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Chapter Introduction
Lesson 1 The Structure of
the Solar System
Lesson 2 The Inner Planets
Lesson 3 The Outer Planets
NASA/JPL/USGS
Lesson 4 Dwarf Planets and Other
Objects
Chapter Wrap-Up
The Outer Planets
• How are the outer planets similar?
• What are the outer planets made of?
The Gas Giants
• The outer planets, also known as the gas
giants, are primarily made of hydrogen
and helium.
• The outer planets are extremely
massive. They apply strong gravitational
forces.
• The interiors of the outer planets are
mainly liquid.
• These gas giants generally have gas and
liquid layers around a small solid core.
The outer planets are large compared to
the inner planets. The size of Earth is
shown for reference.
Earth: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jupiter: NASA/JPL/USGS
Saturn: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Acknowledgment: R.G. French (Wellesley College), J. Cuzzi (NASA/Ames), L. Dones (SwRI), and J.
Uranus, Neptune: NASA/JPL
• Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar
system.
• Jupiter has a diameter 11 times larger
than the diameter of Earth.
Jupiter
• Jupiter’s atmosphere is about 90 percent
hydrogen and 10 percent helium.
• The planet itself is about 80 percent
hydrogen and 20 percent helium.
• Jupiter is a ball of gas swirling around a
thick liquid layer that conceals a solid
core. Scientists are not certain what
makes up the core.
Jupiter (cont.)
• Jupiter has at least 63 moons, more than
any other planet.
• The four largest moons of Jupiter—
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—
are known as the Galilean moons.
• The Galilean moons are made of rock
and ice.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun.
It rotates rapidly and has horizontal bands
of clouds.
Saturn
• Saturn is mostly hydrogen and helium.
• Saturn has an outer gas layer, a thick
layer of liquid hydrogen, and a solid core.
• Saturn has seven bands of rings, each
containing thousands of narrower ringlets.
Saturn has at least 60 moons. Titan is
the only moon in the solar system with
a dense atmosphere.
Cassini, Rhea, Iapetus, Dione, Tethys: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Saturn (cont.)
titan
from Green titan, means “member
of a mythological race of giants”
NASA/ESA and Erich Karkoschka, University of Arizona
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun,
with a system of narrow, dark rings and a
diameter about four times that of Earth.
Uranus
• Uranus has a deep atmosphere
composed mostly of hydrogen and
helium and a small amount of methane.
• Beneath Uranus’s atmosphere is a thick,
slushy layer of water, ammonia, and
other materials.
• Uranus has a tilted axis or rotation that
might have been caused by a collision
with an Earth-sized object.
Uranus (cont.)
Uranus has at least 27 moons.
Like Uranus, Neptune’s atmosphere is
mostly hydrogen and helium, with a trace
of methane.
NASA/JPL
Neptune
• Neptune’s interior is also like Uranus’s,
made of partially frozen water and
ammonia with a rock and iron core.
• Neptune has at least 13 moons and a
faint, dark ring system.
• All of the outer planets are primarily
made of materials that are gases on
Earth. Colorful clouds of gas cover
Saturn and Jupiter.
Earth: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jupiter: NASA/JPL/USGS
Saturn: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Acknowledgment: R.G. French (Wellesley College), J. Cuzzi (NASA/Ames), L. Dones (SwRI), and J.
Uranus, Neptune: NASA/JPL
• Jupiter is the largest
outer planet. Its four
largest moons are
known as the
Galilean moons.
NASA/JPL/USGS
• Uranus has an
unusual tilt, possibly
due to a collision
with a large object.
NASA/ESA and Erich Karkoschka, University of Arizona
The outer planets are primarily
made of what?
A. oxygen
B. methane
C. hydrogen and helium
D. carbon dioxide
What are Jupiter’s Galilean
moons made of?
A. rock and ice
B. hydrogen and helium
C. gas
D. carbon dioxide
Which planet is the seventh from
the Sun and has a system of
narrow, dark rings?
A. Jupiter
B. Neptune
C. Saturn
D. Uranus
Do you agree or disagree?
5. The outer planets also are called the
gas giants.
6. The atmospheres of Saturn and Jupiter
are mainly water vapor.