Inner and Outer Planets
SPI 0607.6.2 Explain how the relative distance of objects from the earth affects how they appear.
Inner Planets Terrestrial planets are those that are closest to the Sun. Terrestrial planets are made mostly of rock and have similar characteristics to Earth.
Inner Planets There are four terrestrial planets in our solar system. Mercury Earth Venus Mars Inner Planets
Mercury Closest to the sun No moons Extremely hot temperatures on one side and extremely cold temperatures on the other.
Mercury Now the smallest planet in our solar system Physically, Mercury is similar in appearance to our moon as it is heavily cratered.
Mercury Mercury has a rocky body like the Earth, but its atmosphere is very thin or weak. Brain Pop Mercury
Second planet from the sun Venus: Earth s Twin Rotates in the opposite direction than earth Venus has no moons Is the hottest planet
Has the most dense atmosphere than any of the terrestrial planets Venus: Earth s Twin Mainly consists of carbon dioxide but also some deadly acids
The carbon dioxide traps thermal energy causing a greenhouse effect - causing the temperature to be so high Venus: Earth s Twin Average temperature 464*C
Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, and sometimes looks like a bright star in the morning or evening sky. We can't see the surface of the planet because it has a very thick atmosphere filled with clouds that strongly reflect sunlight. Venus Brain Pop Venus
Earth Earth is the water planet, which is the reason for the survival of life on this planet. Temperatures on Earth are warm enough to keep the water from freezing but cool enough to keep it from boiling away.
Earth Brain Pop Earth Earth has three layers: 1. The crust is the outer layer of the Earth. 2. The mantle lies below the crust. It contains denser rocks. 3. The core, at the center, contains the heaviest material (nickel and iron).
Mars Mars is called the red planet. The reddish color is caused by rust (iron oxide) in the soil. Most studied planet other than earth. Mars is a cold planet because of its thin atmosphere and distance from the sun.
Mars The pressure is so low in the atmosphere that any liquid water would quickly boil away. The only water found on Mars is in the form of ice. Dry river beds on Mars indicates that there possibly was water in the past.
Mars Mars now has two polar icecaps that contain frozen water and carbon dioxide. Brain Pop Mars
Asteroid Belt The Terrestrial Planets are separated from the Gas Giants by the asteroid belt. The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroid Belt Gas Giant There are four Gas Giants (outer planets): Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Outer Planets
The first of the outer planets. Jupiter Is the largest planet! Considered to be a gas giant made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
Jupiter Known for its giant red spot. This spot has a diameter three times that of earth.
Jupiter has about 63 moons and a ring system. The four of Jupiter s natural satellites are Io, Europa, Ganymede, & Callisto. Jupiter Io has active volcanoes, and Europa has the possibility of a water environment friendly to life.
Saturn The second largest planet in the solar system. Saturn gives off a lot of energy caused by helium raining out of the atmosphere and sinking to the core. So Saturn is still forming!
The composition of Saturn's atmosphere includes more sulfur. This adds to Saturn's overall yellow appearance. Saturn Although the gas giants have rings, Saturn s rings are the largest.
Saturn The rings consist of icy particles that range in size from a few centimeters to several meters across.
Uranus Uranus has some of the brightest clouds in the outer solar system and 11 rings. No solid surface ; Uranus's interior is primarily made of methane ice.
Uranus One especially unusual quality of Uranus is that it is tipped over on its side. The axis of rotation is tilted by almost 90 (look @ pg. 240).
Uranus For part of a Uranus year, one pole points toward the sun while the other pole is in darkness.
Warm gases rise and the cool gases sink, setting up the wind patterns in the atmosphere that create the belts of clouds. Neptune Neptune's winds are three times stronger than Jupiter's and nine times stronger than Earth's.
Voyager 2 images also revealed that Neptune has a set of very narrow rings (six rings to be exact). Neptune This hurricane-like 'Great Dark Spot' was observed to be large enough to contain the entire Earth, spun counterclockwise, and moved westward at almost 750 miles per hour.
What about Pluto? On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally downgraded Pluto from an official planet to a dwarf planet. One of the criteria for being an official planet is that a planet must have cleared other things out of the way in its orbital neighborhood. Pluto does not meet this criteria. Pluto orbits among the icy wrecks of the Kuiper Belt (a region of the Solar System beyond the planets) and Ceres.
What is the Kuiper Belt? The Kuiper Belt is a disc-shaped region of icy bodies - including dwarf planets such a Pluto - and comets beyond the orbit of Neptune. It extends from about 30 to 55 AU and is probably populated with hundreds of thousands of icy bodies larger than 100 km (62 miles) across and an estimated trillion or more comets. The first Kuiper Belt Object was discovered in 1992.