1. The Solar System & Beyond
Chapter 11

2. Measuring Space Distance
Light Year – the distance that light travels in one year
One light year is about 6 trillion miles

3. The Sun Our closest star Center of our solar system
Made up of hydrogen and helium gases that produce light and heat through nuclear fusion

4. Inner Planets Terrestrial planets Solid rocky core Small in size
Closest to the sun
Earth is only planet which actually sustains life

5. Mercury The closest terrestrial planet to the sun Smallest planet
Its revolution around the sun takes 88 Earth days
Does not rotate, only one side faces sun
Temperature range -127ºF to 4027ºF

6. Venus 2nd terrestrial planet from the sun Hottest planet
Has the densest atmosphere
Brightest object in the sky Oct. –Feb.
Revolution around the sun is 224 Earth days long
Rotates backwards

7. Earth 3rd Terrestrial Planet From the Sun Only one that supports life
Has weather and an amazing magnetic field
Revolution 365 days

8. Mars 4th planet from the sun Nicknamed the red planet
Revolves around sun every 434 Earth days
Largest volcano in solar system is here: “Olympus Mons”

9. Jupiter Largest gas giant Largest planet
Revolution around sun takes 11 ¾ Earth years
Famous Red Spot is a never dying cyclone
Takes 1300 earths to equal size
2nd biggest gravity pull in solar system

10. Saturn Famous for its icy rings of rocks and space dust
2nd largest planet
One revolution around the sun takes 29 Earth years plus 155 days
Temperature -140 C
Gas giant

11. Uranus Spins on its side, its poles, possibly due to planet collision
Gas giant
No solid surface
One trip around the sun takes 83 Earth years plus 273 days
2.7 light hours from the sun

12. Neptune Has belts of visible clouds Windiest planet in solar system
The last of the gas giants
Appears bright blue in telescope
Revolves around sun every 163 Earth years

13. Pluto ????? Farthest known object from the sun, Bizarre Orbit
Demoted from planet August 2006
Believed to be a lost moon of Neptune
Temperature -6900ºF
Revolves around sun every 248 Earth Years

14. The Moon
Our moon is a natural satellite – (a non-made man object that follows in a planets orbit)
Moon is named Luna
Moon revolves and orbits the Earth every 28 days. Sorry!
(a non-made man object that follows in a planets orbit)

15. Our Place in Space ? ? ? A Tiny Speck in the Milky Way Galaxy
Solar System
Inside Asteroid Belt
Terrestrial Planet
Northern Hemisphere
North America
United States
Alabama
Mobile
What’s Your Address?

16. How do we study space?
Telescope – an instrument that collects electromagnetic radiation from the sky and concentrates it for better observation

17. Asteroids, Comets & Meteorites
This could be Earth in 2028! Are you Ready?
Asteroids, Comets & Meteorites

18. Small Bodies in the Solar System
Small bodies, the leftover “scraps” from the formation of the Solar System, fall into three distinct groups:
Asteroids
rocky or metallic in composition
most are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

19. Asteroid – a rocky leftover planet fragment orbiting the Sun

20. Rocks Falling from the Sky
meteor – a flash of light caused by a particle which enters Earth’s atmosphere.
most of these particles are the size of a pea
they completely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere
meteorite – a rock which is large enough to have survived its fall to Earth from space
they caused a brighter meteor…sometimes called a fireball
How can you tell that you have a meteorite?
they have metal inside it
they may have holes, and may glow. . . So don’t touch!

21. It’s not exactly shooting stars…
It’s not exactly shooting stars….its a meteor shower as it enters Earth’s sky.
If the rocks hit the ground it’s called a meteorite.

22. Comets comet – an icy leftover planet fragment orbiting the Sun
may or may not have a tail

23. Comets Recent Comets: One of the most beautiful sights in the sky.
Throughout human history, these “hairy” stars would appear.
like planets, they moved with respect to the fixed stars
unlike planets, they were not confined to the ecliptic and disappeared after several weeks
They were taken as omens of good or bad fortune.
Recent Comets:
1986 Halley’s Comet
1996 Comet Hyakutake
1997 Comet Hale-Bopp
Dozens per year too dim to be seen by eye
Hale-Bopp
Hyakutake

25. A Comet’s Journey

26. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
One by one, each fragment collided with Jupiter in July 1994.
infrared cameras observed hot plumes ejected from the planet
material from deep inside Jupiter was ejected, and fell… left dark spots
Such impacts probably occur on Jupiter once every 1,000 years.
This was a reminder to us that impacts still occur in the present!!

27. Impacts and Mass Extinctions on Earth
We have a plausible scenario of how the impact led to mass extinction.
debris in atmosphere blocks sunlight; plant die…animals starve
poisonous gases form in atmosphere

28. PAST
FUTURE ?