Transcript The Solar System - MrCrabtreesScience

The Solar System
What is the Solar System?
• The solar system includes our sun, and all
the matter that orbits the sun.
• Planets, moons, dust and other debris
• People used to believe that everything they
saw in the sky revolved around earth and
therefore the entire Universe was our solar
system.
Aristotle
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
• Greek Philosopher (384-322 BCE)
• Came up with the idea that the earth was in the
center of the solar system
– Geocentric Model
• Determined Universe to be spherical and limited
in size
• This idea was adopted by the church and remained
untested for 1000 years.
• His model was not very accurate and did not
explain a lot of the variation seen in planets and
comets.
Ptolemy
• Greek Astronomer (87-150 CE)
• Ptolemy looked at the motion of the stars
and the planets and came up with ideas that
helped Aristotle’s model work better
• Ptolemy’s system had the planets spinning
in large circles as they orbited earth.
• This system more accurately predicted the
motion of the planets but was very complex.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Aristarchus
• Greek Astronomer (310-230
BCE)
• First to suggest a Heliocentric
model of the solar system.
• Few people believe in him as at
the time they believed their Gods
lived on Earth so it must be the
center of the known Universe.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Nicolaus Copernicus
• Polish Astronomer (1473-1543 BCE)
• First astronomer to formulate a scientifically based
sun-centered model of the cosmos.
• Delayed publishing his work until he was near
death, likely due to fear of condemnation from the
Church.
• Nearly 60 years later the Church banned his book.
It remained banned until 1835.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Tycho Brahe
• Danish Nobleman (1546-1601)
• Known for his accurate and complete astronomical
and planetary observations
• Religious beliefs led Tycho to attempt to use his
data to blend Ptolemy and Copernicus’s views.
• He believed the sun revolved around the earth and
the planets revolved around the sun.
• The stars lay beyond all of this and also revolved
around earth.
• His assistant, Johannes Kepler, would later
develop his own theory on the solar system.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Johannes Kepler
• German mathematician and astronomer. (15711630)
• Used Brahe’s extensive observations to develop
the most accurate model of the Universe based on
his Three Laws of Planetary motion
– 1. All planets move in ellipses with the sun at one
focus.
– 2. A planet moves faster as it gets closer to the sun.
– 3. The further a planet is from the sun, the slower it
revolves.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Galileo Galilei
• Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and
philosopher (1564-1642)
• Was the first astronomer to use the telescope to
make observations that helped to prove
Copernicus and Kepler right.
• Found four of Jupiter’s Moons
• Found objects outside of our solar system that did
not revolve around either the sun or earth.
• Was sentenced to house arrest for his beliefs by
the Inquisition
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
What is in our Solar System?
• 8 Planets
• 166 known planetary moons
• Billions of small bodies including
–
–
–
–
–
–
4 dwarf planets and their 4 moons
Asteroids
Meteoroids
Kuiper Belt objects
Comets
Interplanetary Dust
Types of Planets
• The planets are divided into 2 groups based
on their location and composition
• Inner planets
– Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
– Small and Rocky with few moons
• Outer Planets
– Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
– Huge, gaseous, ringed, many moons
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
NTK Terms
• Astronomical Unit - Distance from the earth to
the sun (150,000,000 km) (AU)
• Revolution - A celestial body’s movement around
another object, usually in an ellipse
• Rotation - The spinning of a celestial body like a
top.
• Earth Day - the amt of time it takes earth to rotate
once (24 hours)
• Earth Year- the amt of time it takes the earth to
revolve once (365 days)
Mercury
• Closest planet to the sun.
– 0.39 AU
– The sun looks 3 times bigger
• Smallest planet in our solar system
– About 40% the diameter of Earth
• Has no atmosphere
– Is heavily cratered like the moon
Mercury
• Takes 88 Earth days to revolve around the
sun
• 116 Earth days to rotate once
• Used to be larger, its liquid core shrunk as it
solidified, leaving large cracks on the
surface.
• Has no Moons
Mercury
• Temperature Range -168 ~ 427C
• Has polar ice caps
• Was named after the Roman winged
messenger to the Gods as it is the fastest
planet.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Venus
• Second planet from the sun.
– 0.72 AU
• Just slightly smaller than earth (5%)
• Has a very hot, dense, atmosphere that
contains sulfuric acid clouds
• Sustains an average temperature of 450C
likely due to runaway greenhouse gases.
Venus
• Revolves around sun in 225 Earth Days
• Rotates very slowly, 243 Earth Days
• Surface is protected by the thick atmosphere
from meteors so it looks much like Earth’s
• No moons or ice caps
• Named after the Roman goddess of Love
• Brightest object in night sky aside from
moon.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
dec ompres sor
are needed to s ee this pic ture.
Earth
• Third planet from the sun
– 1 AU
• Largest of the Inner Planets (12,000km dia.)
• Has an atmosphere containing mostly
nitrogen(78%) and oxygen (21%)
• Temperature ranges from -88 to 58C
• Earth is tilted from its axis of revolution by
23°
Earth
• Earth revolves around the sun in 365.24
Earth days.
• The Earth rotates in one Earth day or 23.93
hours.
• Has a molten core.
