The document provides information about the components of our solar system, including the sun, terrestrial planets, asteroid belt, jovian planets, Kuiper belt, and Oort cloud. It describes each of the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) as well as their characteristics such as composition, density, atmosphere, size, moons, rotation, and temperature. It also describes the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn and ice giants Uranus and Neptune, including their moons. The sun is identified as being at the center of the solar system and providing energy for life on Earth through photosynthesis.
Mars One is planning a one-way mission in 2024 to colonize Mars with crews of four departing every two years. While Mars has similarities to Earth like polar ice caps and length of day, it poses challenges for human habitation including extreme cold, low atmospheric pressure, dust storms, and lack of liquid water. Long term, colonizing Mars could help ensure humanity's survival if Earth becomes uninhabitable when the expanding sun boils away our oceans in billions of years. However, establishing permanent settlements on Mars presents numerous technological and biological hurdles that must be overcome.
This document provides information about the Solar System for third graders. It includes definitions of key terms like orbit, star, and axis. It lists the order of the planets and provides 3 sentences each about Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Additional details are given about the Sun, Moon, and some recommended websites and videos for further learning.
Compare and Contrast Earth and Mars- 1st Formative TaskTatik R Sumarahati
Our Solar System contains the Sun and objects that orbit it, including 8 planets. The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Many planets have natural satellites (moons). The Sun is at the center and is made mostly of hydrogen and helium. The planets range greatly in size and composition. Smaller objects like asteroids, meteoroids, and comets also orbit the Sun.
An image of each planet will be visible on individual slides.
Each slide will also describe the general composition, size, motion and relative position of each planet in the solar system.
Additional slides of planetary satellites, comets, and asteroids will be included.
Hyperlinks to additional slides and web sites will provide supplemental information.
The document provides information about the planets in our solar system, beginning with an overview of the inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. It then provides more detailed descriptions of each planet, including how they were formed, their physical characteristics like composition, size, atmosphere, and weather. Key details are given about each planet's mass, diameter, distance from the sun, temperature, and when they were first observed.
The document provides an overview of the solar system and related astronomical concepts. It begins by establishing that humans live on Earth, which is part of the solar system along with the sun and eight planets. It then discusses the universe, astronomy, constellations like Ursa Major and Orion, the moon's phases, planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Neptune, and other bodies in the solar system such as asteroids, comets, and artificial satellites.
The document provides an overview of our solar system, explaining that it consists of the sun and nine planets orbiting it, along with satellites, asteroids, comets, and interplanetary medium. It describes the arrangement of planets in elliptical orbits around the sun, with the sun located at one focus of each elliptical orbit. The document also discusses scientific notation, units of measurement like light years, and various properties of planets like mass, density, composition, and how these differ between planets.
Mars One is planning a one-way mission in 2024 to colonize Mars with crews of four departing every two years. While Mars has similarities to Earth like polar ice caps and length of day, it poses challenges for human habitation including extreme cold, low atmospheric pressure, dust storms, and lack of liquid water. Long term, colonizing Mars could help ensure humanity's survival if Earth becomes uninhabitable when the expanding sun boils away our oceans in billions of years. However, establishing permanent settlements on Mars presents numerous technological and biological hurdles that must be overcome.
This document provides information about the Solar System for third graders. It includes definitions of key terms like orbit, star, and axis. It lists the order of the planets and provides 3 sentences each about Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Additional details are given about the Sun, Moon, and some recommended websites and videos for further learning.
Compare and Contrast Earth and Mars- 1st Formative TaskTatik R Sumarahati
Our Solar System contains the Sun and objects that orbit it, including 8 planets. The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Many planets have natural satellites (moons). The Sun is at the center and is made mostly of hydrogen and helium. The planets range greatly in size and composition. Smaller objects like asteroids, meteoroids, and comets also orbit the Sun.
An image of each planet will be visible on individual slides.
Each slide will also describe the general composition, size, motion and relative position of each planet in the solar system.
Additional slides of planetary satellites, comets, and asteroids will be included.
Hyperlinks to additional slides and web sites will provide supplemental information.
The document provides information about the planets in our solar system, beginning with an overview of the inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. It then provides more detailed descriptions of each planet, including how they were formed, their physical characteristics like composition, size, atmosphere, and weather. Key details are given about each planet's mass, diameter, distance from the sun, temperature, and when they were first observed.
The document provides an overview of the solar system and related astronomical concepts. It begins by establishing that humans live on Earth, which is part of the solar system along with the sun and eight planets. It then discusses the universe, astronomy, constellations like Ursa Major and Orion, the moon's phases, planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Neptune, and other bodies in the solar system such as asteroids, comets, and artificial satellites.
The document provides an overview of our solar system, explaining that it consists of the sun and nine planets orbiting it, along with satellites, asteroids, comets, and interplanetary medium. It describes the arrangement of planets in elliptical orbits around the sun, with the sun located at one focus of each elliptical orbit. The document also discusses scientific notation, units of measurement like light years, and various properties of planets like mass, density, composition, and how these differ between planets.
