Download Power Point - Solar System

Our Solar System
Sun Facts
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Diameter: ~870,000 miles
Rotation: 25-36 days
Temperature:
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Sunspots 6,700F
Surface 10,000F
Core 27,000,000F
Facts
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Contains ~98% of our Solar System’s mass
Could hold 1.3 million Earths
Fusion of hydrogen atoms produces light & heat
Sun
Planet
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A large body orbiting a central star.
‘Planetes’ is the Greek word for wanderer.
New International Astronomical Union (IAU)
Definition
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A planet is a celestial body that
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Is in orbit around the Sun,
Is nearly round,
Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and
Is not a satellite (moon).
Examples
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, &
Neptune
Other Bodies
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Dwarf Planet is a celestial body that
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Is in orbit around the Sun,
Is nearly round in shape,
Has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,
And is not a satellite.
Examples – Ceres, Pluto, & Eris (2003 UB 313)
Small Solar System Bodies
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All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun.
Examples – Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, Kuiper
Belt Objects etc.
Inner Planets
 Mercury,
Venus, Earth, & Mars
 Also known as the “Terrestrial
Planets”
 Tend to be smaller, denser, &
rockier.
Inner Planets
Mercury Data
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Distance from the Sun: 36 million miles
Diameter: ~3,000 miles
Temperature: -280F to 800F
Moons: zero
Facts:
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No atmosphere
Craters & Cliffs
Rotation perpendicular to its orbital path
Mercury
Venus Data
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Distance from the Sun: 67 million miles
Diameter: ~7,500 miles
Temperature: 900 F (greenhouse effect)
Moons: zero
Facts:
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Rotates from east to west
A day is longer than a year!
CO2 atmosphere & sulfuric acid clouds
Craters & Volcanic Rock
Venus
Earth Data
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Distance from the Sun: 93 million miles
Diameter: ~8,000miles
Temperature: -128F to 140F
Moons: One
Facts:
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Life!
Water in all 3 States
Atmosphere (Nitrogen, Oxygen, & other
gases)
Earth
Mars Data
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Distance from the Sun: 142 million miles
Diameter: ~4,200 miles
Temperature: -184F to 59F
Moons: 2
Facts:
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Atmosphere (CO2 & other gases)
Polar Ice Caps (frozen CO2)
Olympus Mons (largest volcano)
Mars
Asteroid Belt
Asteroid Facts
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Rocky, Metallic objects
Orbit the sun in a “belt”
Known as “minor planets”
Range in size
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From pebbles to
Ceres formerly considered an asteroid has been
reclassified as a “Dwarf Planet” (~600 miles)
Theories
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Remains of a destroyed planet
Planet never formed
Asteroids
Meteoroids
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Small bodies that travel through SPACE.
Nasa.gov
Meteors
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Meteors which enter earth’s atmosphere
and burn up.
Nasa.gov
Meteorites
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If meteor does not completely vaporize, it
lands on earth as a meteorite.
Barringer Meteorite Crater
Outer Planets
 Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, &
Neptune
 Also known as “Gas Giants” or
the “Jovian Planets”
 Tend to be much larger & most
are made up of gases.
Jupiter Data
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Distance from the Sun: 484 million miles
Diameter: ~89,000 miles
Temperature:
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Surface -163F
Core 54,000F
Moons: 63
Facts:
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Largest Planet
Faint Ring System
Atmospheric Clouds & Storms (Red Spot)
Jupiter
Saturn Data
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Distance from the Sun:
886 million miles
Diameter: ~74,000 miles
Temperature:
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Surface -219F
Core 27,000F
Moons: 58
Facts:
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Flat at the poles
Less dense than water
Ring System
Saturn
Uranus Data
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Distance from the Sun: 1.8 billion miles
Diameter: ~32,000 miles
Temperature: -330F
Moons: at least 22
Facts:
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Gaseous Planet (H, He, Methane)
Bluish Color
Orbits on its Side
Faint Ring System
Uranus
Neptune Data
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Distance from the Sun: 2.8 billion miles
Diameter: ~30,000 miles
Temperature: -330F
Moons: 8
Facts:
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Great dark spot
Strongest winds in the solar system (1,200mph)
Orbital path crosses Pluto’s
Faint rings made of dust particles
Composed of H, He, & Methane & a core of molten
rock
Neptune
Pluto Data
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Distance from the Sun: ~4 billion miles
Diameter: ~1,400 miles
Temperature: -390F
Moons: 3 – Charon, Hydra, Nix
Facts:
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Thin atmosphere freezes & falls to the surface
Orbits almost on its side
Orbital path crosses Neptune’s
Newly defined as a “Dwarf Planet”
Dwarf Planet Pluto
Orbits of Pluto &
Eris (aka 2003 UB 313)
Kuiper Belt
Kuiper Belt
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Disk-shaped region past the orbit of Neptune
Contains icy “Small Solar System Objects” &
“Dwarf Planets” that orbit the Sun
Contains over 35,000 objects over 100 km (62
miles) in diameter
Possibly where Short-Period Comets Originate
Orbits of Kuiper Belt Objects may be affected
by interactions with the Gas Giants
Examples – Pluto & Eris
Eris (2003 UB 313)
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Discovered: July-August, 2005
Distance: >8 billion miles
Diameter: At least as large as Pluto
Dwarf Planet
Eris
Comet Facts
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Small, fragile, irregularly shaped bodies
Made of ice, dust, and gases (“dirty
snowballs”)
Highly elliptical orbits around the sun
Coma – surrounding cloud which grows in
size & brightness as it approaches the
Sun (& melts)
Comets
Sedna
Sedna Data
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Distance from the Sun: ~12 billion miles
Diameter: 800-1,100 miles
Discovered in 2004
Facts:
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Moon?
Rocky?
Highly Elliptical Orbit (10,000 years to orbit
the Sun)
Sedna Size Comparison
View from Sedna
Oort Cloud
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In 1950, Jan Oort proposed that comets reside
in a vast could at the outer reaches of the solar
system.
No direct evidence of an Oort Cloud
Possibly where Long-Period Comets Originate
Possibly extends halfway to the next known star
Recent discoveries (such as Sedna) indicate
that the Oort Cloud might contain more objects
than originally thought
Pluto’s Other Satellites?
Centaurs
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Nine known “Small Solar System Objects,”
orbiting between Jupiter & Neptune
Unstable orbits
Thought to have been part of the Kuiper
Belt at one time
Examples
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Chiron & Pholus