Our Solar System

All photos from Wikipedia unless otherwise stated

The Sun

The Sun

•Ultimate source of life for the planet•Self-illuminating (lights itself) ball of gas•Its gravity holds the planets in orbit•Its mass makes up 99% of the solar system’s mass•It has an atmosphere and an interior•Diameter of the Sun is the same as 10 Jupiters lined up side-by-side•Sun is made of hydrogen and helium•The Sun gets its power from nuclear fusion – (the fusing or joining of two atoms)

The Sun

•Sunspots are darker spots on the Sun that are cooler than the areas around it•Prominences are reddish loops of gas that appear to connect sunspots•Solar flares are explosions of gas that occur when loops in sunspot regions connect

http://www.kiroastro.com/images/perspective/sun2.jpg

My Very Eager Mother Apparently Just Served Us Nine Pizzas

http://www.kiroastro.com/images/perspective/sun1.jpg

Jupiter’s Galilean Moons

Io

•Contains many volcanoes•Discovered by Galileo on January 8, 1610

Europa

•Crust contains water and ice•Also discovered in 1610•Slightly smaller than our moon•Atmosphere is made mainly of oxygen

Ganymede

•Largest moon in the solar system•A saltwater ocean is believed to exist between layers of ice•Discovered in 1610•Larger than the planet Mercury•Has mountains, valleys,craters, and lava flows.

Callisto

•3rd largest moon in the solar system•Has a cratered surface

Dwarf Planets

Currently there are 5 dwarfplanets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

Ceres

•Located in the asteroid belt•Smallest identified dwarf planet, but the largest object in the asteroid belt•Discovered on January 1, 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi•Was classified as the 8th planet for half a century

Haumea (with its moons)

•Discovered in 2004•4th largest dwarf planet•It is believed to be an ellipsoid (one axis is twice the length of the other)

Makemake

•3rd largest dwarf planet in our solar system•Discovered on March 31, 2005•Before it was officially named, it was called Easterbunny by scientists, since it was discovered so close to Easter

Eris

•Most massive known dwarf planet in our solar system•Identified in January 2005•Distance from the Sun is 96 AU, which is 96 times farther from the Sun than Earth

Meteors, Meteoroids and Meteorites

Meteoroid

A piece of debris in the solar system that can range in size from a grain of sand to a boulder. This is the name it is given when it is still in space.

Meteor

A meteoroid that has entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Also called a shooting star, a falling star, or a fireball.

Meteorite

A meteor that has survived impact with the Earth.

On Dasher, on Dancer, On Comet…

•A body in the solar system made of ice, rocks, and dust.•Sometimes has a tail•Orbits the Sun•Ranges in size from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers •Sometimes called dirty snowballs•The tails can be millions of miles long, and always points away from the Sun•There are about 1000 known comets in our solar system

Gravity

The more mass a body has, the stronger its force of gravity.

The examples are the Sun and Jupiter.

Gravity

The closer two celestial bodies are, the more their gravitational pull affects each other.

The example is how the moon’s gravity causes our tides.

Gravity

Why doesn’t the Sun pull everything into itself, if its gravity is so great?

Gravity

Gravity

Think of a tether ball…