Saturn has an orbit of 1,429,000 km from the sun and is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. Uranus has an orbit of 2,870,990,000 km from the sun and its atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane. Neptune has an orbit of 4,504,000,000 km from the sun and has seven moons including Triton.
Saturn has an orbit of 1,429,000 km from the sun and is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. Uranus has an orbit of 2,870,990,000 km from the sun and its atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane. Neptune has an orbit of 4,504,000,000 km from the sun and has seven moons including Triton.
The document summarizes key facts about the planets in our solar system. It explains that our solar system contains 8 planets that orbit the sun, along with over 170 moons, thousands of asteroids, and many dwarf planets. It provides details about each planet's composition, distance from the sun, atmospheric conditions, temperatures, and other distinguishing features. The sun is identified as the largest object that contains 99.8% of the mass in the solar system and provides light, heat, and energy to hold the system together.
The document defines key terms in our solar system such as planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and stars. It provides details about the 8 planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - including their distances from the sun, characteristics, and number of moons. It notes that the sun is at the center of our solar system and is made up mostly of hydrogen. It concludes with assessment questions to test the reader's understanding.
The document discusses the outer planets of our solar system including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. It provides details on the size, composition, atmosphere and visibility of each planet as well as notable features like Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Saturn's rings. Key facts are given for each planet's moons and comparisons are made between the sizes of the outer planets and Earth.
The document provides an overview of the solar system, including its name and composition. It describes the inner and outer planets, with details on each planet's characteristics such as size, composition, and moons. Additional celestial bodies like asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and dwarf planets are also summarized, including their properties and current known counts. The document contains a table comparing key attributes of the eight major planets.
There are several hypotheses for how the Solar System formed. The nebular hypothesis proposes that the Solar System originated from a large cloud of gas and dust that collapsed due to gravity, forming a disk with the Sun at the center and planets forming in the disk. The protoplanet hypothesis, which is currently favored, incorporates aspects of the nebular hypothesis and proposes that planets formed from the accretion of protoplanets in the primordial disk. An earlier encounter hypothesis suggested that a passing star stripped material from the young Sun via tidal forces, forming the planets, but this did not provide enough angular momentum to explain the current Solar System configuration.
The document provides an overview of our solar system and the universe. It discusses that our solar system formed from a great cloud of gas and dust around 5 billion years ago. It is located within the Milky Way galaxy, which contains over 200 billion stars. Our solar system contains 8 planets orbiting the Sun, along with smaller objects like asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Beyond our solar system, there are other galaxies like the Andromeda galaxy.
The document discusses facts about the four outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It describes their composition, sizes, distances from the sun, and interesting features such as Neptune's Great Dark Spot and Jupiter's large red spot. While the planets share some similarities as gas giants, they also have differences in characteristics like temperature, color, and presence of rings.
The four outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - are known as the external or gas giant planets. They are the largest planets in the solar system and are divided into two groups: gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn that are primarily composed of gaseous materials, and ice giants like Uranus and Neptune that have higher proportions of ice and rock in their compositions compared to the gas giants.
The document provides an overview of the formation and components of our solar system. It describes how the solar system formed from a large cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. It then discusses each planet individually, including their physical characteristics such as size, composition, and orbital properties. It also briefly touches on other objects in our solar system such as comets, asteroids, and dwarf planets like Pluto.
Here are the key differences between asteroids, comets, and meteoroids:
- Asteroids: Asteroids orbit the Sun and are made of rock and metals. They are usually found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
- Comets: Comets are small icy bodies that orbit the Sun and have long tails made of dust and gas that form when they are heated by the Sun as they orbit. They come from farther out in the Solar System.
- Meteoroids: Meteoroids are much smaller than asteroids and comets, ranging from small grains to large boulders. They orbit the Sun like asteroids. When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere, they glow from friction and are called
1) The universe is made up of hundreds of billions of galaxies separated by enormous distances. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, belongs to a local group of about 30 galaxies including our nearest neighbor Andromeda.
2) Galaxies contain between 100,000 and 500 million stars. They are made up of gas and dust and can contain open star clusters and nebulae. Many stars have planetary systems like our solar system, with planets that orbit stars and may have moons.
3) The solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago from a nebula containing gas and dust. It is centered around the sun and contains 8 planets divided into inner terrestrial planets like Earth and outer gas giants like Jupiter, as well as
Powerpoint presentation discussing six of the planets in our solar system: Earth, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Pluto.
The presentation includes credible information on the above planets which include - descriptions, moons, rings, sizes and interesting facts.
Images and references are provided.
Collaborated by Ash Bell, Catherine Bond, Charlie Miles, Olivia McMillan, Paige Harrington and Phil Rodis of Swinburne University of Technology, 2014.
