References
Sun• The Sun is a star and is not solid• Because of this, different parts of it rotate at
different rates: at its poles, the sun rotates once every 36 days, whereas, at its equator, it rotates once every 25 days
• The temperature at the surface of the sun is around 5500 degrees C, which is around 55 times the temperature of boiling water and 5.5 times the temperature of molten lava!
• It can fit a million Earths• 98 percent of the Sun is made out of hydrogen and
helium.• 4 hydrogen atoms fuse together to make one atom
of helium – these collisions occur a billion times in one second within the Sun’s core!
• In each of these reactions, some of the mass of these atoms is converted into radiation – the Sun has an output of Watts, which is more than the energy given by a billion billion power stations!
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Mercury• Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun• It resembles the moon in that it has impact
craters on its surface• It has a crater called the Caloris Impact Basin
which is the size of Texas• Mercury’s molten core is larger than Earth’s core
relative to their respective planet sizes• The temperature on Mercury varies by around
600 degrees C between day and night• Mercury has the most elliptical orbit of any planet
in the Solar System
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Venus• The surface of Venus is hot enough to melt
lead!• However, its composition is very similar to
Earth’s• Atmospheric composition:
• 96.4% carbon dioxide• 3.4% nitrogen• 0.015% sulfur dioxide• 0.007% argon• 0.002% water vapor
• It is frequently referred to as the morning or evening star, as it can be seen in the sky right after the Sun rises or sets.
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Earth• Earth formed approximately 4.54 billion
years ago• More than 70 percent of the Earth is
covered in water.• Atmospheric Composition:
• 78.084% nitrogen• 20.846% oxygen• 0.9340% argon• 0.1 % water vapor• 0.039% carbon dioxide• Minimal percentages of neon, helium,
methane, krypton, hydrogen, nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide
• The Earth’s lithosphere (solid outer layer) floats on molten magma.
• Earth’s moon is the largest moon relative to the planet that it orbits in the Solar System
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Mars• Mars is known as ‘The Red Planet’.• The temperature on Mars barely reaches 0
degrees C on a summer day• There has been evidence found on Mars of the
existence of water• This leads to possibilities of life, such as
microorganisms, existing there.• Mars is home to ‘Olympus Mons’, the largest
volcano in the solar system – it is three times the height of Mount Everest!
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Jupiter• Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar
system.• It is a gaseous planet that is more than three
hundred times the mass of the Earth.• It has a ‘Great Red Spot’, which is actually a
hurricane three times bigger than our planet, that has been going on for at least 200 years.
• If you managed to travel to Jupiter, the first thing that you would come across would be an invisible force field.
• The core of Jupiter is thought to be solid, and around the size of the Earth
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Saturn• Saturn is the second largest planet in the
Solar System• Its diameter is ten times that of the Earth and
it is ten times further away from the Sun.• Saturn has 53 known moons, and has 9
moons that have been discovered and are waiting to be confirmed
• Saturn’s ‘Great White Spot’ is a giant storm, similar to Jupiter’s ‘Great Red Spot’.
• However, Saturn’s ‘Great White Spot’ is not always there, and only shows up intermittently, around every 30 years.
• Saturn’s rings are so thin that they appear to vanish when they are looked at straight on the edge.
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Uranus• When Uranus was first discovered, it was
mistakenly catalogued as a star• Uranus is the name of the father of the Roman
god Saturn• Unlike any of the other planets, it spins on its
side, with its northern hemisphere facing the Sun for 42 years of sunlight, before turning the other way and experiencing 42 years of darkness
• Uranus has 27 moons named after various characters from works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope
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Neptune• Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun• Neptune is made up mostly of hydrogen
and helium, with a small amount of methane
• Neptune is blue because the methane in its atmosphere absorbs red light from the Sun, but reflects blue light
• Neptune has 13 moons which are named after different sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology
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References• Books:
• Brunier, Serge. Solar System Voyage. Cambridge University Press, 2002.• Chown, Marcus. Solar System: A Visual Exploration of the Planets, Moons, and Other Heavenly
Bodies that Orbit Our Sun. Touch Press and Faber and Faber, 2011.
• Websites• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm• Images:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Planets2013.jpg• http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/venus_magellan.jpg• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=9643• http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/mars/marsglobe1.jpg• http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/saturn/saturn.jpg• http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/uranus_voy2.jpg• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=2424
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