1. Our Solar System

2. The Sun It is a medium-sized yellow star in the middle of its life cycle. Its the center of our Solar System and holds objects in orbit by gravity More than 1,000,000 Earths can fit inside the Sun The only source of energy, it’s fueled by nuclear fusion of small atoms to form larger ones Has sun spots, solar flares, and prominences

3. Mercury Terrestrial planet with a solid rocky surface Covered with craters Extreme temperatures (from -170 ºC up to 467 ºC) Thin atmosphere so its temperatures vary by day and night Fastest planet to revolve around the Sun, thus named “Mercury” No moons

4. Venus Terrestrial planet with a solid, rocky surface Earth’s “twin” in size Extremely hot temperatures (470 ºC) due to thick atmospheric cloud cover and green house effect. Retrograde motion (it rotates clockwise) No moons

5. Earth Terrestrial planet with a solid, rocky surface Frozen caps at North & South Poles Capable of supporting life due to [C], 70% water, and protective atmosphere Seasons due to axis tilt 1 Moon: “Luna” where we have landed multiple times and sent more than 70 spacecraft

6. Earth’s Moon “Luna” The moon acts like a mirror; it reflects sunlight to Earth Phases of the moon occur as the moon revolves around Earth and reflects sunlight. Tides -- high tide and low tide -- are caused by the moon’s gravitational pull

7. Mars Terrestrial planet with a solid, rocky surface Red surface due to [Fe] Enormous active volcanoes and dust storms Thin atmosphere Frozen polar caps like Earth Liquid water once? 2 Moons: Phobos and Deimos

8. Asteroids Made of rock, minerals, and rare elements More than 100,000 orbit in the “Asteroid Belt” between Mars and Jupiter Could collide with Earth, but probably won’t One asteroid named “Ceres” is a dwarf planet Moons: a few asteroids have moons

9. Meteors or “Shooting Stars” Pieces of rock that are falling toward Earth are meteors They glow brightly as they are burning up due to fluid friction Called “meteoroids” if they are far away, “meteors” if they have a bright tail, and “meteorites” once they hit Earth

10. Answer this… What is a solar system? Where does energy come from in our solar system? Name one characteristic of each planet we’ve talked about so far. What do the first few planets in our solar system have in common? What are “shooting stars?”

11. Jupiter The largest “gas giant” with no solid surface Faint rings Made of elements [H] and [He] with a hot, solid core of [Fe] -- almost a star! “Red Spot” is a massive storm 62 Moons: the four largest are named Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, but there are more…

12. Saturn Second largest gas giant without a solid surface Famous for bright, icy rings that we can see from Earth with a telescope. The rings have large divisions. Mostly made of elements [H] and [He] Less dense than water! 60 Moons: Titan and Pheobe and more, some orbit in the gaps of the rings

13. Uranus Gas giant without a solid surface Made of elements (H) and (He) and water, ammonia and methane Bluish reflection due to methane (CH 4 ) gas Faint rings, but the brightest clouds Axis is turned “sideways” so it has wild seasons Retrograde motion 27 Moons: Ariel and more…

14. Neptune Gas giant without a solid surface Bluish reflection due to methane (CH 4 ) gas but more vivid than Uranus Six faint rings Farthest planet from the Sun, usually 13 Moons: Triton is the largest and 12 more…

15. Dwarf Planets “Pluto” has a solid, icy surface, three moons, and it orbits in a tilted plane. “Charon” is one of 3 moons of Pluto. Makemake is ¾ the size of Pluto and takes 310 years to orbit the sun. “Eris” is larger than Pluto, but farther away “Ceres” is the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt More dwarf planets are expected to be named or discovered…

16. Comets Made of rock, ice and dust Comets consist of a head, coma, and two tails that point away from the Sun Short-period comets come from the “Kuiper Belt” and orbit the Sun every 200 years or less Long-period comets come from the “Oort Cloud” and take longer to orbit the Sun

17. Think About this… What do the last of the planets in our solar system have in common? Name one characteristic of each of the outer planets. What is the relationship between the size of a planet and the number of moons it has? What makes a planet a “dwarf planet?” Name the dwarf planets.