The document provides information about the Solar System. It describes the eight planets in our Solar System, with the four inner terrestrial planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars composed mainly of rock and metal, and the four outer gas giants of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune being substantially more massive. It also discusses the discovery and exploration of the Solar System through history and provides details on key components like the Sun, inner Solar System, and individual inner planets.
The Milky Way galaxy contains billions of galaxies and our solar system is located within it. Our solar system contains a star called the Sun at its center, along with eight planets that orbit the Sun - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. The four inner planets are rocky and the four outer planets are gas giants. Each planet has unique characteristics and conditions.
The solar system consists of the Sun and everything that orbits it, including 8 planets. The inner solar system contains Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The outer solar system contains gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each planet has unique characteristics such as Mercury's tidally locked rotation, Venus rotating backwards from most planets, and Uranus and Neptune being classified as ice giants rather than gas giants.
The document provides information about the planets in our solar system as well as other objects such as asteroids, comets, and meteors. It discusses key facts about each planet such as their position from the sun, composition, atmosphere, moons, and other distinguishing features. It also summarizes that asteroids are small rocky or metallic objects that orbit the sun within and outside of Mars' orbit, in a region called the asteroid belt. Comets are small icy objects that have elliptical orbits bringing them close to and far from the sun, developing tails as they near the sun. Meteoroids enter the earth's atmosphere as meteors and some survive impact as meteorites.
The Sun is a middle-aged, average sized yellow star that is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. It is about 4.6 billion years old and located 93 million miles from Earth. The Sun generates heat and light through nuclear fusion reactions in its core that convert hydrogen into helium. It is the center of our Solar System and contains over 99% of the mass in the entire system. The Solar System also includes eight official planets that orbit the Sun, along with dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other small bodies.
Saturn has an orbit of 1,429,000 km from the sun and is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. Uranus has an orbit of 2,870,990,000 km from the sun and its atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane. Neptune has an orbit of 4,504,000,000 km from the sun and has seven moons including Triton.
Saturn has an orbit of 1,429,000 km from the sun and is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. Uranus has an orbit of 2,870,990,000 km from the sun and its atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane. Neptune has an orbit of 4,504,000,000 km from the sun and has seven moons including Triton.
The document summarizes key facts about the planets in our solar system. It explains that our solar system contains 8 planets that orbit the sun, along with over 170 moons, thousands of asteroids, and many dwarf planets. It provides details about each planet's composition, distance from the sun, atmospheric conditions, temperatures, and other distinguishing features. The sun is identified as the largest object that contains 99.8% of the mass in the solar system and provides light, heat, and energy to hold the system together.
The document defines key terms in our solar system such as planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and stars. It provides details about the 8 planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - including their distances from the sun, characteristics, and number of moons. It notes that the sun is at the center of our solar system and is made up mostly of hydrogen. It concludes with assessment questions to test the reader's understanding.
The document discusses the outer planets of our solar system including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. It provides details on the size, composition, atmosphere and visibility of each planet as well as notable features like Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Saturn's rings. Key facts are given for each planet's moons and comparisons are made between the sizes of the outer planets and Earth.
The document provides an overview of the solar system, including its name and composition. It describes the inner and outer planets, with details on each planet's characteristics such as size, composition, and moons. Additional celestial bodies like asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and dwarf planets are also summarized, including their properties and current known counts. The document contains a table comparing key attributes of the eight major planets.
There are several hypotheses for how the Solar System formed. The nebular hypothesis proposes that the Solar System originated from a large cloud of gas and dust that collapsed due to gravity, forming a disk with the Sun at the center and planets forming in the disk. The protoplanet hypothesis, which is currently favored, incorporates aspects of the nebular hypothesis and proposes that planets formed from the accretion of protoplanets in the primordial disk. An earlier encounter hypothesis suggested that a passing star stripped material from the young Sun via tidal forces, forming the planets, but this did not provide enough angular momentum to explain the current Solar System configuration.
The document provides an overview of our solar system and the universe. It discusses that our solar system formed from a great cloud of gas and dust around 5 billion years ago. It is located within the Milky Way galaxy, which contains over 200 billion stars. Our solar system contains 8 planets orbiting the Sun, along with smaller objects like asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Beyond our solar system, there are other galaxies like the Andromeda galaxy.
The document discusses facts about the four outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It describes their composition, sizes, distances from the sun, and interesting features such as Neptune's Great Dark Spot and Jupiter's large red spot. While the planets share some similarities as gas giants, they also have differences in characteristics like temperature, color, and presence of rings.
The four outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - are known as the external or gas giant planets. They are the largest planets in the solar system and are divided into two groups: gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn that are primarily composed of gaseous materials, and ice giants like Uranus and Neptune that have higher proportions of ice and rock in their compositions compared to the gas giants.
The document provides an overview of the formation and components of our solar system. It describes how the solar system formed from a large cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. It then discusses each planet individually, including their physical characteristics such as size, composition, and orbital properties. It also briefly touches on other objects in our solar system such as comets, asteroids, and dwarf planets like Pluto.
