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Our Solar System

Our Solar System. Terrestrial and Gas Giant (a.k.a. Jovian) Planets. Terrestrial Planets. Inner 4 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars Close to the size of the Earth Have solid, rocky surfaces. Gas Giant Planets. Outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

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Our Solar System

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  1. Our Solar System Terrestrial and Gas Giant (a.k.a. Jovian) Planets

  2. Terrestrial Planets • Inner 4 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars • Close to the size of the Earth • Have solid, rocky surfaces

  3. Gas Giant Planets • Outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune • Much larger than the Earth • Gaseous; lack solid surfaces

  4. Mercury • Closest to the sun. Has no moons • Very small • Very slow spin- in two of its years, only 3 days pass! • Interior is very dense; probably Ni-Fe core

  5. Venus • Brightest planet in Earth’s night sky. Extensive cloud cover reflects sunlight. • Slow rotation: one day on Venus = 243 Earth days. • Hottest planet in solar system • 96.5% CO2, 3.5% N2 in atmosphere • Surface has been smoothed by volcanic lava flows, but no evidence of current tectonic activity.

  6. Earth • Distance from Sun and circular orbit allow water to exist in all three states • Dense atmosphere (78% N2 and 21% O2) and mild greenhouse effect also support life. • Axis is tilted and has a wobble (called a precession). This is probably to the gravitational pull of the moon.

  7. Mars • Smaller than the Earth; has 2 moons • Atmosphere is similar to Venus in composition, but has much lower density and pressure. • Thin atmosphere is turbulent; constant dust storms reign. • Surface contains erosional features that suggest liquid H2O once existed on its surface.

  8. Mars, Continued • Mars has polar ice caps of frozen CO2 that grow and shrink with the seasons. • Water ice lies beneath the CO2 ice in the northern cap. • Core is probably Fe-Ni, like the Earth. • No evidence of past or present tectonic activity.

  9. Giant Gas Planets • Interiors are composed of fluids (gaseous or liquid) and possibly small, solid cores. • Made primarily of lightweight elements like H, He, C, N, and O. • Very cold and big

  10. Jupiter • Has 4 moons • Largest planet: makes up 70% of all planetary matter in our solar system. • Composed of lightweight elements: H and He • Rapid rotation (day is less than 10 hours) causes clouds to separate into belts and zones. • Belts are low, warm, dark-colored clouds that sink • Zones are high, cool, light-colored clouds that rise • Great Red Spot is storm that’s rotated around Jupiter for 300 years.

  11. Saturn • 2nd largest planet • Rotates rapidly • Has belts and zones • Composed of He, H and Ammonia ice • 7 major rings are made of debris left over when a moon was destroyed, either by a collision or by Saturn’s gravity • 18 satellites remain

  12. Uranus • Has at least 18 moons and 10 dark rings • Composed of H, He and CH4 • Rotational axis is tipped over so it • looks like it spins on its side.

  13. Neptune • Very similar to Uranus • Bluish color, atmospheric composition, cold temperature, and particle belts are all similar to Uranus.

  14. Pluto • No longer a planet! • Half ice and half rock with a methane-nitrogen atmosphere • Neither gaseous nor terrestrial • Smaller than Earth’s moon • Small size is main reason it demoted.

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