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SNC 1D1 – The Solar System The solar system consists of the sun and the eight planets .

SNC 1D1 – The Solar System The solar system consists of the sun and the eight planets . Some planets like mercury are fairly close to the sun (mercury 58 million km) while Neptune is 4 billion km from the sun. One astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance from the sun to the earth.

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SNC 1D1 – The Solar System The solar system consists of the sun and the eight planets .

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  1. SNC 1D1 – The Solar System • The solar system consists of the sun and the eight planets. • Some planets like mercury are fairly close to the sun (mercury 58 million km) while Neptune is 4 billion km from the sun. • One astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance from the sun to the earth. • 1 AU = 150 000 000 km • Jupiter is 780 million km from the sun. This is 5.2 AU or 5.2 times further from the sun than the earth. • Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are considered the inner solar system. • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are considered the outer solar system.

  2. Dwarf Planets • To be considered a “planet” a celestial object must : 1) be in orbit around a star 2) have enough mass to be pulled into a stable spherical shape by gravity. 3) dominate its orbit (its mass must be greater than anything else that crosses its path) • Discovered in 1930, Pluto did not meet all of the criteria of a planet and was classified as a dwarf planet. • Dwarf planets orbit the Sun and have spherical shape but do not dominate their orbits. • Dwarf planets in our solar system include: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris.

  3. Note that the orbit of Pluto crosses that of Neptune

  4. Asteroid Belt • Asteroids are small celestial objects composed of rock and metal. • They orbit the sun but are too small to be considered planets. • The asteroid belt is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. • Asteroids vary in size and can have a diameter of up to 950 km.

  5. Meteoroids • Pieces of metal or rock that are smaller than asteroids are meteoroids. • Meteoroids can be the size of dust particles or they can be as large as a car. • Meteoroids occasionally get pulled into the earth’s gravity. • On entering the earth’s atmosphere friction causes them to burn up producing a shooting star or meteor. • Sometimes the earth’s orbit passes through the tail of a comet yielding meteor showers such as the Leonid meteor shower. • On occasion, large meteors don’t burn up completely and impact the earth. These are meteorites. • Several large meteorites can create craters on impact with the earth.

  6. Meteorite Craters Meteor Shower

  7. Comets • Cometsare large chunks of ice, dust and rock that orbit the sun. • They range in size from 100 m to more than 40 km across. • When comets get close enough to the sun its outer surface sublimates (changes from a solid to a gas). • When this happens gas and dust escape forming a gaseous cloud that can be thousands of km wide (coma). • When the comet approaches the sun radiation and the solar wind causes a gaseous tail to form that points directly away from the sun. Homework: Page 317 #1 - 9

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