The Solar System:AN INTRODUCTIONTO COMPARATIVE

PLANETOLOGY

THE

UNIVERSE

LET’S WATCH THIS!

PLANETARY

PROPERTIES

SUNOur Sun is just one of billions of stars in the disk-shaped galaxy

called the Milky Way. Bright star clusters are

visible along with darker areas of dust and gas. Our Sun is located in one of the

spiral arms of the Milky Way.

FACTor

BLUFF?The

approximate temperature of

the Sun’s surface is 5800

K, while the sunspot’s

temperature is approximately

8100°F.

FACT

MERCURY

Mercury orbits closer to the Sun than any other planet, making it dry,

hot, and virtually airless. Although the

planet’s cratered surface resembles that

of the Moon, it is believed that the interior is actually similar to Earth’s,

consisting primarily of iron and other heavy

elements. This composite photograph was taken in 1974 by Mariner 10, the first

probe to study Mercury in detail.

FACTor

BLUFF?The planet

Mercury turns clockwise (east

to west).

BLUFFcounterclockwise

(west to east)

VENUSVenus is the brightest object in our sky, after

the sun and moon. Swirling clouds of sulfur

and sulfuric acid obscure Venus’s surface and inhibited study of the planet from Earth

until technology permitted space

vehicles, outfitted with probes, to visit it. These probes determined that Venus is the hottest of

the planets, with a surface temperature of

about 460° C (about 860° F).

FACTor

BLUFF?Venus is the

brightest object in the sky. It is

often called the morning and the evening

star.

FACT

EARTHAn oxygen-rich and

protective atmosphere, moderate

temperatures, abundant water, and a

varied chemical composition enable Earth to support life,

the only planet known to harbor life. The

planet is composed of rock and metal, which are present in molten

form beneath its surface. The Apollo 17

spacecraft took this snapshot in 1972 of the Arabian Peninsula, the African continent, and

Antarctica.

FACTor

BLUFF?The Earth’s atmosphere

includes troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere,

thermosphere, exosphere and chromosphere.

BLUFFChromosphere is for Sun.

MARSScientists have

determined that the planet’s atmosphere consists primarily of carbon dioxide, with

small amounts of nitrogen, oxygen, water

vapour, and other gases. Because the

atmosphere is extremely thin, daily

temperatures can vary as much as 100°C. In

general, surface temperatures are too

cold and surface pressures too low for

water to exist in a liquid state on Mars. The planet resembles a cold, high-altitude

desert.

FACTor

BLUFF?Phobos &

Deimos are named after the

sons of the Roman God,

Mars. In which, Phobos sets in the East while Deimos sets in

the West.

FACT

JUPITERJupiter is the largest of

the planets, with a volume more than

1,300 times greater than that of Earth.

Jupiter’s colorful bands are caused by strong atmospheric currents and accentuated by a

dense cloud cover. The massive planet comes

with its four largest satellites: Io,

Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.

FACTor

BLUFF?Closer to Jupiter the strong field

traps the charged

particles. The entire region of particle-fields interactions is known as the

magnetosphere.

FACT

SATURNSaturn, distinguished by its rings, is the second largest planet in the solar system. This processed Hubble

Space Telescope image shows the planet’s

cloud bands, storms, and rings as they would

appear to the human eye.

FACTor

BLUFF?The discovery of the 9 moons of Saturn were

reported in 2007 and these are in irregular

shape and small.

BLUFF9 moons were

announced in June 2006 and an additional 4

moons were reported in 2007.

URANUSUranus’s blue-green

colour comes from the methane gas present in

its cold, clear atmosphere. The dark shadings at the right edge of the sphere

correspond to the day-night boundary on the

planet. Beyond this boundary, Uranus’

northern hemisphere remains in a four-

decade-long period of darkness because of the way the planet

rotates.

FACTor

BLUFF?Astronomers

have identified 13 rings of

debris encircling Uranus’

equator. Five from the

innermost rings were called D, C, B, A and F.

BLUFF5 rings of Uranus called Alpha, Beta, Gamma,

Delta and Epsilon.

NEPTUNE

This image of Neptune, taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, shows the

planet’s most prominent features. The

large, dark oval surrounded by white

clouds near the planet’s equator is the Great Dark Spot, a storm similar to Jupiter’s

Great Red Spot. The smaller dark oval with a bright core below and

to the right of the Great Dark Spot is another storm known as Dark

Spot 2.

FACTor

BLUFF?Neptune is also classified as an ice giant planet, mainly made of the ice-forming

molecules water,

ammonia and methane.

