SOLAR SYSTEM SYLVIA MÁRQUEZ

SOLAR SYSTEM SYLVIA MÁRQUEZ

INTRODUCTION Imagine a place where the sun shines 11 times brighter than in Earth. What would happen if scientists try to visit and investigate more about a planet such as Mercury? What would they do to protect a spacecraft sent to this planet? That s what engineers had to do when designing the Mercury MESSENGER spacecraft. They covered the ship with sunshades that could protect the instruments from temperatures that reach 370. The sunshades were made of a ceramic fabric from different elements: silicon, aluminum, and boron. This fabric was resistant to heat and reflected the sun s heat away from the spacecraft, keeping it at a comfortable room temperature of 20

ASSESS Why did engineers need to design a sunshade for Mercury MESSENGER? What other challenges do you think there would be for engineers designing a spacecraft to travel to Mercury? What challenges did engineers have to overcome designing a ship for a mission to Neptune?

VOCABULARY geocentric heliocentric ellipse solar system astronomical unit (UA) planet planetesimals core nuclear fusion radiation zone convection zone photosphere chromosphere corona solar wind sunspot prominence solar flare terrestrial planets greenhouse effect

VOCABULARY gas giant ring asteroid belt Oort cloud Kuiper belt comet coma nucleus asteroid meteoroid meteor satellite meteorite

MODELS OF THE EARTH Many ancient scientists, including the Chinese, Mayans, and Greeks noticed that the stars were aligned in a specific pattern that didn t change throughout time. Although stars seemed to move, they stayed in the same position relative to one another. Many thought that Earth was the center of the universe Chinese believed Earth was under a dome of stars Greek astronomers believed Earth was inside rotating spheres nested inside each other, these spheres contained the stars and planets

GEOCENTRIC MODEL The theory of Earth as the center of the universe is known as the geocentric model. Ge is the Greek word that means earth and centric means center The geocentric model states that Earth is the center of the revolving stars and planets About A.D. 140, the Greek astronomer Ptolemy further developed the geocentric model Like earlier Greek, he believed Earth was the center of the universe However, in his model, the planets moved in small circles carried along in bigger circles This model explained the motion observed in the sky fairly accurately This model was accepted for nearly 1,500 years after Ptolemy

HELIOCENTRIC MODEL Not everybody believed in Ptolemy s model, an ancient Greek scientist Aristarchus developed a sun- centered model called a heliocentric system Helios is the Greek word for sun In a heliocentric system, Earth and the other planets revolve around the sun This model was not well received in ancient times, because people couldn t accept that Earth was not the center of the universe

COPERNICUS REVOLUTION The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus further developed the heliocentric model Copernicus was able to work out the arrangements of the known planets and how they move around the sun He published his theory in 1543 and he revolutionized the science of astronomy At first many people refused to accept his theory, they needed more evidence

BRAHE AND KEPLER In late 1500s, the Dutch astronomer Tycho Brahe made much more accurate observations to Copernicus model With the help of his assistant, Johannes Kepler, they discovered that planets did not move in circular orbits After years of observations, Kepler found that the orbit of each planet is an ellipse An ellipse is an oval shape

GALILEO S EVIDENCE In the 1500s and early in the 1600s people still believed in the geocentric model Evidence collected by the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei, gradually convinced other that the heliocentric model was correct In 1610, Galileo used a telescope to discover four moons around Jupiter These moons proved that not everything in the sky revolved around Earth He also discovered that Venus goes through a series of phases similar to the moon s, this could not be possible if Venus and the sun circled around Earth

Ancient Greek Model Ptolemy s Geocentric Model Copernicus s Heliocentric Model

WHAT MAKES UP THE SOLAR SYSTEM? Our solar system consists of the sun, the planets, their moons, and a variety of smaller objects. The sun is the center and the rest is orbiting around the sun. The force of gravity holds the solar system together.

DISTANCES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM Distances in the solar system are so large that they cannot be easily measured in meters or kilometers. Instead, scientists use a unit called astronomical unit (AU) equal to the average distance between Earth and the sun. The distance between Earth and the sun is 150,000,000 kilometers The solar system extends more than 100,000 AU from the sun.

CONVERTING UNITS To convert from astronomical units (AU) to kilometers (km), you can multiply the number of AU by 150,000,000 Calculate: Mars is 1.52 AU from the sun. About how many kilometers is Mars from the sun? The answer is 228,000,000 km If you know the distance of the object from the sun, you can find its distance in AU. For example: Let s say that there is a moon that is at a distance of 352,000,000 from the sun. Find the distance in AU. The answer is: 2.35 AU

AVERAGE DISTANCE OF THE PLANETS Find the distance of each planet in kilometers

THE SUN It is the center of the solar system. It is about 99.85 percent of the mass of the whole solar system. Despite being more than a million times the volume of Earth, our sun is a very ordinary mid-sized star. There are stars that have volumes thousand times greater than our sun. This is a good thing, because large stars tend to burn and die quickly, but our sun will last for five billion more years.

