PLANETS

LO: I will identify the known planets of the solar system.

SOLAR SYSTEM: all of the planets, moons, comets, and rocks that travel around the SunGALAXY: giant collection of gas, dust, and trillions of starsMilky Way: our galaxy

Planet Sizes

PLANETS

LO: I will identify the known planets of the solar system.

Universe: "the whole thing"

Contains: stars, planets, moons, meteors, asteroids, comets, spaceFormed from clouds of ice, gas, and dustSpace never endsOur solar system makes up a very small part of universeClosest star to our solar system is the sun

huge space that contains all of the matter & energy in existence

SOLAR SYSTEM: all of the planets, moons, comets, and rocks that travel around the SunGALAXY: giant collection of gas, dust, and trillions of starsMilky Way: our galaxy

MERCURY closest to the Suncircles Sun faster than other planets36 million miles from sunTemp: day 6450 F, night 2000 F below zero looks like Moon, craters & volcanosno moons of its owntiny 3,000 miles in diameterrevolves around sun fast: 88 days = 1 year on Earthrotates very slow: 1 day = 59 Earth days

crater: hole caused by an object hitting the surface of a planet or moon

VENUS

 closest planet to Earth,  26 million miles away brightest planet in our sky 67 million miles from Sun7,500 miles diametersurrounded by thick cold cloudsmost atmosphere is carbon dioxide7000 Fspins slowly backwards - takes 243 days for 1 rotation225 days to circle Sunvery plain, no mountains and almost no water named for Roman goddess of beauty although it's not prettydoes not have a moon

EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET

3/4 surface covered with waterPacific Ocean is larger than all the land

land forms 7 great masses, continentscontinents are slowly driftinghas atmosphere containing nitrogen, oxygen, & carbon dioxidepeople need oxygen to breathe, plants need carbon dioxide to breathe4.6 billion years oldrevolves around Sun once in 365 days93 million miles from Sunrotates counter-clockwise once in 24 hours7,926 miles in diameter; medium sizedonly planet with life as we know it

MARS: THE RED PLANET

covered with red rocks; dust storms give it color1 day is 1/2 hour longer than Earth

Martian year = 2 Earth years2 tiny moons141.5 mil. miles from Sun1500 F below zero at night, 00 F in day4,215 miles in diameter, smaller than Eartha mountain on Mars is 3 times taller than tallest one on Earthgiant canyon runs for thousands of milesevidence of places where long rivers once flowedatmosphere like Earth's; carbon dioxide and oxygen; air too thin for us to breathespacecraft landed in 1970's and 1997; soil samples showed there was no life as we know it on Earth

JUPITER THE GIANT

largest planet 88,700 in diameter1,300 Earth's could fit inside Jupiter

very bright, shines white light & can be seen in southern night sky just before/after midnightfull of colors, has yellow, brown, & red cloudshuge red spot just below equator is raging lightening & wind storm twice the size of Earthhas many moons1 day on Earth = 10 hours on Jupiter1 year on Jupiter = 12 years on Earth483.3 miles from Sun yet very hot because heat comes from inside the planet

SATURN

famous for its bright, oval ringshundreds of rings packed closely togetherrings are chunks of ice & rock

75,000 miles in diameter, hugevery light, could float in the oceanmade of hot gases with thick core of solid matterSaturn tilts like Earth so has 4 seasons1 day on Saturn = 10 hours on Earth1 year on Saturn = 29 1/2 Earth years886,000,000 miles from Sunbad weather all of the time, storms give it a yellow/tan colorin one place there is bright, pink spot, a stormat least 23 moons circle Saturnone moon is pitch black on one side and snow white on otheranother moon, Titan, is second biggest moon

URANUS

first seen by telescope in 1781farthest planet seen with naked eye1,778,000,000 miles from Sun

very cold, never more than 3100 F below zero1 Uranus year = 84 Earth years1 Uranus day = 11 hours on Earth1970's was discovered that Uranus has rings like Saturn, nine are visible30,900 miles in diameter, 4 times larger than EarthUranus lies on its side, spinning like a bowling ballspeeds up and slows down due to Neptune's gravitational pull on ithas 15 moons orbiting around its center, like spokes on a wheel

NEPTUNE

discovered in 1846, 2 billion miles from Sunnamed for ancient god of the seashas 2 main rings & 3 smaller ringscannot be seen with the naked eyeblue-green color, details of surface are not visibleNeptune's gravitational pull on Uranus causes Uranus to speed up and slow down32,900 miles in diameter, same size as Uranus8 moons and many "moonlets" in Neptune's rings1 day on Neptune = 16 Earth hours1 year on Neptune = 165 Earth yearsfreezing cold, warmest day is 3600 F below zerofrozen ammonia clouds circle planetbeneath clouds, poison gases fill atmosphereconstant violent stormsVoyager 11 spacecraft passed by and took pictures

IS PLUTO A PLANET? "dwarf-planet"

1 billion miles past Neptune3,660,000,000 miles from Sun; no other planet is as far from SunPluto found in 1930 because it was pulling Neptune out of orbitcan only guess what it's likemust be ice cold with solid, dense center, may have one moonthink it's 2,000 miles in diameter, smallest planet & is why we now call it a dwarf planettakes 248 Earth years for Pluto to orbit once around the Sun1 day = 6 Earth daysoff center orbit sometimes brings Pluto closer to Sun than Neptune

