The colour photograph

of Earthrise - taken by
Apollo 8 astronaut,
The Solar System: William A. Anders,
December 24, 1968. It
was actually taken
with the moon on the
right edge of the image

 our corner of the Universe

The Solar System
 For thousands of years ancient astronomers saw
points of light that appeared to move among
the stars.
 They called these ‘planets’, meaning
‘wanderers’, and named them after the Roman
gods.
 If you look up at a clear night sky, you too will be
able to see many of the planets that the ancient
astronomers saw.
 You might also see an assortment of space junk
and satellites that also move in the night sky.
Theories of the solar system

 Pythagoras a Greek scientist who lived in the

sixth century BC suggested that the Earth
was the centre of the universe
 Aristotle (384–322 BC), Hipparchus (died
after 127 BC) and Ptolemy (127–145 AD)
proposed more detailed models in which
Earth was placed at the centre of the solar
system
 This type of model is known as the
geocentric (geo-earth) or Ptolemy model
Geocentric Model
Geocentric Model

Science Focus 1: Courseb

Theories of the solar system

 Another ancient Greek, Aristarchus (310–230 BC)

questioned the geocentric model and proposed
a model where the Earth and other planets
revolved around the Sun
 This is known as a heliocentric model (helio =
Sun)
 The geocentric model continued to be favored
until the end of the fifteenth century
 In the 1530’s, Polish astronomer Nicolas
Copernicus (1473–1543) agreed with Aristarchus
Heliocentric Model

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Heliocentri
Heliocentric Model

Science Focus 1: Courseb

Theories of the solar system

 Galileo (1564–1642) was a strong supporter of

Copernicus’s ideas, in 1609 he used a telescope
for the first time to make detailed observations
of the Moon and planets; his observations
exposed errors in the geocentric model
 Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) didn’t support the
heliocentric theory and took numerous
detailed measurements of the positions of
stars and planets in an attempt to improve the
geocentric model
Theories of the solar system

 Using Brahe’s data, German astronomer

Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) finally showed the
heliocentric model was correct
The solar system
 The term ‘solar system’ takes its name from the
object at the centre of it all—the Sun, also known as
Sol
 The nine planets of the solar system, in order
starting from closest to the Sun, are: Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune and Pluto* (*now known as a dwarf
planet)
 A mnemonic device to remember the order could
be: My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine
Pizzas
 What is your mnemonic device?
The solar system

 The planets each orbit the Sun, rotating on

their axes as they do so
 The time taken for a planet to spin once on
its axis is called its day, and the time taken to
orbit the Sun once is called its year
 All the planets have days and years of
different lengths
How the planets move
 The four innermost planets are called terrestrial
(meaning ‘Earth-like’) and orbit the Sun in almost
circular orbits
 The larger outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune—are known as the gas giants (or
Jovian planets), because their outer layers are
composed of gases such as hydrogen and helium,
and they move in elliptical or oval orbits
 All planets move in the same plane (a large
imaginary flat surface) except for Pluto, whose orbit
is tilted by about 17° compared to the other planets’
orbits
http://solarsystem.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/vis
http://solarsystem.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/outer
 Sun

Mythology The Sun God. Greeks Called it Hellos

Mass 333 400 times the mass of the Earth

Diameter 1 392 000 km (109 x Earth’s diameter)

Gravity 28 times that on Earth

6000°C (average). From 4500 to

Surface Temperature
2000000°C up to 15000000°C in the core.

Period of rotation (day) Equator 26 Earth days, poles 37 Earth days

Tilt of axis 122°

 Mercury
God of travel, commerce and
Mythology
thieves
Mass 0.056 times that of Earth
Moons None
4878 km ( = 0.38 x Earth’s
Diameter
diameter)
Surface Similar to Earth’s moon
Gravity 0.38 times that on Earth
Surface Temperature –170°C to 430°C

Period of rotation (day) 59 Earth days

Tilt of axis 0°
Distance from Sun 0.39 AU (58 million kilometres)
Time to orbit Sun
88 Earth days
(year)
 MERCURY
 The innermost planet in the Solar System.
 It is also the smallest, and its orbit is the
most eccentric (that is, the least perfectly
circular) of .the eight planets.
 named after the Roman god Mercury, the
messenger to the gods.
 Its surface is heavily cratered and similar in
appearance to Earth’s moon, indicating that
it has been geologically inactive for billions of
years.
 MERCURY
 Its axis has the smallest tilt of any of the Solar
System's planets, but Mercury's
orbital eccentricity is the largest.
 At perihelion, the intensity of sunlight on
Mercury's surface is more than twice the
intensity at apehelion.
 MERCURY

