Solar System Trip Advisor Joo Eon Park, Tara Kim, Michael El-Hage Milky Way by write_adam from Flickr Table of Contents Sun Sun . 3 MercuryMercury . 4 Venus Venus .. 5 EarthEarth .. 6 Mars Mars . 7 AsteroidsAsteroids... 8 Jupiter Jupiter 9 Saturn Saturn . 10 Uranus Uranus . 11 Neptune Neptune . 12 Dwarf Planets Dwarf Planets . 13 Comets Comets . 14 Stars by ThinkingCamera from Flickr Sun If youre looking for a warm, nice, vacation spot, come on and hang out at the Sun! It has plenty of space, and is about one million times bigger than our own planet Earth! It never gets cold and at the core, is about 27 million Fahrenheit which is about 15 million Celsius. So make sure that you bring tons of sunblock and sunglasses because its very hot and bright on the Sun. Also, make sure that you bring fire-proof suits which you can purchase at NASA.com/mjt or else, when you enter the Suns atmosphere, youre going to burn up in seconds! The people that live on the Sun are called the Sunshines. They make the best food and their national sandwich is called the SSSED. One of the most exciting places to visit is the SSSED company. SSSED stands for Super Spicy Sandwich Extreme Deluxe. It includes Mercream from Mercury, a cup of volcanic venom from Venus, jalapenos and red peppers from Earth, a little bit of Marsturd from Mars, a touch of Titanium from the planet Jupiter, the spotty sand from the rings of Saturn, the unbearable uranium from Uranus, and lastly Neptunes gnarly nuts. The main ingredients are the hot gases from the Sun that are 27 million Fahrenheit. Because the sun is a star, the gases taste like sparkling pop rocks. The SSSED company has information based on the SSSED. It mainly focuses on the hot gases from the Sun and explains that our Sun is basically a hot ball of glowing ionized gases that is at the heart of our solar system. Sun by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center from Flickr Go to HomeHome Mercury If you want to plan a warm vacation, but not too burning hot like the Sun, plan a trip to Mercury. It orbits around the sun every 88 days. It travels through space nearly 50 km per second. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and is 0.4 AU away from the it. Surface temperatures can reach to about 800 Fahrenheit which is about 427 Celsius. Since Mercurys atmosphere is so thin, it cannot retain the Suns heat. So during the night, temperatures can drop to -290 Fahrenheit which is -179 Celsius. Mercury doesn't have any moons. Some of the most exciting sites to see are the large craters made from meteoroids and comets. There are also cliffs that are hundreds of miles long and up to a mile high. One of the largest features to see on Mercury is called the Caloris Basin. It is 1,550 km in diameter. It was a result of an asteroid impact early in the Solar Systems history. The national sandwich of Mercury is called the Mercurian Meteor. It includes many ingredients, but its main ingredient is called Mercream of Mercury. Its a thin, soft fluff that was made by the Mercurians in the 29 century. It resembles the atmosphere of Mercury which is very thin, and is made up of atoms blasted of the surface by the solar winds and micrometeoroid impacts. A micrometeoroid is a microscopic particle in space that doesnt burn up when it reaches the earths atmosphere. Mercury by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center from Flickr Go to HomeHome Venus Venus rotates from east to west while Earth rotates west to east. On Venus, because it rotates east to west, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. One year in Venus is about 225 Earth days. Venus is 0.7 AU away from the Sun. Because of the way the clouds of Venus reflect sunlight, Venus appears to be the brightest planet in the sky. Venus thick atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric acid. The thick atmosphere traps the suns heat, which makes the surface temperature go above 880 Fahrenheit which is 471 Celsius. The hurricane-force winds in Venus clouds travel about 360 km per hour. There are more than 1000 volcanoes on Venus. Volcanic flows have made long channels extending for hundreds of kilometers along the surface of Venus. Craters smaller than 1.5 2 km in diameter do not exist on Venus, because once they reach the thick atmosphere of Venus, they burn up before they can hit the ground. One of the most exciting sites on Venus is the tallest mountain called Maxwell Montes. Its comparable to Mt. Everest on Earth. The biggest caf in the Solar System is on Maxwell Montes. Its named after the mountain, and therefore is also called Maxwell Montes. They sell coffee from the company Maxwell, and their national sandwich, Volcanic Venom. Its main ingredient is resembled from the lava of the volcanoes on Venus. Therefore, it tastes very hot and spicy. Its a once in a life time experience to go there, and I promise youll always remember it. Venus by Forsetius from Flickr Go to HomeHome Earth The Earth, our home planet, is the only planet in the Solar System known to have life. The Earth is the third planet from the sun and is 1 AU which is about 15 million km from it. The four seasons are caused by the Earths axis tilted by degrees from a perpendicular line. It is summer when a hemisphere of the Earth is tilted towards the sun. When a hemisphere is tilting away from the sun, its winter for that hemisphere. Earths oceans cover nearly 70% of the planets surface. The atmosphere is made up of mostly nitrogen and oxygen. The atmosphere blocks most meteors from striking the surface of the Earth. It burns the meteor when it enters the atmosphere. When charged particles from the solar wind become trapped in the Earths magnetic field, they come together with air molecules above our planets magnetic