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Solar system
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- 2. What’s in SolarSystem? • Our Solar System consists of a Central Star (The Sun), the 8 planets orbiting the sun. moons, asteroids, comets, meteors, interplanetary gas, dust, and all the “space" in between them. • The 8 planets of the Solar System are named for Greek and Roman Gods and Godesses.
- 3. The Order ofthe Planets Order of the Planets in are Solar system are: • Mercury • Venus • Earth • Mars • Jupiter • Saturn • Uranus • Neptune
- 4. The Inner &The Outer Planets An asteroid belt stretchers in-between Mars and Jupiter, separating the Solar System into two. The Inner planets are: • Mercury • Venus • Earth • Mars The Outer planets are: • Jupiter • Saturn • Uranus • Neptune
- 5. The Sun • Thesun’s energy comes from nuclear fusion (where hydrogen is converted to helium) within its core. This energy is released from the sun in the form of heat and light. • Remember: Star produce light. Planets reflect light. • A star’s temperature determines its “colour.” The coldest stars are red. The hottest stars are blue.
- 6. The 8 planetsof the Solar system • Planets are categorized according to composition and size. There are two mains categorized of planets: -small rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) -gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune)
- 7. The Mercury • Mercuryhas a revolution period of 88 days. Mercury has extreme temperature fluctuations, ranging from 800 °F (daytime) to -270 °F (night time). • Even though it is the closest planet to the sun, Scientists believe there is ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on Mercury! The ice is protected from the sun’s heat by crater shadows.
- 8. The Venus • Venusis the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon because its atmosphere reflects sunlight so well. People often mistake it for a star. • It’s maximum surface temperature may reach 900 °F. • Venus has no moons and takes 225 days to complete an orbit.
- 9. The Earth (OurPlanet) • Earth is the only planet known to support living organisms. • Earth’s surface is composed of 71% water -Water is necessary for life on Earth -The oceans help maintain Earth’s stable temperatures. Earth has one moon and an oxygen rich atmosphere.
- 10. Earth’s Moon • Ittakes the moon approximately 26 days to complete one rotation. The same side of the moon always faces us. • The moon’s surface is covered in dust and rocky debris from meteor impacts. It has no water or atmosphere. • The moon reflects light from the Sun onto the Earth’ surface.
- 11. The Mars • LikeEarth, Mars has ice caps at its poles. • Mars has the largest volcano in our Solar System: Olympus Mons. Olympus Mons is approximately15 miles high. • Mars appears red because of iron oxide, or rust, in its soil. • Mars has two moons and takes about two years to complete an orbit.
- 12. Characteristics of GasGiants • There are made up mostly of gases (primarily hydrogen and helium). • They are very light for their size. • The move quickly in space. • They have rings and many moons. • They have a diameter of less than 48,000 km.
- 13. The Jupiter • Jupiteris the largest most massive planet. • It’s diameter is 11 times bigger than of the Earth’s. • It takes about 12 years for Jupiter to orbit the sun. • Jupiter has 16 known moons.
- 14. The Saturn • Saturnis composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. • Saturn has many rings made of ice. Saturn’s rings are very wide. They extend outward to about 260,000 miles from the surface but are less than 1 mile thick. • Saturn has 18 known moons, some of which orbits inside the rings! • It takes Saturn about 30 years to orbit the Sun.
- 15. The Uranus • Uranusis blue in colour due to methane gas in its atmosphere. • Uranus has 11 dark rings surrounding it. • Uranus has 21 known moons and takes 84 years to complete one orbit.
- 16. The Neptune • Neptunehas fastest winds in the Solar System: up to 2,000 km/hr. • Neptune is also blue in colour due to methane gas in its atmosphere. • Neptune take 165 year to orbit the Sun and has 8 moons.
- 17. What is Comets? •Comets are large objects made of dust and ice that orbit the Sun. Best known for their long, streaming tails, these ancient objects are leftovers from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. What brings comets near Earth so we can see them? The gravity of a planet or star can pull comets from their homes in the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud. This tug can redirect a comet toward the Sun. The paths of these redirected comets look like long, stretched ovals. As the comet is pulled faster and faster toward the Sun, it swings around behind the Sun, then heads back toward where it came from. Some comets drive right into the Sun, never to be seen again. When the comet is in the inner solar system, either coming or going, that's when we may see it in our skies.
- 18. What is Asteroids? •Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. • There are lots of asteroids in our solar system. Most of them live in the main asteroid belt—a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. • Asteroids hang out in other places, too. For example, some asteroids are found in the orbital path of planets. This means that the asteroid and the planet follow the same path around the sun. Earth and a few other planets have asteroids like this.
- 19. What is Asteroid-Belt? •The asteroid belt is a region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where most of the asteroids in our Solar System are found orbiting the Sun. The asteroid belt probably contains millions of asteroids. Astronomers think that the asteroid belt is made up of material that was never able to form into a planet, or of the remains of a planet which broke apart a very long time ago. The asteroids in the asteroid belt come in a variety of sizes. Some are very small (less than a mile across), while others are quite large. The largest asteroid is called Ceres. It is about one- quarter the size of our moon. It is a dwarf planet.