Download Where is our solar system located?

What makes up our solar system?
Where is our solar system
located?
• In the Milky Way Galaxy about 2/3 of the
way down on one of the arms
• 1 star-Our Sun
What were the earlier views of the
solar system?
• Geocentric vs. Heliocentric
Geocentric
• “Earth Centered Model”
• Aristotle & Ptolemy believed that Earth
was the center of the system of the
planets
• They thought everything revolved around
us!
Heliocentric
• “Sun-Centered System”
• Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the idea of
that the sun was the center of the system
• Galileo (100 years later) agreed with
Copernicus’ idea
– Discovered Venus went through phases like
our moon
– Discovered Jupiter’s moons revolved around
it & not the Earth
What keeps the planets in motion?
• Gravity: attractive force between two
objects
• Inertia: tendency of an object to in
motion/at rest to remain in motion/at rest
until acted upon by an outside force
• Discovered by Issac Newton
What is an ellipse?
• Ellipse: elongated circle or oval shaped
• Johannes Kepler discovered that the
planets had elliptical orbits not round!
What is a rotation & orbital
period?
• Rotation period describes the time it takes
the planet to spin around 1 time on its axis
• Orbital period describes the time it takes
the planet to revolve around the Sun 1
time
Inner Planets
•
•
•
•
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
What do all of these planets
have in common?
• Small
• Rocky
• Orbit paths are close together
Mercury
•
•
•
•
1st planet
36 million miles from the Sun
58 days rotation period
88 days orbital period
Mercury Fun Facts
•
•
•
•
Looks like “Our Moon”
No atmosphere
Extreme temperatures
700°F(Day) & -300°F(Night)
Mercury SUPER Fact
• Fastest orbiting planet at 29 miles per
second
Venus
•
•
•
•
2nd planet
67 million miles from the Sun
243 days rotation period
224 days orbital period
Venus Fun Facts
• Called “Earth’s Twin” or our sister planet
• Thick CO2 cloud covers the planet
• Hottest Planet at 900°F
Venus SUPER Fact
• Has Retrograde Rotation-spins backwards
on its axis
Earth
•
•
•
•
3rd Planet
98 million miles from the Sun
24 hours rotation period
365 days orbital period
Earth Fun Facts
•
•
•
•
Ongoing plate tectonics
Oxygen rich atmosphere
Oceans of water
1 moon
Earth SUPER Fact
• Variety of living things
Mars
•
•
•
•
4th planet
142 million miles from the Sun
24 hours rotational period
687 days orbital period
Mars Fun Facts
• Called the “Red Planet” due to the iron in
its surface
• Polar ice caps
• 2 moons-Phobos & Deimos
Mars SUPER Fact
• Surface is marked with its own “grand
canyon”
• Largest volcano in the solar system”Olympus Mons” towering at 17 miles
above the surface
Outer Planets
•
•
•
•
•
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
What do the “First Four” outer
planets have in common?
• Large
• Have Rings
• Gaseous-75% Hydrogen & 24% Helium
What about Pluto?
• Pluto is much more like the 4 inner planets
• Some speculate that it may have been one
of Neptune’s moon at one time
Jupiter
•
•
•
•
5th planet
484 million miles from the Sun
10 hours rotational period
11 years orbital period
Jupiter Fun Facts
•
•
•
•
Largest Planet
Dark narrow rings
63 moons
4 largest moons-Io, Europa, Ganymede,
Callisto
Jupiter SUPER Fact
• “Great Red Spot” that is an ongoing storm
much like a hurricane
Saturn
•
•
•
•
6th planet
888 million miles from the Sun
10 hours rotational period
30 years orbital period
Saturn Fun Facts
• Called the “Ringed Planet”
• Rings measure 600,000 miles from edge
to edge
• Rings are made from ice & rocks
• 60 moons
• Titan is the largest-larger than Mercury
Saturn SUPER Fact
• It floats! It’s density is actually lower than
water! If we could place Saturn in
water…it would float!
Uranus
•
•
•
•
7th planet
1.8 billion miles from the Sun
17 hours rotation period
84 years orbital period
Uranus Fun Facts
• Blue in color…due to the methane in the
atmosphere
• 20+ moons
• Has Rings
Uranus SUPER Fact
• Rotates from top to bottom…on its side!
Neptune
•
•
•
•
8th planet
2.8 billion miles from the Sun
18 hours rotational period
165 years orbital period
Neptune Fun Facts
• “Blue Planet”due to the methane in the
atmosphere
• 13 moons
• Largest moon-Triton
Neptune SUPER Fact
• “Great Dark Spot”…ongoing storm
Pluto
•
•
•
•
Recently demoted to “Dwarf Planet” status
2.9 billion-4.6 billion miles from the Sun
6 days rotational period
248 years orbital period
Pluto Fun Facts
• Made of rock & ice
• Thin methane atmosphere
• 1 moon-Charon
Pluto SUPER Fact
• It has an unusual orbit…it sometimes
crosses Neptune’s orbit
What other objects are floating
around the solar system?
• Comets
• Asteroids
• Meteoroids
Comet Fun Facts
• “Dirty Snowball”
• Made of dust & ice…as it passes the Sun,
the ice turns into gas
• Have long, narrow, elliptical orbits
• Rarely pass by Earth
• Can only be seen briefly
Comet SUPER Fact
•
•
•
•
Halley’s Comet
Discovered by Edmond Halley in 1705
Orbits Earth every 76 years
1986 was the last time it appeared in the
sky
Asteroid Fun Facts
• Small objects that orbit the Sun between
Mars & Jupiter
• Over 10,000 have been discovered
• Some are over 250km across
Asteroid SUPER Fact
• Asteroid Belt
Meteoroid
• Chunks of rock & dust that comes from a
comet or asteroid
What are meteors &
meteorites?
• Meteor: is a meteoroid that burns up in
Earth’s atmosphere producing a streak of
light
• Meteorite: is a large meteoroid that did not
burn in Earth’s atmosphere & hit the
surface