The document provides an overview of the solar system, detailing its structure, the planets, their characteristics, and significant astronomical phenomena. It covers the sun, planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as the asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, and Oort cloud. Additionally, it mentions notable celestial events and discoveries related to comets and interstellar objects.

1. The Solar
System
First created 21 July 2021. Version 1.0 26 Sep 2021. Daperro. London.
Our Home in the Universe

2. Our Location
The Solar System is located between the two arms called the Orion-Cygnus arm. We are located about 25,000 light-years to
the Galactic centre and also about 25,000 light-years from the edge of our galaxy. It takes 250million years for our Sun to
complete one rotation around the Milky Way (a Galactic Year).
We are here
Our neighbourhood.
Milky Galaxy

3. Sun’s Surface
A quiet sun, with no prominence and Flare. Our Sun is a star, where hydrogen atoms are crushed in helium due to
its weight. As a result, it produces an enormous amount of energy.

4. Solar Storm

5. Mercury
Left - false colours scan of surface materials on Mercury. Right – as appear on telescope.
It is the smallest of the planets and closest to the Sun. Two spacecraft visited Mercury in 1974 and 1975.
Temperature Day 430C, Night -180C

6. Venus
Radar landscape of Venus. NASA.
Venus as appears through a telescope. The planet is
covered with thick clouds of carbon and sulphur dioxide.

7. Venus Landing
The surface of Venus taken in 1982
by the Russian probe landed on
Venus. The tremendous heat and
the pressure on Venus, soon
destroyed the camera after the
photo was taken.

8. Earth
The only place in the universe that we know has life.

9. Earth Rotation
The Earth axis is tilted by 23.4 degree due to
an impact, with another planet in its history.
when the Moon was created.
The tilted axis also gives us seasons, which is
not possible if the axis is not titled.

10. According to one theory, the Earth collided with a Mars-size object in 4.5 billion years ago. This can explain why our Moon is
so big compare to the size of Earth. It also explain why the Earth axis is tilted, giving us seasons.
Man on Moon
Earth-Moon System
Full Moon

11. Moon Landings
A total of twelve men have landed on the Moon, during a 41 month period from 20 July 1969.

12. Mars and Moon
Mars
Phobos
Deimos Mars has two small moons.

13. Martian Landscape

14. Mars. ‘Face’ Mountain

15. Asteroid Belt
Between the inner rocky inner planets and the huge outer gaseous planets is a belt of tiny rocky planets. These are known as
the Asteroids. These asteroids spread out to form the Asteroid Belt.
Artist Impression of 16 Psyche,
an asteroid discovered in 1852
by the Italian astronomer
Annibale de Gasparis. One of
the most massive asteroids.
This is what it looks in
the telescope..

16. Jupiter Regions

17. In recent we have sent many probe to Jupiter. We have learn a more on the polar region of Jupiter.
Jupiter Aurora

18. Jupiter Polar Region
Polar storms

19. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

20. Jupiter’s Largest Moons

21. Jupiter Io
Each Io eruption would deposit about 10,000 tons of
sulphur onto the moon surface. Thus Io probably has
the youngest surface in the solar system.
Io is the inner most of the Galilean moons. It has a crust of solid
sulphur of 12 miles thick. The interior of the moon is a sea of
liquid sulphur. It is thought that the tidal effect of Jupiter on Io
could be as high as 60 miles.

22. Saturn
Saturn
Because of its ring and many moons. We have sent two flybys and the
Cassini Huygens space probe to Saturn.

23. Saturn’s ring in ultra violet light.
Saturn’s Ring

24. Titan is the second largest moon in the Solar
System. It has a radius about 1600 miles (2575 km),
making it larger than Earth’s moon, which has a
radius of 1080 miles. Unusually, it has an
atmosphere and also a pools of liquid on its surface.
Saturn’s Moon
Saturn has a total of 82 moons, but only 53
moons are named.

25. Titan Moon
The landscape of Titan, as space probe descending to its surface.
Landing Area

26. Uranus
Above is the image of Uranus we used to
know. On the left is one taken by the Hubble
telescope in orbit around the Earth. You can
see how much the axis of Uranus is tilted.
This suggest some big event in past of
Uranus, when the planet was knock off its
previous position.
Axis
Axis

27. Uranus’ Moons
Miranda is the most scared moon in the whole of
the Solar System.
Six of the major moons of Uranus, taken on 24 Jan 1986.

28. Neptune

29. Pluto

30. Kuiper Belt
Beyond the of Neptune (Orange circle above) is a region called the Kuiper Belt, which is made up of small objects or
remnants of asteroid-like bodies, orbiting around the Sun.

31. Kuiper Belt Object
Ultima Thule is such an object on the Keiper. It is about 36 Km long (22 miles) across. From the diagram above, we can
see that Ultima Thule is comprised of even older collisions before Ultima and Thule came together.
Nicknamed Snowman
Thule Ultima
Discovered on 1 Jan
2019 by the New
Horizons space probe
on its fly-by to the
outter region of the
Solar System.

32. Oort Cloud
Beyond the Kuiper Belt, is the Oort Cloud that make up the outer-most region of the Solar System. The Oort Cloud was first
proposed in 1950. It is made up of a disc-shaped inner Oort cloud and a spherical outer Oort cloud. It is populated mainly by
icy objects. It is the region where comets originate. The Oort cloud is a huge volume of space from 0.03 to 3.2 light years.

33. Comet Neowise discovered in 27 March 2020. It will return to the inner Solar System some time between 4400 and 6700
years in the future. The comet’s tail is visible when it approaches the inner Solar System. Volatile material on the comet
evaporates, as it heated by the Sun. The comet’s tail is also pointing away from the Sun.
Comet

34. Halley Comet
Taken in 1910
Taken in 1986
Comets originate in the Solar
System, but with a highly
elliptical orbit. So after many
years later it will return to
the inner Solar System again.

35. Landing on a Comet
On 12 Nov 2014 the space probe Rosetta launched lander Philae on the comet 67P/Chunyumov-Gerasimenko by
European Space Agency. Unfortunately Philae battery power ran out two days later (It was landed on a shadow of a
cliff). On Sep 2016 Rosetta end the mission by hard-landing on the comet. It was found the water vapour on the comet
is different from the water on Earth.
The comet is approximately 4.3 by 4.1 km.

36. Sedna Planetoid (Dward Planet)
Sedna was discovered in 2003 with a highly
elliptical orbit. It is 1200 to 1600 km (1000 miles)
in diameter. It is classified as a planetoid. Its
surface composition is mixture of water, methan
and nitrogen ice with thlins.

37. An object from the Oort Cloud
Oort Cloud Object

38. Major Moons and Asteroids

39. Interstellar Object
The Main Market Square and the Council House, Nottingham.
Artist impression of Oumuamua, a possible interstellar object. It was discovered in 19 Oct 2017 with speed of 92,000
km/h., It was travelling on a hyperbolic orbit.

40. Music – Strauss Blue Danube Waltz
The Hubble space telescope (since 1990) will be replaced by the James Webb Telescope in November 2021
The
End

41. Science Art History