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Solar System

Solar System. Introduction. The Solar System consists mostly of empty space!. The Sun 1 M  The Nine Eight Planets (  0.001 M  ) Asteroids and Rocky Debris (Negligible mass) Comets (?). Planets in the Solar System come in two varieties. TERRESTRIAL. and.

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Solar System

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  1. Solar System Introduction

  2. The Solar System consists mostly of empty space! • The Sun 1 M • The Nine Eight Planets ( 0.001 M) • Asteroids and Rocky Debris (Negligible mass) • Comets (?)

  3. Planets in the Solar System come in two varieties TERRESTRIAL and JOVIAN

  4. Mars TERRESTRIAL (Earth-like) Mercury Earth Venus

  5. Terrestrial Planets • Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars • Rocky: Densities 3 – 5 g/cm3 • Small Radii: 0.4 – 1.0 R • Low Masses: 0.06 – 1.0 M • Few moons

  6. Jupiter Neptune JOVIAN (Jupiter-like) Uranus Saturn

  7. Jovian Planets • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune • Gaseous – No definite surface, low densities: • 0.7 – 1.75 g/cm3 • Large: 4 – 11 R • Massive: 17 – 318 M • Numerous moons

  8. We might add a third type of “planet” -- Kuiper Belt Objects Two “large” examples are: 2003 UB313, the “10th planet” = Eris Pluto 2006: Both Pluto and 2003 UB313 are now called “Dwarf Planets”

  9. The Solar System also contains … Comets Asteroids

  10. Characteristics of the Solar System: The Planets orbit in nearly the same plane

  11. The Planets orbit around the sun in the Counterclockwise Direction And the JOVIAN planets are found in the outer solar system

  12. Any theory which claims to explain the origin of the Solar system must account for these three basic characteristics. The Planets orbit in nearly the same plane The Planets orbit around the sun in the counterclockwise direction. The Jovian planets are found in the outer solar system and the Terrestrial planets are found in the inner solar system.

  13. The Nebular Theory The Solar System began as a rotating, contracting cloud of interstellar gas: As the cloud contracted gravitationally, it also flattened, due to centrifugal force.

  14. As the cloud contracted and flattened, the protosun formed at the center. In the protoplanetary disk, planetisimals formed. Through the process of accretion, these built up into larger and larger, and eventually planet-sized bodies.

  15. Stages in this process have been observed around other stars: HD 141569 Beta Pictoris

  16. Temperatures varied from very high values (a few thousand Kelvin) in the inner protoplanetary disk to very low values (10’s of Kelvin) at the outer edge. This means that in the inner solar system, low melting point materials (gases, ices = volatiles) were lost, leaving behind only rocky (= refractory) materials.

  17. Thus, rocky, high density planets (the Terrestrial planets) formed in the inner solar system. In the outer protoplanetary disk, where temperatures were much lower, volatiles were retained, leading to the formation of the gas-giant (Jovian) planets. These giant planets are made primarily of hydrogen. Finally, icy bodies (comet nuclei) formed out at the very fringes of the protoplanetary disk.

  18. This theory thus accounts for the three basic characteristics of the solar system: The Planets orbit in nearly the same plane The Planets orbit around the sun in the counterclockwise direction. The Jovian planets are found in the outer solar system and the Terrestrial planets are found in the inner solar system.

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