PLANETS There are many different objects in the solar system In 2006, astronomers decided that a planet must be round, orbit the Sun, and have cleared out the region of the solar system along its orbit The first four planets are small and are mostly made of rock and metal The last four planets are very large and are mostly made of gas and liquid

Each planet has a day and a year Its day is the time it takes to rotate on its axis, this is known as rotation Its year is the time it takes to orbit the Sun, this is also known as revolution

DWARF PLANETS For many years, Pluto was considered the ninth planet in the solar system, but Pluto shares the area of its orbit with other objects Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet A dwarf planet is an object that orbits the Sun and has enough gravity to be spherical, but has no cleared the area of its orbit There are five dwarf planets in our solar system: Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Eris, and Haumea As scientists observe more distant objects, the number of dwarf planets might grow

DWARF PLANETS

HOW DID THE SOLAR SYSTEM FORM? Scientists think the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a cloud of hydrogen, helium, rock, ice, and other materials pulled together by gravity The process began as gravity pulled the cloud s material together The cloud collapsed and started to rotate, forming a disk Most of the material was pulled to the center As the material got tightly packed, it got hotter and the pressure increased Eventually, the temperature and pressure became so high that hydrogen atoms were pressed together to form helium This process, called nuclear fusion, releases large amounts of energy Once nuclear fusion began, the Sun gave off light and became a stable star Sunlight is one form of energy produced by fusion

NUCLEAR FUSION https://youtu.be/ee--kkyr7cu

THE PLANETS FORM Away from the Sun, planets began to form as gravity pulled rock, ice, and gas together The rock and ice formed small bodies called planetesimals Overtime, planetesimals collided and stuck together, and eventually, they combined to form all the other objects in the solar system

ORDER OF THE PLANETS FROM THE SUN

Inner Planets Most water evaporated, preventing ice forming Close to the Sun Comparatively, low in mass Small and rocky Gravity was too weak to hold on to light gases such as hydrogen and helium Outer Planets Greater distance from the Sun Cooler temperatures Ice formed, adding mass Gravity was strong enough to hold hydrogen and helium, forming the gas giant planets Beyond the gas giants, temperatures were even lower Ice and other materials produced comets and dwarf planets

WHAT S IN THEIR NAMES Where in the solar system could you find Lewis and Clark s guide Sacagawea, artist Frida Kahlo, writer Helen Keller, and abolitionist Sojourner Truth all in the same place? On Venus! In fact, almost every feature on Venus is named for a real, fictional, or mythological woman. In general, the person or people who discovered an object or feature in the solar system get to choose its name. But scientists have agreed on some guidelines. Features on Mercury are named for authors, artists, and musicians. Many craters on Mars are named for towns on Earth. And most craters on Earth s moon are named for astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians.

MERCURY Diameter: 4, 879 km. Period of Revolution: 88 days Period of Rotation: 58.9 days Moons: 0 Rings: 0

It s the smallest terrestrial planet and the closest to the Sun Temperature can raise to 430 to below -170 Its interior is probably made up mainly of the dense metal iron It has plains and craters on its surface Has no water and not much atmosphere Its gravity is weak Astronomers detected small amount of sodium and other gases around the planet During the day, its temperature reaches high numbers, but because there is so little atmosphere, the planet s heat escapes at night

VENUS Diameter: 12, 104km. Period of Revolution: 224.7 days, backwards Period of Rotation: 244 days Moons: 0 Rings: 0

Astronomers believed the weird rotation was because the planet was impacted by another large planet It is known as Earth s twin sister for its size It has a dense atmosphere made up by carbon dioxide and nitrogen Has a lot of volcanoes It is the hottest planet of the solar system Its average temperature is 424 Heavy clouds of sulfuric acid cover the planet Scientists believe it doesn t have any moon because it was hit by another planet Discovered by Galileo Galilei, and he also discovered it has phases as our moon No temperature differences between day and night Most corrosive planet of the solar system It has the longest day of the solar system

Earth Diameter: 12, 756 km. Period of Revolution: 1 year or 365.3 days Period of Rotation: 1 day (24 hours) Moons: 1 Rings: 0

Every four years is a leap year, one day is added to the calendar It is the only planet that is not named after a Greek or Roman god The Moon is one of the largest natural satellites in the solar system, it is dark even though it looks white Plato believed the planet was a sphere Gravity is not distributed equally Magnetic poles could switch Mount Everest is the highest elevation

