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Chapter 5 Solar System

Our solar system consists of the Sun and everything that orbits it, including 8 planets. The inner planets such as Earth are rocky, while the outer planets such as Jupiter are gas giants. Other objects in our solar system include moons, asteroids, comets, and meteors. The Sun, Earth, and Moon interact to cause ocean tides on Earth.

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83 views

Chapter 5 Solar System

Our solar system consists of the Sun and everything that orbits it, including 8 planets. The inner planets such as Earth are rocky, while the outer planets such as Jupiter are gas giants. Other objects in our solar system include moons, asteroids, comets, and meteors. The Sun, Earth, and Moon interact to cause ocean tides on Earth.

Uploaded by

yeni
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SOLAR SYSTEM

Galaxies
• Our sun is 1 of trillions of stars in the universe. Stars are found in
groups held together by gravity.
• A huge group of stars is called a galaxy.
• Our entire universe is made up of thousands of galaxies.
• The images below show you how small we are compared to the entire
universe.

UNIVERSE GALAXY SOLAR SYSTEM


The entire universe is made A huge group of stars held A system of planets & stars that
of thousands of galaxies together by gravity. are found throughout galaxies
The Milky Way
• Our Solar System is part of the “Milky Way” galaxy.
A. What’s in Our Solar System?

• Our solar system consists of a central star


(the Sun), planets, dwarf planets, moons,
asteroids, comets, meteors, interplanetary
gas, dust, and all the “space” in between.

• Except for Earth, the planets of the solar


system are named for Greek and Roman
gods and goddesses.
Planets
• Can you name the 8 planets in our Solar
System? This includes Earth…

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,


Uranus, Neptune
Do you know any ways to remember
all 8?

• My Very Excellent Mother Just


Sold Us Nuggets!
The Relative Size of the Planets in
the Solar System
Sunspot
Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the
surface of the Sun. They appear dark because
they are cooler than other parts of the Sun's
surface.

Solar Flare
Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy
caused by tangling, crossing or reorganizing of
magnetic field lines near sunspots.
Prominance
A solar prominence is a large, bright feature
extending outward from the Sun's surface
Movement of Planets
• Period of Rotation: amount of time that
an object takes to rotate on its own axis
once. (1 Day)

• Period of Revolution: time it takes an


object to revolve around the sun once. (1
year)
B. Planets are categorized
according to size and composition

– Small, rocky planets (Terrestrial Planets)


are the inner planets closest to the sun
– gas giants (Jovian Planets) are the outer
planets
Inner and Outer Planets
• Inner Planets: • Outer Planets
– Mercury – Jupiter
– Venus – Saturn
– Earth – Uranus
– Mars – Neptune
1. Characteristics of Inner Planets

• They are made up mostly of rock and metal.


• They are very heavy.
• They move slowly in space.
• They have no rings and few moons (if any).
• They have a diameter of less than 13,000
km.
a. Mercury
• Has a revolution period of 88
days.
• Has 1000° temperature
swings from day to night
because there is no
atmosphere to trap heat.
• Is about 1/3 of Earth’s size
• Is about 1/3 Earth’s distance
from the sun (0.39 AU)
• Fastest orbiting planet
• Planet nearest to the sun
b. Venus
• Rotates in the opposite
direction of earth
• Reaches 900F at the surface
due to a strong greenhouse
effect.
• Venus has no moons and
takes 225 days to complete an
orbit.
• Is about the same size as
Earth
• Is about 2/3 Earth’s distance
from the sun (0.72 AU)
c. Earth
• Is the only planet known to
support life!
• Has a surface composed of
71% water.
– Water is necessary for life on
Earth.
• Is the basis for the
Astronomical Unit (distance
from sun to Earth = 1 AU)
d. Mars
• Mars appears red because of
iron oxide, or rust, in its soil.
• Mars has two moons and
takes about two years to
complete an orbit.
• Is about ½ of Earth’s size
• Is about 1 ½ times as far from
the sun as Earth (1.52 AU)
• Also known as Red Planet
2. Characteristics of Gas Giants
• They are made up mostly of gases
(primarily hydrogen & helium).
• They are very light for their size.
• They move quickly in space.
• They have rings and many moons.
• They have a diameter of 49,000 km or
greater
a. Jupiter
• Is the largest, most
massive planet.
• Takes about 12 years to
orbit the sun.
• Jupiter has 92 known
moons.
• Is about 11 times larger
than Earth.
• Is about 5 times farther
from the sun than Earth
(5.19 AU)
• Has many rings made of ice
b. Saturn that extend about 260,000
miles from the surface but
are less than 1 mile thick.
• Has 117 known moons
• Takes about 30 years to orbit
the sun.
• Is almost10 times larger than
Earth
• Is nearly ten times farther
from the sun than
Earth (9.5 AU)
c. Uranus
• Has 27 known moons
• Takes 84 years to
complete one orbit.
• Is about 4 times
larger than Earth
• It’s axis of rotation is
tilted 90º
• Is about 19 times
farther from the sun
than Earth (19.1 AU)
d. Neptune
• Takes 165 years to orbit
the sun
• Has 14 moons
• Is about 3.8 times larger
than Earth
• Is about 30 times farther
from the sun than Earth
(30 AU)
Other Space Objects

COMETS
ASTEROIDS
METEOROIDS
What is a comet?
• A comet is a small body made
out of dust, rock, gas & ice.
• They are kind of like a dirty
snowball
• Comets come from faraway
regions of our solar system
beyond the planets (Kuiper belt
and Oortd Cloud)
Parts of Comets

▪ The nucleus
▪ The coma
▪ The ion tail
▪ The dust tail
What is an asteroid?
• Asteroids are large
pieces of space rock
with irregular
shapes.
• They are also
known as planetoids
or minor planets that
revolves around our
sun
• Most asteroids orbit the
Sun in the asteroid belt
located between Mars
and Jupiter. A few
asteroids approach the
Sun more closely.
• Asteroids can collide
with object such as
Earth’s moon, creating
huge craters on the
3 to 6
surface.
METEOROIDS
METEORS &
METEORITES
• Meteoroids are pieces of
rock or dust that are
smaller than asteroids.
• Meteoroids are tiny
particles left by an
asteroid or a comet &
most meteoroids are
smaller than the size of a
pebble.
• When small meteoroids enters Earth’s atmosphere,
they usually burn up & make a fiery trail as it falls,
it is then called a meteor or a “shooting star”

• Meteors that land on Earth are called meteorites.


Earth Rotation causes:
• Day and Night

• Time zone
• Apparent daily motion of the sun
Earth Revolution causes:
• Seasons
Earth Revolution causes:
• Apparent annual motion of the sun
• Gregorian Calendar
• Eclipses
▪ Solar Eclipse
Earth Revolution causes:
▪ Solar Eclipse

▪ Lunar Eclipse
Moon
• The period of rotation of the moon on its
axis is equal to the period of its revolution
around the earth, so we always see the same
side of the moon.
• Moon takes 29.5 days to orbit earth.
Moon Phase:
Moon gravity cause tidal wave:
• Tides are the daily rise and fall of Earth’s
waters on its coastlines

High tides are when the water Low tides are when the water
reaches its highest point reaches its lowest point.
Low tide

Low tide
Spring Tides
• Spring tides occur 2 times a month, during a
full and new moon when the Earth, Sun, and
Moon are lined up.
• Spring tides are higher and lower than normal
tides.
• “strong tides”
Neap Tides
• Neap tides occur in between spring tides, at
the first and third quarters of the Moon
when the Sun and Moon pull at right angles
to each other.
• Neap tides are not
as high or low as
normal tides.
• “weak tides”

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