1. A STAR, EIGHT PLANETS, & ONE DWARF MRS. MYERS 2014

2. THE PLANETS: AN OVERVIEW

3. THE SUN

4. TERRESTRIAL: THE INNER PLANETS

5. T HE T ERRESTRIAL P LANETS

6. MERCURY

7. MERCURY As seen by Voyager 1

8.  Earth’s twin or sister planet  similar in size, density, mass, & location in the solar system THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

9. Covered in thick clouds that visible light cannot penetrate Covered in thick clouds that visible light cannot penetrate THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

10. V ENUS  6 th largest planet  2 nd in distance from the sun  1st brightest planet in the solar system  Comes closest to the Earth

11. Venus

12. Venus As seen through Hubble telescope

13. E ARTH  Age: At least 4 1/2 billion years  Mass: 6,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6.6 sextillion) tons (6.0 sextillion metric tons)  Surface features  Highest land above sea level o Mount Everest, 29,035 ft (8,850 m)  Lowest land below sea level o Shore of Dead Sea, about 1,310 ft (399 m)

14. E ARTH  Temperature  Highest: 136 °F (58 °C) @ Al Aziziyah, Libya  Lowest: -128.6 °F (-89.6 °C) @ Vostok Station, Antarctica  Average surface temperature: 59 °F (15 °C)  Chemical makeup E arth's crust  % of the crust's weight: o oxygen 46.6 o silicon 27.7 o aluminum 8.1 o iron 5.0 o calcium 3.6 o sodium 2.8 o potassium 2.6 o magnesium 2.0 o other elements 1.6

15. Earth Satellite view shows the International Space Station (ISS)

16. The Martian Atmosphere  The Martian Atmosphere  Only 1 % of density of Earth’s Surface Features  Surface Features  Old by Earth standards o Highly cratered southern hemisphere o 3.5 billion to 4.5 billion years old.  Extensive dust storms occur  May cause color changes as observed from Earth Mars: The Red Planet T HE T ERRESTRIAL P LANETS

17. The Mars Odyssey probe, launched in 2001 (illustration) Found evidence of water ice beneath the surface of Mars in 2002. Analyzed the surface chemical composition

18. Mars

19. Mars

20. Mars: The Red Planet Water on Mars  Water on Mars  Some areas exhibit drainage patterns similar to those created by Earth streams  Images from Mars Global Surveyor indicate groundwater recently migrated to surface T HE T ERRESTRIAL P LANETS

21. Water on Mars

22. The face on Mars

23. The Mars Rover

25. Is there life on Mars?

26. JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

27. Jupiter: Giant Among Planets Mass is 2-1/2 x greater than mass of all other planets & moons combined  Mass is 2-1/2 x greater than mass of all other planets & moons combined  H – He atmosphere contains small amounts of o methane o ammonia o water o sulfur compounds Structure of Jupiter  Structure of Jupiter JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

28.  Largest planet in solar system  Diameter is 88,846 mi (142,984 km)  More than o 11 x of the Earth & about 1/10 of the sun o 1,000 Earths to fill up the volume of the giant planet  When viewed from Earth  Appears brighter than most stars.  After Venus, second brightest planet

29. Jupiter & the Great Red Spot As seen from Hubble telescope

30. Jupiter & the Great Red Spot

31. JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS Jupiter: Giant Among Planets  Satellite system is like mini solar system  28 moons discovered so far Jupiter’s Moons  Jupiter’s Moons Jupiter’s Rings  Jupiter’s Rings  Ring system was unexpected Voyager 1 discovery

32. J UPITER ’ S L ARGEST M OONS IO Europa CallistoGanymede

33. JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS Saturn: The Elegant Planet Features  Features  Atmosphere is very active  Winds up to 1500 km/hr (932 m/hr)  Large cyclonic storms o Similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot o Although smallerin Saturn’s atmosphere

34. C ASSINI A PPROACHING S ATURN

35. Saturn: The Elegant Planet Saturn’s Rings  Saturn’s Rings  Ring system thought to be unique to Saturn  discovered that Jupiter, Uranus, & Neptune have rings  Two categories based on particle density Saturn’s Moons  Saturn’s Moons  Consists of 31 moons  Titan -- largest moon & bigger than Mercury J OVIAN : T HE O UTER P LANETS

36. S ATURN ’ S R INGS  Made up of  Dust, rock & ice from passing comets  Meteorite impacts on moons  Gravity pulls material from moons  Small as grains of sand to larger than tall buildings  A few are up to a kilometer across  Each ring orbits at different speed

37. S ATURN As seen by the Hubble telescope

38. Uranus: The Sideways Planet  Instead of perpendicular to plane of orbit like other planets  Rotation axis lies nearly parallel with plane of orbit JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS  One of the larger planets  7 th in distance from the sun

39. U RANUS As seen by the Hubble telescope

40. Neptune: The Windy Planet  Winds exceeding 1000 km/hr  One of th windiest places in solar system JOVIAN: THE OUTER PLANETS

41. N EPTUNE As seen by the Hubble telescope

42.  Neptune's outermost ring,  39,000 mi (63,000 km) from planet  Material clumps into three bright, dense arcs Latin: related to nebula cloud, mist

43. Pluto  Was planet #9  Relegated to dwarf status  Planet must meet three criteria  To be in orbit around the Sun  Have enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape  Have cleared its orbit of other objects. Pluto and Charon: As seen by Voyager 1

44.  Pluto’s orbit is a little messy  Therefore, it is no longer a planet  Considered within Kuiper Belt  Not the largest object there  Named after Roman god of underworld  Plutoid, dwarf planet, or a minor planet