Mars Diameter: 6, 794 km. Period of Revolution: 687 days Period of Rotation: 1.03 days or 24 hours 39 minutes Moons: 2 Rings: 0

Its two moons: Phobos and Deimos A person that weighs 100 pounds on Earth, will weigh 38 pounds on this planet It was discovered by Copernicus In 1659, Christian Huggens discovered a strange feature on the planet known as Syrtis Major. It is a dark spot located on one of its southern quadrants It has volcanoes, plate tectonics, and liquid water Ancient cultures believed the planet was a star Its tallest mountain is Olympus Mons, that is three times the size of Mount Everest, and it is the tallest mountain/volcano in the solar system Hellas basin is a huge crater in the southern hemisphere Has the largest dust storm, it can last months and can cover the whole planet

Doesn t have rings, but scientists believe that in the next 20-40 million years its moons will be turned into rings by gravitational forces It looks red because of the iron oxide or iron rusting Its color has to have formed a long time ago when there was liquid water Scientists believe there was a flood billions of years ago, and because of its cold temperature and thin atmosphere, water in its liquid stage doesn t last too long It has four seasons If a human being goes to Mars, its oxygen will turn into bubbles and explode because of its thin atmosphere 68 missions had been launched to Mars

Jupiter Diameter: 142, 984 km. Period of Revolution: 11.9 years Period of Rotation: 9.9 hours Moons: 63 Rings: 4

More than 1,000 Earth s fit in Jupiter It has rings not easily seen, made out if dust Atmosphere made out of hydrogen and helium Its surface is covered in thick, red, brown, yellow, and white clouds It has not surface It s frigid even in its warmest weather Heat is driven by its interior energy, not by the sun Known as the solar system vacuum cleaner It s believed that it is a failing star, that it was 80x bigger

Of its 67 moons, only 63 are official, the most important ones are: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Calisto Io=more than 40 volcanoes Europa=frozen world, maybe has life Callisto=most impacted and full of craters in the whole solar system Ganymede=bigger than Mercury

Saturn Diameter: 120, 536 km. Period of Revolution: 29.5 years Period of Rotation: 10.7 hours Moons: 61 Rings: 7

Doesn t have any landmarks because it is made out of gas Its composition is mainly hydrogen and helium Has a solid core because it has seismic waves Discovered by Galileo Visible at naked eye It has hexagon poles 9x wider than Earth s diameter Made from rock and ice Its rings have a colorful image when the sunrays touch them

There are seven levels of rings divided from order of being discovered Its most important moons are: Titan- its biggest moon, bigger than Mercury, its atmosphere is similar to Earth s Enceladus-brightest small object in the solar system Telesto Pan Pandora Cassini Prometheus

Uranus Diameter: 51, 118 km. Period of Revolution: 83.8 years Period of Rotation: 17.2 hours Moons: 27 Rings: 13

It is a gaseous planet and that makes it easier to rotate faster Its moons are named after characters from Shakespeare's stories and Alexander Pope s poems Its moons are divided in three groups: 13 inner moons, 5 major moons, and 9 irregular moons Its biggest moon is Titania Other moons are: Oberon Ubmriel Ariel Miranda Juliet Francisco

There is no difference in temperature during day and night It has a magnetic field Mainly made out of ice formed by water, ammonia, and methane as a liquid mixture It tilts up and down There will be a possible collision between the moons and the planet because of their orbit If there was just one collision, its moons would display retrograde motion, orbiting in the opposite direction than that which astronomers observe today Scientists have long suspected that some manner of violent impact by a single object several times more massive than Earth knocked Uranus off kilter

Its atmosphere is made out of hydrogen, helium, water, and ammonia It has three different kinds of rings: faint rings, inner rings that are narrow and dark, and outer rings that are brightly colored Its blue color is because the methane in its atmosphere It could contain billions of diamonds due to the great pressure its rocky surface makes It rotates from North to South with a 98 inclination The hottest part of the planet is one of the poles because it is facing the sun

Neptune Diameter: 49, 528 km. Period of Revolution: 163.8 years Period of Rotation: 16.1 hours Moons: 13 satellites and 1 provisional satellite Rings: 5

Its largest moon is Triton that has icy lava, rotates in the opposite direction than the planet (retrograde orbit) because it wasn t formed as the other moons The coldest planet in the solar system Lacks physical features Atmosphere made out of hydrogen and helium It has hurricanes, geysers, volcanoes It has the famous Great Dark Spot that is a constant and strong hurricane, also known as Mystery Storm

It has the most extreme weather 60 Earth s fit inside Neptune Summer lasts 40 years Since its discovery in 1846, it had orbited only twice Fastest winds of the solar system In 1994, its Great Dark Spot disappeared and the New Dark Spot appeared

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