Download Warm-Up

Order of the Planets from the
Sun
• Acronym- My Very Educated Mother
Just Served Us Nachos.
• Planets- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Requirements to be Called a
Planet!
1. Round
2. Revolve around the sun
3. Orbit the sun in the same
plane/position as the other planets.
Mercury
• The closest planet to the sun
• Has the shortest revolution- 88 days
• The smallest planet
• No moon
Venus
• The hottest planet because it is so close
to the sun and has a thick atmosphere
to hold in energy- greenhouse effect
• Visited by the Russian probe Venera
• Covered in Volcanoes
Earth
• The living planet; the only planet we
know that has life
Mars
• Most similar to earth (in diameter,
mass, rotation and revolution,
temperature)
• Has 2 moons
• Has some water in the frozen ice caps
at its north and south poles
What separates Inner planets
(Terrestrial) from the outer
planets (Jovian)
• Asteroid belt just beyond Mars,
separates inner planets from outer
planets.
Jupiter
• The largest planet
• Has at least 17 moons and 4 rings
• Has the Great Red Spot: A calm area
surrounded by a stormy atmosphere
• Europa may have ocean beneath ice
surface.
Saturn
• The least dense planet- could float on
water because it is less dense than
water
• 24 moons
• Rings made of chunks of ice
• Has a huge system of rings around it
made of billions of chunks of ice & rock
Uranus
• Obits the sun on its side
• 20 moons
• Appears turquoise due to methane gas
Neptune
• The farthest planet from the sun
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The coldest planet
Has 8 moons and 4 rings
Has the longest revolution
Has Great Dark Spot (a massive storm)has vanished.
Planet Mini-Quiz!
1. Which planet is the most similar to
earth?
2. Which planet is made mostly of
methane gas?
3. Which planet can float on water?
4. Which planet is the hottest and why?
Solar System Debris
Comets & TNOs
• Comets- Dust particles in a mixture of
H2O, CO2, Methane, & Ammonia. “dirty
snowballs”
• Comets found in Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt
beyond Neptune as solid body called
nucleus.
• When a comet travels in orbit close to
sun (near Jupiter), it heats & solar wind
forms a Coma (tail-gas & dust).
Comets
• Halley’s Comet has a
orbital period of 76
years.
• Last visible from
Earth in 1986
Continued..
• TNOs- Trans Neptunian Objects.
• Large bodies up to several hundred
kilometers.
• Located in the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt.
Asteroids
• Solid, rock-like masses.
• Irregular shape.
• Believed to be leftover material from
solar system formation.
• Revolve around sun, most in circular
orbit in asteroid belt.
• Some have long elliptical orbits.
Continued…
• Perihelion- closest to sun
• Theory: an asteroid or comet collided with Earth,
causing dinosaur extinction 65 mya.
• Scientists are currently researching ways to prevent
collisions with Earth by diverting objects before they
reach Earth.
Asteroid pics
Meteors & Meteoroids
• Meteoroid- rock or icy fragment
traveling in space. Range of sizes.
• Meteor- light made by a meteoroid
passing through Earth’s atmosphere.
(shooting star)
• Meteor Shower- when Earth passes
through a comet’s tail & many particles
from tail burn up in Earth’s atmosphere
as meteors.
Meteor shower
Meteorites
• The part of a
meteoroid that
survives to strike
Earth’s surface.
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3 Types:
Stony (94%)
iron (5%)
stony-iron (1%)
Impact Craters
• Bowl-shaped
depressions made
by meteor/object
that strikes a
surface.
• About 150 known
impact craters on
Earth
• Arizona’s Barringer
Meteor Crater.
Assignment: Write down & answer the following
questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What happens to comets as they
approach the sun?
2. Where are most asteroids found?
3. Explain the difference between
meteoroid, meteor, & meteorite.
4. Most meteorites formed between 4.55 &
4.65 b.y.a., making them a little older
than the oldest moon rocks. Infer why
moon rocks are younger than most
meteorites.