‘sironomy Uae Sal Som) Unit 2: The Solar system Student Information ‘The most popular scientific theory explaining the formation ofthe planets involves the Bg Bang Theory. According to this theory, many years ago, a huge explosion occurred that sent space debris throughout the universe. Clusters of this debris formed stars such as our sun. According to current research, our sun was formed as a rotating ball of gas in the center of a large cloud of Interstellar gas and dust. As this cloud of gas and dust continued to spin, dust particles collided with each other and eventually formed small protoplanets. These protoplanets continued to collide and collect dust particles until planets orbiting in the same direction around the sun were created. The sun, the planets, asteroid belt, comets, and meteoroids make up the known solar system. The planets are, In order from the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the dwarf planet, Pluto. ‘The asteroid belt, a collection of thousands of rocky masses, is located between the orbits ‘of Mars and Jupiter. The largest of the asteroids in this group are Ceres, Fllas, and Vesta. Ceres has a ‘diameter of about 600 miles (950 km); Pallas and Vesta have diameters cf about 340 miles (550 km). ‘Scientists have identified about 120 other asteroids with diameters larger than 120 miles (200 km) ‘orbiting with Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta. The remaining asteroids are less than 120 miles in diameter, but "most are over ¥4 mile(1 km) across. Some books refer to the asteroids asplanetoids. 0.408125 vaso Medan. Pleas °‘Aekronoeny, niche Sala ‘The position of the planets inthe solar system causes them to have unique physical features. ‘The first four planets in the solar system—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—are referred to as the: Inner belt, or terrestrial, planets. Mercury and Venus, due to their closeness to the sun, are very hot and unsuitable for habitation. The earth's position in the solar system is unique, in that itis the only planet that can support life as we know it. Mars, or the "Red Planet’ would appear to be most ‘amenable to supporting some form of life, but currently, nothing Is lving on the planet. The inner belt of planets is separated from the outer belt of planets by the asteroid bet ‘The outer belt includes the Jovian planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, They are different from the terrestrial planets in that they have no sold surface. These large gas alants are surrounded by gaseous clouds that get thicker closer to the center of the planet. Pluto was once considered the most distant planet of our solar system. In 2006, because ofits small size and eccentric obit, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally reclassified it as a dwarf planet, Pluto isa cold, dense planet about which litle s known, Itissmallerthan Earths moon, ‘and only twice the sizeof ts own moon, Charon. Pluto’ orbits quite eccentric relative to the other planets. Its orbit takes it far above and below the orbits ofthe other planets. Additionally its orbit intersects that of Neptune's from time to time. The last time this occurred was between the years 1979 and 1999. During this twenty-year petiod, Neptune was farther away from the sun than Pluto. ‘Astronomers believe that the solar system is surrounded by a 'coud” of comets at distances far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Normally, they stay inthis region. A comet is compact chunk of frozen gases and dust. They have been described as’dirty snowballs” Most comets are thought tobe only a few kilometers in diameter. They follow long, eliptical orbits about the sun. But from time to time, they sweep around the narrow end oftheir orbits near the sun. When this happens, they provide a spectacular sight for a short time. Perhaps the most famous comet is Halley's Comet that last appeared in 1986. It has an orbit period of 76 years and has appeared at many important times in history. It is predicted to appear in 2061. During its 1910 vist it was a spectacular sight, wth along tail that extended across a large portion of the sky. Particles of space debris that range in size from sand to boulders that travel in the solar system are called meteoroids. Large meteoroids are believed to come from the asteroid belt; other meteoroids have thelr origins in comets. fa meteoroid falls, Into the Earth’s atmosphere, it will begin to heat up and start to ¢glow. Ths is called @ meteor. A falling tar"is actually a meteor. ‘Most meteors bur up before they strike the surface ofthe Earth, ‘Any leftover part that does strike the Earth is called a meteorite, ‘Ameteorite can make a hole, or crater in the ground when it hits the earth. Somewhere near 100 milion meteoroids hit the earth's upper atmosphere each day. cb-494125 Marwan Madi ne, Pbliers 10 |SE ae Date: Quick Check Matching —— 1. Mars a. dwarf planet —— 2 Ceres b. largest ofthe asteroids —— BigBang Theory © explains the formation of the planets —— 4 Pluto Red Planet 5. asteroid belt ©. rocky masses between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter ulin the Blanks 6. The inner belt of the planets is separated from the outer bet of planets by the ‘and__ due totheir closeness tothe sun, are very hot {and unsultable for habitation. 8 The first four planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—are referred to as the or ~ planets, 9. Pluto is smaller than ‘moon and only twice the size ofits own moon, Charon. 10, The, the planets, asteroid belt, comets, and. make Up the known solar system. ‘Multiple Choice 11, Which ofthe following is not an inner or terrestrial planet? a Mercury b, Jupiter © Earth . Venus 12. Jovian planets ae diferent from terrestrial planets because they. @ havenosolidsurface ——b,_have solid surfaces © arecloseto the sun d. cansupport life 13. Which of the following isnot an asteroid? a Pallas b. Charon © Cores Vesta i ‘The planets are usually listed in order by their distance from the moon b. earth sun asteroid belt 15, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in a. 2007 2005 2008 4. 