The Planets!!!

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The Planets!!!

• A quick guide to the solar system

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The Inner Planets

• Close to the sun
• Rocky surfaces
• Considered to be the terrestrial planets
  (meaning like earth)
• MERCURY
• VENUS
• EARTH
• MARS

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Mercury

• Closest to the sun
• Smallest true planet
• Extremely thin atmosphere (some sodium).
• Low gravity.
• Extreme Temperature differences between day and
  night
• No moons

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• It was named after Mercury, the swift messenger
  of the gods in ancient Roman mythology, since it
  revolves around the sun faster than any other
  planet.
• The surface is covered by many craters and ridges
  as a result of meteorite impacts.

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Venus

• 2nd from the sun.
• Considered to be Earths twin.
• High air pressure
• Retrograde rotation (sun rises in west and sets
  in the east).
• Thick atmosphere made of CO2.

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• Greenhouse effect keeps the temperature VERY
  hot!!! (460C)
• Day is longer than year.
• Named after the Roman goddess of love.
• Brightest planet in the night sky (called the
  evening star).

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Mars

• The Red Planet. Red because of iron content on
  surface.
• Thin atmosphere of CO2.
• Temperature closest to Earths.
• Ice caps at both poles.

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• 2 moons
• Phobos
• Deimos
• Has the largest volcano in the solar system
  (Olympus Mons).
• Named after the Roman god of war.

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The Outer Planets

• Gas Giants (Atmosphere is primarily gas)
• JUPITER
• SATURN
• URANUS
• NEPTUNE

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Jupiter

• Largest planet
• 300x the mass of Earth.
• Strongest gravity
• Atmosphere similar to the sun (hydrogen and
  helium)
• Considered to be a brown star.
• Named after Zeus (Jupiter in Roman Mythology).

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• Has 4 large moons
• Europa, Callisto, Ganymede, and Io
• Solid core of rock, ice, and frozen CO2.
• Has one ring.
• The great red spot (lg. hurricane like storm).

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Saturn

• Hundreds of rings.
• Made of ice, dust, and chunks of rock
• 30 moons (largest Titan).
• Atmosphere is similar to Jupiter (hydrogen and
  helium).
• Density is less than 1 (will float on water).
• Named after Saturnus, the Titan father of Zeus.

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Uranus

• Has Rings
• Rotates on its side.
• Bluish in color because of methane in atmosphere.
• 20 moons.
• Most mispronounced planet.
• Discovered in 1781 by William Hershel.
• Named after the Greek god of the sky.

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Neptune

• Discovered shortly after Uranus due to
  irregularities in Uranus orbit.
• Methane part of atmosphere (makes it blue).
• Has visible clouds.
• Named after Roman god of the sea b/c of its blue
  color.

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The Dwarf Planets (New additions and demotions)

• A dwarf planet is an object that orbits the sun,
  and is nearly round, but is not a satellite of
  another object, and has not "cleared the
  neighborhood" of its own orbit.

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PlutoThe planet that was

• Rocky
• Discovered in 1930
• Very odd elliptical orbit.
• Switches places with Neptune as furthest planet.
• Has not cleared its orbit (the Kuiper Belt).
• Named after the Roman god of the underworld.
• Has one moon Charon

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Ceres The former asteroid

• Used to be considered one of the largest
  asteroids in the asteroid belt.
• Found between Jupiter and Mars
• Named after the Roman goddess of growing plants,
  the harvest, and of motherly love.
• Was found to be more spherical than other
  asteroids.

• Period of Rotation .38 days
• Period of revolution 4.6 yrs.
• No moons

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ErisThe 10th planet

• Sometimes called Xena.
• Beyond Pluto
• Larger than Pluto
• The largest dwarf planet.
• Period of Revolution 557 years.
• One moon Dysnomia
• A dwarf planet because of its odd orbit around
  the sun.

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• New dwarf planets are being considered and
  discovered. Who knows what we will consider a
  part of our solar system in the coming years.