poles. These air molecules then glow. This is called an aurora. Were very sorry, but this planet cannot be visited because it is our permanent residence and our home planet. Although you can visit other planets for only a short period of time, we can thank our lucky stars that we get to live on Earth in our safe environment. Earth by FlyingSinger from Flickr Go to HomeHome Mars by Michael Heilemann from Flickr Go to HomeHome Mars is a rocky body that about half the size of the Earth. The surface of Mars has volcanoes and impacts like other inner planets. Mars appears to be reddish because the surface is made up of iron-rich minerals that can rust. Mars has two small moons which are called Phobos and Deimos. They may be asteroids captured by Mars gravitational pull. Similar to Earth, Mars has seasons because of its tilt. It is still a mystery to scientists if there is life on Mars. So far, they have not found any except for the small group of the Martini Martians. They were found last year by Apollo 306. The Martini Martians national sandwich is called the Marsturdian Monster. It is made up of many ingredients, the main being Marstard. Made to resemble Mars, Marstard is a reddish, cold candy that looks like a desert with small minerals. A fun place to visit if youre on a vacation is Olympic Mons and Valles Marineris. Olympic Mons is the largest volcanic mountain in the Solar System. Valles Marineris is a specatacular equatorial canyon system. Asteroids Asteroids are small, rocky fragments left over from the creation of the Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago. Between Jupiter and Mars, there is a region called the asteroid belt. When Jupiter formed, it caused small bodies between Mars and Jupiter to start colliding with each other, creating the asteroid belt. Most asteroids have an irregular shape but some are the shape of a sphere. Some asteroids even have moons and some orbit around each other. There are different types of asteroids. Some are made up of clay and rocks and some from silicate material and nickel-iron. Sometimes asteroids orbits change because of Jupiters tremendous gravitational pull. This can make the asteroid collide with another celestial body in space. When you want to visit the asteroid belt region, the Asteroidians will serve you rock- hard bread made from the asteroids. It tastes like delicious candy, and has lots of holes in it created from the crater impacts of the asteroids. When you want to eat it, you suck it like candy instead of chewing it, because its so hard. To get into the asteroid belt, you must have a space suit, because although the planets are big, the asteroids are very small and you might fall off without a space suit. So purchase a space suit from NASA.com/mjt! Asteroids by Emily Lakdawalla, Planetary Society Blogger from Flickr Go to HomeHome Jupiter Welcome to the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter! It is a gas giant and therefore is made up of all gas, except for a rock solid core about the size of Earth. One year on Jupiter is 12 earth years. The climate on Jupiter is -148 C and it has 50 moons orbiting it with its gravitational pull. The planet is tremendous with a circumference of km. The atmosphere contains of hydrogen and helium. The national sandwich of Jupiter is the called the Titanium Sandwich which Saturns moon, Titan, is named after. The Saturnians were so jealous of Jupiter, that they named a moon after Jupiters most prized possession, their national sandwich! It is a sandwich that includes the food that the Jupiterians harvest just for the sandwich. A great place to visit on vacation is the Great Red Dome which is inside the Great Red Spot. It is a fantastic place to be if you want relax while watching the storms of excitement. The Great Red Dome is a dome that when you go inside, there are rapid red storms swirling around you. Jupiterians will come and serve you drinks, snacks, and meals. Although the Great Red Spot is the most known storm on Jupiter, in recent years, scientists have found another storm, about half the size of the Great Red Spot. It is called the Little Red Spot and is a 3 small storms merged together. Jupiter by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center from Flickr Go to HomeHome Saturn Welcome to the gas giant called Saturn! It is called a gas giant because it has a large circumference of km and is made mainly of gas. One of the great things to see on Saturn is its big, beautiful rings. When you visit Saturn, you can stay at a hotel called the Cassini Hotel. Its named after the first spacecraft to ever orbit Saturn. You can either get a view of the beautiful rings, or of the land of Saturn made of mainly hydrogen and helium. The Saturnians can serve you a variety of foods, but they mainly serve their national sandwich called the Ringating. It includes the spotty sand from the rings of Saturn which were gathered from some of the bravest Saturnians. Although Saturn is made mainly of gas, it still has a very large mass of 568,319,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg. Although Saturn is very far from our planet and will take 7 years to get there, it will absolutely be worth your time and energy. When you get to Saturn, one of the most exciting things to do and see is called the Ring Walk. Before you get there, you should purchase a Ring Walk suit at the spaceships Suty Free. After you settle in at the Cassini Hotel, there will be a shuttle to take you to the Ring Walk, but make sure that you dont forget your Ring Walk suit! The point of the attraction is to be able to walk on the bold rings of Saturn. Theyre mainly made up of water ice. If youre scared, dont be. Youll be attached to a spaceship that will go at your pace, and will lift you up