The Solar System
Funding support for outreach programs provided by the Utah State Legislature and the Utah State Board of Education
Commonly Confused Terms
• Solar System
– Our star (Sun) and everything that orbits around
it (planets, asteroids, comets, etc.)
• Galaxy
– Huge collection of stars bound together by
gravity (the Sun is 1 star among 100-400 billion
stars in the Milky Way galaxy)
• Universe
– Everything (~100 billion galaxies)
What objects make up the
Solar System?
The following tour shows objects in the solar
system ordered by mass.
Sun
Has about
99.86% of the
MASS
in the
solar system
Courtesy of SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA
Sunspots
Credit: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Jupiter
has about
0.1% of the
MASS
in the
solar system
Everything else
together has
only about 0.04%
of the MASS
in the solar system
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Jupiter
Composition:
86% Hydrogen
13% Helium
Jupiter has many
objects in orbit
around it
(current count = 63)
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Jupiter
Most satellites
orbit far away
from Jupiter and
are probably
captured
asteroids
Credit: University of Hawaii, Institute for Astronomy
Saturn
Composition:
90% Hydrogen
9% Helium
Credit: NASA, ESA and E. Karkoschka (Univesity of Arizona)
Neptune
Neptune has 8
known moons
Largest moon
Triton is in a
retrograde
orbit
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Uranus
Composition:
83% Hydrogen
15% Helium
Uranus has an
axial tilt of 98˚
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Earth
Temperature
and pressure
allow water
to exist as a
liquid at the
surface
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Venus
Venus has 82% of
the mass of Earth
and is covered with
white clouds of
sulfuric acid
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Venus
Surface Temperature: 864˚ F
Credit: NASA/NSSDC
Mars
Mars
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mercury
Although it is
smaller in size than
Ganymede and
Titan, Mercury has
more mass of both
of these moons
combined.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Moons
Seven moons have more mass than Pluto
Ganymede (Jupiter)
Titan (Saturn)
Callisto (Jupiter)
Io (Jupiter)
Moon (Earth)
Europa (Jupiter)
Triton (Neptune)
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Eris
Eris is the largest dwarf
planet in the Solar
System. Eris has 1.27
times the mass of Pluto.
Credit: NASA ,ESA , and M. Brown (California Institute of Technology)
Pluto
Pluto, the second
largest dwarf planet, is
one of the largest
objects in a belt of
objects that orbit the
Sun beyond Neptune.
Credit: Allen Stern (Southwest Research Institute), Mark Buie (Lowell Observatory), NASA and ESA
The Kuiper Belt
Thousands of icy objects orbit the Sun beyond Neptune in
a region commonly called the Kuiper Belt.
Pluto Orbit
______
________
Neptune Orbit
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Dysnomia
Eris
Makemake
Haumea
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Field (STScI)
Comets
NASA/NSSDC/W. Liller
Astronomers think that
many comets originate
in the Kuiper Belt
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Asteroids
Eros
Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech