TOURING OUR

SOLAR SYSTEMA STAR, EIGHT PLANETS, & ONE DWARF

MRS. MYERS

2014

THE PLANETS: AN OVERVIEW

THE SUN

TERRESTRIAL: THE INNER PLANETS

THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

Mercury is the innermost & second smallest planet• Barely larger than Earth’s moon• No atmosphere due to sun’s gravity

• Mercury has cratered highlands, much like the moon, and vast smooth terrains that resemble maria.

• Mercury has the greatest temperature extremes of any planet

Surface Features

Surface Temperatures

Mercury: The Innermost Planet

MERCURY¨ The smallest planet in solar system

• Nearest to the sun

• Revolves about the sun about 88 days to complete

• mean distance almost 36,000,000 mi.

Revolution of sun about 4x while Earth goes around 1x

MERCURY

As seen by Voyager 1

Venus: The Veiled Planet

Earth’s twin or sister planetsimilar in size, density, mass, &

location in the solar system

THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

Venus: The Veiled Planet

• Covered in thick clouds that visible light cannot penetrate Surface Features

• About 80 % of surface = plains covered by volcanic flow

THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

• Surface temperature reaches 475oC• Atmosphere is 97% CO2

Surface Temperatures

VENUS¨ 6th largest planet¨ 2nd in distance from the sun¨ 1st brightest planet in the solar system ¨ Comes closest to the Earth

Venus

Venus

As seen through Hubble telescope

EARTH¨ Age: At least 4 1/2 billion years¨ Mass: 6,600,000,000,000,000,000,000

(6.6 sextillion) tons (6.0 sextillion metric tons)¨ Surface features

Highest land above sea level o Mount Everest, 29,035 ft (8,850 m)

Lowest land below sea level o Shore of Dead Sea, about 1,310 ft (399 m)

EARTH¨ Temperature

Highest: 136 °F (58 °C) @ Al Aziziyah, Libya

Lowest: -128.6 °F (-89.6 °C) @ Vostok Station, Antarctica

Average surface temperature: 59 °F (15 °C)

¨ Chemical makeup Earth's crust

¨ % of the crust's weight:

o oxygen 46.6o silicon 27.7o aluminum 8.1

o iron 5.0o calcium 3.6o sodium 2.8

o potassium 2.6o magnesium 2.0o other elements 1.6

Earth

Satellite view shows the International Space Station (ISS)

The Martian Atmosphere

Only 1 % of density of Earth’s

Surface Features

Old by Earth standardso Highly cratered southern hemisphereo 3.5 billion to 4.5 billion years old.

Extensive dust storms occur May cause color changes as observed from Earth

Mars: The Red Planet

THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

Mars

The Mars Odyssey probe, launched in 2001 (illustration)Found evidence of water ice beneath the surface of Mars in 2002.Analyzed the surface chemical composition

Mars

Mars

Mars: The Red Planet Water on Mars

Some areas exhibit drainage patterns similar to those created by Earth streams

Images from Mars Global Surveyor indicate groundwater recently migrated to surface

THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

Water on Mars

The face on Mars

The Mars Rover

The Mars Rover

Is there life on Mars?

JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

Jupiter: Giant Among Planets

Mass is 2-1/2 x greater than mass of all other planets & moons combined

H – He atmosphere contains small amounts of o methaneo ammoniao watero sulfur compounds

Structure of Jupiter

JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

Jupiter

¨ Largest planet in solar system Diameter is 88,846 mi (142,984 km) More than

o 11 x of the Earth & about 1/10 of the suno 1,000 Earths to fill up the volume of the giant planet

¨ When viewed from Earth Appears brighter than most stars. After Venus, second brightest planet

Jupiter & the Great Red Spot

As seen from Hubble telescope

Jupiter & the Great Red Spot

JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

Jupiter: Giant Among Planets

Satellite system is like mini solar system 28 moons discovered so far

Jupiter’s Moons

Jupiter’s Rings Ring system was unexpected Voyager 1 discovery

JUPITER’S LARGEST MOONS

IO EuropaCallistoGanymede

JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETSSaturn: The Elegant Planet

Features Atmosphere is very active Winds up to 1500 km/hr (932 m/hr) Large cyclonic storms

o Similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spoto Although smallerin Saturn’s atmosphere

CASSINI APPROACHING SATURN

Saturn: The Elegant Planet

Saturn’s Rings Ring system thought to be unique to Saturn discovered that Jupiter, Uranus, & Neptune have rings

Two categories based on particle density

Saturn’s Moons Consists of 31 moons Titan -- largest moon & bigger than Mercury

JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

SATURN’S RINGS ¨ Made up of Dust, rock & ice from

passing comets Meteorite impacts on

moons Gravity pulls material from

moons¨ Small as grains of sand to

larger than tall buildings¨ A few are up to a kilometer

across¨ Each ring orbits at different

speed

SATURN

As seen by the Hubble telescope

Uranus: The Sideways Planet

Instead of perpendicular to plane of orbit like other planets Rotation axis lies nearly parallel with plane of orbit

JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

One of the larger planets 7th in distance from the sun

URANUS

As seen by the Hubble telescope

Neptune: The Windy Planet Winds exceeding 1000 km/hr One of th windiest places in solar system

JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

NEPTUNE

As seen by the Hubble telescope

NEPTUNE

¨ Neptune's outermost ring,

39,000 mi (63,000 km) from planet

Material clumps into three bright, dense arcs

Latin: related to nebula cloud, mist

Pluto¨ Was planet #9

¨ Relegated to dwarf status

¨ Planet must meet three criteria To be in orbit around the Sun

Have enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape

Have cleared its orbit of other objects.

Pluto and Charon: As seen by Voyager 1

PLUTO¨ Pluto’s orbit is a little messy

Therefore, it is no longer a planet

Considered within Kuiper Belt

Not the largest object there

¨ Named after Roman god of underworld

¨ Plutoid, dwarf planet, or a minor planet