Planets Wandering Worlds Chapter 4 Planets The planets

Planets: Wandering Worlds Chapter 4

Planets • The planets are called wondering worlds… • This is because they are in motion.

Planets • Planets cannot be mapped like stars can, because the planets are always moving. • Planets do not give off their own light…We see them at night only because they are reflecting the light from the sun!

Planets • The four planets nearest the sun are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars • These are the “inner planets”

Planets • The four planets farthest from the sun are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. • These are the “outer planets”

Mercury: The Moonlike Planet • Mercury is the smallest planet. • It is barren, rocky, and full of craters. • It travels at 30 miles per second and is thus called the “speediest planet”

Mercury • It orbits the sun in only 88 earth days. • Mercury rotates very slow…one “day” is 2/3 of the planets short year. • Daylight lasts 176 earth days and so does darkness.

Mercury: The Moonlike Planet • Mercury ranges from 29 million miles to 43 million miles from the sun. • Parts of the planet get as hot as 797° F.

Venus: Earth’s Nearest Neighbor • Venus is the “first star” you see in the evening. • It is bright due to the cloud coverage that it has.

Venus • It orbits the sun every 225 Earth days. • It rotates every 243 Earth days. • It is thus, the only planet with a day longer than its year!!!!

Venus • Venus is about the same size as Earth and so is called our “twin. ”

Venus • Venus has no water. • It has an atmosphere made of 95% carbon dioxide! • Its pressure is 90 times greater than the Earth. • Due to the atmosphere of CO 2, it is the hottest planet in the solar system!

Mars: The Red Planet • Mars glows red in our sky and so is called the Red Planet. • It has three moons: – Phobos – Deimos – Gaspra

Mars • Mars is barren. • It is rocky with windswept deserts of reddish sand. • Mars has violent dust and storms.

Mars • Mars has polar ice caps that appear white on the surface.

Mars • The atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide. • Its temperature is relatively stable (-190 F to 70 F).

Mars • The planet has deep canyons and towering volcanoes! • The Tharsis Bulge is the location of the most gigantic mountains and valleys in the solar system!

Mars • There are four extinct volcanoes on the bulge: • The largest is Olympus Mons – it is 3 X larger than Mt Everest!

Olympus Mons

Mars • Because water does not exist on the surface of Mars…the many Martian canyons are a mystery to scientists. • They may have formed from storms or “marsquakes”.

Jupiter • Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system! • It is bigger than all other planets put together! • It has the fastest rotation – 9 hrs 50 min!

Jupiter • It is a gas giant composed of hydrogen and helium. • Jupiter has storms all across its great surface! • The Giant Red Spot is a cyclone 3 x bigger than the earth!

Jupiter • Jupiter has 16 moons! • The largest is Ganymede which is bigger than mercury! • Europa is icy white. • Calisto is also icy and covered in craters. • Io has active volcanoes!

Saturn • Saturn is best known for its rings. • It is also a gas giant. • Saturn has multiple moons.

Saturn • Two of its moons, Iapetus and Phoebe travel several million miles from Saturn. • Titan, the largest, is icy nitrogen. • Titan is larger than Mercury.

Uranus • Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system. • Uranus has atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, and methane gas. • Uranus may have a core the size of earth!

Uranus • Uranus has 21 moons. • One moon, Miranda, has a giant cliff that is twice the size of Mt. Everest! Photo taken by Voyager 2

Uranus • Uranus also has 10 dark rings around it.

Uranus • The unusual thing about Uranus is that Uranus is set on its edge in relation to the rest of the solar system. • The rings and planet are perpendicular to the rest of the planets.

Neptune • Neptune takes 165 earth years to orbit the sun one time! • Neptune’s day are short – only 16 hours.

Neptune • Neptune is believed to have vast oceans of water. • Its atmosphere, however, consists also of methane (giving it the blue color) • It has stronger winds than anywhere else in the solar system!

Neptune • Neptune has rings! • The rings are very small and are made of dust particles!

Neptune • Neptune has 11 moons. • The largest is Triton! • Triton has its own atmosphere! • Geyers on Triton spout liquid nitrogen 5 miles into the atmosphere! • Triton orbits Neptune clockwise – the only large moon to do so in the solar system! Photo taken by Voyager 2

Pluto: Dwarf Planet #1 • Pluto closer to the size of an asteroid than a planet. • Pluto has a “moon” named Charon that is actually about the same size as the planet itself.

Pluto: Dwarf Planet #1 • Pluto’s orbit sometimes takes it across the path of Neptune.

Eris: Dwarf Planet #2 • Eris is larger than Pluto. • Eris is 10 Billion Miles from the sun!!!! • It is farther out than some Kuiper Belt objects.

All Five Currently Named Dwarf Planets • UB 313 (also known as a plutoid, informally known as Xena, and now formally known as Eris) • Pluto (also known as a plutoid) • Ceres (remains in the category of dwarf planet) • Make (also known as a plutoid, new official name for Dwarf Planet 136472 2005 FY 9) • Haumea (also known as a plutoid, new official name for Dwarf Planet 136108 2003 EL 61, originally called "Santa. ".

JPL Site for Looking at the Planets and Dwarf Planets • http: //sse. jpl. nasa. gov/planets/index. cfm

The End!!!!