Yvonne Lin 8C
Solar SystemPlanets
• Revolve: when an object goes around/ orbits another object• Rotate: when an object spins on its axis continuously• orbit: the path the planets/ satellites follows when they revolves• There’re 8 planets in our solar system• Inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars• Outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune• Inner planets were hit constantly by asteroids and meteorites at the first 600
million years• Three requirements to be a planet
• The object must revolve around the sun• It must have enough mass so that it became round due to its own gravity• It must have already cleared out its orbit so that there aren’t similar objects at
roughly the same distance form sun
• Dwarf planets: Pluto, Ceres, Eris• Met the first 2 requirements, missed the third
Inner planets• Between sun and asteroid
belt• Smaller, made out of solid
rock• Craters on planet and
satellites
General Information
Outer planets• Outside of the asteroid
belt• Large, made out of
gases• Have rings
Inner planetsMercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Mercury• Mercury’s atmosphere contains helium and
sodium
• Three processes that shaped Mercury’s surface
• Impact cratering: when objects like asteroids hit Mercury’s surface
• Volcanism: volcanic activity
• Tectonic activity: Mercury’s crust moved around to adjust for better cooling and contracting
Venus• Referred as “Evening Star”- brightest planet that can be seen from Earth
• Caused by the thick clouds surrounding Venus- reflects sunlight
• Atmosphere contains Carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid
• Retrograde rotation: The other seven planets rotate counter-clockwise, while Venus rotates clockwise.
• its rotation (243 days) is longer than revolution(225 days)
• Venus has a retrograde- opposite direction from the Earth's rotation Sun rise in the west and sets in the east
• Hottest planet in our Solar System- the atmosphere works as a greenhouse and traps the heat
Earth• atmosphere contains: 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen,
0.9% argon, 0.1% water vapor, carbon dioxide, neon, methane, krypton, helium, xenon, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone- Protects us form harmful solar radiation and meteors
• Rotational tilt: 23.5°• Earth’s core is made of liquid iron-nickel. The
rotation of the Earth along with the core causes Earth to have a magnetic field
• Satellite: moon
Mars• Some of the meteorites found on Earth are pieces of Mars.
Scientists study these pieces for evidence of tiny ancient bacteria and other signs that life may have once lived on Mars
• Primary element of atmosphere: carbon dioxide (over 95%)
• Mars looks reddish because it have iron-rich soil.
• Olympus Mons: one of the largest volcanoes in the solar system- over 600 kilometers wide and 26 kilometers high
• Satellites: Phobos and Deimos
Outer planetsJupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Jupiter• The quick rotation causes the planet to flatten at the poles
and bulge at the equator.
• Atmosphere: hydrogen, helium, sulfur, and nitrogen
• Giant Red Spot: a storm that is in Jupiter's southern hemisphere
• Satellites: 50 named moons, 13 more have been discovered but not yet given official status or names
• Jupiter’s satellite Io is volcanic active
Saturn• Atmosphere: hydrogen and helium
• the rings developed from particles came from the break-up of some satellites.
• Rings: water ice and dust
• Saturn has the lowest density of any planet in our solar system. Its density is so low that it would float in water.
• Seasons last more than 7 Earth years on Saturn
Uranus
• Tilted 98°- looks like it’s rotating sideways from Earth
• Atmosphere: hydrogen, helium, methane
• 27 satellites
Neptune
• Atmosphere: ammonia, helium, methane
• 13 satellites
• Triton: largest satellite of Neptune- scientists believe that Triton was caught by Neptune's gravitational pull, forcing it to revolve around the planet.
Dwarf planetsPluto, Ceres, Eris
Pluto• Satellites: Charon, Nix, and Hydra
• a spectroscope have detected methane frost on Pluto and water frost on Charon
• Charon is almost half the size of Pluto
Ceres• one revolution around the Sun: ≈4.6 Earth
years
• Other objects similar were also found to be orbiting in the same area, and scientists labeled these objects as asteroids, so Ceres became an asteroid, not a planet.
• a mixture of water ice, carbonates, and clays can be found at its surface
Eris• Eris original name was Xena
• Revolution: 557 Earth years
• Moon: Dysnomia
• Eris was not considered a planet because it did not clear out it’s orbit.
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