• Has polar ice caps.
• Has a moon (Luna or Moon)
– Roughly 25% the size of earth.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Mars
• The fourth planet from the sun
– 1.5 AU
• Roughly half the size of Earth
• Has a very thin atmosphere composed mostly of
carbon dioxide
• Temperature ranges from -140 to 20C
• Called “Red Planet” due to iron oxide in the crust
• Named after the Roman god of war.
• Home to largest volcano in solar system, Olympus
Mons
Mars
• Mars revolves around the sun in 687 Earth
Days.
• Mars’ rotation takes just slightly over one
earth day (24.6 hours)
• Mars has polar ice caps made of dry ice.
• Mars has two tiny moons
– Phobos(22km) and Deimos(13km)
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Jupiter
• 5th planet from the sun
– 5.2 AU
• The largest of the planets (88,700km wide)
• Is comprised almost entirely of hydrogen and
helium. If it were considerably larger, it could
have become a star.
• The gas is compressed to a liquid in the center.
• There is likely a molten rocky core, possibly from
impacts with other objects.
• Surface temp -153C (Core is hotter due to pressure
from gravity
Jupiter
• Jupiter takes about 12 years to revolve around the
sun.
• Jupiter rotates in only 9.8 hours.
• Jupiter has a giant storm on its surface called the
Great Red Spot
• Jupiter has 63 named satellites
– Io and Europa are two well known moons
• Jupiter has rings, but they are very faint
• Jupiter was named after the principle Roman God
(Greek equivalent Zeus)
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Saturn
• Saturn is the 6th planet from the sun
– 9.5AU
• Second largest planet (75,000km wide)
• Hydrogen and Helium with a liquid center
and a molten rock core.
• Has a surface temperature of -185C (Core
hotter due to pressure from gravity)
Saturn
• Revolution takes 29 Earth Years
• Rotation takes 10.2 Hours
• Saturn has beautiful rings composed mostly
of ice and dust.
• Saturn has 60 identified moons (52 named)
– Titan is the largest moon
• Named after the Roman god of agriculture,
who happened to be Jupiter’s father.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Four of Saturn's moons: Dione, Titan,
Prometheus (edge of rings), Telesto (top center)
Uranus
• Uranus is the 7th planet from the sun
– 19 AU
• Third largest planet (51,000km wide)
• Composed of Hydrogen, Helium and
Methane (blue-green color)
• Also likely to have liquid center with
molten rock core.
• Surface temperature of -114C
Uranus
• It takes 84 Earth years to revolve around the sun.
• Rotates in just 18 hours.
• Has 11 rings that run up and down because Uranus
is tilted nearly 90°
• Has 27 known moons
– Titania is the largest
• Was named after the greek god of the sky.
(Saturn’s Father)
QuickTi me™ a nd a
de com press or
are need ed to se e th is p icture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Neptune
• Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the
sun -30 AU
• Neptune is nearly equal in size to Uranus
– 50,000 km wide.
• Composed of hydrogen, helium, and methane
(blue-green color)
• Also has liquid center and molten rocky core
• Surface temperature of -125C
Neptune
• It takes Neptune 165 Earth years to orbit the
sun.
• It takes only 19 hours to rotate
• Has several faint rings
• Named after the Greek god of the sea.
• Has 13 known moons
– Triton is the largest.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTi me™ a nd a
de com press or
are need ed to se e th is p icture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTi me™ a nd a
de com press or
are need ed to se e th is p icture.
What else is in our solar system?
•
•
•
•
Asteroids
Meteoroids
Kuiper Belt Objects
Comets.
Asteroids
• Asteroids are large chunks of rock that orbit
the sun
• Larger than a meteor(10m)
• Have no ice
• Most are located between the inner planets
and outer planets in the Asteroid Belt
• Largest known is Ceres at 950km across
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Left to right: 4 Vesta, 1 Ceres, Earth's Moon
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Meteoroids
• Small sand to boulder sized debris in the
solar system.
• Anything smaller is considered
interplanetary dust.
• Tend to be debris from things like comets or
collisions with planets.
• These meteoroids clump together as they
orbit.
Meteors
• Meteors are meteoroids that enter Earth’s
atmosphere.
• When earth passes through a clump of
meteoroids, a meteor shower occurs.
• Meteor showers are regular and predictable.
• If the meteor hits the ground it is referred to
as a meteorite.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Kuiper Belt Objects
• Kuiper Belt is a region of space extending beyond
Neptune. (30-55AU)
• Composed of small bodies of rock and ‘ice’
• Very similar to comets, though without the
eccentric orbit.
• Pluto is the most well known KBO
• If we wanted to include Pluto as a planet we
would have to include the 70,000 other pluto-like
objects in the Kuiper Belt.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Comets
• Comets are small bodies in the solar system that
orbit the sun. (100m to 40+km)
• As they approach the sun ice begins to sublimate,
causing a visible coma and tail to form that points
away from the sun.
• Comets have very elliptical orbits
• As comets lose ice they also loose debris
• Eventually they run out of ice and lose the coma
and tail.
• Comets all together form the Oort Cloud which is
estimated to end around 50,000 AU from the sun.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.