Our Solar System

our solar system is in the Milky Way galaxy composed of the Sun (a G2 star - yellow dwarf) and everything that orbits it sun is 99.8% of the mass Planets: 0.135% Comets: 0.01% ? Satellites: 0.00005% Minor Planets: 0.0000002% ? Meteoroids: 0.0000001% ? sun’s gravity keeps the planets in orbit uses hydrogen for nuclear fusion (fuel) makes He-4, and isotope of helium a satellite is an object in orbit around a larger mass around 135 satellites are orbiting the planets in our solar system

Measuring Astronomical Unit (AU) light years roughly the distance from the Earth to the Sun, about 93 million miles. light years the distance light will travel uninterrupted

Solar System

Solar System, plus Sun

The Moon

only natural satellite of earth has no atmosphere gravity is about 1/6 of earth light comes from the Sun that is reflected off the Moon's surface. covered with craters caused by asteroids during the formation of the solar system moon’s gravity pulls on earth’s water creating high and low tides.

phases of the moon appears to be different shapes depending on its position relative to earth time between new moons is 29.5 days waxing is when the moon is “getting” bigger waning is when the moon is “getting” smaller

Eclipses occurs when one object moves into the shadow cast by another object solar eclipse moon blocks out the sun from reaching an area on earth

lunar eclipse earth blocks the sun from reaching the moon

Formation of the Solar System about 4.6 billion years old probably began as a nebula-- a large cloud of dust in space collapsed into a large, rotating, disk-shaped cloud continued to collapse and the material in the middle became hot and dense (the Sun) planets begin to form by accretion where particles collide and stick together

the planets, moons, and asteroids of our solar system orbit the Sun in about the same angle called the ecliptic plane