Transcript Planets of the Solar System

Planets
By: Zach Miller
and Ashley Dwyer
The Sun
• Our Sun is one of more than 100 billion
stars in our galaxy.
• The Sun is, at present, about 70%
hydrogen and 28% helium by mass.
Everything else ("metals") amounts to less
than 2%.
• There are nine planets and a large number
of smaller objects orbiting the Sun.
Mercury
• Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun
and the eighth largest.
• Mercury has no known satellites.
• Mercury is often visible with binoculars or
even the unaided eye.
• Temperature variations on Mercury are the
most extreme in the solar system ranging
from 90 K to 700 K.
Venus
• Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the
sixth largest.
• Venus' orbit is the most nearly circular of that of
any planet.
• Venus probably once had large amounts of
water like Earth but it all boiled away. Venus is
now quite dry.
• Venus has no satellites and is usually visible
with the unaided eye.
Earth
• Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the
fifth largest.
• Earth is the only planet whose English name
does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology.
• The Earth is the densest major body in the solar
system.
• 71 Percent of the Earth's surface is covered
with water.
• Earth has only one natural satellite, the Moon.
Mars
• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and
the seventh largest.
• Mars' orbit is significantly elliptical.
• The average temperature on Mars is about
218 K.
• Mars has two tiny satellites which orbit
very close to the martian surface.
Jupiter
• Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and
by far the largest.
• Jupiter is more than twice as massive as
all the other planets combined.
• Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen and 10%
helium.
• Jupiter has 63 known satellites.
Saturn
• Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and
the second largest.
• Saturn's rings are extraordinarily thin:
though they're 250,000 km or more in
diameter they're less than one kilometer
thick.
• Saturn has 30 named satellites plus one
discovered in 2003 and is unnamed as of
yet.
Uranus
• Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun
and the third largest (by diameter).
• Uranus is composed primarily of rock and
various ices.
• Uranus has 11 known rings which are all
very faint.
• Uranus has 21 named moons and six
unnamed ones.
Neptune
• Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun
and the fourth largest.
• Neptune has an internal heat source - it
radiates more than twice as much energy
as it receives from the Sun.
• Neptune's rings are very dark but their
composition is unknown.
• Neptune has 13 known moons.
Pluto
• Pluto is the farthest planet from the Sun
and by far the smallest
• Pluto is the only planet that has not been
visited by a spacecraft.
• There are some who think Pluto would be
better classified as a large asteroid or
comet rather than as a planet.
• Pluto has only one known satellite.