Our Solar System

Our Solar SystemOur solar system is made up of:SunEight planets 3 or more dwarf-planets (Pluto,

Ceres, Eris, etc)Their moonsAsteroidsComets

Inner Planets

The inner four rocky planets at the center of the solar system are:

MercuryVenusEarthMars

Mercury

Planet nearest the sunSmallest planetCovered with cratersHas no moons or ringsAbout size of Earth’s moon

Venus

Sister planet to Earth, spins opposite way.

Has no moons or ringsHot, thick atmosphere (CO2 and

H2SO4), had an ocean but was boiled off.

Brightest object in sky besides sun and moon (looks like bright star – 1st star seen at summer night, usually.)

Covered with craters, volcanoes, and mountains has surface temp of 4800C

Earth

Third planet from sunOnly planet known to have life and

liquid water.Atmosphere composed of Nitrogen

(78%), Oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%).

MarsFourth planet from sunAppears as bright reddish color in the

night skySurface features huge dust storms,

methane gas might mean volcanoes or bacteria underground.

Has 2 moons: Phobos and DeimosGravity 1/3 of earth – 7 months travel. 22oC in summer, – 140oC in winter

Ceres

Huge gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter led to the proposal there might be another planet there.

Dwarf Planet Ceres was discovered in 1801. (A huge asteroid)

Unmanned craft to arrive there in 2015.

Outer Planets

The outer planets composed of gas are :

JupiterSaturnUranusNeptune

Jupiter

Largest planet in solar system, can hold 1000 Earths!

Brightest planet in sky60+ moons, 5 visible from EarthStrong magnetic fieldGiant red spotRings have 3 parts: Halo Ring,

Main Ring, Gossamer Ring

Moons of Jupiter

Europa – white, ice with giant ocean underneath that contains more water than all the water in our oceans.

Moons of Jupiter

Io – yellow, 1400oC, hot spots that are a black goo. Volcano – Prometheus.

Moons of Jupiter

Ganymede- brown/green – largest moon the size of Mercury

Saturn6th planet from sunBeautiful set of rings of rock and

ice.31 moonsLargest moon, Titan. Enceladus, a moon of Saturn may

have liquid water under the ice.Easily visible in the night skyVoyager explored Saturn and its

rings.Lightning storms last 10 hours and

bolts are 1000x stronger than ours.

Moons of Saturn

Titan – has a nitrogen atmosphere (moon having an atmosphere is rare), we believe it has methane seas the size of Alberta since satellites have picked up a flat surface (flat indicates liquid).

It must be coming from an underground source to still be there and not be converted into a gas and lost to space.

Uranus7th planet from sunHas a faint ring system27 known moonsCovered with cloudsUranus sits on its side with

the north and south poles sticking out the sides.

Smallest gas giant: only 4x Earth size

Neptune

8th planet from sunDiscovered through math7 known moonsTriton largest moonGreat Dark Spot thought to

be a hole, similar to the hole in the ozone layer on Earth – now gone! (Hubble confirmed this).

Kuiper Belt

Kuiper belt – beyond Neptune with 800 objects in it.

Pluto and Eris are two of the objects in it.

Dwarf Planets

Pluto, is a small solid icy pseudo-planet that is smaller than the Earth's Moon.

Eris was originally thought to be Planet 10 – has a moon (Dysnomia) as well.

Pluto9th large body from sun (usually)Discovered in 1930.Demoted from planet status, due to

size and location, to a dwarf planet.It also does not clear it’s own path

and has an orbit that is eccentric.Soon to be visited by spacecraftOrbits very slowlyMoon, Charon, is very close to Pluto

and about the same size.2 other moons found in 2006.

Eris

aka 10th ‘planet’ discovered in 2005 because it was 25o above 0K.

Determined its size by the intensity of heat coming from it.

Has a moon and Eris is slightly larger than Pluto but smaller than our moon.

Named after the Greek goddess of chaos and strife since Eris was the ‘planet’ that erupted the planet/dwarf planet debate.

Asteroids

Small bodies Believed to be left over from the

beginning of the solar system billions of years ago

100,000 asteroids lie in belt between Mars and Jupiter

Largest asteroids have been given names

Only ~20% are being motion- tracked.

Comets

Small icy bodiesTravel past the SunGive off gas and dust as they

pass byHalley and Halley-Bop are the

most famous.

Comets

• Comets are dust and ice that move through the solar system on a specific orbit.

• As the comet nears the Sun, the sun melts its ice, releasing a tail of dust that always faces away from the sun due to the solar winds.

• Comets can be seen over several weeks to several months.

• View the comet Hale-Bopp:• Right click and open hyperlink

Meteors

• Meteors are produced by comets. • Most are the size of grains of sand and

are not seen until they enter the earth’s atmosphere.

• The gases in our atmosphere rub against the high velocity meteor causing friction that causes the meteor to burn up.

• Most burn up before ever reaching the ground.

• They are usually only seen for a few seconds.

• Right click and open hyperlink

Meteor burning up as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere

Russian Comet 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR49rHKycpE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0yCBuiOVS4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpmXyJrs7iU