INNER PLANETS: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and MarsSmaller and made of mostly rock and iron

OUTER PLANETS: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and NeptuneLarger and made mostly of hydrogen, helium and ice

SATURN

famous for its bright, oval ringshundreds of rings packed closely togetherrings are chunks of ice & rock

75,000 miles in diameter, hugevery light, could float in the oceanmade of hot gases with thick core of solid matterSaturn tilts like Earth so has 4 seasons1 day on Saturn = 10 hours on Earth1 year on Saturn = 29 1/2 Earth years886,000,000 miles from Sunbad weather all of the time, storms give it a yellow/tan colorin one place there is bright, pink spot, a stormat least 23 moons circle Saturnone moon is pitch black on one side and snow white on otheranother moon, Titan, is second biggest moon

MERCURY closest to the Suncircles Sun faster than other planets36 million miles from sunTemp: day 6450 F, night 2000 F below zero looks like Moon, craters & volcanosno moons of its owntiny 3,000 miles in diameterrevolves around sun fast: 88 days = 1 year on Earthrotates very slow: 1 day = 59 Earth days

crater: hole caused by an object hitting the surface of a planet or moon

VENUS

 closest planet to Earth,  26 million miles away brightest planet in our sky 67 million miles from Sun7,500 miles diametersurrounded by thick cold cloudsmost atmosphere is carbon dioxide7000 Fspins slowly backwards - takes 243 days for 1 rotation225 days to circle Sunvery plain, no mountains and almost no water named for Roman goddess of beauty although it's not prettydoes not have a moon

EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET

3/4 surface covered with waterPacific Ocean is larger than all the land

land forms 7 great masses, continentscontinents are slowly driftinghas atmosphere containing nitrogen, oxygen, & carbon dioxidepeople need oxygen to breathe, plants need carbon dioxide to breathe4.6 billion years oldrevolves around Sun once in 365 days93 million miles from Sunrotates counter-clockwise once in 24 hours7,926 miles in diameter; medium sizedonly planet with life as we know it

MARS: THE RED PLANET

covered with red rocks; dust storms give it color1 day is 1/2 hour longer than Earth

Martian year = 2 Earth years2 tiny moons141.5 mil. miles from Sun1500 F below zero at night, 00 F in day4,215 miles in diameter, smaller than Eartha mountain on Mars is 3 times taller than tallest one on Earthgiant canyon runs for thousands of milesevidence of places where long rivers once flowedatmosphere like Earth's; carbon dioxide and oxygen; air too thin for us to breathespacecraft landed in 1970's and 1997; soil samples showed there was no life as we know it on Earth

Jupiter's Spot

JUPITER THE GIANT

largest planet 88,700 in diameter1,300 Earth's could fit inside Jupiter

very bright, shines white light & can be seen in southern night sky just before/after midnightfull of colors, has yellow, brown, & red cloudshuge red spot just below equator is raging lightening & wind storm twice the size of Earthhas many moons1 day on Earth = 10 hours on Jupiter1 year on Jupiter = 12 years on Earth483.3 miles from Sun yet very hot because heat comes from inside the planet

URANUS

first seen by telescope in 1781farthest planet seen with naked eye1,778,000,000 miles from Sun

very cold, never more than 3100 F below zero1 Uranus year = 84 Earth years1 Uranus day = 11 hours on Earth1970's was discovered that Uranus has rings like Saturn, nine are visible30,900 miles in diameter, 4 times larger than EarthUranus lies on its side, spinning like a bowling ballspeeds up and slows down due to Neptune's gravitational pull on ithas 15 moons orbiting around its center, like spokes on a wheel

NEPTUNE

discovered in 1846, 2 billion miles from Sunnamed for ancient god of the seashas 2 main rings & 3 smaller ringscannot be seen with the naked eyeblue-green color, details of surface are not visibleNeptune's gravitational pull on Uranus causes Uranus to speed up and slow down32,900 miles in diameter, same size as Uranus8 moons and many "moonlets" in Neptune's rings1 day on Neptune = 16 Earth hours1 year on Neptune = 165 Earth yearsfreezing cold, warmest day is 3600 F below zerofrozen ammonia clouds circle planetbeneath clouds, poison gases fill atmosphereconstant violent stormsVoyager 11 spacecraft passed by and took pictures

IS PLUTO A PLANET? "dwarf-planet"

1 billion miles past Neptune3,660,000,000 miles from Sun; no other planet is as far from SunPluto found in 1930 because it was pulling Neptune out of orbitcan only guess what it's likemust be ice cold with solid, dense center, may have one moonthink it's 2,000 miles in diameter, smallest planet & is why we now call it a dwarf planettakes 248 Earth years for Pluto to orbit once around the Sun1 day = 6 Earth daysoff center orbit sometimes brings Pluto closer to Sun than Neptune

INNER PLANETS: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and MarsSmaller and made of mostly rock and iron

OUTER PLANETS: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and NeptuneLarger and made mostly of hydrogen, helium and ice