I. Solar System Basics
a.
b.
c.
Our solar system is made of the sun,
the planets, their moons, and a variety
of smaller objects
The sun is the center of our solar
system
Gravity is what holds the solar system
together
I. Solar System Basics
d. Distance in Solar System:
i. To show distance we use a unit
called Astronomical Unit (AU)
ii. One AU is the average distance
between earth and the sun
iii. This is about 150,000,000
kilometers
iv. The solar system is more than
100,000 AU from the sun
II. Planets
A planet must be round, orbit the sun,
and have cleared out it’s orbital path
i. To clear out its orbital path it must
be able to either take objects into itself or
sling shot the object around itself and
shoot it back into space
ii. This last classification is why Pluto
is not a planet
a.
II. Planets
b. Dwarf Planet
i. object that orbits the sun and has
enough gravity to be spherical
ii. However, it has not cleared the
area of its orbit
iii.5 known Dwarf Planets: Pluto, Eris,
Ceres, Makemake, Haumea
III. Satellites or Moons
a.
b.
Every planet, except Mercury and
Venus has at least one natural satellite
or moon
Jupiter and Saturn both have more than
60
IV. Smaller Objects
a. Asteroids: small, mostly rocky bodies
i. Often found around Mars and
Jupiter
b. Comets: loose balls of ice and rock that
have long narrow orbits
V. The Earth’s Moon
a.
b.
c.
Galileo was one of the first scientists to
make observations about the moon’s
surface
The moon is dry and airless and has an
irregular surface
The moon is small compared to the
Earth and has a lot of variation in
surface temperature
V. The Earth’s Moon
d. Surface Features of the Moon
i. Maria: these are dark, flat areas of
hardened rock
ii. Craters: large round pits
1. These can be hundreds of
kilometers across
2. Caused by impacts of
meteoroids (chunks of rock or dust)
V. The Earth’s Moon
iii. Highlands: these are light-colored
features we see
1. They are mountains
2. These cover most of the
moons surface
V. The Earth’s Moon
e. Size and density
i. The moon is 3,476 km in diameter
1. This is about ¼ the Earth’s
Diameter
ii. It only has about 1/8 the Mass of
Earth (7.3477 x 1022 kg)
iii. The gravitational force is about 1/6
of the Earths
V. The Earth’s Moon
f. Temperature
i. at the moons equator the
temperature can range from 130 degrees
C in direct sunlight, to -170 degrees C at
night
ii. Temperature changes so much due
to the moon having no atmosphere
iii. The gas on the moon can easily
leave and go out into space
V. The Earth’s Moon
g. Water
i. For many years, it was thought that
there was no water, just small amounts of
ice
ii. In 2009, scientists, using probes,
determined that a thin layer of water exists
on the moon’s soil
VI. The Inner Planets
a. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are
more like each other than the other planets
b. The inner planets are small and dense
and have rocky surfaces
c. Often called the terrestrial planets
d. Rich in rocky and metallic materials
e. All the planets, except Mercury, have an
atmosphere
Planet
Diameter (Km)
Period of
Rotation (Earth
days)
Average
Distance from
Sun (AU)
Period of
Revolution
(Earth Days)
Number of
Moons
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
VI. The Inner Planets
f. Mercury
i. smallest terrestrial planet and it is the
closest to the sun
ii. The middle is probably made of dense
iron
iii. The temperature can range from 430
Degrees C to -170 Degrees C
iv. The surface of Mercury has flat plains
and craters
VI. The Inner Planets
v. Exploring Mercury
1. The Mariner 10 has gone by
Mercury three times between 1974 and
1975
2. The Mercury MESSENGER
has passed Mercury several times and
began orbiting in 2011
VI. The Inner Planets
G. Venus
i. Sometimes called Earth’s Twin
ii. The density and internal structure of Venus is
similar to Earth
iii. However, the atmosphere of Venus is very
thick
iv. Has an unusual rotation
1. Takes about 7.5 Earth months to rotate
around Sun
2. However, it takes 8 Earth months to
rotate around its axis
3. It rotates opposite. Therefore, the sun
rises in the west and sets in the east
VI. The Inner Planets
v. Venus atmosphere
1. Very thick, its always cloudy
2. These clouds are made of
sulfuric acid
3. If you were on the surface of
Venus you would be crushed by the weight of
the atmosphere
4. The pressure is 90x that of the
Earth’s pressure
5. The atmosphere is made of
mostly carbon dioxide
VI. The Inner Planets
vi. Greenhouse effect
1. Due to the amount of carbon
dioxide, Venus is traps heat really well
2. This give Venus the hottest surface
temperature of any planet. It reaches 460
Degrees C.
