solar system (sizes to scale). inner solar system… consists of: –sun –mercury –venus...

Solar System (Sizes to scale)

Inner solar system…• Consists of:

– Sun– Mercury– Venus– Earth

• Moon

– Mars– Asteroid

belt• Ceres

– Other debris

• Asteroids

Sun• Contains

99.8% of all the mass of the solar system

• Only star in our solar system

• 865,000 miles in diameter

Mercury• Closest planet

to the sun• The smallest of

the 8 planets• 2nd hottest

planet• Very rocky…

like Earth• No stable

atmosphere

View from Mariner 10 (1974) of Mercury

View from Messenger (2008) of Mercury

Venus• 2nd closest planet

to the sun• Hottest planet

– Reach 860 degrees Fahrenheit

• Dense atmosphere– Mainly Carbon

Dioxide– Greenhouse effect

• Why its so hot!

• Sister planet

Hot, rocky surface of Venus

Clouds of Venus

Mars• 4th planet from

the sun– After Earth

• Atmosphere mainly Carbon Dioxide

• Polar ice caps– Frozen water

• Used to have liquid water in the past

Mars surface

Olympus Mons is the largest mountain in the solar system

Asteroid belt

• Rocks that never clumped together to form a planet

• Proto-planet– Ceres

• Can sometimes make way into inner solar system

Gaspra- Asteroid found in the Asteroid belt (1991)

Outer solar system…• Consists

of:– Jupiter– Saturn– Uranus– Neptune– Kuiper

belt• Pluto

– Scattered disc

• Eris

Jupiter• Largest planet in

solar system• Mainly Hydrogen

and Helium– Enough gravity to

hold onto these light elements

• Not rocky… Gas giant

• Has 63 moons… 47 of which are named

Is Jupiter large?

Hurricane the size of Earth

Saturn• 2nd largest planet• Known for its rings debris orbiting the planet• Very similar to Jupiter• One of its moons, Ganymede, is larger than Mercury…

and is the only moon to possess an atmosphere

Is Saturn large?

Voyager image of Saturn’s rings

Uranus• 7th planet from

the sun• Completely

tilted on its axis– 97.77 degrees

• Winds can reach up to 560 mph

• Many poisonous gases in the atmosphere

Neptune• Farthest

planet from the sun

• Fastest winds in the solar system– 1300 mph

• Methane atmosphere

• Dark spots are huge hurricanes

Kuiper belt• This is

where Pluto is found

• Similar to the asteroid belt– Contains

debris that didn’t become part of a planet

Largest objects found in the Kuiper belt

Put it all together…Mercury-Venus-Earth-Mars-Asteroid belt-Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus-Neptune-Kuiper belt (Pluto)-Scattered disc (Eris)