Transcript Planets and the Solar System

Planets and the
Solar System
There are perhaps
thousands of
galaxies in the
universe.
Galaxies contain
• planets
• moons
• comets
• meteors
• asteroids
All these objects spin
or orbit around a
center star, our sun.
sun
Solar flare
Our galaxy, the
Milky Way,
orbits around the
sun.
3 main galaxy shapes
•elliptical
•irregular
•spiral
elliptical galaxy
irregular galaxy
spiral galaxy
The Milky Way
is a spiral
galaxy.
There are thousands of
galaxies, other than ours, in
the universe. Some are
very likely able to support
life.
There are eight
known planets.
The planets are
divided into two main
groups:
inner and outer
inner planets
•Mercury
•Venus
•Earth
•Mars
Mercury
Venus
Venus
Venus
Venus fires
Mars
Mars
Mars
Olympia
Olympia Mont
Mont on
on Mars
Mars
Ice found on Mars!
The inner planets
are smaller and
made of rock and
iron.
outer planets
•Jupiter
•Saturn
•Uranus
•Neptune
Shoemaker-Levy comet pieces that hit Jupiter
Shoemaker-Levy comet strikes (time lapsed)
Jupiter’s Big Red Spot
Jupiter
Jupiter and moons
Look how small the moon Io is
compared to Jupiter. Our moon is
1/4 our size!
Callisto-Jupiter’s moon
Ganymede - Jupiter moon
Saturn
Saturn family
Neptune and moons
Neptune’s great dark spot
Neptune’s clouds
Uranus
The outer planets are
larger and made of
hydrogen, helium, and
ice.
STARS
Stars are classified by
their different
temperatures, which
cause them to be
different colors.
star classifications
•red
•yellow
•bluish white
Stars are born
from a cloud of
gas and dust.
interstellar dust
These clouds of
gas move closer
together and form
a ball.
The ball gets
hotter and starts to
make energy.
As energy is made,
the ball gets bigger
and bigger until it
forms an adult star.
Stars continue to burn
for about 10,000 years
until they consume or
use all the hydrogen gas
that is in them.
When all the
hydrogen is gone,
the star dies.
All stars turn into
red giants or super
giants at the end of
their lives.
RED GIANT
During the red giant
stage, a star swells up
so big, it could
swallow Earth, Venus,
and Mercury.
As a star continues
to grow it
eventually starts to
run out of energy.
It will collapse and
shrink and become a
nova that continues to
emit some energy for
awhile.
When all the energy
is gone, it becomes
a white dwarf or
black dwarf star.
It is then a dead star
and creates no
energy and drifts in
space.
SUPER
GIANT
•continues to build energy
•creates an massive
explosion called a
supernova
•spews energy into space
becomes a nebula
Nebulas are clouds of
gas and dust floating
between the stars that
are recycled to form
new stars.
nebula gas
These clouds of gas
and debris floating in
space are called
interstellar dust.
These clouds of dust get
thicker as they combine
together, form balls of
energy, and over a span of
thousands of years, form a
new star.
nebula hydrogen gas
Wolf-ray nebula
ring nebula
nebula
Close up view
stars
plasma
BLACK HOLE
BLACK HOLES
• formed from dying stars
• when certain stars die they create
a gravity around them
• the gravity spins faster than the
speed of light
• Make a vacuum similar to a
“tornado” that sucks anything
too close into its spinning core
black hole
Asteroids are
basically small planets
that move in orbit
around the sun.
Within the Milky
Way, there is a huge
collection of asteroids
called an asteroid belt.
This belt is found in the
space between two of
our planets, Mars and
Jupiter. This belt
contains thousands of
these asteroids
The largest asteroid
known is Ceres which
is about 640 miles in
diameter.
Meteors are small,
solid bodies that
enter a planet’s
atmosphere.
If a meteor reaches
earth intact, it is
called a meteorite.
There have been
several craters in the
world created by
meteorites.
Meteor Crater in Arizona
Comets are small
bodies that are
characterized by a
long, glowing tail.
Comets revolve
around the sun and
consist of dust and
ice.
The tail of a comet is
only visible as it passes in
front of the sun and the
reflected light makes the
ice particles shine.
The main parts of
a comet are the
tail, nucleus, and
the coma.
Comets are classified
into two types, based on
the length of the time it
takes them to orbit
around the sun once.
• short period comets
(like Halley’s Comet) orbit
the sun in under 200 years
• long period comets take
over 200 years to orbit the
sun, even sometimes taking
thousands of years
comet
Satellites are objects
that revolve around a
planet or star.
Example: moon