The Solar System

Arcangeles, Alyssa
Camota, Trixy
Padillo, Shaira Rose
Zao, Brent Tyron
Gonzales, Rosanna

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Introduction to Solar
System
The Sun
The Planets (Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune)
The Moon
Dwarf Planets
Asteroids
Comets

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Solar System is the collection of planets, satellites, asteroids,
comets, and cosmic dust particles that are mostly in elliptical,
coplanar orbits around the sun.
The total mass of the Solar System is around 450 times the
mass of the Earth and about 1/750 of the mass of the Sun.
Consist of the Sun and the Planets that move around the sun in
oval paths called orbits. A planet is a vast ball of rock or gas
that travels in orbit around a star. There are other objects in
our Solar System, too, such as a dwarf planet (and their
moons), an asteroid belt, many comets and meteors, plus gas
and microscopic dust.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The four planets closest to the Sun- MERCURY, VENUS,
EARTH, AND MARS are alike in many ways. These inner
planets are all small, rocky worlds.

Did You Know?

The Solar System is 4.6 billion years old

The Sun
Our Sun is not unique in the universe. It is a common
middle-sized yellow star which scientists have
named Sol, after the ancient Roman name.
This is why our system of planets is called the Solar
System. There are trillions of other stars in the universe
just like it. Many of these stars have their own systems
of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
The Sun was born in a vast cloud of gas and dust
around 5 billion years ago. Indeed, these vast
nebulae are the birth places of all stars. Over a
period of many millions of years, this gas and dust
began to fall into a common center under the force
of its own gravity.

The Mercury
Morning Star
The planet Mercury is the closest of the planets to
the Sun. Because this planet lies so close to the Sun,
and as a result somewhat near to Earth, it is visible to
observers on Earth in the late evening or early
morning sky. Because of this, Mercury has become a
part of the mythology and legend of almost every
culture throughout the history of the Earth. Mercury
has no moons.

The Mercury
Characteristics of Mercury
Mercury is Heavy

Temperature Extremes

Mercury Has Wrinkles

Time on Mercury

Mercury is Scarred

Mercury Has No
Atmosphere

Did You Know?

Mercury's orbit is not a perfect circle like most of the other
planets. It's actually egg-shaped. At times, Mercury's orbit
brings it closer to the Sun than other times, while all the other
planets that have circular orbits are always the same distance
from the Sun.

The Venus
Covered by Thick Cloud
The planet Venus has long been one of
the most misunderstood of all the inner
planets. Like the Earth, Venus has an
atmosphere. However, Venus' atmosphere is
far thicker than that of the Earth, making it
difficult for modern science to penetrate.
Interestingly, scientists have recently been
able to peek through the thick clouds and
get a few glimpses of the surface. There are
numerous volcanoes and many mountains
that appear misshapen.

The Venus
Characteristics of Venus
Venus has no moons
The Earth Has a Sister
Venus is Dry

Did You Know?

Because Venus is so close to the Earth, it appears as
the brightest planet in the night sky.

The Earth
Blue planet
The Earth is the biggest of all the terrestrial planets.
A terrestrial planet is a dense planet found in the
inner Solar System. The diameter of Earth is 7,926
miles. The circumference measured around the
equator is 24,901 miles.
Our planet is an oasis of life in an otherwise
desolate universe. The Earth's temperature, weather,
atmosphere and many other factors are just right to
keep us alive.

Did You Know?

Scientists use the Earth to study all the other
planets. Since no human has ever visited another
planet, we have to use what we know about the
Earth, and try to guess what the other planets must
be like. This is called Comparative Planetology.

The Mars
Red planet
Mars referred to as the "Red Planet." This is because
the surface of Mars is red. If you stood on the surface
of Mars, you would see red dirt and rocks everywhere.
Mars excites scientists because its mild temperament
is more like the Earth's than any of the other planets.
Evidence suggests that Mars once had rivers, streams,
lakes, and even an ocean. As Mars' atmosphere slowly
depleted into outer space, the surface water began to
permanently evaporate. Today the only water on Mars
in either frozen in the polar caps or underground.

Did You Know?

Mars has two moons, their names are Deimos and
Phobos. To learn about these worlds
Mars has higher mountains, and deeper canyons than
any other planet. The largest canyon on Mars would
stretch from New York City to Los Angeles on the
Earth. That makes the Grand Canyon look tiny. It also
has the Solar System's biggest volcano, Olympus
Mons, which is nearly 3 times larger than Mount
Everest.

The Jupiter
Giant planet
Jupiter is by far the largest planet in our Solar
System. The Earth could fit inside Jupiter more than
1000 times.
Jupiter is a very stormy planet. There are storms
found throughout the atmosphere, and most of the
storms seem to never end. The many different cloud
formations and storms in the atmosphere also make
Jupiter a very colorful planet.
Jupiter's great red spot, visible in the picture above
to the right, is where a giant storm has been raging
for at least 300 years. This red spot is also called
"The Eye of Jupiter" because of its shape. This
storm's super hurricane winds blow across an area
larger than the Earth.

Jupiter is considered a gas giant because it does not

have a solid surface. Under its atmosphere is a large
liquid ocean of hydrogen and water.

Did you know Jupiter has rings?

They are faint and are only able to be viewed when
Jupiter passes in front of the Sun. This is because
the light from the Sun lights them up for us to see
here on Earth. There are three rings in all.
Jupiter has 50 official moons and 12 provisional
(unofficial) moons. The four largest and most wellknown were discovered by Galileo in the year 1610.

Did You Know?