Image of Mercury with three

visible colors mapped to
1000 nm, 700 nm, and 430
nm wavelengths
 Venus
Mythology Goddess of love and beauty
Mass 0.815 times that of Earth
Moons None
12 103 km ( = 0.95 x Earth’s
Diameter
diameter)
Extensive cratering, volcanic
Surface
activity.
Gravity 0.9 times that on Earth
Surface Temperature 460°C

Period of rotation (day) 243 Earth days

Tilt of axis 30°

Distance from Sun 0.72 AU (108 million kilometres)

Time to orbit Sun (year) 225 Earth days http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Venus-rea

 Venus
 the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it
every 224.7 Earth days.
 named after the Roman goddess of love and
beauty.
 After the Moon, it is the brightest natural
object in the night sky, reaching an
apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough
to cast shadows.
 Venus
 It reaches its maximum brightness shortly
before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for
which reason it has been referred to by
ancient cultures as the Morning Star or
Evening Star.
 Classified as a terrestrial planet and is
sometimes called Earth's "sister planet"
owing to their similar size, gravity, and bulk
composition.
 Venus
 shrouded by an opaque layer of highly
reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, preventing
its surface from being seen from space
in visible light.
 It has the densest atmosphere of the four
terrestrial planets, consisting mostly
of carbon dioxide.
 The atmospheric pressure at the planet's
surface is 92 times that of Earth's.
 Venus
 Venus is by far the hottest planet in the Solar
System.
 Venus's surface is a dry deserts cape
interspersed with slab-like rocks and
periodically refreshed by volcanism.
Venus
The VENUS transit (2004)
Earth
Mythology Gaia—mother Earth
1.0 times that of Earth (5 980 000 000 000 000 000
Mass
000 000 kg)
Moons One (‘the Moon’)
Diameter 12 756 km
Surface Two-thirds water, one-third land
Gravity 1.0 times that on Earth
Surface Temperature average 22°C
Period of rotation (day) 1 Earth day
Tilt of axis 23.5°
Distance from Sun 1 AU (150 million kilometres)
Time for light to reach Earth 8 minutes

Time to orbit Sun (year) 365.25 Earth days

 Earth
 The third planet from the Sun, and
the densest and fifth-largest of the eight
planets in the Solar System.
 It is also the largest of the Solar System's four
terrestrial planets.
 It is sometimes referred to as the world, the
Blue Planet, or by its Latin name, Terra.
 formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago,
and life appeared on its surface within one
billion years.
 Earth
 Estimates on how much longer the planet will
be able to continue to support life range from
500 million years, to as long as 2.3 billion
years.
 During one orbit around the sun, the Earth
rotates about its own axis 366.26 times,
creating 365.26 solar days, or one sidereal
year.
 Earth
 The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted 23.4°
away from the perpendicular of its orbital
plane, producing seasonal variations on the
planet's surface with a period of one tropical
year (365.24 solar days).
 The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It
began orbiting the Earth about 4.53 billion
years ago.
 Earth
 The Moon's gravitational interaction with
Earth stimulates ocean tides, stabilizes the
axial tilt, and gradually slows the planet's
rotation.
 The home of millions of species.
 The shape of the Earth approximates an
oblate spheroid, a sphere flattened along the
axis from pole to pole such that there is a
bulge around the equator.
 Earth
"The Blue Marble"
photograph of Earth,
taken from Apollo 17.
Mars
Mythology God of war
Mass 0.107 times that of Earth

Moons 2 (Phobos—diameter 23 km, Deimos—diameter 10 km)

Diameter 6794 km ( = 0.53 xEarth’s diameter)

Soft red soil containing iron oxide (rust). Cratered

Surface regions, large volcanoes, a large canyon and possible
dried-up water channels.

