Download
1 / 20
E N D
8 planets now • Pluto has been downgraded, but there are now 4 dwarf planets. Dwarf planets are objects that orbit the Sun and have enough mass to form a sphere, but they share their orbit with other objects. And as telescopes improve, more dwarf planets will be discovered. There might eventually be more dwarf planets than planets. See how much you already know about our Solar System?
Quiz time! • http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/science/ • Take mercury, venus, mars, jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune quizzes. . • Also tides
Mercury • 59 days a rotation • 88 days for revolution (< 2 days/yr) • Might be the core of a larger planet • Huge ball of iron covered by a thin layer of rock. • -184 to 465 • Diameter approx 3000 miles
Venus • It is the solar system's brightest planet -- yellow clouds of sulfuric acid reflect the sun's light brightly. • In astronomy mythology, Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty. In Greek, her name was Aphrodite. • 7500 mile diameter • 445 • Rotation 243 revolution 224
Mars • Home to Olympus Mons • -123 – 36 degrees C • 4220 mile diameter • Named after Roman God of War
Jupiter • at least 62 moons – most are very small, and were probably once asteroids that got too close to Jupiter. Jupiter's large size means that it has very strong gravity. • no solid surface as we know it. atmosphere gets more and more dense as one moves down into the planet until the enormous pressures convert it into “liquid metallic hydrogen”. You could not walk on Jupiter; you could float in its clouds with a balloon but not land on a surface. • Jupiter has a ring around it. It is so faint that it was not until the Voyager spacecraft visited it in 1979 that the ring was detected. It is extremely thin and is made up of dark dust particles. • Hydrogen, helium, strong magnetic field.
A day on Jupiter • Jupiter lasts only 10 hours • so big that you could fit all the other planets in the solar system inside it. • biggest, most violent storm in the known universe -- that spot is at least three times the size of earth! • Named after the king of Gods
Saturn • second biggest planet, but it’s also the lightest planet. If there was a bathtub big enough to hold Saturn, it would float in the water! • The ring that surrounds Saturn could be the remnants of a moon that was shattered by Saturn's gravity
Uranus • Uranus’ axis is at a 97 degree angle, meaning that it orbits lying on its side!
Neptune • the sun, because one Neptune year lasts 165 Earth years! • Neptune has a dark spot caused by a storm. Neptune's spot is smaller than Jupiter's -- it is only about the size of the planet earth.
Objects in solar system. • orbit the Sun in a counter-clockwise direction. This matches the theory that the Solar System formed all at once from a cool cloud of hydrogen. As the gas came together, it began to spin, so that the Sun collected in the middle, surrounded by an accretion disk of gas and dust. All the planets and other material in the Solar System formed within this rotating disk. There are a few exceptions, however, like Halley’s Comet.
Our Moon • Capture – a body floating in the solar system was pulled into moon’s gravitational field. Capture into the Moon's present orbit is very improbable. Something would have to slow it down by just the right amount at just the right time, and scientists don’t think this is probable.. Also, this hypothesis does not have a natural explanation for the extra baking the lunar material has received. • Fission - Moon was once part of the Earth and somehow separated early. Present Pacific Ocean basin is the most popular site - since the moon’s composition resembles that of the Earth's mantle. Earth doesn’t spin that fast. • Condensation -Moon and the Earth condensed individually from the nebula that formed the solar system, with the Moon formed in orbit around the Earth. However, if true, it should have nearly the same composition - should possess a significant iron core, and it does not.
Most widely believed theory • 4.45 billion years ago, a young planet Earth – was hit by a Mars-sized body. Could have given it a fast initial spin, and eject enough debris into orbit to form the Moon. If the ejected material came primarily from the mantles of the Earth and the impactor, the lack of a sizeable lunar core was easily understood, and the energy of the impact could account for the extra heating of the lunar surface – which rock samples show us.
Meteors, etc. • Did you know that the same object can become a meteor, a meteorite, and a meteoroid during its lifespan? How is that possible, and what is the difference between meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids? • objects that are too small and insignificant to be considered an asteroid or a comet are classified as meteoroids.
A meteor is • a meteoroid that is passing through the Earth’s atmosphere. • Meteors are also commonly called shooting stars or falling stars. • Several falling through sky – meteor shower • Meteorite – when meteor hits surface of Earth
Can we see any planets now? • As May 2012 begins, the planet Venus is brightest in the west after sunset. And two other planets, Mars and Saturn, grace the evening sky.
