1. The Solar System Part 2
The Planets

2. Terrestrial and Gas planets
To be considered a planet
must orbit one or more stars
its own gravity holds it in a spherical shape
be the only body occupying the orbital path

3. Terrestrial and Gas planets
Large distances keep our solar neighbourhood’s family of eight planets well separated from each other
Astronomical unit (AU), is equal to the average distance between the Sun and Earth, about 150 million km.
Earth is 1 AU from the Sun, while Jupiter is 5.27 AUs from the Sun.

4. Terrestrial planets
Four inner Planets
Have rocky surfaces

5. Terrestrial planets Mercury
The closest planet to the Sun is also the smallest.
slightly larger than our Moon
differences between night and daytemperatures on its surface (ranging from 400°C to –183°C).

6. Terrestrial planets Venus often called Earth’s sister planet
similar size and composition to Earth
Venus’s atmosphere is almost completely carbon dioxide
the Magellan spacecraft revealed that large portions of the planet arevery flat, while other areas have volcanoes, lava flows, and cracks called rifts.

7. Terrestrial planets Earth little blue planet, third from the Sun
only life yet discovered
only place known to have water in three phases
Water covers nearly three quarters of Earth’s surface
Atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen

8. Terrestrial planets Mars called the red planet half the size of Earth
Mars has a very thin atmosphere of carbon
dioxide and can experience winds of more than 900 km/h.
Mars has two polar ice caps made of frozen carbon dioxide

9. Outer Planets Called Jovian Planets Much Larger than the Inner Planets
Have no real surface

10. Outer Planets Jupiter largest planet in the solar system
It has a mass 2.5 times greater than that of all the other planets combined
“Great Red Spot” a storm raging in the clouds of hydrogen and helium that form the planet’s outer layers ,as large as three Earths
the shortest day (10 hours)

11. Outer Planets Saturn elaborate system of rings (from ice particles)
composed mainly of hydrogen and some helium

12. Outer Planets Uranus fourth most massive planet
Similar composition to Jupiter and Saturn, including a ring system
blue colour from the methane gas in its atmosphere
unusual rotation in that it is flipped on its side

13. Outer Planets Neptune outermost planet third most massive
composition is similar to that of Uranus, and it has the same dark blue colour
Has a ring system
Some times has a large, blue, Earth-size patch on Neptune’s surface likely a storm in the clouds

14. Terrestrial and Gas planets

15. Questions
Page 411 #2,9,11