Our Solar System

The Milky Way

How our solar system formed

• Big Bang Theory– There was a huge

explosion 10-20 billion years ago.

– Spread matter in all directions.

– Matter became attracted to each other and formed Earth.

• Other theories– Creationism– Parallel Universes– String Theory

Our Galaxy

• Our galaxy is called the Milky Way Galaxy

• There are eight planets. (Scientists no longer classify Pluto as a planet).

• One dominant star. (Sun)

• Many moons around various planets.

The eight planets

• Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

• My Very Educated Mom Just Served Us Nachos

Mercury

• Orbit – 87.9 days• Rotation – 58.6 days• Ave. Temp. – 179° C• Number of moons - 0• Symbol

Venus

• Orbit – 224.7 days• Rotation – 243 days• Ave. Temp. – 482° C• Number of moons - 0• Symbol

Earth

• Orbit – 365 days• Rotation – 1 days• Ave. Temp. – 15° C• Number of moons - 1• Symbol

Mars

• Orbit – 687 days• Rotation – 1day• Ave. Temp. – -63° C• Number of moons - 2• Symbol

Jupiter

• Orbit – 4333 days• Rotation – 0.4 days• Ave. Temp. – -121° C• Number of moons –

28 (known)• Symbol

Saturn

• Orbit – 29.5 years• Rotation – 10 hours• Ave. Temp. – -125° C• Number of moons –

35 (known)• Symbol

Uranus

• Orbit – 84 years• Rotation – 17.2 hours• Ave. Temp. – -193° C• Number of moons –

at least 21• Symbol

Neptune

• Orbit – 165 years• Rotation – 16 hours• Ave. Temp. – -193° C• Number of moons –

13 (known)• Symbol

Pluto

• Orbit – 248.5 years• Rotation –153.3 hours• Number of moons –

3 (known)

• Symbol

Other galactic anomalies

• Halley’s Comet– A comet that appears

every 75-76 years– Last seen in 1986.

• Black Holes• Supernovas• Aliens?

What is a Shooting Star?

• A "falling star" or a "shooting star" has nothing at all to do with a star! These amazing streaks of light you can sometimes see in the night sky are caused by tiny bits of dust and rock called meteoroids falling into the Earth's atmosphere and burning up. The short-lived trail of light the burning meteoroid produces is called a meteor. Meteors are commonly called falling stars or shooting stars. If any part of the meteoroid survives burning up and actually hits the Earth, that remaining bit is then called a meteorite.

Meteoroid, Meteorite, Meteor

• Meteoroid= a relatively small, rocky body that travels through space

• Meteor= a bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere (a shooting star)

• Meteorite= a meteoroid that reaches the Earth’s surface without burning up completely

• Grandpa Jessica is the only known person to die from a Meteorite

Comets:

Bodies of rock, ice, and gas with

varied orbits around the Sun

Asteroids

• Small, rocky object

• Most of these rocky bodies are located in a belt between Mars and Jupiter

• Asteroid Belt=region between Mars and Jupiter which contains most asteroids