If you traveled to Jupiter on vacation, you would be
very heavy. If you weigh 70 pounds (32 kg) on Earth,
on Jupiter you would weigh 185 pounds (84 kg). This
is because Jupiter is such a large planet and so has
more gravity.
You can see four of Jupiter's moons With a pair of
binoculars at night. Also, Jupiter spins really fast; it
only takes 10 hours to go from night to day on
Jupiter. For this reason, its middle has been
stretched out. Rather than round it is short and fat.
Kind of like when someone spins pizza dough really
fast to stretch it out. This planet shape is called an
oblate spheroid.

The Saturn
Ringed planet

Saturn is similar to Jupiter, but it is much smaller. It

is the second largest planet in our Solar System and
it is a gas giant like Jupiter. Under the clouds of
methane, hydrogen and helium, the sky gradually
turns into liquid until it becomes a giant ocean of
liquid chemicals.

Because Saturn is such a lightweight planet and it

spins so fast, Saturn is not perfectly round like most
of the other planets. Like Jupiter, Saturn is wider in
the middle and more narrow near its top and bottom.

The rings are not solid but rather are made up of

particles of ice, dust and rocks. The rings are held
in place around Saturn by the moons that also orbit
this large planet. The gravity of these moons also
cause the gaps that are seen in between the rings.

Saturn has 53 official moons and 9 provisional

(unofficial) moons. The most well-known of Saturn's
moons is probably Titan.

Did You Know?

Saturn is the furthest planet from Earth that can be
seen without the help of a telescope.

The Uranus
Cold planet

Uranus is an extremely cold planet. It has been

called the "ice giant." It is believed that Uranus is
made up of rock and ice and has a large rocky core.
Because of the tremendous planetary pressure of
Uranus, there could possibly be trillions of large
diamonds in or on the surface of this planet.

Scientists also believe that on the surface of Uranus

there may be a huge ocean. And, interestingly, it is
thought that the temperature of this ocean may be
extremely hot, maybe even as hot as 5000 degrees
Fahrenheit (2760 Celsius).

Uranus is almost identical to the planet Neptune.

Uranus also has rings, though they don't stretch out

as far as the rings of Saturn. The rings of Uranus
are made up of black dust particles and large rocks.

Uranus has 27 moons. Five of these moons are large

and the rest are smaller. The largest moon is
Titania, followed by Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and
Miranda. Some of the smaller moons are named:
Belinda, Bianca, Caliban, Cordelia, Cressida,
Desdemona, Juliet, Ophelia, Portia, Puck, and
Rosalind.

Did You Know?

Since Uranus spins on its side, its rings rotate up and

over the planet instead of around the middle like the
rings of Saturn and Neptune.

The

Neptune

Neptune is the smallest of the four gas giants in our

Solar System. Much like Saturn and Uranus,
Neptune's atmosphere contains hydrogen, helium and
methane.
In Neptune's atmosphere, there is a large white cloud
that moves around rather quickly. The "scooting" of
this cloud around the atmosphere has led it to be
named "Scooter."
Neptune is a very windy place. No other planet in the
Solar System has winds that are as strong as
Neptune's.
The winds near the Great Dark Spot were believed to
have reached nearly 1,200 miles per hour (approx.
1931 km per hour). Perhaps this extremely windy
atmosphere contributes to the appearance and
disappearance of the great dark spots.

Neptune has six rings which circle the planet. These

rings are believed to be fairly new. The rings are more
irregular than the rings of other planets. There are
areas of varying thickness throughout the rings.
Neptune has 13 moons that we know of. Because
Neptune is so far away, it is difficult to see any of
these worlds. There are probably many more moons
orbiting this blue planet which we have not yet
discovered. Perhaps you will be the astronomer who
discovers some of these worlds.

Did You Know?

Neptune's circular orbit is offset from the Sun. At
times, Neptune's orbit takes it further from the Sun
than any other planet in the Solar System. In 2011,
Neptune will complete its first orbit around the Sun
since it was discovered in 1846.

Why is Pluto not a planet?

Because.
To qualify as a planet, an object needs to orbit the
Sun, have enough mass to pull itself into a spherical
shape, and have cleared out its orbit of other material.
Its this third requirement that Pluto hasnt fulfilled;
its just a fraction of the mass in its orbit, while the
other planets are millions of times more massive than
everything else in their orbits.

The

Moon

Our moon makes Earth a more livable planet by

moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis,
leading to a relatively stable climate, and creating a
tidal rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of
years. The moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized
body collided with Earth and the debris formed into the
most prominent feature in our night sky.
The moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body
collided with Earth and the debris formed into the most
prominent feature in our night sky.
The moon is a rocky, solid-surface body, with much
of its surface cratered and pitted from impacts. The
moon has a very thin and tenuous (weak) atmosphere,
called an exosphere
The moon's weak atmosphere and its lack of liquid
water cannot support life as we know it.

Dwarf Planets
Dwarf planets are round and orbit the Sun just like
the eight major planets. But unlike planets, dwarf
planets are not able to clear their orbital path so there
are no similar objects at roughly the same distance from
the Sun. A dwarf planet is much smaller than a planet
(smaller even than Earth's moon), but it is not a moon.
Pluto is the best known of the dwarf planets.
It includes Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake.
Dwarf planets are objects that orbit the Sun and have
enough mass to form a sphere, but they share their orbit
with other objects. And as telescopes improve, more
dwarf planets will be discovered. There might eventually
be more dwarf planets than planets.

References:
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/venus.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjec
ts/astronomy/tutor/solarsystem/1/
http://www.universetoday.com/15959/inter
esting-facts-about-the-solar-system/
http://space-facts.com/dwarf-planets/
http://
solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cf
m?Object=Dwarf