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The Solar System
SUN
75% hydrogen and 25% helium by mass
Sun converts hydrogen to helium using nuclear
fusion in its core.
Differential rotation
– equator the surface rotates once every 25.4
days
– near the poles it's as much as 36 days
Core conditions
– temperature is 15.6 million Kelvin
– pressure is 250 billion atmospheres
The solar system consists of:
 The Sun
 Eight planets
 3+ "dwarf planets"
 130+ satellites (moons & rings)
 Small bodies ( comets and asteroids)
 Interplanetary medium (dust, gas, etc…)
Definitions
The IAU resolved in 2006 that planets and other bodies in our
Solar System, except satellites, be defined into three distinct
categories:
1) “Planet” -bodies that:
a. Orbit the Sun
b. Assume round shapes (hydrostatic equilibrium)
c. clear their neighborhood.
2) “Dwarf planet” -bodies that:
a. orbit the Sun
b. Assume round shapes (hydrostatic equilibrium)
c. have not cleared the neighborhood around their orbits.
3) “Small Solar System Bodies”
a) All other objects orbiting the Sun
Classifying Planets
The eight planets are classified in several ways:
by composition:
– terrestrial or rocky planets: Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars:
• The terrestrial planets are composed
primarily of rock and metal and have
relatively high densities, slow rotation, solid
surfaces, no rings and few satellites.
– jovian or gas planets: Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune:
• The gas planets are composed primarily of
hydrogen and helium and generally have
low densities, rapid rotation, deep
atmospheres, rings and lots of satellites.
Terrestrial planets (Interiors)
Jovian Planets (Interiors)
Classifying Planets (con’t)
By SIZE:
Terrestrial planets (Size)
Small planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.
diameters < 13000 km.
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jovian Planets (Size)
GIANTS: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
diameters > 48000 km.
Sometimes called gas giants.
Classifying Planets (con’t)
by position relative to the Sun:
• inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
• outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
• The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
forms the boundary between the inner solar
system and the outer solar system.
Terrestrial
planets
Terrestrial
planets
(Orbits)
Jovian Planets -Gas Giants (Orbits)
The Planets (Spin)
Terrestrial Bodies – Scaled Size
(Beyond Neptune’s Orbit)
Which one of these is from
Star Wars?