Download Solar System Book KEY File

How distances
are measured:
Short space distance:
Astronomical unit=distance between sun and
earth
Long space distance:
Light year- distance light travels in 1 year
The
Solar
system
 Light travels 186,000 miles per second
 6 trillion miles per year
 Alpha centauri is 4 light years away, so it
is 24 trillion miles away
NAME______________________________ HOUR ____
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The Sun
A. Sun- average age and average temperature star that is a bit on
the small side
1. Cycle of solar activity- 11 year cycle of sun spots
a) Sunspot- cool, dark area on the sun [like a ticking time
bomb that will explode some day]
2. Solar flare- explodes from sunspot and goes into space
a) Messes up tv, radio, cell phones, aviation and space
communications
b) Flares interact with earth’s magnetic poles making
auroras
(1) Aurora borealis- northern lights
(2) Aurora australis- southern lights
[ nutrinos from solar flares strike
magnetic field, energy builds up then
goes back out into space as light.
Sound is claimed by some as well]
3. Prominence- very large solar flare
4. Coronal loop- arching column of
gas from a sunspot explosion (gravity
pulls it down)
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How the solar
system formed:
1. Nebula- (cloud of dust and gas) begins to
rotate
2. Gravity in the center pulls dust and gas
inward
3. Friction in center causes temperature in
center to reach 10 million degrees C
4. Fusion begins and a star is born
5. Solar winds blow gases far away, but have
little effect on nearby rocks and dust
6. Accretion (collisions of matter that cause
planets to grow) occurs
a. Rock collisions = terrestrial planets
b. Gas collisions = gaseous planets
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Meteroids--small rocks in space
1. made of broken asteroids or
2. broken comets
Meteors—a meteoroid that has
entered a planet’s atmosphere
(making a streak of light)
1. friction with the atmosphere wears
off tiny pieces of the meteor
causing it to heat up, glow, and
eventually disintegrate
2. most are sand-sized
Meteorites —a meteor that strikes a
planet’s surface
1. the meteor is big enough to not
completely disintegrate before
making contact
2. baseball/softball sized
*These are all the same rock but are
renamed based on WHERE they are
located
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Mercury
 DAY= 59 earth days (rotation)
 YEAR= 88 earth days
(revolution)
 Named after
Roman god of
speed
 427* C during
day
 -173*C during night
 smallest planet
 very little gravity
 no atmosphere
 can’t burn up
meteors, so many craters
 prograde rotation
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Comets
Venus
 DAY=243
earth days
 YEAR= 224
days
 Named after
Roman
goddess of
beauty
 Retrograde
rotation (sun rises in west)
 2nd planet from sun
 thick CO2 atomosphere
 global warming!
 Hottest planet 464*C (900F)
 Rocks soft like chocolate
 Sulphuric acid clouds and rain
 90x atmospheric pressure of earth
(crushes spacecraft)
 “Earth’s twin”
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Comets – large chunk of ice, dust,
frozen gas, and rock moving through
space (dirty snowball)
1) Nucleus—center of a comet
2) Coma—cloud of vaporized (turned
to gas) ice that surrounds the
nucleus
3) Tail—the coma of a comet that is
being blown back by solar winds
4) Oort cloud—birthplace of comets
found beyond Pluto
(Objects are dislodged by the
gravity of a planet passing by)
5) Halley’s Comet—short period
comet (has an orbit of less than 200
years) that returns every 76 years
(2061)
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Pluto
 planetisimal / dwarf planet
 day= 6 days
 year= 248 yrs
 named after
Roman god of
underworld
 composed of rock, ice, and
frozen gases
 charon- moon that is ½ size of its
planet
 very little atmosphere
 ancient comet? (would grow a tail if
it came nearer to the sun)
 old moon of Neptune?
 Used to be called a double planet
Earth
 3rd planet
from the sun
 1 moonLUNA
 has
atmosphere
of nitrogen
and oxygen
 75% water on
surface
 tectonic plate movement
 23.5* tilt of axis (allows for 4
seasons and plenty of food)
 prograde rotation
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5
Mars
 DAY=24 hrs 40 min
 YEAR= 1year
+322 day
 Named after
Roman god of
war (blood red)
 Prograde rotation
 “red” planet from
iron oxide dust (rust)
 polar ice caps of water and
CO2
 river channels (flowing
water?)
 2 moons, Phobos and Deimos
 largest volcano in solar system,
Olympus Mons
 70* at equator
Neptune
 8th planet day=16hr
year=163 yrs
 named after
Roman god of
sea
 Frozen methane gas
gives it a whitish blue green
color
 System of faint rings
 Great dark spot—massive tornado
 Winds blow 1200 mph (almost 2x
the speed of sound!)
 It may rain diamonds in atmosphere
 13 moons
o Triton-largest moon
o Nitrogen geisers and
water/ammonia eruptions
o Coldest body in the solar
system
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6
Uranus
 Day= 17 hrs
 Year= 83 years
 Retrograde rotation
 “sideways” planet
due to 98* tilt of
axis
 named after
Roman god of Titans
 27 moons (none of interest)
 methane gas gives it blue-green
color (methane absorbs red and
yellow light)
Asteroid Belt
Asteroids—large rocks in
space
1. Asteroid belt—zone between mars
and Jupiter where most asteroids
are found
2. Origin of asteroid belt
a. a planet formed and Jupiter
pulled it apart
b. Jupiter’s gravity kept the
pieces from forming in the first
place
c. a planet formed but then a
large object hit it and broke it
into pieces
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Jupiter
 5th planet, day= 10hrs
year= 11.8 yrs
 Greatest volume (1
½ times greater than
others)
 Greatest mass (2x
greater than all others
combined)
 Made of helium and hydrogen [why not
a star? Not big enough yet.. sun is 1000x
bigger than jupiter]
 Red spot-giant hurricane
 Named after Roman king of gods
 62 moons
 Io-most volcanically active object in the
solar system
 Callisto- has water
 Ganymede- largest moon in the solar
system and has frozen water
 Europa- has underground oceans
(maybe life?)
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Saturn
 6th planet
 day 10hr 40 min
 year=29
earth yr
 least dense
(would float in water)
 Rings of dust and rock
 Made of helium and hydrogen
 Giant lightning storms the size of the
US
 37 moons
 Titan – largest moon
o (has atmosphere with nitrogen
on it and maybe life?)
o Visited by Huygens probe
(European)
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