The Solar System

1
The Solar System

• The Eight Planets and more

2
Mercury-closest planet to the Sun

• Appears to be a bright, slightly pink star on the
  horizon during sunrise or sunset
• Mariner 10 found the surface to be heavily
  cratered (hard to study due to the glare of the
  sun)
• Mercury has virtually no atmosphere, therefore no
  weather to wear down its steep cliffs

3
Venus- Greenhouse in the sky

• Often referred to as the morning or evening
  star
• Shines bright because its closer to Earth than
  any star the heavy cloud cover reflects the
  suns light
• Heavy cloud cover was not penetrated by a
  spacecraft until 1975
• Venus was very volcanically active at one time
  and is still believed to be today

4
Venus- Greenhouse in the sky

• Why do you think the acid rain that falls on
  Venus evaporates before it reaches the planets
  surface?
• Does this give you any clue as to why there is
  no liquid water on Venus?
• What causes the greenhouse effect on the planet?

5
Mars- the Rusty Planet

• Soil brought back by the Viking was coated with
  rust
• It is believed there is water under the soil of
  Mars
• Water on Mars stays frozen year round
• Both pole are covered by icecaps
• north frozen water
• southfrozen carbon dioxide

6
Asteroid Belt

• Located between Mars and Jupiter
• Composed of thousands of orbiting asteroids of
  various sizes and shapes

7
Jupiter- the planet that was almost a star

• Largest of all the planets
• First of the gas giants
• Red spot was found to be a giant whirlwind

8
Jupiter

• Scientists believe that if Jupiter were to have
  grown larger during the formation of the solar
  system, nuclear fusion would have caused it to
  form into a star

9
Saturn- the planet of rings

• Also one of the gas giants
• Has at least seven ring divisions
• Some are circular shaped and others are
  elliptical which causes them to twist together

10
Saturn- the planet of rings

• Saturn has a very low density- in fact it could
  float if you could place the entire planet in
  water
• Saturn has more moons than any other planet

11
Uranus- planet on its side

• Uranus is almost the same distance from Saturn as
  Saturn is from the sun
• The surface is an ocean of superheated water
• Bluish color is due methane in the atmosphere
• What is unusual about Uranus rings compared to
  other planets like Jupiter or Saturn?

12
Neptune- discovered with math

• The orbit of Uranus was found to have a wiggle
  after its discovery
• Was believed to be caused by a nearby planets
  gravitational pull
• This planets location was calculated
  mathematically

13
Neptune- discovered with math

• Triton (Neptunes largest moon) was thought to be
  a planet at one time
• Saturn and Neptune are the solar systems
  windiest planets
• Along with its twin, Uranus, it is a gas giant

14
Pluto- a dwarf planet

• Not always after Neptune
• Was also discovered due its gravitational pull on
  a planet (Neptune)
• Scientists expected it to be much larger
• Earths largest telescopes still only see Pluto
  as a speck