Crash Landing Activity First, get into teams of three to five (I will assign) and create a list of items you would need to bring to survive an extended trip on a spaceship into space. Record on a piece of paper for your team. You are travelling through the solar system and you have to make a crash landing on a planet. In your team, look at your options and pick a planet. (on provided worksheet) Be able to justify your answer and record on the back of the sheet why you chose to land on that planet or moon. – you have 10 minutes to discuss and record!

Our Solar System

Solar System Formation

Your Parents’ Solar System

21 st Century Solar System

Notes Take notes of everything in BOLD. If it is not in bold, you do not need to write it down.

Our Solar System Our solar system is made up of: Sun Eight planets Their moons Asteroids Comets

The Solar System: List of Ingredients Ingredient Sun Jupiter Other planets Everything else Percent of total mass 99.8% 0.1% 0.05%

The Sun A middle-aged, average star: Mostly Hydrogen & Helium 99.8% of the Solar System ~4.6 billion years old Shines because it is hot: Surface Temp ~6000 C Mostly Visible, UV & IR light Kept hot by nuclear fusion in its core: Builds Helium from Hydrogen fusion. Will shine for ~12 billion years

The Sun dominates the Solar System

Terrestrial Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars “Earth-Like” Rocky Planets Largest is Earth Only in the inner solar system (0.4 to 1.5 AU) Rocky Planets: Solid Surfaces Mostly Silicates and Iron High Density: (rock & metal) Earth, Venus, & Mars have atmospheres

Inner Planets The inner four rocky planets at the center of the solar system are: Mercury Venus Earth Mars

The Terrestrial Planets Earth (1 M  ) Mars (0.11 M  ) Venus (0.82 M  ) Mercury (0.055 M  )

Mercury Planet nearest the sun Second smallest planet Covered with craters Has no moons or rings About size of Earth’s moon

Venus Sister planet to Earth Has no moons or rings Hot, thick atmosphere Brightest object in sky besides sun and moon (looks like bright star) Covered with craters, volcanoes, and mountains

Earth Third planet from sun Only planet known to have life and liquid water Atmosphere composed of composed of Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%).

Mars Fourth planet from sun Appears as bright reddish color in the night sky Surface features volcanoes and huge dust storms Has 2 moons: Phobos and Deimos

The Jovian Planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune Largest Planets: at least 15 times mass of Earth. Only in the outer solar system (5 to 30 AU) No solid surfaces (mostly atmosphere) Low density Gas Giants: (Jupiter & Saturn) Thick H/He atmosphere, liquid hydrogen mantle, ice core Ice Giants: (Uranus & Neptune) Ice/rock core & mantle, thin H/He atmosphere

The Jovian Planets Jupiter (318 M  ) Uranus (15 M  ) Saturn (95 M  ) Neptune (17 M  )

Outer Planets The outer planets composed of gas are : Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Jupiter Largest planet in solar system Brightest planet in sky 60+ moons, 5 visible from Earth Strong magnetic field Giant red spot Rings have 3 parts: Halo Ring, Main Ring, Gossamer Ring

Saturn 6 th planet from sun Beautiful set of rings 31 moons Largest moon, Titan, Easily visible in the night sky Voyager explored Saturn and its rings.

Uranus 7 th planet from sun Has a faint ring system 27 known moons Covered with clouds Uranus sits on its side with the north and south poles sticking out the sides.

Neptune 8 th planet from sun Discovered through math 7 known moons Triton largest moon Great Dark Spot thought to be a hole, similar to the hole in the ozone layer on Earth

Pluto Pluto, the outermost planetoid small, solid, and is smaller than the Earth's Moon.

Pluto 9 th planet from sun (usually) Never visited by spacecraft Orbits very slowly Moon, Charon, is very close to Pluto and about the same size

Is Pluto a Planet? What to consider? Size? Shape? Orbit? What is it made of?

IAU Definition of a Planet In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a planet:  orbits the Sun  has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),  has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,  is not a satellite

IAU Definition of a Dwarf Planet In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a dwarf planet:  orbits the Sun  has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),  has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,  is not a satellite

Life on other planets?? Why Mars Died, and Earth Lived (9.4 min) Or- cw0UrIFI (21 min) cw0UrIFI

Water on the moon /video-view.cfm?Vid_ID= /video-view.cfm?Vid_ID=3263 Earth 100 Million Years From Now ed4xVD4

Asteroids Small bodies Believed to be left over from the beginning of the solar system billions of years ago 100,000 asteroids lie in belt between Mars and Jupiter Largest asteroids have been given names

Comets Small icy bodies Travel past the Sun Give off gas and dust as they pass by

Writing Activity Write a paragraph comparing planets in the solar system. Include 5 facts covered in this presentation.