Transcript Solar System

Our Solar System includes:
The Sun
Eight Planets
Their Moons
Comets
Asteroids
How old is the solar system?
The solar system is about 4.5 billion years old.
My
Very
Elegant
Mother
Just
Served
Us
Nine
Pizzas*
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto *(Not a planet anymore)
Are there differences among the
planets in our solar system?
Planets come in different sizes and colors.
The four planets closer to the Sun are called rocky, or terrestrial, inner
planets. They are small in size and similar to Earth in composition. They
have no rings, and only two of them (Earth and Mars) have moons.
The four outer planets, called gas giants, are much larger than the
rocky planets. They all have rings and many moons. The gas giants are
made up mostly of hydrogen, helium, frozen water, ammonia, methane,
and carbon monoxide.
There is a discussion over whether Pluto is a planet. Some
astronomers think that Pluto might be little more than a giant
comet. Its composition is similar to that of comets, and its orbit
is quite different from that of the other planets.
Sun
•Is an average-sized yellow star
•hot ball of gases made of hydrogen & helium
•Is over 4 ½ billion years old (4.6)
• Is about 110 times the diameter of Earth
•1 million Earths could fit inside it
•gives off heat and light
•is the center of the universe
•8 planets, including Earth, revolve around the Sun
((Pluto is no longer a planet).
Earth
•is the 3rd planet from the sun
•supports life because of its oxygen-rich atmosphere and water
•is 150 kilometers from the Sun
•revolves around the sun every 365 days (year)
•rotates on its tilted axis every 24 hours (day & night)
•active planet that is constantly changing
•Earth’s atmosphere blocks most of the sun’s rays
Moon
•is a satellite of Earth (it revolves around us)
•rocky, gray satellite
•¼ the diameter of Earth
•does NOT produce its own light (reflects sun)
•made of mountains, valleys and plains
•NO WATER (unlike Earth)
•NO AIR (atmosphere)
•has extreme temperatures
•No air + No water + extreme temp. = NO LIFE!
Earth
Sun
*Earth –centered model
*Sun–centered
*It used to be believe that the
Earth was the center of the
universe.
*We now know that the Sun is the
center of the universe and we
revolve around it.
Greek Astronomer Egyptian Astronomer
Polish Astronomer
model
Italian Astronomer
Who was Nicholas
Copernicus?
•Nicholas Copernicus changed
the way humans
viewed their place in the
Universe.
•For a thousand years it was
thought that the
Earth was at the centre of the
universe.
Nicholas changed all that!
Who was Nicholas Copernicus?
•This was a revolutionary
moment in the history of
human thought.
•Up to this time the earth was
thought to be at the centre of
the universe.
•He first wrote the idea down in
1513 and finally published a
book about his ideas in 1543.
• But it took another 100 years
for people to really accept the
idea.
One famous astrologer Galileo spent a large part of his life in prison because
he believed Copernicus's ideas but the church was not yet ready to accept it.
Can you see the difference between the two ideas?
Now check out the activities on SOL PASS for Earth, Moon, Sun!
http://www.solpass.org/5s/AP/4.7scienceactivity.htm