Here are the key differences between asteroids, comets, and meteoroids:
- Asteroids: Asteroids orbit the Sun and are made of rock and metals. They are usually found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
- Comets: Comets are small icy bodies that orbit the Sun and have long tails made of dust and gas that form when they are heated by the Sun as they orbit. They come from farther out in the Solar System.
- Meteoroids: Meteoroids are much smaller than asteroids and comets, ranging from small grains to large boulders. They orbit the Sun like asteroids. When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere, they glow from friction and are called
1) The universe is made up of hundreds of billions of galaxies separated by enormous distances. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, belongs to a local group of about 30 galaxies including our nearest neighbor Andromeda.
2) Galaxies contain between 100,000 and 500 million stars. They are made up of gas and dust and can contain open star clusters and nebulae. Many stars have planetary systems like our solar system, with planets that orbit stars and may have moons.
3) The solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago from a nebula containing gas and dust. It is centered around the sun and contains 8 planets divided into inner terrestrial planets like Earth and outer gas giants like Jupiter, as well as
Powerpoint presentation discussing six of the planets in our solar system: Earth, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Pluto.
The presentation includes credible information on the above planets which include - descriptions, moons, rings, sizes and interesting facts.
Images and references are provided.
Collaborated by Ash Bell, Catherine Bond, Charlie Miles, Olivia McMillan, Paige Harrington and Phil Rodis of Swinburne University of Technology, 2014.
The document provides information about the Solar System. It describes the eight planets in our Solar System, with the four inner terrestrial planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars composed mainly of rock and metal, and the four outer gas giants of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune being substantially more massive. It also discusses the discovery and exploration of the Solar System through history and provides details on key components like the Sun, inner Solar System, and individual inner planets.
The Milky Way galaxy contains billions of galaxies and our solar system is located within it. Our solar system contains a star called the Sun at its center, along with eight planets that orbit the Sun - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. The four inner planets are rocky and the four outer planets are gas giants. Each planet has unique characteristics and conditions.
The solar system consists of the Sun and everything that orbits it, including 8 planets. The inner solar system contains Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The outer solar system contains gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each planet has unique characteristics such as Mercury's tidally locked rotation, Venus rotating backwards from most planets, and Uranus and Neptune being classified as ice giants rather than gas giants.
The document provides information about the planets in our solar system as well as other objects such as asteroids, comets, and meteors. It discusses key facts about each planet such as their position from the sun, composition, atmosphere, moons, and other distinguishing features. It also summarizes that asteroids are small rocky or metallic objects that orbit the sun within and outside of Mars' orbit, in a region called the asteroid belt. Comets are small icy objects that have elliptical orbits bringing them close to and far from the sun, developing tails as they near the sun. Meteoroids enter the earth's atmosphere as meteors and some survive impact as meteorites.
The Sun is a middle-aged, average sized yellow star that is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. It is about 4.6 billion years old and located 93 million miles from Earth. The Sun generates heat and light through nuclear fusion reactions in its core that convert hydrogen into helium. It is the center of our Solar System and contains over 99% of the mass in the entire system. The Solar System also includes eight official planets that orbit the Sun, along with dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other small bodies.
The document provides information about the Sun and eight planets in our solar system:
- The Sun is a huge ball of hydrogen and helium gases at the center of our solar system that is approximately 4.5 billion years old. It supports all life on Earth.
- Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and has almost no atmosphere. Venus is covered by thick, toxic clouds and has a runaway greenhouse effect. Earth is the only known planet capable of sustaining life.
- Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system. Jupiter is a gas giant with a strong magnetic field and over 67 moons. Saturn is known for its extensive ring system.
The document summarizes ancient and modern understandings of the universe and Earth. It describes how ancient civilizations believed the Earth was flat and motionless at the center of a domed sky. Greeks later proposed the Earth was spherical and floated in space. The geocentric model placed Earth at the center, while the heliocentric model correctly identified the Sun as the center. Current models recognize the universe extends far beyond the Milky Way galaxy and originated from a massive explosion known as the Big Bang over 14 billion years ago. The document also outlines theories of solar system formation and provides details about objects within our solar system like planets, stars and the effects of Earth's rotation and revolution.
The document provides information about various celestial bodies in our solar system including:
- The sun is a star that is approximately 150 million kilometers from Earth and it takes light about 8 minutes to reach us.
- Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and has extreme temperature variations.
- Venus is similar in size to Earth but has a toxic atmosphere and rotates backwards.
- Earth is the only known planet capable of supporting life.
1. The Sun is located at the center of our Solar System and is made up of hydrogen and helium.
2. It has a four-part structure including the core, photosphere, chromosphere, and corona, with temperatures ranging from 15 million degrees Celsius at its core to over 1 million degrees in its corona.
3. The Sun generates energy through nuclear fusion reactions at its core and exhibits phenomena like solar flares, prominences, and sunspots on its surface controlled by its magnetic field.
