The Solar System

Structure

• 8 total planets

– 4 Terrestrial, 4 Jovian

• Approximately 4.6 billion years old

• All planets orbit around Sun

– same plane, but different paths

Terrestrial Planets

• Small in both mass and size

• Close to Sun

• Made of metal and rock

• Few moons, no rings

Jovian Planets

• Big in mass and size

• Far from Sun

• Hydrogen, Helium, and hydrogen compounds

• No solid surface

• Rings and many moons

Sun

• Formed 5 billion years ago

• Radiates all types of rays– From earth, can only sense

infrared, ultraviolet, radio, and visible

• Sunspots

• Inner layers: core, radiativezone, convective zone, photosphere

• Outer layers: chromosphere, corona, solar wind

Mercury

• Closest planet to Sun

• .055 mass of Earth

• Hot/cold extremes

• Desolate and cratered

• no active volcanoes, wind, rain, or life

• Least studied

Venus

• Nearly identical to Earth’s size (.82)

• rotates very slow, opposite direction of Earth

• Used to think sister planet to Earth

• Extreme “greenhouse effect”

• Mountains, valleys, craters, active volcanoes

Earth

• Average surface temp: 290K

• Oasis of life

• Only planet with oxygen to breathe

• Ozone shield surface from

deadly solar radiation

• Abundant surface water to

nurture life

Earth’s Moon

• Large relative to Earth

• Always see the same side

• See phases because of it’s position relative to Sun

• 1969- Neil Armstrong was

first man to walk on moon

Mars

• .11 mass of Earth• Not enough oxygen to

breathe• Atmosphere wouldn’t

protect you from Sun• Most studied planet

besides Earth• Ancient volcanoes• Great canyon, runs 1/5th

around planet

Jupiter

• Closest Jovial planet

• 318 mass of Earth

• At least 63 moons

– Galilean: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto

• Great Red Spot

• Thin set of rings

Saturn

• Famous for it’s rings

– Made of countless orbiting particles

• 95.2 mass of Earth

• Cloud-top temp: 95 K

• At least 60 moons

– At least 2 geologically active

Uranus

• 14.5 mass of Earth

• Cloud-top temp: 60 K

• At least 27 moons

• Twice as far from Sun as Saturn

• Pale blue color because of Methane

• Tipped on it’s side– Extreme seasons

Neptune

• Farthest from Sun

• 17.1 mass of Earth

• At least 13 moons

• Almost of a twin of Uranus

• Very blue

Pluto (and other dwarfs)

• .0022 mass of Earth

• Cold and dark

• Part of Kuiper belt

• Essentially large comets

• Distance and size makes difficult to study

Sources

• Gallant, R. A. (1980). Our Universe: National Geographic Picture Atlas of. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.

• Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, Voit (2012). The Essential Cosmic Perspective. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education Inc.

• www.crazy-frankenstein.com• www.greenanswers.com• www.library.thinkquest.org• www.ghuj.com• www.oneplaneteducation.com• www.wikipedia.org• www.black-cat-studios.com• www.newscientist.com• www.daviddarling.org