Download Solar System - CW Perry School

KIDS LEARNING SOLAR SYSTEM
Solar System:
Our solar neighborhood is an exciting place. The Solar System is full of
planets, moons, asteroids, comets, minor planets, and many other exciting
objects. Learn about Io, the explosive moon that orbits the planet Jupiter, or
explore the gigantic canyons and deserts on Mars.
What Is The Solar System?
The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition
to planets, the Solar System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor
planets, and dust and gas.
Everything in the Solar System orbits or revolves around the Sun. The Sun
contains around 98% of all the material in the Solar System. The larger an
object is, the more gravity it has. Because the Sun is so large, its powerful
gravity attracts all the other objects in the Solar System towards it. At the
same time, these objects, which are moving very rapidly, try to fly away from
the Sun, outward into the emptiness of outer space. The result of the planets
trying to fly away, at the same time that the Sun is trying to pull them inward is
that they become trapped half-way in between. Balanced between flying
towards the Sun, and escaping into space, they spend eternity orbiting around
their parent star.
How Did the Solar System form?
This is an important question, and one that is difficult for scientists to
understand. After all, the creation of our Solar System took place billions of
years before there were any people around to witness it. Our own evolution is
tied closely to the evolution of the Solar System. Thus, without understanding
from where the Solar System came from, it is difficult to comprehend how
mankind came to be.
Scientists believe that the Solar System evolved from a giant cloud of dust
and gas. They believe that this dust and gas began to collapse under the
weight of its own gravity. As it did so, the matter in this could begin moving in
a giant circle, much like the water in a drain moves around the center of the
drain in a circle.
At the center of this spinning cloud, a small star begin to form. This star grew
larger and larger, as it collected more of the dust and gas that were collapsing
into it.
Further away from the star that was forming in the center were smaller clumps
of dust and gas that were also collapsing. The star in the center eventually
ignited forming our Sun, while the smaller clumps became the planets, minor
planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.
Solar System Facts:
Each page is full of fun and exciting facts about our Solar System. Take your
time, and enjoy exploring our solar family.
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/solar_system.htm
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KIDS LEARNING SOLAR SYSTEM
The Earth's Moon
Luna is a beautiful world that lies some 384,400 kilometers from Earth. It is
littered with mountains, valleys, old volcano sites, and many bowl like holes
called Craters. Luna is a neat world to explore because you can see it without
any telescope, or binoculars. I know you have seen it, in fact you may even
see it tonight that is because Luna is our moon.
OKAY! Let's start here...
So you're asking, what is ASTRONOMY? Well... Here's our best definition.
Astronomy is the study of SPACE and the changes that take place in and
around all objects moving through space. It's more than just Earth and our
Solar System. The study of astronomy covers every planet, object, and bit of
energy flowing through the universe.
So where did the word cosmos come from? It's actually a Greek word that
describes an orderly and interconnected universe. Astronomy is the study of
that universe and as you learn more, you will discover how each part is
connected to the others.
But where do you start? There are moons, planets, stars, systems, and
galaxies. We'll start with the big picture and a general overview of the
universe. Go take a look!
A SOLAR SYSTEM FROM DUST
Our system of one star and eight planets was born about 4.6 billion years ago.
All of the pieces were created at the same time. But wait! It wasn't a big
"POOF!" and everything was here. It took billions of years for the entire
system to develop. All of the gases, dust, and pieces of the system were
around at the start. Eventually a star, eight planets, some smaller dwarf
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KIDS LEARNING SOLAR SYSTEM
planets (like Pluto), and an asteroid belt developed. There wasn't even a star
when the Solar System started out.
START WITH A STAR
The system began as a spinning blob of gases. As the blob spun for millions
and millions of years, it began to flatten. It probably looked like that shape for
a flying saucer. It was a round, flattened disk with a bulge in the middle. That
bulge was the beginning of the Sun. Scientists call that "baby" sun a protosun.
The last step for the Sun was the magic that ignited it and caused it to shine.
Do you remember that dust and gas swirling around that didn't become the
Sun? The disk flattened even more and the planets began to develop.
