The Solar System

Sun Sol, our sun

Some Details about the Solar System The Solar system gets its name from the sun, Sol There are 8 planets, 181 known moons, 173 of which orbit full sized planets while the remaining 8 orbit dwarf planets (ceres pluto, Haumea and Makemake), countless asteroids, and comets. Most objects travel around the sun in elliptical orbits.

The 8 Planets The Planets fall into two categories 1. Small rocky worlds (Terrestrial Planets) 2. Large gas giants (Gas Giants)

Mercury Named for the Roman god of speed The surface is baked and battered Little to know atomosphere One year on Mercury is 3 months on earth (88 days) Enormous temperature swings

Venus Named for the Roman goddess of love The atmosphere is poisonous and corrosive It rains sulfuric acid (cause by planetary volcanism) Atmosphere 90x as dense as Earths 1 year on Venus is 0.62 years on earth

Earth You are here Earth has on naturally occurring satellite 365.25 day revolution around the sun and ~24 hr daily cycle Tilt of 23.5o

Mars Named for the Roman god of war The red colour is caused by rust that covers the entire surface One year on Mars is 1.88 years on Earth Has 2 naturally occurring satellites (phobos and deimos) Very thin atmosphere (95% CO2, 2.7% Nitrogen, 1.6% argon) Temperatures can range between 20oC to -153oC

Asteroid Belt The asteroids are rocky fragments that may represent a planet that failed to form The asteroids lie between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars

Jupiter Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system Named after the Roman king of the Gods 1 year on Jupiter is 12 years on earth

Saturn Named after the Roman god Saturn The rings of Saturn were discovered by Galileo 1 year on Saturn is 29.5 years on earth

Uranus Named after the Roman Uranus The planet appears to be lying on its side and rotates backwards One year on Uranus is 84 years on earth Tilted at almost 90o it is thought that it may have been hit by a very large object

Neptune Named after the Roman god of the sea. It has 8 known moons and faint rings. 1 year on Neptune is 165 years on earth The coldest of the planets

Pluto Named after the Roman god of the underworld. It has may moons, Charon, almost as large as Pluto. 1 year on Pluto is 248 years on earth.

Kuiper Belt Similar to the asteroid belt but within the orbit of Pluto, Haumea, Makemake Has a radius anywhere from 30-1000 AU

Oort Cloud Extended shell of icy objects Extends to 100,000 AU Contains millions upon millions of objects all trapped in the gravity of the sun