The document summarizes the key features of our solar system. It describes the sun as the center of the solar system that provides heat and energy. It then discusses the eight planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - providing details about their composition, orbit times, presence of moons or rings, and other distinguishing characteristics. The solar system resides within the Milky Way galaxy.
The document provides information about the solar system, including:
- The solar nebula hypothesis which explains how the sun and planets formed from a cloud of gas and dust.
- Distances in space are measured in light years or astronomical units.
- The eight major planets consist of four inner terrestrial planets and four outer gas giants, along with the dwarf planet Pluto.
- Key facts are provided about each of the planets, such as their composition, moons, temperatures, densities and more.
My class power point for a lesson outlining the Solar System. Students will be asked to pick one thing to continue researching for a later project after viewing the slide show presentation.
The document provides information about the solar system and its components. It begins with definitions and descriptions of the solar system and what constitutes a planet. It then provides detailed descriptions of Mercury and Venus, the first two planets from the Sun. For each planet, it describes their physical characteristics such as size, composition, atmosphere, rotation, and orbit around the Sun. It also discusses past and current missions that have explored these planets, such as MESSENGER and Magellan, and some of their key findings.
The document provides information on various celestial bodies in our solar system including the Sun, planets Mercury through Neptune, our Moon, eclipses, gravitational forces, what happened to Pluto, tools used to study space, different space objects, and some fun facts. It describes key details about each topic such as the Sun being made of hydrogen and helium, Mercury being the closest planet to the Sun, and eclipses only occurring when the Sun and Moon are aligned.
The document provides information on the formation of the solar system. It describes the two categories of planets - terrestrial planets which are closest to the sun and include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, and jovian planets which are gas giants including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It then provides details on each of the planets, their physical characteristics such as size, composition and orbital properties. It also discusses other components of the solar system including asteroids, meteorites, comets, and the sun and moon.
The document provides an overview of the planets in our solar system, describing their key characteristics such as size, distance from the sun, composition, weather patterns, and moons. It discusses how the solar system formed from swirling gas and dust over 4.6 billion years ago and highlights interesting features of each planet like Venus' dense atmosphere, Mars' volcanoes and ice caps, Jupiter's Great Red Spot storm, and Neptune's blue color from methane gas. Colorful images and diagrams accompany the text to illustrate comparisons of planet sizes and distances as well as unique planetary phenomena.
1. The Sun: The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star, which means it is a relatively stable, middle-aged star. It makes up about 99.86% of the Solar System's total mass. The Sun is composed mainly of hydrogen (about 74% by mass) and helium (about 24% by mass), with traces of other elements. It is the source of light and energy for the entire Solar System through nuclear fusion in its core. The Sun has a diameter of about 1.4 million kilometers (870,000 miles) and a mass approximately 333,000 times that of Earth. It has a surface temperature of around 5,500 degrees Celsius (9,932 degrees Fahrenheit) and is about 4.6 billion years old. The Sun's gravitational influence keeps the planets of the solar system in orbit around it, and its solar wind extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto, defining the heliosphere
2. Inner Planets (Terrestrial Planets)
Outer Planets (Gas Giants)
Dwarf Planets and Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs)
Galaxies
Galaxies are vast systems that consist of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter, all bound together by gravity. They are the fundamental building blocks of the universe, and their study provides crucial insights into the structure, composition, and evolution of the cosmos.
Types of Galaxies
1. Elliptical Galaxies: Elliptical, ranging from nearly spherical (E0) to highly elongated (E7). Comprised mainly of older stars, with little interstellar gas and dust. Generally, lack ongoing star formation and are often found in galaxy clusters.
2. Spiral Galaxies: Contain a mix of old and young stars, along with significant amounts of gas and dust. Ongoing star formation in the spiral arms, and they often have a rotating disk structure.
3. Irregular Galaxies: Lack a distinct regular structure. Varied mix of young and old stars, as well as gas and dust. Often the result of gravitational interactions or mergers between galaxies.
Milky Way Galaxy:
- The Milky Way is the barred spiral galaxy that includes our solar system.
- It has a central bar-shaped structure with spiral arms extending outward.
- The Milky Way is part of the Local Group, a collection of galaxies that also includes the Andromeda Galaxy and many smaller galaxies.
Galaxy Clusters:
- Galaxies are not randomly distributed; they often form groups and clusters.
- Galaxy clusters are massive structures containing hundreds or thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity.
- The Virgo Cluster is one of the closest galaxy clusters to the Milky Way.
Galaxy Formation and Evolution:
- Galaxies form through the gravitational collapse of gas and dark matter.
- Interactions between galaxies, such as mergers, can significantly impact their structure and star formation.
- Galaxies evolve over time, with factors like star formation, supernova explosions, and feedback from supermassive black holes playing key roles.
