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The Solar System. The Sun and the Celestial Bodies. Sun. Typical medium-sized star Radiation produced by nuclear fusion. Solar System. Ten planets and their satellites Asteroids Comets Meteoroids Interplanetary dust & gas. Major Planets. Inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
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The Solar System The Sun and the Celestial Bodies
Sun • Typical medium-sized star • Radiation produced by nuclear fusion
Solar System • Ten planets and their satellites • Asteroids • Comets • Meteoroids • Interplanetary dust & gas
Major Planets • Inner planets • Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars • Outer Planets • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Quaoar
Major Planets • Inner planets • small, rock and iron • Outer Planets • mainly hydrogen, helium and ice (Pluto*)
Movement of Planets • Elliptical orbits around the sun • Counterclockwise direction around the sun
Discoveries of the Planets • Mercury – Unknown • Venus – Unknown • Mars – Unknown • Jupiter – Unknown • Saturn – Unknown • Uranus – 1781 • Neptune – 1846 • Pluto – 1930 • Quaoar - 2002
Quaoar, The Newest Planet • Identified on June 4, 2002 • 800 miles in diameter • Almost perfectly circular 285-year orbit • About 6.3 billion km (4 billion miles) from the sun • Known by astronomers as 2002LM60
Origin • Debate continues!