The Solar System & Beyond

1. The Solar System & Beyond Chapter 11

2. Measuring Space Distance • Light Year – the distance that light travels in one year • One light year is about 6 trillion miles

3. The Sun • Our closest star • Center of our solar system • Made up of hydrogen and helium gases that produce light and heat through nuclear fusion

4. Inner Planets • Terrestrial planets • Solid rocky core • Small in size • Closest to the sun • Earth is only planet which actually sustains life

5. Mercury • The closest terrestrial planet to the sun • Smallest planet • Its revolution around the sun takes 88 Earth days • Does not rotate, only one side faces sun • Temperature range -127ºF to 4027ºF

6. Venus • 2nd terrestrial planet from the sun • Hottest planet • Has the densest atmosphere • Brightest object in the sky Oct. –Feb. • Revolution around the sun is 224 Earth days long • Rotates backwards

7. Earth • 3rd Terrestrial Planet From the Sun • Only one that supports life • Has weather and an amazing magnetic field • Revolution 365 days

8. Mars • 4th planet from the sun • Nicknamed the red planet • Revolves around sun every 434 Earth days • Largest volcano in solar system is here: “Olympus Mons”

9. Jupiter • Largest gas giant • Largest planet • Revolution around sun takes 11 ¾ Earth years • Famous Red Spot is a never dying cyclone • Takes 1300 earths to equal size • 2nd biggest gravity pull in solar system

10. Saturn • Famous for its icy rings of rocks and space dust • 2nd largest planet • One revolution around the sun takes 29 Earth years plus 155 days • Temperature -140 C • Gas giant

11. Uranus • Spins on its side, its poles, possibly due to planet collision • Gas giant • No solid surface • One trip around the sun takes 83 Earth years plus 273 days • 2.7 light hours from the sun

12. Neptune • Has belts of visible clouds • Windiest planet in solar system • The last of the gas giants • Appears bright blue in telescope • Revolves around sun every 163 Earth years

13. Pluto ????? • Farthest known object from the sun, Bizarre Orbit • Demoted from planet August 2006 • Believed to be a lost moon of Neptune • Temperature -6900ºF • Revolves around sun every 248 Earth Years

14. The Moon • Our moon is a natural satellite – (a non-made man object that follows in a planets orbit) • Moon is named Luna • Moon revolves and orbits the Earth every 28 days. Sorry!

15. Our Place in Space ? ? ? • A Tiny Speck in the Milky Way Galaxy • Solar System • Inside Asteroid Belt • Terrestrial Planet • Northern Hemisphere • North America • United States • Alabama • Mobile What’s Your Address?

16. How do we study space? • Telescope – an instrument that collects electromagnetic radiation from the sky and concentrates it for better observation

17. This could be Earth in 2028! Are you Ready? Asteroids, Comets & Meteorites

18. Small Bodies in the Solar System • Small bodies, the leftover “scraps” from the formation of the Solar System, fall into three distinct groups: Asteroids • rocky or metallic in composition • most are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

19. Asteroid – a rocky leftover planet fragment orbiting the Sun Asteroid

20. Rocks Falling from the Sky meteor – a flash of light caused by a particle which enters Earth’s atmosphere. • most of these particles are the size of a pea • they completely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere meteorite– a rock which is large enough to have survived its fall to Earth from space • they caused a brighter meteor…sometimes called a fireball • How can you tell that you have a meteorite? • they have metal inside it • they may have holes, and may glow. . . So don’t touch!

21. It’s not exactly shooting stars….its a meteor shower as it enters Earth’s sky. If the rocks hit the ground it’s called a meteorite.

22. Comets • comet – an icy leftover planet fragment orbiting the Sun • may or may not have a tail

23. One of the most beautiful sights in the sky. Throughout human history, these “hairy” stars would appear. like planets, they moved with respect to the fixed stars unlike planets, they were not confined to the ecliptic and disappeared after several weeks They were taken as omens of good or bad fortune. Recent Comets: 1986 Halley’s Comet 1996 Comet Hyakutake 1997 Comet Hale-Bopp Dozens per year too dim to be seen by eye Comets Hale-Bopp Hyakutake

25. A Comet’s Journey

26. One by one, each fragment collided with Jupiter in July 1994. infrared cameras observed hot plumes ejected from the planet material from deep inside Jupiter was ejected, and fell… left dark spots Such impacts probably occur on Jupiter once every 1,000 years. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 This was a reminder to us that impacts still occur in the present!!

27. Impacts and Mass Extinctions on Earth • We have a plausible scenario of how the impact led to mass extinction. • debris in atmosphere blocks sunlight; plant die…animals starve • poisonous gases form in atmosphere

28. PAST FUTURE ?