Created by Jasmin BM, Nathan, Jordan W and Alicia!
The SunMercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
The Moon
The surface of Mercury consists of cratered grounds, The surface of Mercury consists of cratered grounds, smooth plains and many deep craters similar to those smooth plains and many deep craters similar to those on the moon. The craters formed when meteors or small on the moon. The craters formed when meteors or small comets crashed into the planet. comets crashed into the planet. Like the first four planets from the Sun (Venus, Like the first four planets from the Sun (Venus, Earth and Mars) Mercury is made mostly of rock and Earth and Mars) Mercury is made mostly of rock and metal. Mercury's surface appears to be much the metal. Mercury's surface appears to be much the surface of the Moon. surface of the Moon.
LifeLife The plant and animal life of the Earth
The plant and animal life of the Earth
could not live on Mercury because of the
could not live on Mercury because of the
lack of oxygen and the intense heat.
lack of oxygen and the intense heat.
Scientists don’t think that the planet has
Scientists don’t think that the planet has
any sign of life on it.
any sign of life on it.
Venus
Venus is the brightest object in the sky besides our Sun and the Moon. It is also known as the morning star because at sunrise it appears in the east and it is also called the evening star as it appears at sunset when it is in the west but it can’t be seen in the middle of the night.
A Venusian day is 243 Earth days and is longer than its year of 225 days. Oddly, Venus rotates from east to west instead of west to east like all the other planets! If you were on Venus, the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east.
Earth is a rocky world that is still very much alive and active. Volcanic activity continually creates new land and Earthquakes often reshape the landscape.
Earth's surface is constantly changing. The crust is divided up into several "plates" (like a cracked eggshell) that float on a sea of rock. Where these plates collide, the land is pushed upwards to create enormous mountains. The tallest of these mountains, Mt. Everest, rises 29,028 feet (8850 m) above sea level. In some places, one plate sinks underneath another, forming deep valleys and trenches.
Even though the planet was
bombarded by asteroids and
meteors throughout its early
history, erosion has wiped out
most of the craters. Some can
still be found, however, it is
believed that large meteors
may have caused extinctions
throughout Earth's
history. One of these may
have been responsible for
wiping out the largest animals
that ever lived - the
dinosaurs.
The fourth planet from the Sun, Mars is also commonly referred to as the red planet. It is interesting to note that in Roman mythology, Mars was the god of war. In astronomy mythology, Mars was
the Roman god of war and
agriculture. It may not seem like
these two things go together, but
they do. Mars protected those who
fought for their communities, and
stayed home to raise crops for food.
If you weighed 70
pounds on the Earth,
you would weigh about
27 pounds on Mars.
Nicknamed the 'Red' planet, Mars is the fourth planet out in distance from the Sun. Mars is a middle-sized terrestrial planet. Coming in at about half the diameter of the Earth and Venus, and twice the diameter of Mercury.
JupiterIn astronomy mythology, Jupiter known as Zeus in Greece over threw his father Saturn to become king of the gods. He then split the Universe with his brothers Neptune and Pluto.
If you travelled to Jupiter on vacation
you would be very heavy. If you
weigh 70 pounds on the Earth, on
Jupiter you would weigh 185 pounds.
A jewel in the night sky, Jupiter is one of the brightest objects that you can see with the unaided eye. From our perspective, it shines brighter than any star, other than of course the Sun. Venus is the only planet that shines brighter. However Venus is not often visible, except in the early evening, and early morning. For this reason, the ancients viewed Jupiter as the king of the stars.
Jupiter is one of four
large planets in the
Solar System which
are made up of a
large amount of gas.
It is notable that the
Solar System consists
of four small and
rocky inner plants,
while the outer Solar
System contains four
large gaseous
planets.
Saturn
In astronomy mythology, Saturn was the god of agriculture, he was called Cronus by the Greeks. He is the son of Uranus, and father of Jupiter. Saturn over threw his father to become king of the gods, but was then over thrown himself by his son Jupiter.
Uranus
In astronomy mythology, Uranus was the lord of the skies and husband of Earth. He was also the king of the gods until his son Saturn overthrew him.
It would take you many years to fly a rocket to Uranus. When you arrived you would weigh more because Uranus is bigger than the Earth . If you weigh 70 pounds on the Earth you would weigh 82 pounds on Uranus.
Neptune
In astronomy mythology, Neptune was originally only the god of water, but was later extended to the ocean when he became associated with the Greek god Poseidon.
The planet Neptune was discovered by John Couch Adams, Urbain Jean Laverrie, and Johann Gale in 1846. With the discovery of Uranus in 1781 scientists had a difficult mystery to solve. The planet Uranus did not obey Newton's laws of motion. Its observed orbit did not follow the path
that it should have.
Eclipse
Watching a total solar eclipse through special darkened lenses or with the Sun projected on a screen can be a marvellous experience.
During a total solar eclipse astronomers can study the outer layers of the Sun’s atmosphere. These layers, called the chromosphere and corona, become easy to observe when the bright disc of the Sun, known as the photosphere, is covered. Usually they are lost in its glare. Astronomers often pack equipment into an aeroplane and fly along the path of totality, to spend as much time as possible studying the Sun. For many years, this was the only time they could study the corona. Now they have instruments and telescopes in space to make observations at other times.
We do not usually look directly at the Sun because of the brightness of its glare. During an eclipse, it is very tempting to do just that. You should never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye, or with a telescope or binoculars. It could damage or even destroy your sight.
ending of a
1991, in La Paz, Baja California, in Mexico. The Moon's shadow on the Earth traced out a narrow
Galaxy's
The Virgo Cluster is a group of galaxies some 50 million light years from us. It is the nearest galaxy cluster to the Local Group of galaxies, in which our own Milky Way galaxy is located. The Virgo Cluster is moving away from the Local Group at several hundred kilometres per second. The two largest galaxies in this image of the centre of the Virgo Cluster are the bright elliptical galaxies.
The surface of the sun is shown here in false colours. Sunspots appear yellow, although they would normally appear as dark spots. Sunspots are often larger than 30,000 km (20,000 mi) and appear in cycles of 11 years. Solar activity, including the development of sunspots, is associated with the sun’s changing magnetic fields.