PLANETS FROM THE PIECES
Eight planets developed and now orbit the Sun. As you move away from the
Sun, you will first find four planets, then a group of small asteroids, and four
large Jovian planets. There are also objects called dwarf planets that include
bodies such as Pluto and Charon. In the past few years, astronomers have
started to discover smaller objects beyond Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. The
distance from the Sun to the Earth is considered "1" (scientists call that
distance an astronomical unit).The average distance to Pluto from the Sun is
39.5. The Voyager probes launched decades ago are just now reaching the
outer edges of our Solar System. That edge, called the heliopause, is far
beyond the orbit of Pluto.
SOLIDS AND GASES
As the planets developed, two types began to emerge. In our system, we
have planets that are mainly made of rock and those that are mainly made of
gases. The official names are terrestrial (rocklike) and Jovian (those with
gases). Of the eight planets in our system, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
are the terrestrial planets. The Jovian planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune. The Jovian planets are all much larger and have a lower density
when compared to terrestrial planets. Astronomers have recently decided that
there are objects in the Universe that are larger that asteroids and comets, but
smaller than real planets. These dwarf planets also orbit the Sun and include
Pluto, Charon, and others discovered in the Kuiper Belt. You may also hear
the term trans-Neptunian objects used to describe those distant dwarf planets.
MORE THAN PLANETS
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If you finished the main Solar System section, you now understand that our
system has one star and nine accepted planets. Given that basic information,
we want to let you know that there is much more in our little system than
those ten objects.
WHAT YOU CAN SEE
Sure, you can see a planet. They are tough to miss. As you continue
exploring, you will find moons around almost every planet. While the Earth
only has one, other planets have more than twenty moons. You also know
that you can see rings made of small pieces of dust and ice that circle Saturn
and other gas giants.
As you look for smaller objects in the system, you will find a field of asteroids
in orbit around the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. There are also stray
asteroids flying through the Solar System. Comets are also found orbiting the
Sun. The amazing thing is that there may still be other objects in our Solar
System. That's one of the exciting things about astronomy... There are still
millions of things to discover in the universe.
WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE
There are also many things we can't see in the Solar System. There are small
particles and energies swirling throughout the system. Many of these unseen
energies are created by the Sun. We have a heliosphere that surrounds our
entire system and Voyager has just reached the heliopause (the edge). The
Sun also gives off small particles called the solar wind, light, and various
types of radiation. While Earth needs to be protected from some of these
forces, the energy that creates the heliosphere is protecting every object in
our system.
STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
What is a galaxy without thousands of stars? A vacuum. Those thousands of
stars grouped together form the galaxies you can see with a telescope. Stars
are the objects that heat and light the planets in a system. Everything revolves
around stars. Thousands of stars cover our galaxy and when you look at our
star, the Sun, you will see it is quite small. Throughout the universe, there are
big ones, small ones, and different colored ones. We're going to discuss the
way scientists study stars and how stars affect the planets that orbit them.
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WHAT MAKES A STAR?
So you're out one night and you look up into the sky. Assuming you aren't in a
city with tons of smog or clouds, you will probably see a sky filled with little
dots of light. Those dots (this should not be a surprise) are stars. Some are
only a few hundred light years away and some are thousands of light years
away. They all have some things in common. You see, stars are huge balls of
fire. They aren't just any fire. That fire is from a constant number of nuclear
reactions.
LIGHTING THE WAY
Not all stars have solar systems spinning around them. Some stars are just
sitting out in the middle of nowhere. Some stars have a companion star
nearby, kind of like a twin. When you have a twin, astronomers call you a
binary star.
A star is a huge ball of plasma, usually made of hydrogen (H) and helium
(He). That ball of fire also gives off light. All kinds of light. There are visible,
infrared, ultraviolet, and X-rays constantly emitted into space. You may find
planets that are almost identical to the makeup of stars, like Jupiter, but
something has not ignited their nuclear reaction.
Mercury
Venus
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Earth
KIDS LEARNING SOLAR SYSTEM
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/our_solar_system/solar_system.html
The Solar System
The solar system is made up of
the Sun, the 9 planets and their
169 known moons, asteroids,
comets, dust and gas. The
planets, asteroids, and comets
travel around the Sun, the center
of our solar system.
Most of the bodies in the solar
system travel around the Sun
along nearly circular paths or
orbits, and all the planets travel
about the Sun in the
anticlockwise direction (when
viewed from above).
Click on image for full size version
(15K)
other bodies of the solar system.
Solar system formation began
billions of years ago, when gases
and dust began to come together
to form the Sun, planets, and
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