Solar System Intro

Planets, Moons and Stars

Our solar system is the system of planets and other objects that orbit our sun. There are eight planetsplanets and many moonsmoons. Along with asteroidsasteroids, cometscomets, meteoroidsmeteoroids and tiny particles of rocks and dust. The sunsun, which is actually a starstar, is the largest object in the solar system and holds everything in place by its gravitygravity. It contains about 99% of the mass of the solar system.

A planet is a body that is in orbit around the Sun, has enough mass for its self-gravity to overcome forces (nearly round) shape, and clears the neighborhood around its orbit. Planet order (closest to the

sun to furthest):MERCURYVENUSEARTHMARSJUPITORSATURNURANUSNEPTUNE

Position: Closest planet to the Sun. Atmosphere: Like Earth’s moon, very little. Landscape: Many craters, a little ice. Cliffs and

valleys present. Temperatures: Super-heated by the sun in the day.

At night temperatures reach hundreds of degrees below freezing. (Not as warm as you would think).

Year (Full rotation around the sun): 88 days. Moons: 0 Rings: 0

Position: 2nd planet from the sun.

Atmosphere: Thick enough to trap heat, hurricane winds, lightning, and acid clouds.

Landscape: Volcanoes and deformed mountains.

Temperatures: Intense heat. Year (Full rotation around the

sun): 225 Earth days. Moons: 0 Rings: 0

Position: 3rd planet from the sun. Atmosphere: Suitable air

pressure to have life. Air is made of oxygen.

Landscape: The only planet that has liquid on the surface, rocky, land formations.

Temperatures: Suitable for life. Ranges from locations on Earth.

Year (Full rotation around the sun): 365 Earth days.

Moons: 1 Rings: 0

Position: 4th planet from the sun.

Atmosphere: Thinner air than Earth.

Landscape: Frozen water below the surface, rocky, dusty, and has craters.

Temperatures: Like Earth, but drier and colder

Year (Full rotation around the sun): 687 Earth days.

Moons: 2 Rings: 0

Midnight Midnight sun on sun on MarsMars

Position: 5th planet from the sun.

Atmosphere: Colorful clouds, until it is squished unto liquid. Cold and windy, giant storms.

Landscape: Thick super hot soup.

Temperatures: Extremely cold at clouds. Extremely hot and cold radiation.

Year (Full rotation around the sun): 12 Earth years.

Moons: 62 Rings: 3

Position: 7th planet from the sun. Atmosphere: Composed mostly of

gas with no solid surface. Cloud strips.

Landscape: No solid surfaces, high pressures turn gas into liquids.

Temperatures: Rings made out of water ice, really cold.

Year (Full rotation around the sun): 30 Earth years.

Moons: 61 Rings: 7 division ring system

Position: 7th planet from the sun. Atmosphere: Gets thicker and thicker,

until it is squished unto liquid. Cold and windy.

Landscape: Layer of superheated water and gases that form bright clouds.

Temperatures: Extremely cold at cloud tops and superheated towards the center.

Year (Full rotation around the sun): 84 Earth years.

Moons: 27 Rings: 11

Position: Furthest from the sun (Cannot see without a microscope). 8th planet.

Atmosphere: Very Windy, cold clouds, a layer of methane gas (giving it a blue color), storms as large Earth.

Landscape: Scientist think it may have an ocean of super hot lava.

Temperatures: Cold Year (Full rotation around the sun): 165

Earth years. Moons: 13 Rings: 6

Pluto is NOT considered a planet anymore!

It is classified as a dwarf planet.

Temperatures: Extremely cold, covered with frost.

Year (Full rotation around the sun): 248 Earth years.

Moons: 3 Pluto is very hard to

see, if with a really powerful microscope.

Think of Pluto as Think of Pluto as Disney’s dog, NOT a Disney’s dog, NOT a planet!planet!

The sun is a star. A ball of hot glowing gases. It gets hotter as you go

deeper. Central force that has a high

influence on planets orbits. Without the sun’s energy

and heat there would be no life on Earth.

Stabilizes Earth. Our moon is covered in craters and has no

atmosphere. No gravity and no air. Very hot and very cold temperatures. Pieces of equipment lie on the moon-things

like the American flag!

Fake-coloring Fake-coloring to show to show landscapelandscape

New Moon - The Moon's un-illuminated side is facing the Earth. The Moon is not visible (except during a solar eclipse).

Waxing Crescent - The Moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing.

First Quarter - One-half of the Moon appears to be illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing.

Waxing Gibbous - The Moon appears to be more than one-half but not fully illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing.

Full Moon - The Moon's illuminated side is facing the Earth. The Moon appears to be completely illuminated by direct sunlight.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon appears to be more than one-half but not fully illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing.

Last Quarter - One-half of the Moon appears to be illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing.

Waning Crescent - The Moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing.

In-Class Moon Phase Cookie Project

A star is a huge, shining ball in space that produces a large amount of light and energy.

Stars come in many sizes. About 75% are apart of groups that orbit each other. They are grouped in large structures called galaxies.

(Milky Way). Stars have life-cycles like humans. A stars color depends on surface temperature.

Constellations are groupings of stars that make an imaginary image in the night sky. They have been

named after mythological characters, people, animals and objects. In different parts of the world,

people have made up different shapes out of the same groups of bright stars. It is like a game of connecting the dots. In the past constellations

have became useful for navigating at night and for keeping track of the seasons.

Constellation Project

Choose your favorite constellation.

Research your constellation. Make a poster including the

constellation name, your myth and the actual myth, and mapping of stars.

The writing portion should be two paragraphs long. One for your made-up myth, the other for a real myth.

Don’t forget to proofread your paragraphs!

We will be working on the projects and presenting them in class.

What is the solar system? How many planets do we currently have? Draw a diagram of planet placement and list

the planets in order from the closest to the furthest from the sun.

Can you list the characteristics of planet Earth? What are the phases of the moon? (Draw a

picture to help in explanation). Can a star die? What were constellations used for? What is the sun?

1. Pick a constellation to work on in class next week.

2. Keep your moon journal, observe the moon phases throughout the week and record them. Remember to draw the moon phase and write a paragraph on your observations.

3. Study the solar system!

4. Answer PowerPoint questions.

Some educational information and images are provided from the following sources: http://www.instructorweb.com/lesson http://scienceclass.ning.com http://www.astronomycast.com http://rip.physics.unk.edu/Astronomy http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons http://anitadiminuta.com/images http://asymptotia.com http://www.edb.utexas.edu/petrosino http://www.cartoonstock.com http://www.thelivingmoon.com http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/images/Jupiter.gif http://www.newscientist.com http://thumbs.dreamstime.com http://www.gwit.org/students http://offthemark.com http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov