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The Solar System
What makes up our solar system?
What are the characteristics of planets?
Slide 1
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
Parts of the Solar System
• mostly “space”
• sun is 99% of mass– medium star– 5 billion years old
Slide 2
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
General Characteristics of the Solar System
• Planetary orbits and rotation– orbits are in a common plane– orbital and spin motions are in the same direction– rotation axes are perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
Planets
• Terrestrial Planets– small size– inner planets– more dense
• 5x density of water
– mostly rock– thin atmospheres
• low escape velocity– Earth 11 km/s
– Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
• Jovian Planets– large size “giants”– outer planets– less dense
• 1.5x density of water
– mostly gases– thick atmospheres
• high escape velocity– 21 – 60 km/s
– Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Slide 4
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
Other Bodies
• Asteroids– independently orbit sun– solid rocky/metallic irregular shape
• Moons– orbit planet/asteroid
• Comets– “dirty snowballs”– solids that turn to gases when heated
• Meteoroids– small solid fragments
• burn in atmosphere – meteor• impact crater – depression formed if hit surface
Slide 5
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Solar System – the Relative Sizes of the Planets
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Terrestrial Planets
• Mercury– heavily cratered– large metallic core– little tectonic activity– no atmosphere
Slide 7
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Terrestrial Planets
• Venus– similar in size and mass to Earth– extremely hot surface
– 96% CO2 atmosphere
– sulfuric acid cloud layers– lava flows and folded mountains
Slide 8
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Terrestrial Planets• Mars
– thin atmosphere of CO2
– polar ice caps– evidence of extensive
volcanism, cratering, and water movement
– largest crater, volcano, and canyon in the solar system
Slide 9
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Jovian Planets• Jupiter
– largest, most complex planet– dense, hot atmosphere of H, He, and other gases– 16 moons
Slide 10
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Jovian Planets
• Saturn– smaller than Jupiter, but similar
structure and atmosphere– ring system of spiraling bands
of particles– 18 known moons
Slide 11
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Jovian Planets• Uranus
– much smaller than Jupiter, but densities are about the same
– lies on its side - rotational axis is nearly parallel to the ecliptic
– faint rings and 18 small moons• Neptune
– similar atmosphere as other Jovians, with zonal winds and storm systems
– three faint rings, 8 moons
Slide 12
Updated 2/11/2009 Created By L. DiTullioModified by C. Ippolito
February 2009
The Jovian Planets
• Pluto– rock, methane gas and
ice– polar ice cap– one moon– highly elliptical orbit
which is steeply inclined to the ecliptic
Slide 13