VI. The Inner Planets
vii. Exploring Venus
1. In 1970, a probe was sent to
Venus, named Venera 7. This probe only
lasted a couple of minutes due to the heat
and pressure
2. The Magellan reached Venus in
1990 and found that there is over 10,000
Volcanoes on Venus
Warm-up #1
Rewrite question. You do not need to write in
complete sentences
What is an Astronomical Unit?
2. Give the classifications an object has to
follow to be a planet.
3. Give some features of Mercury.
4. Give some features of Venus.
5. What is the difference between Period
of Rotation and Period of Revolution?
6. What is strange about Venus’ rotation?
1.
VI. The Inner Planets
h. The Earth
i. Has liquid water and a suitable temperature
and atmosphere for living things to survive.
ii. Unique in having 70% of the surface covered
in water
iii. Sometimes thought of as having “Goldilocks”
conditions. Everything is just right
iv. Only planet with an oxygen rich atmosphere
v. The greenhouse effect happens on Earth to
help trap heat
VI. The Inner Planets
Mars
i. Called the red planet
ii. Believed to have had liquid water in
the past but only has ice now
iii. The Atmosphere on Mars
1. It is more than 95% Carbon
Dioxide
2. You could walk on Mars
i.
VI. The Inner Planets
iv. Volcanoes can be found on Mars but they
are rarely active
1. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano
in the solar system
2. It is as large as Missouri and is nearly
3x as tall as Mount Everest
v. Mars’s Moons
1. Has 2 small moons
2. Phobos, the larger of the two, is about
22 km in diameter
3. Deimos is about 13 km in diameter
VI. The Inner Planets
vi. Exploring Mars
1. The Mars Global Surveyor
and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
have found large ice deposits just under
the surface
2. The Rovers Spirit and
Opportunity found traces of salt and
minerals that form in the presence of water
VII. The Outer Planets
a.
b.
c.
d.
The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune
These are much larger and more
massive than Earth and do not have a
solid surface
These are often referred to as gas
giants
However, inside the planet the material
is mostly liquid
Planet
Diameter (km)
Period of
Rotation
(Earth hours)
Average
Distance from
Sun (AU)
Period of
Revolution
(Earth years)
Number of
Moons
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
VII. The Outer Planets
f. Jupiter
i. This is the largest, most massive
planet
ii. Jupiter’s Atmosphere
1. has a thick atmosphere of
mostly hydrogen and helium
2. has the Great Red Spot
3. This Red spot is a storm, like
a hurricane that is larger than Earth
VII. The Outer Planets
iii. Jupiter’s Structure
1. Probably has a dense iron
and rock core
2. Believed to have a thick
mantle of hydrogen and helium that
surrounds the core
VII. The Outer Planets
g. Saturn
i. Has a thick atmoshpere made of helium
and hydrogen
ii. Has storms and clouds like Jupiter but are
much less intense
iii. Saturn has many rings around itself
1. These rings are made of chunks of
ice and rock that are each in their own orbit
around Saturn
2. These rings, though they look large
and solid to us, are made of hundreds of thin rings
VII. The Outer Planets
iv. Saturn’s Moons
1. Largest moon: Titan, which is
larger than Mercury
2. Titan has a thick atomosphere
of Methane and Nitrogen
3. Much of what we know about
Saturn’s Moons comes from the space probe:
Cassini.
