The Solar System

The Solar System Composed of the following Sun Planets Moons Asteroids Comets Meteroids

General Information The Sun takes up 99.85% of the Mass of the Solar system Each planet moves around the sun in an elliptical orbit

The Planets Two Types of Planets Terrestial Jovian Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars Small and rocky Jovian Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune Huge Gas Giants Pluto does not fit neatly into either category

Comparisons Size Density Inner Planets (Terrestial) smaller Earth is ¼ the size of smallest Jovian planet (Neptune) Density The inner planets are more dense Differ because of chemical composition

Interiors of the Planets 3 substances make up the interior of the planets Gases Hydrogen and Helium Melting point is near absolute zero Rocks Mainly silicates and metallic irons Melting points are above 700 degrees celcius Ices Ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide and water They have intermediate melting points

Atmosphere Why don’t the gases escape? Gravity Gases are held into our planets by gravity In order for a gas to escape it has to travel at the planets escape velocity Earth 11 km/s Jupiter 60km/s

The Inner Planets Mecury Venus Earth Mars Moon

Mercury Size 1/3 of the Earth Orbital Period 87.9 Days Length of Day Avg. Temp 440 # Moons Atmosphere O2, Na and H2 Color Dark grey Unique Facts Largest Night Day Temp. Change

Mercury Innermost Planet Second Smallest Surface Features Cratered highlands Smooth terrains Has scarps which shows signs of previously being tectonically active

Mercury Continued Surface Temperature Revolves around sun quickly Rotates Slowly One Night Takes 3 months Avg. Daily temp 427 o C Avg. Nightly temp -173 o C

Venus Size 1/1 Orbital Period 224.7 Days Length of Day 243 Days Avg. Temp 737 # Moons Atmosphere CO2, O2and N2 Color Dirty Yellow Unique Facts Highest Albedo and Hottest Planet

Venus Second Planet Earth’s Twin Covered with thick clouds Surface Features Varied Topography much like Earth 80 % is covered by plains, created by lava Only 8% is the highlands (volcanoes)

Venus Surface Temperature Atmosphere Surface Temperature is approx. 475oC Atmosphere 97% CO2 Small Amounts of Water Vapor Small Amounts of Nitrogen Atmospheric Pressure is 90x Greater than Earth’s

Mars Size ½ Orbital Period 686.9 Days Length of Day 24.6 Hours Avg. Temp 210 # Moons 2 Atmosphere CO2, Color Reddish Unique Facts Olympus Mons Water Ice Caps

Mars The Red Planet Has Brilliant White Polar Caps Atmosphere 1% the Denisty of Earth’s Atmosphere Primarly made up of CO2 Temperatures can Drop to -125oC Polar Caps are made of water ice covered by a thin layer of frozen CO2

Mars Surface Features Olympus Mons Valles Marineris Volcano that is the size of Ohio and 23 km high 2.5 times taller than Mt. Everest Valles Marineris Largest Canyon 5000km Long and 8km Deep NO MARTIANS

Jupiter Size 11x Orbital Period 12 Years Length of Day 9.925 hrs Avg. Temp 129 # Moons 16+ Atmosphere H2 and He Color Red, Orange Unique Facts 70% all Planetary Mass

Jupiter Jupiter: 5th planet from the Sun Largest planet in the SS, twice the combined mass of the eight other planets Fastest rotating planet; causes it to slightly bulge at center Great Red Spot is the universe’s largest storm & also has enormous lightning storms Io, a moon of Jupiter, is the most volcanically active object in the SS

Saturn Size 9.5 x Orbital Period 29 Years Length of Day 10.656 hrs Avg. Temp 97 # Moons 18 Atmosphere H2, and He Color Bluish Yellow Unique Facts 7 Major Rings

Saturn Saturn: 6th planet from the Sun Also known as the Ringed Planet; rings composed of varying rock & ice fragments 2nd largest planet in our SS Least dense planet; less dense than water Rapid rotation causes bulge at equator & flattened poles

Uranus Size 4 x Orbital Period 84 Years Length of Day 17.24 Hrs Avg. Temp 58 # Moons 20+ Atmosphere H2, He CH4 Color Blue Unique Facts Accidentally Discovered

Uranus Uranus: 7th planet from the Sun 3rd largest planet in our SS Axis of rotation is tilted on its side; almost perpendicular to its orbital plane around the Sun = the Rolling Planet Also has rings Poles spend 42 years in darkness

Neptune Size 4 x Orbital Period 165 Years Length of Day 16.11 hrs Avg. Temp 58 # Moons 8 Atmosphere H2, He and CH4 Color Blue Unique Facts Existence was Predicted before discovery

Neptune Neptune: 8th planet from the Sun Sometimes is the 9th planet from the Sun when it crosses Pluto’s orbit Similar to Uranus; has several moons & rings Existence was predicted before discovery Great Dark Spot is an Earth size storm on Neptune that disappeared in 1994

Pluto Size 1/5 Orbital Period 248 yrs Length of Day 6.3 days Avg. Temp 50 # Moons 1 Atmosphere N2 and CH4 Color Unknown Unique Facts Retrograde Highest eccentricity

Pluto Pluto: 9th Planet from the Sun Sometimes is the 8th planet from the Sun when it crosses Neptune’s orbit Also known as Planet X because it was not discovered until 1930 Smallest planet in our SS Sometimes referred to as double planet because of it’s moon Charon, which exhibits synchronous rotation with Pluto Only outer planet to have solid, rocky surface, but is not dense enough to be considered a terrestrial planet Was the 8th planet between 78 - 98