Gravity 0.376 times that on Earth

Surface Temperature –120°C to 25°C
Period of rotation (day) 1.03 Earth days
Tilt of axis 25.2°
Distance from Sun 1.52 AU (228 million kilometres)
Time to orbit Sun (year) 687 Earth days
Time to reach Mars 9 months
 Mars
 The fourth planet from the Sun and the
second smallest planet in the Solar System.
 Named after the Roman god of war.
 It is often described as the "Red Planet", as
the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it
a reddish appearance.
 Mars
 Mars is a terrestrial planet with a
thin atmosphere, having surface features
reminiscent both of the impact craters of
the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts,
and polar ice caps of Earth.
 The rotational period and seasonal cycles of
Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, as
is the tilt that produces the seasons.
 Mars
 The site of Olympus Mons, the second
highest known mountain within the Solar
System (the tallest on a planet), and of Valles
Marineris, one of the largest canyons.
 It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which
are small and irregularly shaped. These may
be captured asteroids, similar to 5261 Eureka,
a Martian trojan asteroid.
Olympus Mons
Phobos and Deimos
 Mars
 Until the first successful flyby of Mars
occurred in 1965 by Mariner 4, many
speculated about the presence of liquid water
on the planet's surface. This was based on
observed periodic variations in light and dark
patches, particularly in the polar latitudes,
which appeared to be seas and continents;
long, dark striations were interpreted by
some as irrigation channels for liquid water.
 Mars
 The straight line features were later
explained as optical illusions, though
geological evidence gathered by unmanned
missions suggests that Mars once had large-
scale water coverage on its surface
 Mars
 Mars is currently host to five
functioning spacecraft: three in orbit—
the Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter; and two on the
surface — Mars Exploration Rover
Opportunity and the Mars Science
Laboratory Curiosity.
 Mars
True-color view of Mars
seen through NASA's
Hubble Space Telescope
in 1999.
Mars
Jupiter
Mythology Ruler of the Gods
Mass 318 times that of Earth

At least 28 moons and four rings, including the four

Moons largest moons: Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.
These are known as the ‘Galilean’ moons.

Diameter 142 984 km ( = 11.21 x Earth’s diameter)

Surface Liquid hydrogen
Gravity 2.525 times that on Earth
Surface Temperature Cloud top –150°C
Period of rotation (day) 9 hours 55 minutes
Tilt of axis 3.1°
Distance from Sun 5.2 AU (778 million kilometres)
Time to orbit Sun (year) 11.8 Earth years
 Jupiter
 The fifth planet from the Sun and
the largest planet in the Solar System.
 It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth
that of the Sun but is two and a half times the
mass of all the other planets in the Solar
System combined.
 Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along
with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These four
planets are sometimes referred to as
the Jovian or outer planets.
 Jupiter
 When viewed from Earth, Jupiter can reach
an apparent magnitude of −2.94, making it
on average the third-brightest object in
the night sky after the Moon and Venus.
 Primarily composed of hydrogen with a
quarter of its mass being helium, although
helium only comprises about a tenth of the
number of molecules.
 Jupiter
 It may also have a rocky core of heavier
elements, but like the other gas giants,
Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface.
 Because of its rapid rotation, the planet's
shape is that of an oblate spheroid (it
possesses a slight but noticeable bulge
around the equator).
 Jupiter
 The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated
into several bands at different latitudes,
resulting in turbulence and storms along their
interacting boundaries. A prominent result is
the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is
known to have existed since at least the 17th
century when it was first seen by telescope.
Jupiter
 Jupiter
 Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary
ring system and a powerful magnetosphere.
 There are also at least 67 moons, including
the four large moons called the Galilean
moons that were first discovered by Galileo
Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of
these moons, has a diameter greater than
that of the planet Mercury.
 Jupiter
 It has 67 natural satellites. Of these, 51 are
less than 10 kilometres in diameter and have
only been discovered since 1975. The four
largest moons, known as the "Galilean
moons", are Io, Europa, Ganymede and
Callisto.
 The Galilean moons, compared to Earth's Moon

Orbital
Diameter Mass Orbital period
Name radius
km % kg % km % days %

Io 3643 105 8.9×1022 120 421,700 110 1.77 7

Europa 3122 90 4.8×1022 65 671,034 175 3.55 13

Ganymede 5262 150 14.8×1022 200 1,070,412 280 7.15 26

Callisto 4821 140 10.8×1022 150 1,882,709 490 16.69 61

Io
 Europa
the possible ice-covered liquid
ocean on the moon Europa.
 Ganymede
the largest of these moons, has
a diameter greater than that of
the planet Mercury.
Callisto
Saturn
Mythology God of agriculture
Mass 95.184 times that of Earth

Moons At least 30 moons and rings in seven bands

Diameter 120 536 km (= 9.45 x Earth’s diameter)