4. We think we still have not
discovered all of Saturn’s Moons
VII. The Outer Planets
h. Uranus
i. It is twice as far from the sun as
Saturn
ii. It looks Blue-green due to traces of
methane in the atmosphere
iii. It is surrounded by rings, but they
are much darker and harder to see
VII. The Outer Planets
iv. Uranus has at least 27 moons
1. Uranus has 5 moons that all
have icy craters on them
2. These moons have
volcanoes on them that seem to be
spewing out icy lava
VII. The Outer Planets
v. Uranus Rotation
1. The axis of rotation goes from
side to side rather than top to bottom
2. It is like Uranus is spinning
on its side
3. Astronomers believe this
happened from a very large object hitting
Uranus and knocking it on its side
VII. The Outer Planets
vi. Exploring Uranus
1. The Voyager 2 is what has
given most of our information about
Uranus
2. This was launched August
1977 and remains in use today
VII. The Outer Planets
Neptune
i. It is very cold and looks blue from
methane
ii. Neptune’s Atmosphere
1. In 1989, a Great Dark Spot was
observed, most likely a storm.
iii. Neptune’s Moons
1. Has at least 13 moons
2. The largest is Triton, whose
south pole is covered in nitrogen ice
i.
VII. The Outer Planets
iv. Exploring Neptune
1. The Voyager 2 gives us most
of our information on Neptune
VII. The Outer Planets
j. Compare and Contrast
i. In this chart, write some things that the outer
plants have in common and some things the outer
plants do not have in common
Compare
Contrast
Warm Up #2
Rewrite the question. The answer does not need to be in
complete sentences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Describe Saturn’s Rings.
Give some features of Uranus that makes
it unique.
Describe 1 of Neptune’s Moons.
Give two things that the outer planets
have in common.
Give two things the inner planets have in
common.
Give two differences between the outer
planets and the inner planets.
VIII. Small Solar Objects
a. These are based on size, shape, compositions,
and orbit
i. Major categories include dwarf planets,
comets, asteroids, and meteoroids
b. Asteroid Belt: a region of the solar system
between Mars and Jupiter
c. Kuiper Belt: area beyond Neptune which extends
100 AU out into Space
d. Oort Cloud: area beyond Kuiper Belt and extends
30,000 AU into Space
i. Made of icy objects
VIII. Small Solar Objects
e. Dwarf Planets
i. This category was created in 2006
ii. They are spherical but do not have
a clear path of orbit
iii. They can have moons
iv. A plutoid is a dwarf planet that
orbits beyond Neptune
v. There are believed to be dozen of
plutoids in the Kuiper Belt
VIII. Small Solar Objects
f. Comets
i. Loose collections of ice, dust, and
small rocky particles
ii. Comet’s Head
1. When the comet gets close to
the sun, the energy from the sun turns the ice
into gas creating a gas and dust outer layer
called the coma
2. The Nucleus is the solid inner
core of the comet
VIII. Small Solar Objects
iii. Comet’s Tail
1. Two tails: one made of gas
created from the Sun, the other made of
rock and dust being left behind
VIII. Small Solar Objects
g. Asteroids
i. rocky objects that are mostly about
1 km in diameter but can go up to 300 km
in diameter
ii. Have an irregular shape
VIII. Small Solar Objects
h. Meteoroids
i. Smaller than Asteroids
ii. Only about 10 m in diameter
iii. Often called a shooting star when we see
them in the sky
iv. They often burn up in the atmosphere
however, they can sometimes make it through and
hit the earth and then we call it a meteorite
v. A meteor shower happens when the Earth
passes through a place with a lot of meteoroids
1. This happen at the same time every
year
VIII. Small Solar Objects