2006Date: Activity #1: Solar System Mobile ‘cardboard clrcletaken froma 12-inch frozen pizza.Draw ‘aline from top to bottom and a line from leftto righton ‘the circle to locate the center, Next, using a compass, draw the orbits ofthe planets. Use a sharpened pencil to punch a hole n the cardboard where the two lines. meet in the center (the sun will hang here). Punch & hole in each ofthe circles (a planet will hang from each hole). Cut circles from construction paper to represent the sun and the planets. (Note: You will not be able to accurately represent the size of each planet or the distance each planet is from the sun. Also, the orbits willbe citcular instead of elliptical) The sun should be the largest circle. The Jovian planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, should be a little smaller than the sun, Draw the rings for Saturn and Uranus. The terrestrial planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, should be much smaller. Label each planet. Tape a length of string to each cutout. Insert the Other end of each string in the correct orbit hole and tape them to the topside of the cardboard ‘Attach a longer string tothe topside of the cardboard to hang your mobile, Activity #2: Ellipse Directions: Planetary orbits arenot circular but resemble an elongated circle called an ellipse. Draw an ellipse, Place a sheet of cardboard under a sheet of paper. Push two thumb tacks into the middle ‘of the paper, 2 inches apart. Tiethe two ends of an 8-Inch long string together to make a loop. Place the loop around the tacks. Pull the loop of string tight with a pencil. Draw an ellipse as you move the pencil around the pins on the paper. o-4o4125 © mark an me ne Pies 2 eei THE SOEAR SYSTEM What is the solar system? | 21 asteroids {AST-uh-roydz}:_large chunks of rock that orbit the stn ‘meteoroid [MEE-tee-or-oyd]: piece of rock or metal thal orbits the sun orbit: curved path of the one object around another object in space satellite (SAT-ub-lite]: natural or artificial object orbiting a body in spaceLESSON 125 21 Everywhere you look todsy, you see the word "solar", Solar energy. Solar power. What exactly does the word “solar” mean? “Solar” means of, oF relating to the sun.” “The solar system, then, isthe system of the SUN. This system is made up of the sun and all the objects that travel around the sun. These satellites [SAT-ulvites} ofthe sun travel in “paths” called orbits. They are held in their orbits by the sun’s gravity PLANETS Except for thesunitslf, planets are the largest objects in the solar system, Nine planets orbit the sun. One of them is our own home, planet Earth MOONS Most planets have moons. Moons orbit the planets. ASTEROIDS Asteroids |AST-uh-roydz] are large chunks of rock. Most steroids are found in a “belt” between the planets Mars and Jupiter. COMETS Comets are made up of rocks, dust and ice. A comet has small “head” but a very long “tal.” The tal extends millions of miles into space — and it pointsaway from the sun. Comets travel around the sun In long elliptical orbits. The most famous comet is Halley's Comet It takes Halley's Comet 76 years to complete one trip around the sun, METEROIDS Meteroids [MEE-tee-or-oyds] are small bits of rock. Most are as small as a grain of sand. Some, however, areas large as boulder. Billions and billions of meteoroids are scattered throughout the solar system When a meteoroid enters the earth's atmosphere, friction causes the ‘meteor to glow brightly. t'seems to "buen up’ as the rock changes it to 2 gas. While itis “burningup” itis called a meteor ora shooting star. We see it as a bright trail or streak of light in the night sky. Most meteors burn up completely in the atmosphere. A few reach the earth's surface, A meteor that has reached the earth's surface is called a meteorite. | What is the solar system?‘THE SOLAR SYSTEM Study te igure. Then il in the sean column o thchar tng the planets in order. Start wit the planeta loses tothe cur Order of Planets from the Sun 1. | (closest) 2 3 4 6. 6. 7 8. 3. | (ares a‘THE PLANETS AND THEIR MOONS Figure B Figure B shows the relatie sizes of ll the planets. Study the figure. Then fil inthe second column ‘Of the chart listing the planets according to ther size. Start withthe largest planet Planet Size caltaqettaannnail 18Use the figure to answer the following questions. 1 2 3. 5. 6 What de the white spheres near the planet stand for? ‘Only two planets have ng moons. Name them. Two planets have only ang moon each. Name them. Which planet has two moons? Which two planets have the mast moons? Which planets have rings? ‘The four planets closest to the sun are called the inner planets. Name the inner planets. The five planets farthest from the sun are called the quter planeis. Name the outer planets 19FILL IN THE BLANK. ‘Complete each statement using a lerm or terms from the ls spaces provided. Some words may be used more than once below. Write your answers in the ‘moons comet planets Jupiter Solar systern Piuto satelite sun Uranus asteroids Saturn 11, The sun and all the space bodies that orbit the sun make up the 2, The largest objects that orbit the sun are called —_______. 3. The objects that orbit most planets are called —____. 44. The rocks that form a “belt” between Mars and Jupiter are called 5A fs made up of small bits of rock, dust, and ice. 6. A comet orbits the 17. The planets with rings are, __, and 4, The largest planet is 9. The planet farthest from the sun 10, Any space object that orbits another space object is called a_____ ‘TRUE OR FALSE In the space previded, trite “true” ifthe sentence is true. Write “false” if the sentence is false. 1. Thestars are part of our solar system. 2 The planets are satelites of the sun. 3. The Asteroid Belt is located between Mars and Jupiter 4. Satern the only planet with rings. 5. All planets have moons 130@ @ fous Across 3, The Big Dipper is part of this constlla- 4. Relatively coo stars look either orange or tion. 2 words) this color. 5. This is the amount of starlight received on 6. This is the brightest star in the sky. anaes 8. Thisis the distance of about 9.5 trillion 7, Our Sun isa sta ofthis color, kilometers that light travels in one year. 10, This the actual amount of light thata star (words) ives of. (2 words) ©. Astranamets study thereto learn about 13, Thisis another name for the North Sta the properties of stars, 11. This constellation, named after a mythical hnunter, includes the star Betelgeuse, 14, These are groups of stars that form patterns. ot 12, Even though this star hasan absolute ‘own ‘magnitude greater than that of Sirus, 1. The North Sta isin this constellation. Tooks dimmer from Earth since its 100, (words) times farther away. 2, This isthe apparent shift in position ‘of an object when viewed from t%o diferent places. Starsadaaies 27