Organization  Our Solar System consists of: Comets orbiting the Sun Asteroids orbiting the Sun Planets orbiting the Sun ○ Moons orbiting the planets Dwarf Planets orbiting the Sun

Planets  Planets form 3 main groups Inner Planets (Terrestrial) Outer Planets (Jovian) Dwarf Planets  Separating the Inner from Outer is the Asteroid Belt Between Mars/Jupiter

Inner Planets (Terrestrial)  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars Small in size Rocky surfaces Few or no moons No ring systems

Mercury  1/3 the size of Earth  Very eccentric orbit  Very slow rotation It rotates 1and1/2 times each year  Basically no atmosphere  Temp. ranges from -173C to 427C -279F to 801F  No moons

Venus  Similar to Earth in mass, diameter and density  Very thick atmosphere  Has a slow rotation that is backwards compared to most of the planets  Day is longer than a year  Avg. temp is 464C Roughly 900F  No moons

Earth

Mars  Smaller than Earth  Thin atmosphere  Large volcanoes on the surface  Enormous canyons  Ice caps of CO 2 at the poles with most likely water underneath  2 moons (Phobos, Deimos)  Seasons / 24 hour day  -133C to 27C  -207F to 80F  Avg. -55C -67F

Olympus Mons

Valles Marineris

The Martian Surface  Has key chemical ingredients for life S,N,H,O,P,C (methane?)  Clay minerals and surface features indicate a once aqueous environment  Groundwater beneath  Volcanism, wind, impacting objects affect the surface the most

Outer Planets (Jovian)  Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  Large in size  Gaseous surfaces  Many moons  Have a ring system

Jupiter  Largest planet  Banded system of clouds Over 200 mi/h  Composed of hydrogen/helium  More than 60 moons  Fast rotation Less than 10 hours

Saturn  Similar to Jupiter in structure  Saturn’s rings Pieces of ice that range from microscopic to house-sized Formed from destroyed moons or leftover material from the formation of Saturn  More than 60 moons

Uranus  Blue appearance from methane gas in the atmosphere  Has a 90 degree tilt Maybe from a collision or gravitational influence from a large moon that passed by  At least 27 moons

Neptune  Similar structure as Uranus  Distinctive clouds  Once had The Great Dark Spot  14 moons

Moons of the Planets

Moons  Moons orbit the planets directly rather than the sun.  Some moons may be larger than planets, but since they don’t directly orbit the sun, they are not considered planets

Moons of Mars  Phobos  Deimos  Irregularly shaped  Most likely captured asteroids due to Mars’ proximity to the Asteroid Belt

Moons of Jupiter  More than 60  4 Biggest: Mainly ice and rock Io- volcanically active Ganymede Europa- may have a subsurface ocean Callisto

Moons of Saturn  More than 60  Titan being the largest moon in the solar system Has an atmosphere made of nitrogen and methane

Moons of Uranus  At least 27  Miranda is a unique moon Unusual criss-crossing marks across the surface

Moons of Neptune  At least 13  Triton being the largest of the 13 Retrograde orbit Nitrogen geysers

Comets

 Small, icy bodies (1-10km diameter)  Some are found beyond Neptune Kuiper Belt  Mainly found beyond Pluto in the Solar System Oort Cloud  Occasionally can be sent towards the inner parts of the Solar System Highly eccentric orbit

Parts  Nucleus- solid portion Ice/Rock  Coma – gases surrounding nucleus  Tail- part of the coma pushed away due to solar wind

Meteor Shower

Origin of Meteor Showers

List of Meteor Showers

Next Sightings  Comet P Comet P  Current List Current List  Magnitude Magnitude

Eugene Shoemaker

Shoemaker-Levy 9

Asteroids

 Small bodies of rock  Mainly found between Mars and Jupiter  Occasionally the collide, break, and head towards Earth as Meteoroids. Meteor- In atmosphere Meteorite- On land in Earth

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Our Moon

Properties of the Moon  Mainly volcanic rock  No atmosphere Extreme temperatures No wind or weather No sound  Heavily cratered

Lunar Surface  The surface is composed of light and dark colored rocks Lunar Highlands Lunar Maria

Lunar Highlands  Heavily Cratered  Light in Color  Mountainous

Lunar Maria  Lunar “seas”  Smooth and flat  Dark in color Basalts  Few craters

Other Features  Impact Craters  Rays  Rilles

Impact Craters and Rays

Rilles  Originally thought to be dried up rivers  Now believed to be collapsed lava tubes

Formation of the Moon  Moon is believed to have been hit by a Mars sized object early in Earth’s formation.  This caused enough Earth material to be blasted from the surface that eventually formed the Moon.

Phases of the Moon

Tides

Causes  The Moon and Sun both have a gravitational effect on the Earth  The solid Earth gets pulled slightly in the direction of those bodies in space  This creates a bulge of water on the sides facing towards and away from the Moon.

Eclipses

Types  Lunar  Solar  Annular

Lunar  When the Moon crosses into the shadow of the Earth

Solar  When the Moon’s shadow is cast upon the Earth

Annular  When the Moon casts a shadow on the Earth, but the shadow doesn’t quite reach the Earth