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Our Solar System
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?”
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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…
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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
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Uranus• Gas giant without a solid
surface• Made of elements (H) and
(He) and water, ammonia and methane
• Bluish reflection due to methane (CH4) gas
• Faint rings, but the brightest clouds
• Axis is turned “sideways” so it has wild seasons
• Retrograde motion• 27 Moons: Ariel and more…
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Neptune• Gas giant without a
solid surface• Bluish reflection due
to methane (CH4) gas but more vivid than Uranus
• Six faint rings• Farthest planet from
the Sun, usually• 13 Moons: Triton is
the largest and 12 more…
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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…
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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
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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.