
• Darkofspot
is thought to
Saturn
four largest moons)
be a storm
• Has 31 orbiting moons
Saturn:
• Titan is its largest moon
You do not Need to memorize
anything about the Planets.
Page 15 of ESRT
Diameter equals the full
distance across a circle,
in this case a planets
equator.
The RADIUS is half that
distance.
Thus…
Radius = ½ Diameter
III. Other Solar System Objects
•Comets: pieces of rock held
together by frozen gasses.
Tail always points away from
the sun. Most eccentric orbits.
•Asteroids and Meteoroids: found in an
orbit between Mars and Jupiter, these
rocks can be as big as 1000 Km and as
small as a grain of sand.
What do these
objects have in
common with our
planet?
• Meteorite: are meteoroids that
reach Earth’s surface. Their
impact creates a crater.
Pluto
Do not Copy
The debate came to a head in 2006
with an IAU resolution that created
• Pluto fails to meet the third
an official definition for the term
condition, since its mass was
"planet". According to this
only 0.07 times that of the
resolution, there are three main
mass of the other objects in
conditions for an object to be
its orbit.
considered a 'planet':
• • The
The IAU
object
further
mustresolved
be in orbit around
that
the Pluto
Sun. be classified in the
• simultaneously
The object must
created
be massive
dwarf
planet
enough
category,
to be a sphere
and thatby
it its own
act
gravitational
as prototype
force.
for aMore
yet-tobe-named
specifically,
category
its ownofgravity
trans- should
Neptunian
pull it intoobjects
a shape of hydrostatic
equilibrium.
• It must have cleared the
neighborhood around its orbit.[97]