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SOLAR SYSTEM

NOTES

ENERGY TRANSFERS

•Radiation - a process in which energy

travels through vacuum (without a medium)

•Conduction – a process in which energy

travels through a medium

•Convection - The transfer of heat through

the movement of particles

SUN

• 99.86% of the mass of the solar system

• Primary source of energy, light, and heat.

• The planets are lit because of the light we

see reflected from the Sun.

SUN IS A 2ND OR 3RD GENERATION STAR

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT?

Shortly after the big bang, most of the atoms in the universe were hydrogen.

(Trace amounts of helium and lithium, but for all intensive purposes, hydrogen

was pretty much 'it.')

Those first stars, through fusion, began creating heavier elements, as heavy as

iron. Some of those stars were massive enough to "go" supernova, and create

even heavier elements.

Our sun, and the planets that orbit it, all formed from a nebulous cloud of a star

that had previously gone supernova. Based on the amount of heavy elements in

our solar system, there must have been at least two predecessor stars to have

been "precursors" to our sun and it's planets.

The sun, being about 4.5 billion years old, vs. a galaxy that is estimated to be

about 13.7 billion years old, seems to have formed in the timespan when 2nd and

3rd generation high-mass stars would have been going supernova. So we have

methods that support this statement.

SUN’S STRUCTURES

• Photosphere

• Sunspots

• Corona

• Solar flares

• Convection zone

• Radiation zone

• Core

Surface of the Sun appears

granulated:

Hot material (light) rises to

top

while cold material (dark)

drops down

Proof of convection

underneath surface!!!

PHOTOSPHERE

• Photo in Latin means “light”

• Outer layer of the Sun

• Where the light we see comes from.

SUN SPOTS

• dark spots compared to surrounding regions

• Early astronomers like Galileo observed these to

prove the Sun rotates on an axis.

HELIOSCOPE

•“Helio” Greek for Sun

•“scope” optical device

•an instrument used in

observing the sun and

sun spots

CORONA

• Latin for “crown”

• most easily seen

during a total solar

eclipse

SOLAR FLARES

• a sudden brightening observed over the Sun's

surface

• a large energy release

• Has knocked out power

in parts of the World.

SPICULES

•Short-lived, narrow

Jets of gas spewed

from surface

SPICULES

•Short-lived, narrow

Jets of gas spewed

from surface

*Punch out from surface

and fold back in. Follows

magnetic field lines.

AURORA

• by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere

• Aurora Borealis “Northern lights”

• Aurora Australis

Southern Hemisphere

So we’re all gonna die???

Well…yeah

*since the solar system

formed 4.6 billion years ago,

the Sun has lost less than 0.1

% of its total mass.

JOVIAN

PLANETS

• JUPITER

• SATURN

• URANUS

• NEPTUNE

TERRESTRIAL

PLANETS

• MERCURY

• VENUS

• EARTH

• MARS

ORBITAL ROTATION

• All planets orbit the same direction around the

sun, Counterclockwise.

Axis Tilt

Planets orbit Sun in an elliptical path

(oval shape)

Making the Inner Planets - Accretion in the inner solar system:

Initially, many moon-sized planetesimals orbited the Sun. Over

the course of a hundred million years or so, they gradually

collided and coalesced, forming a few large planets in roughly

circular orbits.

Inner planets – small,

solid, dense minerals

Iron cores

Outer planets –

large, mostly gas,

rings, with solid

core

REASONS THE PLANETS ARE SO

DIFFERENT

• The material closest to the Sun was the hottest, and

therefore any lighter materials such as gases would

have vaporized by the Sun's heat.

• •The materials with a higher melting point (metals)

could condense at these higher temperatures and

could stay closer to the sun and it’s heat.

• •The materials with lower melting points (gases) were

able to condense out further from the Sun where it

was cooler

Planet Density

Saturn is the only planet that is less dense than Water!

MERCURY

• Rotation Time: 58.6 Earth days

• Orbit Time: 88 Earth days

• Does not rotate on same orbital plane as the rest.

• iron rich planet

• Mercury has virtually no atmosphere

• Craters like the Moon

VENUS

• Rotation Time: 243 days

• Orbit Time: 224 days

• Earths' twin sister because

• same size = same mass = similar density

• similar gravity

• similar composition (are made of the same material).

• atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon dioxide

• Clouds are filled with sulfuric acid

EARTH

• Rotation Time: 24 hours

• Orbit Time: 365.24 days

• the only planet known to have stable bodies of

liquid water on its surface

• The world is not completely round. It is an oblate

spheroid, flattened at the poles and bulging at

the equator

MARS

• Rotation Time: 24.6 hours

• Orbit Time: 687 Earth days

• The planet's surface undergoes a chemical process

which results in the formation of iron oxide (rust).

• thin atmosphere of Mars is made of mostly carbon

dioxide

• Valleys and Canyons on Mars suggest that the

planet once had large amounts of surface water

JUPITER• Rotation Time: 10 hours

• Orbit Time: 12 Earth years

• largest planet, has the most moons

• great red spot on Jupiter is a storm that has been going on for over 300 years

• Has rings

• Hydrogen and Helium

• Would have to be 60x as much mass to be a star

SATURN

• Rotation Time: 11 hours

• Orbit Time: 29.46 Earth years

• Most know for the beautiful rings!

• Rings are floating chunks of ice, rocks and dust

• Saturn has the lowest density

• Atmosphere comprises mostly of Hydrogen and

Helium (lightest elements)

URANUS

• Rotation time: 17.6 hours

• Orbit Time: 30,685 Earth days

• Has rings

• Axis - almost parallel to the plane

• The nearly horizontal tilt of the axis produces the most extreme seasons in the solar system

• Uranus is the coldest planet

NEPTUNE

• Rotation Time: 16.11 hours

• Orbit Time: 165 Earth Years

• Has rings

• Stormiest planet – winds up to 1,240 mph

• methane gas makes it Blue

• 12 years for Voyager 2 to reach it

PLUTO• Considered a planet since 1930

• was demoted to a dwarf planet in 2006

• Does not rotate on the same orbital plane

• Smaller and less dense than all planets and Our Moon

• atmosphere contains traces of methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide (not a gas giant like other Jovian planets)

• Sometimes orbits inside Neptune

• There are similar objects inside the Kuiper Belt

Scientists believe that

water could exist below

the surface of Europa.

(Jupiter moon)

•Io (another Jupiter

Moon) features over 400

active volcanoes

•Saturn’s largest moon is

named Titan, it is the

only moon known to

have a dense

atmosphere.

MOONS WORTH

LOOKING AT