if you need help. Saturn By Michael Karrer from Flickr Go to HomeHome Uranus Welcome to the green-blue planet called Uranus! It is considered one of the gas giants. All of the gas giants have rings, but Uranus is special. Its completely tilted vertically instead of horizontally. So the rings move vertically instead of horizontally. One of the most exciting activities to do on Uranus is to climb up on the horizontal rings to the top and see Neptune and Saturn. If you have medical issues, and dont think that you can do this long hike, there is a program that you can sign up for that allows you to walk for however long you want to, then ride in a spaceship the rest of the way up. Although its a great view, its also a great workout. Uranuss national sandwich is called the Sandwich of the Sky. It was named that because Uranus looks like the color of the sky during the day. Its looks like a blue color mixed with green because of the methane gas in the atmosphere. Uranus is very heavy because it is a gas giant. It has a mass of 86,810,300,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg. Because this planet is very unique, we recommend that you consider visiting Uranus. Although it will take longer than 8 years to arrive at Uranus, it will definitely be worth your time. Uranus By Meredith Garstin from Flickr Go to HomeHome Neptune Welcome to the blue planet called Neptune. Neptune is named after the Roman god, Neptune, A.K.A Poseidon in Greek. Neptune has very faint rings which you can barely see. The blue planet looks blue because its atmosphere is fully made up of methane which is a blue color. Right before you land on Neptune, you will see a very dark area. No need to worry because its just a storm raging at about 1500 miles per hour! If you were to ever enter that area in any way, you would be swept off the ground and would probably die in about 10 seconds. Youll be glad to know that one of the exciting places to go is an area on Neptune where you can go swimming in the Methane Pool. Its a place where you can wear special floaters and float above the methane, so that it looks as if you are swimming. Before you go swimming, make sure that you tighten you floaters, or else, when you enter the water and your floater becomes loose, you will drown and sink. But no worries, if the lifeguard sees you, he/she will jump in and rescue you. Neptune is neighbors with Pluto and Uranus. Although it will take you 12.5 years to get to Neptune since its the farthest planet from the Sun, it will be worth your time and energy. Its a once-in-a-life- time chance! Neptune By Meredith Garstin from Flickr Go to HomeHome Dwarf Planets The five known dwarf planets are, Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Makemake, and Haumea. In 1930, Pluto was considered to be the ninth planet in the Solar System. However, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto, Eris, and Ceres were dwarf planets. A dwarf planet is a celestial body that orbits the sun. It has enough mass to have a nearly round shape. It has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. And is not a moon. The best known dwarf planet is Pluto. Pluto is about two-thirds the diameter of the Earths moon. The 248 year-long elliptical orbit of Pluto can take it as far as 49.3 AU from the Sun! One of the fun activities to go to while visiting the dwarf planets is the Dwaratarium. You can see the dwarf planets through very high-powered telescopes. Another thing you can do at the Dwarfatarium is to watch the recordings of the orbits of the planets in fast motion. You can see when and where some of the dwarf planets cross each others orbits. Dwarf Planets By Lunar and Planetary Institute from Flickr Go to HomeHome Comets Comets are leftovers from the creation of our Solar System around 4.6 billion years ago. It consists mainly of ice, coated with dark organic material. Comets may have important clues about the creation of our Solar System. Each comet has a tiny frozen part which is called a nucleus. The nucleus has icy chunks and frozen gases with bits of embedded rock and dust. Beyond Neptune, there is a disc-like belt of icy bodies. There are dark comets in the belt that orbit the sun. Other comets come from the Oort cloud, which is about 100,000 AU from the sun. Some comets take more than 30 million years to take a full orbit around the sun! A comet warms up as it goes near the sun. While that happens, a coma or atmosphere forms. The suns heat causes ices on the nucleus surface to change into gases which makes the coma become larger. The pressure of the sunlight and solar particles blow off materials from the coma away from the sun, forming two tails called the dust tail and the plasma tail. One of the most exciting things to do when you visit the comets, is to get on the Space Jet, the fastest flying spaceship in the Solar System, and attempt to chase the smaller comets. The experience of the speed which the comets travel will blow your mind. Those who have rode the Space Jet all agree that they will never forget the experience. It was the closest thing to flying on their own. Comets By Michael Karrer from Flickr Go to HomeHome Bibliography Information:Pictures:MercuryMercury, SunSun by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center from Flickr Venus by Forsetius from Flickr Earth by FlyingSinger from Flickr Mars by Michael Heilemann from Flickr Asteroids by Emily Lakdawalla, Planetary Society Blogger from Flickr Jupiter by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center from Flickr SaturnSaturn, CometsComets By Michael Karrer from Flickr UranusUranus, NeptuneNeptune By Meredith Garstin from Flickr Dwarf Planets By Lunar and Planetary Institute from Flickr Go to HomeHome Stars by ThinkingCamera from Flickr