Planets and Dwarf Planets in our Solar System

ByAndrew Bryden

1st period

Instructions on how to be a…

• You have to be an object which independently orbits the Sun.

• You must have enough mass so that gravity pulls you into a roughly spherical shape.

• You must be large enough to “dominate” your orbit.

Mercury• Closest Planet to the sun• Orbital period is about 88 Earth days, but from Earth, appears to be 116 days. It is the fastest orbit in our solar system.• Day length: 58.646 Earth Days• It was named Mercury, after the Roman fast messenger to the gods• Craters: (There are so many, they have them alphabetized!)

– c5: Fresh-appearing, sharp-rimmed, rayed craters. Highest albedo in map area; haloes and rays may extend many crater diameters from rim crests. Superposed on all other map units. Generally smaller and fewer than older craters.

– c4: Fresh but slightly modified craters—Similar in morphology to c5 craters but without bright haloes or rays; sharp rim crests; continuous ejecta blankets; very few superposed secondary craters. Floors consist of crater or smooth plains materials.

– c3: Modified craters—Rim crest continuous but slightly rounded and subdued. Ejecta blanket generally less extensive than those of younger craters of similar size. Superposed craters and rays common; smooth plains and intermediate plains materials cover floors of many craters. Central peaks more common than in c4 craters, probably because of larger average size of c3 craters.

– c2: Subdued craters—Low-rimmed, relatively shallow craters, many with discontinuous rim crests. Floors covered by smooth plains and intermediate plains materials. Crater density of ejecta blankets similar to that of intermediate plains material.

– c1 Degraded craters—Similar to c2 crater material but more deteriorated; many superposed craters.

• Average distance from the sun: 36 Million miles• Surface temperatures range from -279° Fahrenheit during the night, to a scorching 801° Fahrenheit during the day, the

greatest temperature variation of every planet, due its closeness to the Sun, no atmosphere to contain the Sun’s rays, and the extremely…slow…turn…of…the…planet.

• It makes only three complete turns on its axis every second time it finishes its orbit around the sun…even a snail is faster!• Atmosphere Composition is: 42% Molecular oxygen, 29% sodium, 22% hydrogen, 6% Helium, 0.5% potassium, trace amounts

of argon, nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide, Water vapor, xenon, krypton (no superman!) and neon. And its core has the highest iron content than any other Major planet in the solar system.

• We sent two space probes to this mystery planet:– nasa’s Mariner 10—the first spacecraft to visit this planet, sent out nthe year 1n the yea974in which it discovered that the planet has a Magnetic field much

like Earth, which helps protect against solar wind– Nasa’s messenger (mercury surface, space environment, geochemistry, and ranging). Sent out on August 3rd, 2004, This probe was tasked with six tasks:

find out its density, Geological History, Nature of its magnetic field, the structure of its core, whether it has ice at its poles, and where its tenuous atmosphere comes from.

• and soon, the European Space Agency (esa) is planning a joint mission with Japan called bepiColombo, which will orbit the planet with two probes, one being tasked to map the planet, and the other tasked with studying its magnetosphere. In the year 2015, Space-bus is expected to reach mercury in 2019.they will then operate for a terrestrial year.

Venus• Venus is the second planet from the Sun.• Venus was named after the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty.• Average distance from the Sun: 67,237,910 miles.• Surface Temp: 864° F (average, of course)• Day length: 117 Earth Days• This Planet has no fault lines, like we do here on earth…so how does the heat from the mantle

escape? Well…some scientists believe that volcanoes help heat escape. But…some scientists also believe that Venus’ crust is thin enough so heat can escape through the ground. However, some scientists believe that the crust is thick…how do you prove this? Can’t…yet, but they do speculate that every 30,000 years, the whole crust just melts so all the heat can escape. Why do they think this is so? Here is an example: if you have a volcano by a roughly shaped area, say a crater, and the volcano erupts, then the magma will fill the crater right? Well, on Venus, there are millions of craters, all still the same as when the object created them. Meaning that there are no volcanoes present what so ever on the surface…so…what is there? As I said earlier, scientists can not decide if either the crust is thin, or thick and re-news every 30,000 years.

