The Eight Planets

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The Eight Planets

• Ms. Cunningham

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The Inner Planets
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Mercury

• Mercury is the closest planet to our Sun.
• It has the biggest range in surface temperatures.
• It rotates very slowlyone day is 59 Earth days.

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Mercury Continued..

• Mercury is covered with craters made by meteors
  crashing into it.
• One large area of craters is called Caloris
  Basin.

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Venus

• Venus is sometimes called the sister planet to
  Earth because they are so close in size.
• This planet spins in a clockwise direction.
• The sun rises in the west and sets in the east on
  this planet.

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Venus Continued..

• This planet has the densest (thickest) atmosphere
  of all the inner planets.
• This planet has the hottest temperatures of all
  the planets.

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Earth

• The third planet from the Sun and the only known
  planet to have life.
• Three-fourths ¾ of its surface is covered with
  water.
• It has green continents and white ice-capped
  poles.

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Earth Continued.

• The clouds also retain, or hold, the heat that is
  absorbed so that the planet does not become too
  cold as it rotates away from the sun.
• The Earth is tilted on its axis, giving this
  planet seasons.

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Not a Planet!!!
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The Moon

• The only natural satellite of the planet Earth.
• Its gravity is too weak to hold an atmosphere
  although it is strong enough to cause ocean
  tides.
• It rotates at the same rate as it revolves.

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The Moon Continued.

• In 1969 astronauts walked on the surface of the
  moon for the first time.
• About three fourths ¾ of the Moon is covered with
  mountains and craters caused by crashing meteors.

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Mars

• This is the only planet besides Earth with some
  form of water.
• Mars has the largest mountain and the largest
  canyon in our solar system.
• Mars has the thinnest atmosphere.

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Mars Continued.

• Mars is called the Red Planet.
• Mars is reddish in color because of a large
  amount of iron in its soil.

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The Outer Planets
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Jupiter

• Jupiter is so large that 2/3 of all the planets
  in our solar system could fit inside it.
• This planet is covered with three thick layers of
  clouds that extend 19 miles above the surface.

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Jupiter Continued..

• The Great Red Spot is on this planet.
• This spot is a huge storm that has raged over
  300 years.
• There is no solid surface on the planet Jupiter.

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Saturn

• Like Jupiter, this planet is composed of hydrogen
  and helium.
• Like Jupiter, this planet gives off more heat
  than it receives from the sun.
• It is known as the most beautiful of all the
  planets because of its huge ring system.

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Saturn Continued.

• The rings of this planet are composed of rock and
  ice particlesthey range in size from tiny
  pebbles to car-sized boulders.
• Its atmosphere is different because it has a two
  wind system that operate in opposite directions.

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Uranus

• This planet was discovered by Sir William
  Herschel in 1781.
• This planet is about 15 times more massive than
  Earth.
• This planet is bluish-green in color.

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Uranus Continued..

• This planet may have been tipped over by a
  massive objectit is tilted on its side.
• This planet has 11 rings---Ten are very narrow
  and one is wide.

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Neptune

• This planet looks blue in color because of the
  methane gas in its atmosphere.
• This planet has a spot on it called the Great
  Dark Spot which is the size of the planet Earth.

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Neptune Continued.

• This planet has five rings.
• This planet was discovered in 1846 by John Adams
  and Jean Leverrier.
• This planets atmosphere contains belts of highly
  visible clouds.

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Pluto (NOT A PLANET)

• This other body is the smallest and cooler than
  the planets.
• This other body is covered by nitrogen ice.
• It has a body that orbits around Pluto called
  Charon which is more than half its size.

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Pluto Continued.

• Pluto has such an elliptical orbit that, when it
  is closest to the Sun, it travels inside
  Neptunes orbit.
• Plutos surface is covered with nitrogen, carbon
  monoxide, and methane which is frozen into an
  unusual snow that would feel like soft pudding if
  walked upon.

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The Eight Planets

• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
• Mars
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune

• How do you remember the eight planets?
• Use this memory device.
• My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.