THE SOLAR SYSTEM

BY A.J. AZIKE

WE LIVE ON A SMALL PLANET IN A SMALL PART OF THE UNIVERSE CALLED THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS DOMINATED BY A SINGLE GREAT STAR- OUR SUN.

SOLAR SYSTEM

• SCIENTIST BELIEVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS ABOUT 5 BILLION YEARS OLD.

• PERHAPS A NAERBY STAR EXPLODED AND CAUSED A LARGE CLOUD OF DUST AND GAS TO COLLAPSE ON ITSELF.

• THE HOT CENTER PORTION BECAME THE SUN.• SMALL PIECES FORMED INTO PLANETS.• THE REMNANTS BECAME COMETS AND ASTROIDS.

THE SUN, OUR SUN

LAYERS OF THE SUN

OUR SUN IS…

• THE CENTER OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.• PRIMARY SOURCE FOR OUR HEAT AND LIGHT.• SO FAR AWAY, IT TAKES 8 MINUTES FOR ITS

LIGHT TO REACH US.• VERY ACTIVE AND ERUPTS WITH SOLAR

FLARES.• THE CENTER OF ALL PLANETARY ORBITS IN

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

MERCURY

-1ST PLANET, CLOSEST TO THE SUN.-MERCURY HAS EXTREMELY HOT SURFACE TEMPRATURE AND HAS NO AIR OR WATER.

-IT HAS MANY CRATERS FROM BEING HIT BY DEBRIS.

VENUS

VENUS

• VENUS IS VISABLE IN THE MORNING AND EVENING SKY.

• THE PLANET IS COVERED IN CLOUDS.• TEMPERATURE IS INCREDIBLE HOT DUE TO

THE SUN’S HEAT NOT BEING ABLE TO EXCAPE ITS CANOPY OF CLOUDS.

• VENUS IS AN EXTREME EXAMPLE OF THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT.

SEGMENT OF VENUS

THE EARTH, HOME SWEET HOME.

EARTH

• WE LIVE ON A SMALL PLANET, THE ONLY PLACE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM WHERE LIFE SEEMS TO FLOURISH.

• LIFE ON EARTH IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE EARTH IS THE RIGHT DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SUN FOR WATER TO EXIST AS LIQUUID.

• THE ATMOSPHERE CONTAINS SO MUCH OXYGEN, IT IS KEY IN SUSTAINING LIFE.

LAYERS OF THE EARTH

THE EARTH HAS A FRIEND…

THE MOON

THE MOON

• VERY UNEVEN SURFACE WITH MANY CRATERS.• ASTRONAUT NEIL ARMSTRONG WAS THE

FIRST MAN ON THE MOON IN 1969.• THE MOON ORBITS THE EARTH.• TIDES ARE CAUSED BY THE PULL OF THE

MOONS GRAVITY.• GALILEO STUDIED THE MOON IN 1609.

LUNAR PHASES

EARTH MOON RELATIONSHIP

MARS

MARS

• THE ROMANS NAMED MARS AFTER THEIR GOD OF WAR.

• THE SURFACE IS COVERED BY HUGE CANYONS, MOUNTAINS, ICECAPS AND VOLCANOS.

• THE ATMOSPHERE IS TO THIN TO BREATH.• SOME SAY LIFE EXISTED ON THE PLANET AT SOME

TIME.• PHOBOS AND DEIMOS ARE THE MOONS OF

MARS.

IN 1938, AMERICANS LISTENED TO ORSON WELLES WHO NARRATED THE STORY “THE WAR OF THE WORLDS” AND BEFORE THE PROGRAM ENDED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THOUGHT MARTIANS WERE INVADING THE EARTH.

THERE IS A LARGE BODY OF DEBRIS IN THE SUNS GRAVITATIONAL ORBIT THAT IS REMNANT FROM THE BIRTH OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM-

THE ASTROID BELT

JUPITER

JUPITER

• THE LARGEST OF THE PLANETS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

• IT IS 300 TIMES HEAVIER THAN THE EARTH.• THE PLANET IS A GIANT STORM OF

HYDROGEN, AMMONIA AND METHANE.• A DAY ON JUPITER IS LESS THAN 10 HOURS

LONG.• ITS FAST ROTATIONS CAUSES GREAT WINDS.

JUPITERS MOONS.

• IO• EUROPA• GANYMEDE• CALISTO

THE HUGE RED SPOT ON JUPITER IS IN FACT A HUGE AND VIOLENT STORM. A WHIRLPOOL OF GASES THAT WAS SEEN BY

ASTRONOMERS ABOUT 300 YEARS AGO.

SATURN

SATURN’S RINGS AND MOONS.

URANUS

URANUS

• NEARLY FOUR TIMES THE SIZE OF THE EARTH.• ORBITS THE SUN EVERY 84 YEARS.• MADE MAINLY OF HYDROGEN AND HELIUM• THE PLANET ROLLS THROUGH THE SOLAR

SYSTEM ON ITS SIDE, POSSIBLY CAUSED FROM A COLLISION THAT SENT IT OFF ITS AXIS.

• URANUS HAS FIVE MOONS.

NEPTUNE

NEPTUNE

• THIS PLANET IS A VERY BLEAK AND WINDY PLACE.

• IT HAS POISONOUS CLOUDS OF METHANE ICE CRYSTALS CONSTANTLY IN THE AIR.

• NEPTUNE HAS EIGHT MOONS, THE LARGEST IS TRITON.

• THIS PLANET IS THE SMALLEST OF THE FOUR GAS PLANETS.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST…THE DWARF PLANETS.

THE END.