Welcome to

Science Teacher
“We are like planets that
dance in galactic
harmony.”
 Supply me!
First Second Third
Question Question Question

Fourth Fifth
Question Question
1. It is the largest planet.
J U P I T E R
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
1
2. It is considered as the twin
sister of the Earth.
V E N U S
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2
3. It is called the red planet.
M A R S
___ ___ ___ ___
3 4
4. The force that holds
planets in their orbits.
G R A V I T Y
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5 6
5. The region where asteroids
are found.
A S T E R O I D
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7 8
B E L T
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9
STATEMENT:
S O L A R
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4 8 9 7 5
S Y S T E M
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4 6 4 1 2 3
Lesson Objectives:
1. Identify the components of the solar
system.
2. Cite the similarities and differences
in characteristics of the planets.
3. Appreciate the characteristics of the
solar system that enable harmony in
the arrangement of heavenly bodies.
Our Solar System
Our solar system is made up of:
⚫ Sun
⚫ Eight planets
⚫ Their moons
⚫ Dwarf Planets
⚫ Asteroids
⚫ Comets
⚫ Meteors
 Getting to know our Sun!
⚫ The sun is just a medium-
sized star or yellow dwarf.
It is about 1.4 million
kilometers in diameter.
⚫ It would take 10 Jupiters
or 109 Earths to fit across
the Sun.
⚫ It makes life on our planet
possible by giving us
great amounts of light and
heat.
 Composition of the Sun
⚫ The sun is mainly composed of ⚫ Small amounts of other elements,
hydrogen and helium (90 % including oxygen, neon, and carbon,
hydrogen, 9 % helium). are also found in the sun.
 Distances in space are huge so they
have a special measurement system.

Astronomical Units
⚫ We use AU to measure distances in the solar system.
⚫ The Earth is about 150,000,000 km (93,000,000 miles) on
average from the sun.
⚫ So we will call this distance 1 AU.
 The 8 Planets
Mercury Venus Earth