Surface Liquid hydrogen

Gravity 1.064 times that on Earth

Surface Temperature
Period of rotation (day)
Tilt of axis
Distance from Sun
Time to orbit Sun (year)
–180°C
10 hours 39 minutes
26.7°
9.6 AU (1400 million kilometres)
29.5 Earth years
 Saturn
 The sixth planet from the Sun and the second
largest planet in the Solar System,
after Jupiter.
 Named after the Roman god Saturn,
its astronomical symbol (♄) represents the
god's sickle.
 Saturn is a gas giant with an average radius
about nine times that of Earth.
 Saturn
 Saturn's interior is probably composed of a
core of iron, nickel and rock (silicon and
oxygen compounds), surrounded by a deep
layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate
layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium and
an outer gaseous layer.
 Exhibits a pale yellow hue due to ammonia
crystals in its upper atmosphere.
 Saturn
 Saturn has a prominent ring system that
consists of nine continuous main rings and
three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly
of ice particles with a smaller amount of
rocky debris and dust.
 With 62 known moons orbit the planet; 53 are
officially named. This does not include the
hundreds of "moonlets" within the rings.
 Saturn
 TITAN, Saturn's largest and the Solar
System's second largest moon, is larger than
the planet Mercury and is the only moon in
the Solar System to retain a substantial
atmosphere.
Saturn
 Titan
Saturn's largest and the Solar
System's second largest moon.
It is larger than the
planet Mercury
Uranus
Mythology Father of Saturn
Mass 14.54 times that of Earth
Moons At least 21 moons and 11 rings
Diameter 51 200 km (= 4.01 x Earth’s diameter)

Surface Likely to be frozen hydrogen and helium

Gravity 0.903 times that on Earth

Surface Temperature –220°C
Period of rotation (day) 17 hours 14 minutes
Tilt of axis 98°
Distance from Sun 19.2 AU (2875 million kilometres)
Time to orbit Sun (year) 84 Earth years
 Uranus
 The seventh planet from the Sun. It has the
third-largest planetary radius and fourth-
largest planetary mass in the Solar System.
 Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune,
and both are of different chemical
composition than the larger gas giants
Jupiter and Saturn.
 Astronomers sometimes place them in a
separate category called "ice giants".
 Uranus
 Uranus's atmosphere, while similar to
Jupiter's and Saturn's in its primary
composition of hydrogen and helium,
contains more "ices" such as water, ammonia,
and methane, along with traces of
hydrocarbons.
 It is the coldest planetary atmosphere in the
Solar System, with a minimum temperature
of 49 K (−224 °C).
 Uranus
 It has a complex, layered cloud structure,
with water thought to make up the lowest
clouds, and methane thought to make up the
uppermost layer of clouds. In contrast, the
interior of Uranus is mainly composed of ices
and rock.
 Like the other giant planets, Uranus has a
ring system, a magnetosphere, and
numerous moons.
 Uranus
 The Uranian system has a unique
configuration among the planets because its
axis of rotation is tilted sideways, nearly into
the plane of its revolution about the Sun.
 Its north and south poles therefore lie where
most other planets have their equators.
 The wind speeds on Uranus can reach 250
meters per second (900 km/h, 560 mph).
Uranus
Uranus
Neptune
Mythology God of the sea
Mass 17.15 times that of Earth
Moons 8 moons and 5 rings
Diameter 49 528 km ( = 3.88 x Earth’s diameter)

Surface Frozen hydrogen and helium

Gravity 1.135 times that on Earth

Surface Temperature –220°C
Period of rotation (day) 16 hours 7 minutes
Tilt of axis 29.3°
Distance from Sun 30.1 AU (4500 million kilometres)
Time to orbit Sun (year) 165 Earth years
 Neptune
 the eighth and farthest planet from
the Sun in the Solar System.
 It is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and
the third-largest by mass.
 Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is
somewhat more massive than its near-
twin Uranus, which is 15 times the mass of
Earth but not as dense.
 Neptune
 Neptune was the first planet found by
mathematical prediction rather than by
empirical observation.
 Neptune was subsequently observed on 23
September 1846 by Johann Galle within a
degree of the position predicted by
Urbain Le Verrier, and its largest moon, Triton
, was discovered shortly thereafter.
Triton
Neptune’s largest
moon.
 Neptune
 Neptune has been visited by only one
spacecraft, Voyager 2, which flew by the
planet on 25 August 1989.
Neptune
 List of Solar System’s Objects by size

Sun Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Earth Venus

(star) (planet) (planet) (planet) (planet) (planet) (planet)

Ganymede Titan Callisto Io Moon

Mars (moon of (moon of Mercury (moon of (moon of (moon of
(planet) Jupiter) Saturn) (planet) Jupiter) Jupiter) Earth)
 List of Solar System’s Objects by size

Europa Triton Titania Rhea Oberon Iapetus Umbriel

(moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of
Jupiter) Neptune) Uranus) Saturn) Uranus) Saturn) Uranus)

Ariel Dione Tethys Enceladus Miranda Proteus

(moon of (moon of (moon of Vesta (moon of (moon of (moon of
Uranus) Saturn) Saturn) (asteroid) Saturn) Uranus) Neptune)
 List of Solar System’s Objects by size

Mimas Hyperion Phoebe Janus Amalthea Epimetheus Prometheus

(moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of (moon of
Saturn) Saturn) Saturn) Saturn) Jupiter) Saturn) Saturn)
THANK YOU
SO MUCH!