SOLAR SYSTEM
NOTES
ENERGY TRANSFERS
•Radiation - a process in which energy
travels through vacuum (without a medium)
•Conduction – a process in which energy
travels through a medium
•Convection - The transfer of heat through
the movement of particles
SUN
• 99.86% of the mass of the solar system
• Primary source of energy, light, and heat.
• The planets are lit because of the light we
see reflected from the Sun.
SUN IS A 2ND OR 3RD GENERATION STAR
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT?
Shortly after the big bang, most of the atoms in the universe were hydrogen.
(Trace amounts of helium and lithium, but for all intensive purposes, hydrogen
was pretty much 'it.')
Those first stars, through fusion, began creating heavier elements, as heavy as
iron. Some of those stars were massive enough to "go" supernova, and create
even heavier elements.
Our sun, and the planets that orbit it, all formed from a nebulous cloud of a star
that had previously gone supernova. Based on the amount of heavy elements in
our solar system, there must have been at least two predecessor stars to have
been "precursors" to our sun and it's planets.
The sun, being about 4.5 billion years old, vs. a galaxy that is estimated to be
about 13.7 billion years old, seems to have formed in the timespan when 2nd and
3rd generation high-mass stars would have been going supernova. So we have
methods that support this statement.
SUN’S STRUCTURES
• Photosphere
• Sunspots
• Corona
• Solar flares
• Convection zone
• Radiation zone
• Core
Surface of the Sun appears
granulated:
Hot material (light) rises to
top
while cold material (dark)
drops down
Proof of convection
underneath surface!!!
PHOTOSPHERE
• Photo in Latin means “light”
• Outer layer of the Sun
• Where the light we see comes from.
SUN SPOTS
• dark spots compared to surrounding regions
• Early astronomers like Galileo observed these to
prove the Sun rotates on an axis.
HELIOSCOPE
•“Helio” Greek for Sun
•“scope” optical device
•an instrument used in
observing the sun and
sun spots
CORONA
• Latin for “crown”
• most easily seen
during a total solar
eclipse
SOLAR FLARES
• a sudden brightening observed over the Sun's
surface
• a large energy release
• Has knocked out power
in parts of the World.
SPICULES
•Short-lived, narrow
Jets of gas spewed
from surface
SPICULES
•Short-lived, narrow
Jets of gas spewed
from surface
*Punch out from surface
and fold back in. Follows
magnetic field lines.
AURORA
• by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere
• Aurora Borealis “Northern lights”
• Aurora Australis
Southern Hemisphere
So we’re all gonna die???
Well…yeah
*since the solar system
formed 4.6 billion years ago,
the Sun has lost less than 0.1
% of its total mass.
JOVIAN
PLANETS
• JUPITER
• SATURN
• URANUS
• NEPTUNE
TERRESTRIAL
PLANETS
• MERCURY
• VENUS
• EARTH
• MARS
ORBITAL ROTATION
• All planets orbit the same direction around the
sun, Counterclockwise.
Axis Tilt
Planets orbit Sun in an elliptical path
(oval shape)
Making the Inner Planets - Accretion in the inner solar system:
Initially, many moon-sized planetesimals orbited the Sun. Over
the course of a hundred million years or so, they gradually
collided and coalesced, forming a few large planets in roughly
circular orbits.
Inner planets – small,
solid, dense minerals
Iron cores
Outer planets –
large, mostly gas,
rings, with solid
core
REASONS THE PLANETS ARE SO
DIFFERENT
• The material closest to the Sun was the hottest, and
therefore any lighter materials such as gases would
have vaporized by the Sun's heat.
• •The materials with a higher melting point (metals)
could condense at these higher temperatures and
could stay closer to the sun and it’s heat.
• •The materials with lower melting points (gases) were
able to condense out further from the Sun where it
was cooler
Planet Density
Saturn is the only planet that is less dense than Water!
MERCURY
• Rotation Time: 58.6 Earth days
• Orbit Time: 88 Earth days
• Does not rotate on same orbital plane as the rest.
• iron rich planet
• Mercury has virtually no atmosphere
• Craters like the Moon
VENUS
• Rotation Time: 243 days
• Orbit Time: 224 days
• Earths' twin sister because
• same size = same mass = similar density
• similar gravity
• similar composition (are made of the same material).
• atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon dioxide
• Clouds are filled with sulfuric acid
EARTH
• Rotation Time: 24 hours
• Orbit Time: 365.24 days
• the only planet known to have stable bodies of
liquid water on its surface
• The world is not completely round. It is an oblate
spheroid, flattened at the poles and bulging at
the equator
MARS
• Rotation Time: 24.6 hours
• Orbit Time: 687 Earth days
• The planet's surface undergoes a chemical process
which results in the formation of iron oxide (rust).
• thin atmosphere of Mars is made of mostly carbon
dioxide
• Valleys and Canyons on Mars suggest that the
planet once had large amounts of surface water
JUPITER• Rotation Time: 10 hours
• Orbit Time: 12 Earth years
• largest planet, has the most moons
• great red spot on Jupiter is a storm that has been going on for over 300 years
• Has rings
• Hydrogen and Helium
• Would have to be 60x as much mass to be a star
SATURN
• Rotation Time: 11 hours
• Orbit Time: 29.46 Earth years
• Most know for the beautiful rings!
• Rings are floating chunks of ice, rocks and dust
• Saturn has the lowest density
• Atmosphere comprises mostly of Hydrogen and
Helium (lightest elements)
URANUS
• Rotation time: 17.6 hours
• Orbit Time: 30,685 Earth days
• Has rings
• Axis - almost parallel to the plane
• The nearly horizontal tilt of the axis produces the most extreme seasons in the solar system
• Uranus is the coldest planet
NEPTUNE
• Rotation Time: 16.11 hours
• Orbit Time: 165 Earth Years
• Has rings
• Stormiest planet – winds up to 1,240 mph
• methane gas makes it Blue
• 12 years for Voyager 2 to reach it
PLUTO• Considered a planet since 1930
• was demoted to a dwarf planet in 2006
• Does not rotate on the same orbital plane
• Smaller and less dense than all planets and Our Moon
• atmosphere contains traces of methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide (not a gas giant like other Jovian planets)
• Sometimes orbits inside Neptune
• There are similar objects inside the Kuiper Belt
Scientists believe that
water could exist below
the surface of Europa.
(Jupiter moon)
•Io (another Jupiter
Moon) features over 400
active volcanoes
•Saturn’s largest moon is
named Titan, it is the
only moon known to
have a dense
atmosphere.
MOONS WORTH
LOOKING AT