The Sun is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma at the center of the Solar System. It provides most of the energy for life on Earth and consists mostly of hydrogen and helium. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and has no atmosphere, resulting in large temperature fluctuations. Venus has a toxic atmosphere that causes a runaway greenhouse effect. Earth is the only known planet capable of harboring life and has nitrogen and oxygen in its atmosphere. Mars shares similarities to Earth but has a thin atmosphere incapable of retaining liquid water. Jupiter is the largest planet and has a strong magnetic field with numerous moons. Saturn is known for its iconic rings composed of ice and rock. Uranus orbits on its side and has blue-green
Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy, which contains thousands of other galaxies. It contains the sun and eight planets that orbit the sun, including Earth. The four inner planets closest to the sun are terrestrial, while the four outer planets are gas giants. Other objects in our solar system include comets, asteroids, meteoroids, and dwarf planets. Gravity and inertia work together to keep planets and other objects in stable orbits around the sun and other celestial bodies.
This document provides information about the solar system. It discusses the sun as the central star that provides energy for life on Earth through photosynthesis. It then describes the eight planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - including their orbits, physical characteristics, and some having moons. It also briefly mentions dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, and meteors. The document aims to teach about the components and basic workings of our solar system.
The document provides information about the 8 planets in our solar system as well as 3 dwarf planets - Pluto, Ceres, and Eris. It discusses key facts about each planet such as their distance from the sun, rotation and revolution periods, composition of their atmospheres, and notable features. It also defines common terms like revolve, rotate, and orbit. Key differences between the inner and outer planets are that inner planets are smaller and closer to the sun while outer planets are large gaseous spheres with rings.
5. The Sun
• The Sun is a star at the center of our solar
system.
• It is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old.
• It supports all life on Earth through photosynthesis and is the ultimate source of all
food and fossil fuel.
• It is 333,400 times more massive than the
Earth (this means that 333,400 Earths can
make up the Sun).
• 99.86% of all the mass of the solar system
is found in the Sun.
• The core of the Sun is 16 million °C.
• The surface of the Sun is 7000° C
• It takes several hundred thousand years
for to photons escape from the dense core
and reach the surface.
• The Sun generates energy the equivalent
of 100 billion tons of TNT exploding
every second.
6. Terrestrial Planets
• Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars
– “Earth-Like” Rocky Planets
– Largest is Earth
– Only in the inner solar system (0.4 to 1.5 AU)
• Rocky Planets:
–
–
–
–
Solid Surfaces
Mostly Silicates and Iron
High Density: (rock & metal)
Earth, Venus, & Mars have atmospheres
8. Mercury
Relative position: 1st planet out from the
sun.
Appearance: Resembles Earth's Moon,
scarred by thousands of impact craters.
There are areas of smooth terrain as well as
cliffs, some soaring a mile high, formed by
ancient impacts.
General composition: Rocky material. It
is a terrestrial planet.
Density: 5.43 g/cm3
Atmosphere: Almost no atmosphere. The
very little atmosphere that exists is
composed chiefly of oxygen, sodium, and
helium.
Size: .054 the volume of the Earth
Planetary satellites (Moons): None
Rotation: 58.65 days (very slow rotation)
Revolution : 88 days to go around the Sun
once.
Temperatures: High: 467 °C on the sunny
side of the planet. Low: -183 °C on the
dark side of the planet.
9. Venus
Relative position: 2nd planet out from the sun.
Appearance: It is covered by thick, rapidly
spinning clouds. Due to its thick cloud layer
reflecting sunlight, it is the brightest planet
in the sky
General composition: Rocky material. It
contains an iron core and a molten rocky
mantle. The crust is a solid, rocky material.
It is a terrestrial planet.
Density: 5.24 gm./cm3
Atmosphere: Consists mainly of carbon
dioxide, nitrogen, and droplets of sulfuric
acid; it contains almost no water vapor. This
thick atmosphere traps immense amounts of
heat in a large-scale greenhouse effect..
Size: .88 the volume of the Earth
Planetary satellites (Moons): None
Rotation: 243 days (retrograde)
Revolution: 225 Earth days. Its day is longer
than its year.
Temperature: 450 °C. It’s hotter than Mercury
due to the greenhouse effect. It is actually
hot enough to melt lead.
10. Earth
Relative position: 3rd planet out from the
sun.
Appearance: The Earth looks blue and
green from space with clouds moving
through the atmosphere. The surface of the
Earth is 70% water and 30% land.
General composition: Rocky material. It is
a terrestrial planet. It has a nickel-iron core
with a molten mantle and solid rocky crust.
Density: 5.52 gm./cm3
Atmosphere: Mostly oxygen (21%) and
nitrogen (78%). Some argon, carbon
dioxide, and water vapor.
Size: 40,000km (24,8000miles) around at
the equator.
Planetary satellites (Moons): 1 – The
Moon
Rotation: 23 hours, 56miutes (1 day)
Revolution: 365.25 days
Temperature: Mean surface 15 °C to 20 °C
Special feature: Earth sustains life as we
know it. Water exists in all three states
(solid, liquid , and gas) on the Earth. There
is a delicate balance between its
oceans, air, land, and life.
