Solar System Webquest:The Planets

By: Diana BokScience 8B

Mr. Kowaliuk

General Information: Keywords to know.

• Revolve: The circular action of a smaller object around a larger object.

• Rotate: The spinning action of an object on its axis.

• Orbit: A specific path followed by a planet, satellite, etc.

General Information:About the solar system

• There are 8 planets found in the solar system.

• Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the Inner Planets

• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the Outer Planets.

• Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake are the Dwarf Planets.

General Information: About Inner and Outer Planets

Inner Planets:solid spheres of rock Closest to the SunHave more craters, because of the asteroid and the meteorites

Outer Planets:gaseous spheres with ringsFar from the SunBigger in size than the Inner Planets

General Information:More about Planets

There are more craters found in the inner planets, because they are closer to the asteroid belt.

3 requirements to become a “planet”: • Must be in orbit around the Sun• Have enough mass so that it has become

round in shape due to its own gravity• Have cleared out its orbital path around the

Sun

General Information:Dwarf Planet

• What?– a new class of astronomical objects

• When?– created in 2006 by the International

Astronomical Union • Why?– Failed the 3 requirements of Planets– Officially declared that they are not

planetsPluto, Ceres, and Eris.

The Inner Planets:Mercury

• Atmosphere: The distance from the Sun is very close, so

there is no substantial atmosphere.• 2 Elements found in the atmosphere:

Sodium Helium

• 3 processes that shaped Mercury: impact cratering = crater formation Volcanism = lava flooded the surface Tectonic activity = the planet's crust moved

in order to adjust to the planetary cooling and contracting

The Inner Planets:Venus

• “Evening Star”:– The brightest planet that can be viewed

from Earth• 2 Elements:– Carbon Dioxide– Sulfuric Acid

• Retrograde Rotation:– Rotates clockwise slowly, which is different

from the other planets– “Retrograde”: having a direction which is

opposite that of similar bodies.

The Inner Planets:Venus

• Day on Venus > Year on Venus:– Rotation of Venus is opposite.

• Sun’s direction in Venus:– Venus rotates opposite from other

planets, so the sun will rise in West and set in East

• Why the hottest:– First of the solar system, meaning the

closest to the Sun.– Can melt lead during daytime.

The Inner Planets:Earth

• Atmosphere:– 21% oxygen,78% nitrogen,9% argon. – other 0.1%=water vapor, carbon dioxide,

neon, methane, krypton, helium, xenon, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone

• Atmosphere protects us from:– Solar radiation–Meteors

The Inner Planets:Earth

• Rotational tilt:– Axis titled 23.5 degrees

• Magnetic Field:– Earth has a core of molten iron-nickel. – The rapid spin of the Earth along with

the liquid, hot metallic core causes a magnetic field

• Satellite of the Earth = Moon.

The Inner Planets:Mars

• Evidence of life:– Scientists studied meteorites from Mars

and found bacteria and other signs that life may have once existed on Mars.

• Atmosphere:– 95% Carbon Dioxide

• Reddish-orange appearance:– presence of iron in various rocks and

soils

The Inner Planets:Mars

• Olympus Mons:– The tallest mountain in the solar system– Over 26km above its base.

• Satellites of Mars:– Phobos & Deimos– Asteroids captured by Mar’s weak

gravitational field

The Outer Planets:Jupiter

• Shape of the planet:– rapid rotation– flatten at the poles– bulge at the equator

• Atmosphere:– Hydrogen, Helium, Sulfur, and Nitrogen

• Giant Red Spot:– hurricane-like storm that has been seen

in Jupiter's southern hemisphere

The Outer Planets:Jupiter

• Satellites:– 50 named moons– 13 discovered but not yet named

• Interesting fact about Io:– Volcanically active, or alive– One of Jupiter’s satellites

The Outer Planets:Saturn

• Atmosphere:– Hydrogen & Helium

• Saturn’s rings:– Might have caused by the collision and

particles from breaking satellites.– Water, ice, dust, particles, satellites in the

rings

• Density of the Saturn is very low, so Saturn can float in water.

• Seasons last 7 Earth years in Saturn.

The Outer Planets:Uranus

• Rotation:– Tilted 98 degrees– Appears as if it’s rotating on its side

• Atmosphere:– Helium, Hydrogen, Methane

• Satellites:– 27 known satellites, both in and out of

its rings.

The Outer Planets:Neptune

• Atmosphere:– Ammonia, Helium, Methane

• Satellites:– 13 known satellites, 4 in the rings.

• Triton:– Neptune’s biggest satellite– Formed by rock and ice– Theory: became the satellite by

Neptune’s gravitational pull

The Dwarf Planets:Pluto

• Rotation:– Titled 122.5 degrees, rotates on its head

• Using spectroscope:– Found Pluto has Methane frost– Has atmosphere of Nitrogen & Methane

• Charon:– More blue in color than Pluto– Shares the same atmosphere– Detected water frost on Charon– ½ size of Pluto and close to the planet.

• Pluto’s 3 moons:– Charon, Nix, and Hydra

The Dwarf Planets:Ceres

• Revolution:– About 4.6 Earth year to make one

revolution

• “Asteroids”– Other asteroids were also orbiting the

Sun with Ceres, so Sir William Herschel labeled Ceres as an asteroid

• Surface:– Contains water ice, carbonates, and clays

The Dwarf Planets:Eris

• Original name:– Xena. Named from the popular TV show’s

warrior princess

• Revolution– Takes 557 Earth years to orbit around the Sun

• Dysnomia-Name of Eris’s Moon• Not a planet:– does not clear out its orbit– Does not have all 3 requirements as a planet

Credits to:

• http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/planets.html

Includes all the information needed for the power point.