Download Chapter 25.4, Outer Solar System

Outer Solar System
• Gas Giants:, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune
• Much bigger than terrestrial planets
• Composed mainly of hydrogen and helium
• Have small dense cores of metal and rock
• Consist mainly of liquid hydrogen and helium
• Surrounded by rings
Jupiter
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First planet beyond the asteroid belt
Large enough to hold 1300 Earth’s
Biggest planet in solar system
One day is less than 10 Earth hours
Has 67 moons (most famous is Europa)
Saturn
• 2nd largest planet in the solar system
• It’s rings are the largest and most visible from
Earth
• Has at least 62 moons
• Saturn’s moon Titan is larger than Mercury
(Has a thick atmosphere
Uranus
• Has a large amount of Methane, which gives
the planet a distinct blue-green appearance
• Has rings but the particles are dark like coal
and not reflective
• Has 27 moons
• The axis of rotation is tilted more than 90
degrees
Neptune
• Neptune takes 165 Earth years to rotate the
sun (60,190 Earth days)
• Has clear visible cloud patterns in the
atmosphere
• It’s bluish color comes from methane in the
atmosphere
• Has 13 moons
Pluto
• Discovered in 1930, been reclassified as a
dwarf planet
• It is much smaller and denser than the other
outer planets
• Made of ice and rock (Moon is named Charon)
• Has a tilted axis of more than 90 degrees