11. The Moon
• The Moon is the Earth’s only natural
satellite.
• The Moon contains no water and
has no atmosphere
• Its has about 1/6 the mass of the
Earth, therefore it has 1/6 the
gravitational pull of the Earth.
• It is 384 401 km from the Earth.
• It takes 27.32 days to orbit the Earth
once.
• The gravitational pull of the Moon is
responsible for the Earth’s tides.
• The surface of the Moon is covered
with craters and flatlands. The
craters are due to repeated meteorite
bombardments while the
dark, flatlands are the result of
ancient lava flows.
12. Mars
Relative position: 4th planet out from the sun.
Appearance: Mars appears red due to the iron
oxide in its soil. It has polar ice caps that
grow and recede with the seasons, and it
has dust storms, which cause giant dunes,
wind streaks, and wind-carved features.
General composition: Rocky material. It is a
terrestrial planet.
Density: 3.94 gm./cm3
Atmosphere: Mostly carbon dioxide, nitrogen,
and argon.
Size: .149 times the volume of the Earth.
Planetary satellites (Moons): Two Moons
Rotation: 24 hours, 33 minutes.
Revolution: 686.67 days.
Temperature: -87 °C to -5 °C
Special Features: Mars has the largest
volcanic mountain in the solar system,
Olympus Mons (27 km high and 600 km
across); volcanoes in the northern Tharsis
region that are so huge they deform the
planet's roundness; and a gigantic
equatorial rift valley, the Valles Marineris.
This canyon system would stretch from New
York to Los Angeles; the Grand Canyon
13. Moons of Mars
Phobos
Deimos
Gouged by a giant impact crater and
beaten by thousands of meteorite
impacts, Phobos is on a collision course
with Mars. It may collide with Mars in 50
million years or break up into a ring.
It is also heavily cratered with a small
lumpy appearance.
14. The Jovian Planets
• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune
–
–
–
–
Largest Planets: at least 15 times mass of Earth.
Only in the outer solar system (5 to 30 AU)
No solid surfaces (mostly atmosphere)
Low density
• Gas Giants: (Jupiter & Saturn)
– Thick H/He atmosphere, liquid hydrogen mantle, ice core
• Ice Giants: (Uranus & Neptune)
– Ice/rock core & mantle, thin H/He atmosphere
16. Jupiter
Relative position: 5th planet out from the sun.
Appearance: It is sometimes called a “mini-solar
system” because of its numerous moons and
several rings. Jupiter appears striped because
light and dark belts are created by strong eastwest winds.
General composition: It is a gas giant, meaning it is
mostly made of gases. Jupiter's core is probably
not solid but a dense, hot liquid with a
consistency like thick soup.
Density: 1.76 gm./cm3
Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen, helium and methane.
Size: 1316 times the volume of the Earth. It is the
planet with the highest gravity in the solar
system.
Planetary satellites (Moons): 63 Moons; some of
them have been named and some have
alphanumeric designations.
Rotation: 9 hours, 54 minutes
Revolution: 11.86 Earth years
Temperature: -108 °C
Special Feature: The Great Red Spot has existed for
at least 100 years, and perhaps longer. It is a
hurricane-like storm on Jupiter. (Galileo
reported seeing a similar feature nearly 400 years
ago). Three Earths could fit across the Great Red
Spot.
18. Saturn
Relative position: 6th planet out from the
sun.
Appearance: Saturn has a large system of
rings, and the yellow and gold bands in
its atmosphere are caused by super-fast
winds combined with heat rising from its
interior.
General composition: It is a Gas
giant, meaning it is mostly made of the
gases hydrogen and helium.
Density: .70 gm./cm3 (This low density
means that Saturn could float on water if
their was a body of water big enough).
Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen and helium.
Size: 755 times the volume of the Earth.
Planetary satellites (Moons): 60 Moons;
some have been named and others
have alphanumeric designations
Rotation: 10 hours, 38 minutes
Revolution: 29.45 Earth years
Temperature: -139 °C
Special feature: Saturn's ring system is the
most extensive and complex in our solar
system; it extends hundreds of
thousands of kilometers from the planet.
The rings are mostly water ice with
particles ranging in size from a few
20. Uranus
Relative position: 7th planet out from the sun.
Appearance: It has a blue-green color from the
methane gas above the deeper clouds.
Methane absorbs red light and reflects blue
light. It does have a small system of rings.
General composition: It is a Gas giant,
meaning it is mostly made of the gases
hydrogen and helium, with a small amount
of methane and traces of water and
ammonia. It has no solid surface, but it does
contain a liquid core made mostly of “icy”
materials (water, methane, and ammonia)
Density: 1.30 gm./cm3
Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen, helium, and
methane.
Size: 52 times the volume of the Earth.
Planetary satellites (Moons): 27 Moons
Rotation: 17 hours, 11 minutes
Revolution: 84.02 Earth years
Temperature: -197 °C
Special feature: Uranus’ axis is tilted so that it
seems to rotate on its side. This tilt gives it
seasons that last over twenty years.