FACT

PLUTOPluto is farther from the

Sun than the major planets in the solar system, although it

occasionally moves in closer than Neptune due to an irregular

orbit. The small, rocky, and cold world takes

247.7 years to revolve around the Sun.

FACTor

BLUFF?Charon, the

moon, is about half of Pluto’s size and would

appear in Pluto’s sky to be about six

times the size of the Earth’s

moon.

FACT

BLUE

PINK

RED

GREEN

VIOLET

ORANGE

YELLOW

BLACK

WHITE

GRAY

BLUE

• Count 1 to 6 from your right side.

• From the 6th, count 1 to 4 from your left side.

• Then, KISS him/her (anywhere on his/her face).

GREEN

• Count 1 to 10 from your left side.

• From the 10th, count 1 to 3 from your right side.

• Then, DESCRIBE him/her in 5 words (whether + or -).

PINK

• Turn back, count 1 to 4 from your right side.

• From the 4th, count 1 to 2 from your right side.

• Then, SMELL his/her foot in 10 sec.

VIOLET

• Simple...• Make a BIG MOLE near to

your nose (like GMA’s mole).

RED

• Hmmm...• Yummy...

• Just SIP this!

ORANGE

• What makes your day?• NESCAFÉ...

• POUR this into your mouth (mix it).

WHITE

• Look! There’s a tornado!• Please TURN 10x in your

area.

YELLOW

• Be happy!• You are lucky!• Simply, EAT this.

GRAY

• Be proud!• RECITE the new Vision of BU.• Then say “Darna” (shout it

please!).

BLACK

• Sassy! Sossy!• PUT a powder into your face.• Then, share to your 2 favourite

classmates (without using your hand, only face).

RELATIVE SIZE COMPARISON

MAJOR PLANETARY POINTSMERCURY Scorched, heavily crateredVENUS Dense, Corrosive cloud coverEARTH Life SupportingMARS Great dust stormsJUPITER Great Red SpotSATURN Spectacular ring systemsURANUS Tilted on its sideNEPTUNE Interesting MoonsPLUTO Highly eccentric orbitWith the exception of Pluto, all the planets are effectively in

the equatorial plane of the Sun

OVERALL LAYOUT of theSOLAR SYSTEM

OVERALL LAYOUT of theSOLAR SYSTEM

OVERALL LAYOUT of theSOLAR SYSTEM

OVERALLLAYOUT

of theSOLAR

SYSTEM

TYPES OF SPACE MISSION

FLYBYThe flights of the spacecraft close

enough to celestial bodies to gather scientific data.

Mariner 10MESSENGER Spacecraft

TYPES OF SPACE MISSION

A spacecraft designed to orbit a planet to examine its environment

without landing on it.

ISRO Indian Mars OrbiterManglayaan 635

ORBITER

TYPES OF SPACE MISSION

A space vehicle designed to land on a celestial body to explore its

surface.

Phoenix Lander

LANDER

TYPES OF SPACE MISSION

ROVERA crewed or uncrewed vehicle used in exploring the terrain of a planet

and its satellites.

Mars Exploration Rover

TYPES OF SPACE MISSION

A heavier-than-air powered flying vehicle with fixed wings used to gather better images of the planet’s surface.

NASA Airplaneby William and Mary

FUTURE EXPLORATIO

N

AEROPLANE

TYPES OF SPACE MISSION

Venus’ Balloon Probe

FUTURE EXPLORATIO

N

An impermeable bag, designed to float in the atmosphere to provide views of much broader areas of the surface.

BALLOON

TYPES OF SPACE MISSION

Martian Subsurface Explorer

FUTURE EXPLORATIO

N

A spacecraft with radar that gives 3D understanding of how water may be

distributed in the planet’s surface.

SUBSURFACE EXPLORER

EARTH

Luna

Deimos Phobos

MARS

JUPITER

Amalthea Callisto

Europa Ganymede

Io Thebe

SATURN

CalypsoAtlas Dione EnceladusEpimetheus Helene

Hyperion Iapetus Janus Methone Mimas Pandora

Phoebe Prometheus Rhea Telesto Tethys Titan

URANUS

Ariel Miranda Oberon Titania Umbriel

NEPTUNE

Proteus Triton

ASTEROIDS

Eros

Ida

Vesta

Dactyl

Gaspra

Mathilde

MOONBorrelly

Hartley 2

Wild 2

Churyumovor

Gerasimenko

Tempel 1

COMETS