Our Solar System The Solar System Our solar

Our Solar System

The Solar System Our solar system consists of eight plants. They are, in order, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. All eight of the planets rotate around a star that we call the sun.

Mercury l l Closest planet to the Sun Similar in appearance to the sun Second smallest planet, 1/3 the size of Earth It takes 88 days for Mercury to orbit

Mercury Has thousands of craters (why it’s similar looking to the moon) l Mean temperature of the surface of Mercury is 353. 9 degrees F but the dark side can reach a low of -297 degrees f l Has an intense amount of sunlight because of its position near the Sun l The planet is too small for gravity to hold any substantial atmosphere l

Venus l l Second closest planet to the Sun Similar to Earth’s size and is often called Earth’s “sister planet” Consists mostly of carbon dioxide Seen as being volcanic and is believed to still have active volcanoes

Venus l Because of the greenhouse effect that occurs on Venus, it causes the surface temp. to rise making it hotter than Mercury though it is farther away. l Completes an orbit around the sun every 224. 7 days

Earth

Our Home l Earth is the 3 rd Planet from the sun l It is the 5 th largest planet in our solar system The Earth is about 40, 000 km around at the equator and is 4. 57 billion year old. l The earth is the only plant in our solar system to support human life l

l l l The Earth is home to over 6. 5 billion people! It takes the earth 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4. 091 seconds to rotate once on its axis. The rotation on the axis goes in a counterclockwise direction. l Earth orbits around the Sun every 365. 25 days l The atposhphere around the earth is made up of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen

MARS

“The Red Planet” l l Mars is the 4 th planet from the sun Mars has the highest mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons, and the largest canyon in the solar system, Valles Marineris l Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos l Besides the Earth, Mars is the most likely to be able to support life.

l The atmosphere on Mars consists of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1. 6% argon, and contains traces of oxygen and water l Mars in 6, 804. 9 km around at the equator. l It takes Mars 687 Earth days to travel once aroud the sun. l Mars' average distance from the Sun is roughly 230 million km

JUPITER l Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and the largest within the solar system. It has a diameter over 11 times the diameter of the Earth l If you traveled to Jupiter on vacation you would be very heavy. If you weigh 70 pounds on the Earth, on Jupiter you would weigh 185 pounds. l Jupiter is a ringed world, surrounded by many moons, some of which are the most interesting objects in the solar system. l Jupiter has a diameter of 140, 000 km, and if it were 10 times larger, it too would be a star. l Jupiter is mostly made of helium and hydrogen in both liquid and gaseous states. l It takes the giant planet 11. 8 earth years to go once around the Sun. l Jupiter spins really fast. It only takes 10 hours to go from night to day on Jupiter. For that reason its middle has been stretched out. Rather than round it is short and fat.

l JUPITER'S ATMOSPHERE Jupiter’s atmosphere is composed of 90% hydrogen and 10% helium l Jupiter radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun, allowing the planet to be hot inside. l The largest swirling area of gas is called the Great Red Spot. Scientists believe this is a large hurricane like storm which has lasted for hundreds of years. l This giant planet has no solid surface. Under it's atmosphere is a large liquid ocean of hydrogen and water. l Pictures taken by space probes have shown that there is thin rings around Jupiter.

JUPITER’S MOONS l Jupiter has at least 60 moons revolving around it, more than any other planet in our solar system. l The planet Jupiter's four largest moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are called the Galilean satellites, after Italian astronomer Galileo, who observed them in 1610.

l Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second largest in the solar system. l It takes 29. 5 Earth years to revolve about the Sun. l Saturn’s atmosphere is primarily composed of hydrogen with small amounts of helium and methane. Saturn is the only planet less dense than water. l Saturn looks like a yellow star in space. When viewed through a telescope, it is seen as a golden sphere, crossed by a series of lightly colored bands parallel to the equator. l Saturn's day is about 10 and one half hours. It has a diameter around 75, 000 miles, its volume is more than 700 times the volume of the earth and its mass is about 95 times that of the earth. SATURN

SATURN’S RING l Saturn's ring system makes the planet one of the most beautiful objects in the solar system. It consists mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. l The rings are split into a number of different parts, which include the bright A and B rings and a fainter C ring. l Space probes have shown that the main rings are really made up of a large number of narrow ringlets. It is thought that the rings may have been formed from larger moons that were shattered by impacts of comets and meteoroids.

SATURN’S MOONS Saturn has 30 known moons. Titan l Many of Saturn's moons orbit around the edge of the planets rings. They help to keep the rings in place and are called Shepherd moons. l Although most of Saturn's moons are small, a few such as Titan are very large. l Titan is Saturn’s largest orbiting moon and the second largest moon in the Solar System. It is bigger in diameter then the planet Mercury. l Titan has a thick mostly nitrogen atmosphere and with its heavy clouds obscures the moon's surface. The surface temperature on Titan is about -178°C which is equivalent to -289°F.

Uranus l l l l Seventh planet from the Sun. Third largest in the solar system. Equatorial diameter = 51, 800 km Orbital Period = 84. 01 years. Distance from Sun = 2/87 billion km. Rotates on Axis once every 17 hours 14 minutes. Distinguished by the fact that it’s tipped on it’s side.

Uranus At least 22 moons, largest two are Titania and Oberon. l Atmosphere is composed of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane and small amounts of acetylene and other hydrocarbons. l Uranus has a blue-green color. l Uranus has a complicated ring system. l

Neptune l l l l Named for the Greek God of the sea, Poseidon. Eighth planet from the Sun. 4 th largest in diameter – 49, 532 km. at the equator Mass = 1. 0247 e 26 kg. If Neptune were hollow, it would hold 60 Earths. Has blue cloud color, and large, dark spots covering it. The largest of these spots is Great Dark Spot. It’s about the size of Earth. Neptune is made of 85% Hydrogen, 13% Helium and 2% Methane.

Neptune Orbit = 4, 504, 000 km from Sun. l Neptune has a set of four rings which are narrow and faint. Rings are made up of dust particles. l Neptune has 13 moons. l Orbital Period = 164. 79 years l Neptune has the strongest winds of any planet. Near the Great Dark Spot, they blow up to 2, 000 km an hour. l

Academic Content Standards l The Ohio Academic Content Standards for Science are made up of six standards l Earth and Space Sciences l Life Sciences l Physical Sciences l Science and Technology l Scientific Inquiry l Scientific Ways of Knowing

Work Cited l http: //www. mcwdn. org/SPACE/Saturn. html l http: //www. kidsastronomy. com/ l http: //www. allaboutspace. com/subjects/ast ronomy/planets/saturnmoons. shtml l http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Jupiter_(planet)

l l l "Mercury. " Wikipedia. 27 Nov. 2006. 28 Nov. 2006 <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)>. Arnett, Bill. "Mercury: the Winged Messanger. " 3 Jan. 2005. 28 Nov. 2006 <http: //www. nineplanets. org/mercury. html>. "Venus. " Wikipedia. 27 Nov. 2006. 28 Nov. 2006 <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)>. Hamilton, Calvin J. “Uranus. ” 1997 -2003. 28 Nov. 2006 <http: //www. solarviews. com/eng/uranus. html>. Arnett, Bill. “Neptune. ” 2 Sept. 2004. 28 Nov. 2006. <http: //www. nineplanets. org/neptune. html>.

Jeopardy!! l l l The class will be split into two different groups will take turns picking a category and point value. if they answer the question correctly then the team is awarded the points on the card. If the group is unable to correctly answer the question the other team has a chance to “steal” the question and the point. The team with the most points after all the questions have been read is the winner.