Earth• The Third planet from the Sun°• Distance (average) from the Sun: 92,955,820 Miles• Atmosphere is mainly composed of Nitrogen, Carbon

dioxide, and Oxygen• Surface Temp (min/max): -126°–136° F• Day Lenth: 24 hours• Name Origin: Instead of being name after a Greek or

Roman Deity, its name is of the Anglo-Saxons’ word for ‘ground’ (or ‘soil’), Erda

• It is our only home that everyone cares for and loves…

…well…almost everyone…

• The fourth planet from the sun.• Second smallest planet.• Distance (average) from the Sun: 141,633,260• Named after the Roman god of war. • Martian day is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds• Surface Temp (min—max): -125—23° F• This planet has either the biggest or second biggest mountain/shield volcano in our solar

system, depending how you measure, with sources ranging from about 21-27 kilometers high. Its name: Mount Olympus (how many Mount Olympus’ are there!).

• Atmosphere Composition: 95.32% carbon dioxide; 2.7% nitrogen; 1.6% argon; 0.13% oxygen; 0.08% carbon monoxide; 210 ppm (parts per million, ) water vapor; 100 ppm nitric oxide; 15 ppm molecular hydrogen; 2.5 ppm neon; 850 ppb (parts per billion, ) HDO (deuterium oxide, 2^o or O, aka Heavy Water); 300 ppb krypton; 130 ppb formaldehyde; 80 ppb xenon; 18 ppb hydrogen peroxide; 10 ppb methane.

• 230 million km (142,915,374.2145868130120099 miles=>142,915,374 miles] away from the sun

• Orbital period is 687 (Earth) days (1 Earth year, 320 days, and 18.2 hours)• Soil is slightly alkaline, and contains elements such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and

chlorine. Experiments by the Phoenix lander show that the Martian soil has a basic pH of 8.3, and may contain traces of the salt perchlorate. Its poles have large quantities of water ice. If you melted the south poles ice, it would cover the whole planet in a depth of 11 meters thick.

• In the cryosphere of this planet, it has large quantities of water ice. And, this planet has a whole planet full (heh heh) of evidence that proves it contained liquid water in its younger days.

Mars

Uh Oh…

Now all we have to do, is send a couple of probes to Neptune, Uranus, and to …some…other…object?

Jupiter• 5th Planet from the Sun• Average Distance from the Sun: 483,682,810• Atmosphere: 89.8±2.0% Hydrogen, 10.2±2.0% Helium, ~0.3% Methane, ~0.026%

Ammonia, ~0.003% Hydrogen, 0.0006% Ethane, 0.0004% Water• Surface Temp (average) -234° F• Day Length: 0.41354 Earth Days; 9 hours, 56 minutes• Year Length: 4,331 Earth Days• Name Origin: Roman Ruler of the Gods• Probes Sent—their discoveries: Pioneer 10 & 11—Stronger than expected radiation

Fields and great photos, Voyager 1 & 2—Greater understanding of the Galilean Moons and Discovery of its rings as well as the Great Red Spot being anticyclonic (Weather storm with winds that surround the storm flow against the Direction dictated by the Coriolis effect (the deflection of moving objects when they are viewed in a rotating reference frame, discovered by Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis) and makes a rotation about every six days,

• Fun Facts: Zones are stripes with winds that blow from east to west, and Belts with winds that blow from west to east.

Saturn

Neptune

Uranus (not pronounced ‘your anus’)

Hey…where is Pluto??? Oooh…

Why did Pluto get demoted to dwarf planet?

• It was to teeny tiny to be a planet, kind of like Ceres in the Asteroid belt

• It also did not have a near circular orbit

Plutinos?!?!?!• Plutinos, means “little Pluto”, so anything smaller than Pluto, is a Plutinos…(confusing right?)

The EndLike a boss…