Our Solar system

Christopher Robles, Angel Aldaco, Travis Gearhart, Emilio Frank, Students, EMPACTS ProjectNorthwest Arkansas Community College, Bentonville, AR

Some words to know before we continue• Gravity- force that attracts you or anything to

an object with greater mass• Dwarf planet- is a similar to a planet, but is

technically too small to be considered one• Orbit-the curved path of a celestial object or

spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon• Atmosphere- the area of gases surrounding the

earth or another planet• Star- is a massive, bright sphere of gases held

together by its own gravity

Our galaxy• We live in a galaxy called the milky way• A galaxy is a group of stars and other space

stuff (dust, gases, planets)• The stars tend to spin around a center of high

gravity, sort of like the planets spin around the Sun in the Solar System

• Galaxies are huge and can have trillions (way bigger than billions!) of stars

The planets

The sun

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Poor Pluto

The Sun• The Sun is a star that is in

the center of the Solar System

• Our sun is 5 BILLION years old!

• It was once just a big area of gas and dust that was condensed by gravity

• The Sun’s distance from the Earth is 150 million km (93 million miles)

Mercury• On Mercury you weigh only 38% of

what you weigh on Earth.• One side of the planet can be 800

degrees Fahrenheit when the other can be -280 degree Fahrenheit at the same time.

• Fastest orbiting planet • Planet nearest to the sun

Venus• Is the cloudy planet• Venus has tons of volcanos just like

earth• Rotates in the opposite direction of

Earth• Venus is the hottest planet in the

Solar System

Earth• The only known planet to have

life• The Earth is an oldie but a

goodie, scientists think that Earth is about 4.5 to 5 billion years old!

• About 70% of earth is water• Approximately 90% of volcanic

action happens in our Earth's oceans!

Mars• Mars is nicknamed the red planet

• It is covered with rust-like dust even the atmosphere is a pinkish red

• Mars has many massive volcanoes and is home to Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in our solar system

• Unfortunately Mars has no life as we know it so…no aliens

Jupiter• Largest planet in the Solar

System• Has a Great Red Spot from a

storm system that is more than 400 years old

• 9 hours and 54 min=1 Jupiter day (shortest day)

• Pressure is so great it would crush a spaceship.

Saturn• 2nd Largest planet in the Solar System

• 95 times more massive than earth.

• Saturn has the largest rings of any planet, the rings are made of icy particles and dust

• Most moons of any planet in our solar system

Uranus• Uranus appears blue-green in

color• It’s axis of rotation is tilted 90

degree• Uranus has 27 moons• If you weigh 100 lbs on earth,

your weight on Uranus would be 89 lbs

• A year on Uranus is equal to 84.01 Earth Years

Neptune• Neptune has visual belts of clouds• Just like Jupiter it has storms happening all

around the planet• It has a dark blue spot• Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun

Pluto the dwarf planet• It is considered too small to

be a planet so it was put in the dwarf planet category

• Smaller than Earth’s Moon• If you weigh 100 lbs, your

weight on Pluto would be 7 lbs!!!

• Since being declassified as a planet, Pluto’s technical name is now 134340