Transcript The Solar System

Home, Sweet Home.
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Our solar system is comprised of 8 planets
orbiting a massive G2V yellow star.
Stars are classified by the following ditty –
“Oh, Be A Fine Girl. Kiss Me.”
Our Sun is considered a dwarf star, even
though it has a diameter of 1,392,000 km
(approximately 109 times that of earth).
Our sun exerts a gravitational force which
keeps a planet (Neptune) in orbit over 4.5
billion kilometers away.
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Our Sun is a nuclear fusion reactor –
converting hydrogen into helium.
This fusion reaction fuses approximately 630
million tons each second.
The Sun has been burning like this for
(arguably) 4.5 billion years and is estimated to
be about half way through its lifespan.
At that point, the Sun will expand into a Red
Dwarf and envelop Mercury, Venus, and Earth.
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You can remember the eight planets by the
statement “My Very Energetic Mother Just
Sent Us Nothing”.
Pluto, which was discovered in 1930 and was
demoted to dwarf planet in 2006.
The first 4 planets from the Sun are
considered Terrestrial, and the remaining 4
are considered Jovian.
The main difference between Terrestrial and
Jovian planets is their size.
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Named for the Roman god of messengers.
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
Mercury orbits the Sun once every 88 Earth
days.
The surface of Mercury is pockmarked with
craters from collisions with asteroids and
comets and resembles our Moon.
Mercury has an atmosphere comprised
mainly of hydrogen and helium.
Temperatures on Mercury vary from -280oF
to 800oF.
The gravity on Mercury is nearly 1/3 of that
of Earth.
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Named for the Roman goddess of
Love and Beauty.
Venus orbits the Sun every 225 Earth
days.
The surface of Venus is rough and
home to many craters and volcanoes.
Venus has an atmosphere comprised
mainly of CO2 with clouds of sulfuric
acid.
The temperature on Venus does not
vary from 460oF and the atmospheric
pressure is 100 times that of Earth.
The gravity of Venus is about 90% that
of Earth.
Venus is considered to be somewhat
of a twin to Earth.
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Earth is the densest and fifth-largest
of the 8 planets.
Based on its distance from the Sun,
Earth is the only planet to possess
water in all 3 states of matter.
Our atmosphere provides a
temperature range hospitable to life.
As a result, the only life found in our
solar system resides on Earth.
All life that has arisen on Earth, has
remained on Earth. This includes
minimal space travel.
517 humans have been in space, with
a scant 12 having set foot on the
Moon.
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Earth’s Moon is a satellite trapped in a
elliptical orbit.
The Moon is in a synchronous rotation
to Earth, always presenting the same
surface.
Even though the Moon appears
bright, it has a dark surface and
possesses the same reflectivity as
coal.
12 humans have walked on the Moon
between 1969 and 1972.
It has been long thought that the
Moon was formed after a huge
asteroid collided with the Earth, but
this theory has recently been
disputed.
The Moon possesses a gravity about
1/6 that of Earth.
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Named for the Roman god of War.
Mars is approximately half the diameter and
has 11% of the mass of Earth.
Early astronomers noted surface features on
Mars that led them to believe they were
seeing canals of liquid water.
Water is found on Mars in the polar ice caps.
The atmosphere of Mars is 95% CO2, with
trace amounts of oxygen gas.
Temperatures on Mars vary between -125oF
and 23oF.
The gravity on Mars is about 1/3 that of
Earth.
The period of Mars is 687 Earth days.
Rovers and landers have been placed on
Mars.
Assuming you could launch with sufficient
fuel, a trip to Mars would take slightly more
than 6 months in each direction.
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Jupiter is more than 2.5 more massive
than all the other planets combined.
Jupiter is composed primarily of
hydrogen and helium, with a possible
rocky core.
Jupiter has more than 1,321 times
more volume than Earth, but is only
318 more massive.
Jupiter possesses a massive storm,
named the Great Red Spot, which was
first noted in the 17th century.
Jupiter’s surface temperature is
believed to hover around -229oF.
The gravity on Jupiter has been
estimated to be about 25 m/s2.
Since Galileo first discovered 4 Jovian
moons, more than 60 additional
moons have been identified.
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In 1993, a comet trapped in orbit
around Jupiter was discovered.
As astronomers studied this comet,
they noted that it was spiraling in to
the planet.
The comet broke into pieces due to
the gravity of Jupiter.
Over 6 days in July of 1994, pieces of
this comet slammed into Jupiter.
The largest fragment (G) caused an
explosion equivalent to 6,000,000
tons of TNT.
The resulting fireball was measured
as raising the temperature from 130K
to 24,000K.
Named after the Roman God of Agriculture,
as it appeared prominently in the sky around
harvest time.
 Saturn has a mass 95 times that of earth, but
possesses a density 1/8 that of Earth.
 Saturn orbits the Sun approximately every
10,000 days.
 With an atmosphere comprised mainly of
hydrogen and a rocky core containing iron,
nickel, and rock, Saturn is the second largest
planet and a gaseous giant.
 The temperature on saturn varies from 418oF at the cloud top to 21,092oF in the layer
of metallic hydrogen.
 Saturn’s gravitational field is slightly stronger
than that of Earth (10.44 m/s2).
 The most notable feature of Saturn would be
its rings, which surround the planet and
extend to 75,000 miles from the cloud top.
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Named for the Greek God of the Sky.
Located approximately 20x the distance
from the Sun as that of Earth, Uranus has
a period of 84 years and gets 1/400 the
amount of sunlight as Earth.
Uranus has an atmosphere of hydrogen
and helium surrounding a rocky core.
Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar
system, with an average temperature of 371oF.
Tilted almost 90o, Uranus spins along the
plane of orbit with the Sun.
Uranus is an icy orb that bears a striking
similarity to its neighbor – Neptune.
Named for the Roman God
of the Sea.
 Neptune is similar to Uranus
in size and composition.
 The period of Neptune is
approximately 165 years.
 The average temperature is
-328oF.
 With the demotion of Pluto
to a dwarf planet, Neptune
is the outermost planet in
our solar system.
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