Mars Jupiter Saturn

Uranus Neptune
 Planetary Zones
⚫ First Zone: Contains the
rocky terrestrial planets
Mercury to Mars.
⚫ Asteroid belt divides
the first and second
zones.
⚫ Second Zone: Contains
the gas giants Jupiter
through Neptune.
⚫ Third Zone: Goes from
the orbit of Neptune out
to 50 AU. Includes Pluto
and the “ice dwarfs” in
the Kuiper Belt.
Planetary Zones
 Mercury
⚫ Johann Schroeter (1745 to 1816) was the first
to observe the planet Mercury.
⚫ Mercury is the closest planet to our Sun and
the fastest moving planet in our Solar System .
⚫ Mercury has a huge range in temperature.
During the long daytime, the temperature is
hotter than an oven; during the long night the
temperature is colder than a freezer.
⚫ Mercury has no moon.
 Venus
⚫ Venus is a planet on which a
person would asphyxiate in
the poisonous atmosphere,
be cooked in the extremely
high heat, and be crushed by ⚫Venus is the second planet
the enormous atmospheric from the sun and the hottest
pressure. planet in our solar system with
⚫ Venus has no moon. temperature – 900 degrees
(475 degrees Celsius)
⚫ Since Venus takes 7.5 Earth months to revolve
around the sun and 8 months to rotate once on
its axis, a day on Venus is longer than its year.
⚫ Venus is the closest to Earth in size and mass
of any of the other planets. Thus, it is called the
“twin sister of the Earth.”
⚫ It is the brightest object in the night sky because
its thick clouds reflect most of the sunlight that
reaches it back into space.
 Earth
⚫ At the equator, the Earth's
surface moves 40,000 kilometers
in 24 hours. That is a rotational
speed of about 1040 miles/hr
(1670 km/hr).
⚫ The Earth revolves around the
Sun at a speed of about 30
km/sec.
⚫ It is the only planet that holds life.
⚫ It is called the “blue planet”
because its surface is covered by
70% water.
 Mars
⚫ Mars, the red planet ⚫ If there was water it is
because of iron oxide possible that life could
(Fe2O3), is the fourth have existed on Mars,
planet from the sun and and still might.
the most Earth-like planet ⚫ Mars has two moons
in our solar system. (Phobos and Delmos).
⚫ Mars seems to have dried
river and lake beds,
deltas, and other features
that make scientists think
Mars had abundant water
early in its history. All
water is frozen.
 Jupiter
⚫ Jupiter is the fifth and largest planet
in our solar system.
⚫ Has a great red spot (which is a
storm)
⚫ Jupiter is made up of gases and
liquids, so as it rotates, its parts do
not rotate at exactly the same rate.
⚫ Jupiter has 95 moons and four
rings.
⚫ Saturn is the sixth planet
from the sun in our solar
system. It is the second-
Saturn
largest planet in our solar
system.
⚫ Saturn’s rings are not solid;
they are made of billions of
small chunks of ice and rock
coated with other materials
such as dust. • A gaseous planet with a
⚫ Saturn has 146 moons and
rocky core and fluid
seven rings. surface
 Uranus
⚫ Uranus' rotational axis is strongly
tilted on its side (97.9o). Instead of
rotating like all the other planets in
our Solar System, Uranus rotates on
its side. This tipped rotational axis
causes extreme seasons on Uranus.
⚫ This gas giant is the third-largest
planet in our Solar System.
⚫ Made of ice and gas, no real
surface; you would sink into icy
gaseous center
⚫ Uranus has 28 moons and 11 rings.
 Neptune
⚫ Neptune is the eighth planet from
the sun in our solar system. This
giant, frigid planet has a hazy
atmosphere and strong winds.
⚫ Coldest Planet, No Solid Surface,
Large Storm systems
⚫ Neptune has 14 moons and five
rings.
Comets, Asteroids,
and Meteors
 Comets
⚫ Comets are chunks of
ice and dust whose
orbits are very long,
narrow ellipses.
⚫ Often thought of as
dirty snowballs.
Comet Orbits
⚫ Most comets are
on very eccentric
orbits that
seldom pass
near the Earth.
 Periodic Comets
⚫ Comets that repeatedly orbit
into the inner solar system
are periodic comets.
⚫ Comet Halley is a famous,
short period comet. It
appears every 76 or so
years.
⚫ Nucleus of Halley’s comet
taken by the Giotto
spacecraft.
 Comet Clouds
⚫ Most comets are from one of two
clusters, the Kuiper Belt and the
Oort Cloud.
⚫ The Kuiper Belt is close to Pluto,
from 30 to 50 AU from the sun.
⚫ The Oort Cloud is material left
over from the formation of the
solar system and is more than
100,000 AU from the sun.
⚫ The Oort cloud marks the outer
boundary of the solar system
and is composed mostly of icy
objects.
 Asteroids
⚫ Asteroids are rocky or metallic
objects, most of which orbit
the Sun in the asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter. A
few asteroids approach the
Sun more closely. None of the
asteroids have atmospheres.
⚫ Asteroids are also known as
planetoids or minor planets.
 Asteroid Belt
⚫ The asteroid belt is a
doughnut-shaped
concentration of asteroids
orbiting the Sun between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter,
closer to the orbit of Mars.
⚫ The asteroids in the asteroid
belt have a slightly elliptical
orbit. The time for one
revolution around the Sun
varies from about three to six
Earth years.
 Number of Asteroids
⚫ There are about 40,000 known
asteroids that are over 0.5
miles (1 km) in diameter in the
asteroid belt.
⚫ About 3,000 asteroids have
been cataloged. There are
many more smaller asteroids.
⚫ The first one discovered (and
the biggest) is named Ceres; it
was discovered in 1801.
 Origin of the Asteroid Belt
⚫ The asteroid belt may be
material that never coalesced
into a planet, perhaps
because its mass was too
small.
⚫ A less satisfactory
explanation of the origin of
the asteroid belt is that it may
have once been a planet that
was fragmented by a collision
with a huge comet.
 Near-Earth Asteroids
⚫ Asteroids whose orbits bring
them within 1.3 AU of the Sun
are called Near-Earth Asteroids
(NEA) or Earth-Approaching
asteroids.
⚫ These asteroids probably came
from the main asteroid belt, but
were jolted from the belt by
collisions or by interactions with
other objects' gravitational fields
(primarily Jupiter).
 NEA Concerns
⚫ About 250 NEAs have been found so far, but many,
many more exist.
⚫ The largest known NEA is 1036 Ganymede, with a
diameter of 25.5 miles (41 kilometers).
⚫ According to astronomers there are at least 1,000
NEA's whose diameter is greater than 0.6 miles (1
kilometer) and which could do catastrophic damage to
the Earth. Even smaller NEA's could cause substantial
destruction if they were to collide with the Earth.
Meteoroids
⚫ Meteoroids are small
chunks of dust and rock in
space.
⚫ Usually come from comets
or asteroids.
 Meteors
⚫ When a meteoroid enters
the Earth’s atmosphere,
friction will cause it to heat
up. It is already called a
meteor.
⚫ It will leave a bright streak of
light across the sky as it
burns up.
⚫ Often occur in showers, with
several sightings a minute.
 Meteorites
⚫ While the vast majority of
meteors burn completely up,
ones that are large enough
pass through the atmosphere
and hit the surface.
⚫ Most look like stones, so they
are not noticed. Some are
easy to identify as they are
made of iron or nickel.
 Craters
⚫ Meteorites create craters
when they strike the surface
of a planet.
⚫ Our moon is covered with
craters caused by meteorites,
asteroids, and comets.
⚫ Meteor Crater in Arizona is a
famous crater found in the
USA. Occurred 50,000 years
ago.
⚫ Hit with the force of 150
Hiroshima A bombs.