The Solar System
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Presentation Transcript
ORGANIZATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM • Claudis Ptolemy said the earth was the center of the universe and the planets and sun revolved around it. • Nicholas Copernicus said the sun was in the center of the universe and the planets rotated around it in a circular orbit.
Johannes Kepler published his laws of planetary orbit stating the planets rotated in an elliptical orbit. • Galileo used the newly invented telescope to study the planets and say there were many planets orbiting the sun. • Planetary system- a system of planets revolving around the sun (a star).
Smaller bodies that orbit the sun include asteroids, meteoroids, and comets. • Asteroid a chunk of rock and metal that orbits the sun. • Asteroid belt – a large area of asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter.
Meteroid- a rock that floats in space • Meteor- a streak of light produced by the friction of the atmosphere rubbing against the meteoroid. • Meteorite- when a meteor strikes the earth’s surface it is called a meteorite.
Comet- a ball of ice, rock, and frozen gases that orbits the sun. • All planets orbit the sun.
MERCURY • Rocky surface with craters • Thin atmosphere containing hydrogen and helium • In sunlit areas the surface is hot enough to melt lead
VENUS • Surface: Rocky • Atmosphere: thick, mostly carbon dioxide and nitrogen • Fact: direction of rotation is opposite of all other planets
EARTH • Surface: Mostly water with areas of soil covered rock • Atmosphere: mostly nitrogen and Oxygen • Fact: has only known life in the solar system
MARS • Surface: Rocky, Covered with dust • Atmosphere: thin mostly carbon dioxide • Fact: has largest volcano-Olympus Mons, whose base is larger than the state of New Mexico.
JUPITER • Surface: Gaseous planet, possibly with liquid hydrogen surface • Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium • Fact: Great Red Spot-huge storm that has lasted since the time of Galileo Great Red Spot
SATURN • Surface: Gaseous planet with no known solid surface • Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium • Fact: has wide, thin system of rings made of small pieces of ice and rock
URANUS • Surface: Gaseous planet without a known solid surface • Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium • Fact: Possible collision with an earth sized object may have knocked Uranus on it’s side as a result, it roll around in an orbit.
NEPTUNE • Surface: Gaseous planet without a known solid surface • Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen, helium, and methane • Fact: one of the windiest places in the solar system. (1,000km per hr) 620 mph.
Pluto • Surface: Water and Methane Ice • Atmosphere: Mostly Methane • Fact: Usually 9th planet, but part of its orbit is inside Neptune’s orbit, making Pluto the 8th planet on occasion.
Astronomical Units/Light –Years • Astronomical unit (A.U.)-the unit of measurement astronomers use to measure distances in the solar system. • A.U.-equal to the average distance between the Earth and the sun • This distance is 150 million km or 93 million miles. • Light-year-equal to the distance light can travel in a vacuum in one year. Used to measure distances to the stars.
