The Solar System

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Solar System

• By Dora Stanley

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The Sun

• The Sun is a yellow dwarf star. It is the star
  in the middle of the solar system. It is almost
  perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma
  interwoven with magnetic fields. The Sun has a
  diameter of about 1392000 km. The temperature
  of the Sun ranges from 4100K to 20000000K.

3
Mercury

• Mercury is innermost and smallest planet in the
  solar system. It orbits the Sun once every
  87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the
  highest eccentricity of all the solar system
  planets. It has the smallest axial tilt. Its
  rotation is so slow it only rotates on its axis 3
  times for every two orbits of the sun.

4
Venus

• Venus orbits the Sun every 224.7 Earth days.
  Venus is named after a Roman goddess of love and
  beauty. Its elongation reaches a maximum of
  47.8. Venus reaches its maximum brightness
  shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset.
  Venus is sometimes called the Morning Star or
  Evening Star.

5
Earth

• Earth is the fifth largest planet in the solar
  system. Earth was formed 4.54 billion years ago.
  Life appeared on its surface within one billion
  years. About 71 of the surface is covered with
  salt water oceans. Earths only known satellite
  is the Moon which began orbiting it about 4.53
  billion years ago.

6
Mars

• Mars is named after a Roman god of war. Its the
  fourth planet from the sun. Its described often
  as the Red Planet. Mars is a terrestrial planet.
  It has a thin atmosphere.

7
Jupiter

• Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar
  system. It is a gas giant. The Great Red Spot
  is an anticyclonic storm that is larger than
  Earth. Jupiter is primarily composed of
  hydrogen. A quarter of its mass is helium.

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Saturn

• Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar
  system. It is named after the Roman god of
  agriculture and harvest sector. Saturn is a gas
  giant. It has an average radius of about 9 times
  that of Earth. Saturn is 95 times more massive
  than Earth.

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Uranus

• Uranus has the third largest planetary radius.
  It has the fourth largest planetary mass in the
  solar system. Its named after the ancient Greek
  deity of the sky the father of Saturn and the
  grandfather of Jupiter. Uranus revolves around
  the Sun once every 84 Earth years. It is visible
  to the naked eye in dark skies.

10
Neptune

• Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea.
  It is the largest planet in diameter. It is the
  third largest in mass. Neptune is 17 times the
  mass of Earth. Its symbol is a stylized version
  of the god Neptunes trident.

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Pluto

• Pluto is a dwarf planet. Plutos atmosphere
  consists of a thin envelope of nitrogen. Plutos
  atmosphere also contains methane and carbon
  monoxide gases. Pluto has 4 moons named Charon
  Nix Hydra and s/2011/P1. Pluto is part of the
  Kuiper belt.

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Asteroids

• Asteroids are a class of small Solar System
  bodies in orbit around the sun. Individual
  asteroids are classified by their characteristic
  spectra. The largest asteroid is the Vesta. The
  Hygeias surface temperature is 164K. The Ceres
  rotation period is 9.07.

Vesta asteroid
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Meteors

• A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid that
  has entered Earths atmosphere. Meteors
  typically occur in the mesosphere. Most meteors
  range in altitude from 75km to 100km. Most
  meteoroids that cause meteors are about the size
  of a pebble. Millions of meteors occur in the
  Earths atmosphere everyday.

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Comets

• A comet is a small icy solar system body
  orbiting the sun. It consists of a nucleus
  tail and coma. When a comet comes close to the
  sun the coma and tail become visible. As of
  January 2011 there were 4185 reported comets.
  Particularly bright or notable examples are
  called Great Comets.

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Solar System

• The Solar System is located in the Milky Way
  Galaxy and consists of the Sun and the
  astronomical objects gravitationally bound in
  orbit around it. There are 4 inner or
  terrestrial planets and 4 outer planets called
  gas giants. Beyond the outer planets there are
  dwarf planets. Other orbital bodies include
  asteroids comets meteors and moons.