Power Point of the Solar System done for EDU 290 class

1. The Solar System

2. Structure
• 8 total planets
– 4 Terrestrial, 4 Jovian
• Approximately 4.6 billion years old
• All planets orbit around Sun
– same plane, but different paths

3. Terrestrial Planets
• Small in both mass and size
• Close to Sun
• Made of metal and rock
• Few moons, no rings

4. Jovian Planets
• Big in mass and size
• Far from Sun
• Hydrogen, Helium, and hydrogen compounds
• No solid surface
• Rings and many moons

5. Sun
• Formed 5 billion years ago
• Radiates all types of rays
– From earth, can only sense
infrared, ultraviolet, radio, and
visible
• Sunspots
• Inner layers: core, radiative
zone, convective zone,
photosphere
• Outer layers: chromosphere,
corona, solar wind

6. Mercury
• Closest planet to Sun
• .055 mass of Earth
• Hot/cold extremes
• Desolate and cratered
• no active volcanoes, wind,
rain, or life
• Least studied

7. Venus
• Nearly identical to Earth’s size (.82)
• rotates very slow, opposite direction of Earth
• Used to think sister planet to Earth
• Extreme “greenhouse effect”
• Mountains, valleys, craters, active volcanoes

8. Earth
• Average surface temp: 290K
• Oasis of life
• Only planet with oxygen to breathe
• Ozone shield surface from
deadly solar radiation
• Abundant surface water to
nurture life

9. Earth’s Moon
• Large relative to Earth
• Always see the same side
• See phases because of it’s position relative to
Sun
• 1969- Neil Armstrong was
first man to walk on moon

10. Mars
• .11 mass of Earth
• Not enough oxygen to
breathe
• Atmosphere wouldn’t
protect you from Sun
• Most studied planet
besides Earth
• Ancient volcanoes
• Great canyon, runs 1/5th
around planet

11. Jupiter
• Closest Jovial planet
• 318 mass of Earth
• At least 63 moons
– Galilean: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and
Callisto
• Great Red Spot
• Thin set of rings

12. Saturn
• Famous for it’s rings
– Made of countless orbiting
particles
• 95.2 mass of Earth
• Cloud-top temp: 95 K
• At least 60 moons
– At least 2 geologically
active

13. Uranus
• 14.5 mass of Earth
• Cloud-top temp: 60 K
• At least 27 moons
• Twice as far from Sun
as Saturn
• Pale blue color
because of Methane
• Tipped on it’s side
– Extreme seasons

14. Neptune
• Farthest from Sun
• 17.1 mass of Earth
• At least 13 moons
• Almost of a twin of Uranus
• Very blue

15. Pluto (and other dwarfs)
• .0022 mass of Earth
• Cold and dark
• Part of Kuiper belt
• Essentially large comets
• Distance and size makes difficult to study

16. Sources
• Gallant, R. A. (1980). Our Universe: National Geographic Picture
Atlas of. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.
• Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, Voit (2012). The Essential Cosmic
Perspective. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education Inc.
• www.crazy-frankenstein.com
• www.greenanswers.com
• www.library.thinkquest.org
• www.ghuj.com
• www.oneplaneteducation.com
• www.wikipedia.org
• www.black-cat-studios.com
• www.newscientist.com
• www.daviddarling.org