21. Moons of Uranus
1. Cordelia
2. Ophelia
3. Bianca
4. Cressida
5. Desdemona
6. Juliet
7. Portia
8. Rosalind
9. Mab
10. Belinda
11. Perdita
12. Puck
13. Cupid
14. Miranda
15. Francisco
16. Ariel
17. Umbriel
18. Titania
19. Oberon
20. Caliban
21. Stephano
22. Trinculo
23. Sycorax
24. Margaret
25. Prospero
26. Setebos
27. Ferdinand
22. Neptune
Relative position: 8th planet out from the sun.
Appearance: Neptune has a blue color
because of the methane in its atmosphere.
The methane reflects blue light while it
absorbs red light. It has a small system of
rings and periodically Great Dark Spots
(hurricane-like storms) appear.
General composition: It is a Gas
giant, meaning it is mostly made of the
gases hydrogen, helium, and methane. It
has no solid surface, but its liquid core is
composed of water and other “melted ices.”
Density: 1.76 gm./cm3
Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen, helium and
methane.
Size: 44 times the volume of the Earth.
Planetary satellites (Moons): 13 Moons
Rotation: 16 hours, 4 minutes
Revolution: 164.79 Earth years
Temperature: -200 °C
Special features: Neptune is actually the
farthest planet from the Sun for a 20-year
period out of every 248 Earth years due to
Pluto’s unusual elliptical orbit.
25. Dwarf Planets
• Defined by the IAU in 2006
• Dwarf Planets:
– Ceres: first of the Asteroids, discovered in 1801
– Pluto: trans-Neptunian object discovered in
1930
– Eris: trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2005
– Haumea (trans-Neptunian, suspected)
– Makemake (trans-Neptunian, suspected)
29. Kuiper Belt
• Class of icy bodies orbiting beyond Neptune.
– Found only in the outer Solar System (>30AU)
– Densities of 1.2 to 2 g/cc (mostly ices)
• Examples:
–
–
–
–
Pluto & Eris (icy dwarf planets)
Kuiper Belt Objects (30-50AU)
Charon, Pluto’s large moon
Sedna & Quaor: distant large icy bodies
31. Oort Cloud
• Spherical cloud of comets.
– Extends out to almost 50,000 AU (1 light-year)
– May contain trillions of comets
– The outer edge is the farthest reach of the Sun’s
gravitational pull.
– There are no confirmed observations – its
existence is theoretical only.
33. The Leftovers (Small Bodies)
• Asteroids:
– Made of rock & metal (density 2-3 g/cc)
– Sizes: Few 100km to large boulders
– Most are found in the Main Belt (2.1-3.2 AU)
• Meteoroids:
– Bits of rock and metal
– Sizes: grains of sand to boulders
• Comets:
– Composite rock & ice “dirty snowballs”
– Longs tails of gas & dust are swept off them when
they pass near the Sun.
34. Asteroids
Asteroids are either rocky or metallic
objects that orbit the Sun. They are
too small to considered planets but
are sometimes called planetoids.
They can be anywhere from the size
of a pebble up to a 1000km (620
miles) in diameter; the asteroid Ceres
is an example of an asteroid that is
this large.
They have been found inside Earth’s
orbit and all the way out past Saturn’s
orbit. Most asteroids, however, are
located in the asteroid belt which
exists between the orbit’s of Mars and
Jupiter.
36. Meteors, Meteoroids and Meteorites
•
Meteoroids - asteroids that are on a
collision course with Earth.
•
Meteor - streak of light created when a
meteoroid strikes our atmosphere at
high velocity and friction causes the
chunk of space matter to burn up.
•
Meteorite - what is left that strikes the
Earth’s surface if the meteoroid does
not burn up completely.
•
92.8% of all meteorites are composed
of silicate (stone), and 5.7% are
composed of iron and nickel; the rest
are a mixture of the three materials.
•
Stony meteorites are the hardest to
identify since they look very much like
terrestrial rocks.
38. Comets
• Comets - small, fragile, irregularshaped body composed of a mixture
of non-volatile grains and frozen
gases. Components of Comets can
be seen by clicking on the link.
• Their orbits are elliptical (oval) or
parabolic (U-shaped). The orbit
brings them in very close to the Sun
and swings them far out into
space, sometimes out past Pluto.
Example of a comet’s orbit.
• As comets approach the
Sun, radiation from the Sun
evaporates the ice and gases, creating
the lone tail. The closer to the
Sun, the longer the tail of the comet.
The tail of the comet always faces
away from the Sun because of the
solar wind coming from the Sun.
40. IAU Definition of a Planet
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) came up with the following definition of
a Planet:
orbits the Sun
has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome
rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic
equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),
has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,
is not a satellite
41. IAU Definition of a Dwarf Planet
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) came up with the following definition of
a Dwarf Planet:
orbits the Sun
has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome
rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic
equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),
has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,
is not a satellite