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Structure & Formation of the Solar System • What is the Solar System? – The Sun and everything gravitationally bound to it. The planets to scale with a portion of the Sun visible in the background. • There is a certain order to the Solar System. • This gives us information on its formation. 1 Part 1: Structure of the Solar System • All the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction. • All the planets orbit within nearly the same plane. Like a disk. • Two type of planets – Solid, rocky, small planets close to the Sun (like Earth) – Gaseous, large planets far from the Sun (like Jupiter) 2 The Sun • The Sun is a star. • It is completely gaseous. • It emits light and heat through nuclear fusion in its core. • It is by far the largest object in the Solar System. 700 times more massive than all of the other objects in the Solar System put together. • It is composed mostly of Hydrogen and Helium gas and traces of many other elements. • The Sun spins on its axis counter-clockwise. 3 The Planets In order of increasing distance from the Sun: – Mercury – Venus – Earth – Mars – Jupiter – Saturn – Uranus – Neptune – Pluto 4 The Planets • All the planets orbit in the same direction counterclockwise as seen from above Earth’s North Pole. • All the planets spin counterclockwise too except for Venus, Uranus and Pluto. 5 The Inner or Terrestrial Planets • Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars share certain characteristics: – All are rocky bodies. – All have solid surfaces. – Except for Mercury all have at least a thin atmosphere • They are called Terrestrial planets because of their resemblance to Earth. 6 The Outer or Jovian Planets • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune share certain characteristics: – All are large, gaseous bodies. – All have very thick atmospheres, with possibly liquid interiors and solid cores – All have rings • They are called Jovian planets because of their resemblance to Jupiter. 7 Pluto • Pluto is unlike any of the terrestrial or jovian planets. – much farther from the Sun than the terrestrial planets. – much smaller than any jovian planet. – composition is thought to be a mixture of ice and rock • It is similar to some of the satellites of the jovian planets and similar to some asteroids. 8 Satellites (Moons) • Most of the planets have satellites. • Most of the satellites orbit in the equatorial plane of the planet. • Most satellites orbit counter-clockwise. Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa. • The jovian planets Four of Jupiter’s largest satellites. have more than a These were discovered by Galileo dozen satellites each. Galilei and together are called the Galilean satellites of Jupiter. 9 Comets and Asteroids • The Solar System is filled with millions of smaller bodies. • Comets - composed of ice and rock • Asteroids - composed of rock and/or metal • There is also dust in space which can be seen in meteor showers 10