The Basics of Geography

1. The Basics of Geography Part 3 The Earth in Space

2. Located in the Milky Way Galaxy, Earth is the third planet from the sun.

6. The Sun Primarily made of Hydrogen and Helium, the Sun is equal in size to about 109 Earths!

8. The Terrestrial Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

9. Mercury Similar in appearance to Earth’s moon, Mercury has no moon of its own, and was named after the Roman messenger god.

10. Venus Named for the Roman goddess of love, Venus has no moons. It is also sometimes called Earth’s twin because they are similar in size. It also spins in reverse on its axis.

11. The Surface of Venus

12. Mars Named for the Roman god of war, Mars is thought to be the planet most likely to sustain life. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.

13. Martian Landscape

14. The Asteroid Belt is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

15. The Gas Giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

16. Jupiter Jupiter, the largest planet was named after the main Roman god, and has over 60 moons. The large red spot is thought to be a storm.

18. Saturn Named for the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn has at least 60 moons. The rings are though to be ice particles and space debris.

20. Uranus Named for the Greek god of the sky, Uranus has 27 moons. It is unique in that it spins sideways on it axis, so its poles are where other planets’ equators are. It also has faint rings.

21. Neptune Named for the Roman god of the sea, Neptune has 13 moons and faint rings as well.

22. Pluto Pluto, named for the Roman god of the underworld, was discovered in the 1930s, and has 3 moons. Recently, some people have tried to demote its planetary status. No spacecraft has ever visited Pluto.

24. Earth “Earth” is a English/Germanic word that means “ground”. Earth is 93,000,000 million miles from the sun, and has one moon that has a great effect on our planet.

25. The earth is about 24,900 miles in circumference, and about 7,900 miles in diameter. • The polar circumference is about 50 miles shorter than the equatorial circumference, meaning that Earth is not a perfect sphere, or globe.

26. The Moon The moon is about ¼ the size of Earth, and is about 250,000 miles away. It’s rotation is nearly identical to Earth, so we see the same side of it.

27. The Far Side of the Moon • In the past, the far side of the moon was mistakenly called the “dark side”. It was first photographed by a probe from the Soviet Union in 1959.

29. Earth as viewed from the moon on Christmas Eve, 1968.

30. The gravitational acceleration of the moon is only about 1/6 that of the Earth.

31. Because it is closer than the sun, the moon’s gravitational pull has a greater affect on our TIDES.

32. High Tide Low Tide