OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 6th Grade Science

What are we going to learn? What is it? State of matter Inner or outer planet Type of atmosphere Interesting fact Where is it located? How does it move?

Mercury – what is it? Inner Planet State of Matter: Solid Surface; Rocky Nickname: Fastest Planet Type of Atmosphere: Thin, Sodium and other gases Size: 4,878 km (about size of our moon) Mass: 3.3 x 1023 g Distance from Sun: Closest at 0.39 AU Moons: 0 Rings: 0 Interesting Fact: Lots of craters Looks like our moon Day: 430°C Night: -170 °C

Mercury- how does it move? Revolution: .24 Earth years (88 days) Rotation: 59 Earth Days

Mercury- where is it?

Venus-what is it? Distance from Sun: .72 AU Inner Planet Moons: 0 Rings: 0 Interesting Fact: Greenhouse Effect Poisonous gasses Day longer than a year Retrograde rotation (backwards) Inner Planet State of Matter : Solid Surface; Rocky Nickname: Earth’s Twin Type of Atmosphere: CO2 & N; Sulfuric Acid in clouds Size: 12,103 km Mass: 4.9 x 1010 g

Venus-how does it move? Revolution: .62 Earth years Rotation: 244 earth Days

Venus-where is it?

Earth-what is it? Inner Planet State of Matter: Solid Surface; Rocky Nickname: Terra; Blue Planet Type of Atmosphere: Nitrogen & Oxygen Size: 12,756 km Mass: 6.0 x 1024 g Distance from Sun: 1.0 AU Moons: 1 Rings: 0 Interesting Fact: Only planet in our solar system with life on it.

Earth-how does it move? Revolution: 1 Earth year Rotation: 1 Earth Day

Earth-where is it?

Mars-what is it? 1.52 AU Distance from Sun: 2.28 x 108 Inner Planet Moons: 2 Rings: 0 Interesting Fact: We have probes on Mars Seasons like Earth Frozen CO2 on polar ice caps Inner Planet State of Matter: Solid Surface; Rocky Nickname: The Red Planet Type of Atmosphere: CO2 & N Size: 6,794 km Mass: 6.4 x 1023 g

Mars-how does it move? Revolution: 1.9 Earth years Rotation: 1.03 Earth Days

Mars-where is it?

Jupiter-what is it? 5.2AU Outer Planet State of Matter: Gas Surface Nickname: Largest Planet Type of Atmosphere: Hydrogen & Helium Size: 142,800 km 11.2 x Earth’s diameter Mass: 317.8 x Earth mass Distance from Sun: 7.8 x 108 5.2AU Moons: 50 named (66 total) Rings: Yes, 3 Named Rings Interesting Fact: Most massive planet – 300x earth’s size

Jupiter-how does it move? Revolution (earth years): 12 Rotation (earth Days): .41 (< 10 hrs)

Jupiter-where is it?

Saturn-what is it? 9.6 AU Outer Planet State of Matter : Gas Surface Nickname: Ringed Planet Type of Atmosphere: Hydrogen & Helium Size: 120,540 km 4.0 x Earth’s diameter Mass: 1.9 x 1027 g 95.2 x Earth’s mass Distance from Sun: 7.8 x 108 9.6 AU Moons: 62 Rings: Yes, 7 Rings Interesting Fact: Saturn’s rings are made of chunks of ice

Saturn-how does it move? Revolution (earth years): 29 Rotation (earth Days): .45 (10.6 hrs)

Saturn-where is it?

Uranus-what is it? Outer Planet State of Matter: Gas Surface Nickname: Ice Giant Type of Atmosphere: Hydrogen, Helium, Methane (CH4) Size: 51,200 km (4 x Earth) Mass: 8.7 x 1025 g (14.5 x Earth’s Mass) Distance from Sun: 19.2 AU Moons: 27 named Rings: Yes (13 with gaps) Interesting Fact: Retrograde Rotation (Rotates Sideways), North to South Methane in atmosphere causes it to be blue Turned on side North Pole faces Sun always

Uranus-how does it move? Revolution: 84 Earth years Rotation: .72 Earth Days (17.4 hrs)

Uranus-where it is?

Neptune-what is it? Outer Planet State of Matter: Gas Surface Nickname: Blue Planet Type of Atmosphere: Hydrogen, Helium, Methane (CH4) Size: 51,200 km (4 x Earth) Mass: 8.7 x 1025 g (17.1 x Earth’s Mass) Distance from Sun: 30.1 AU Moons: 13 Rings: Yes (5 known) Interesting Fact: 20 x Earth’s Distance from the Sun Largest storm on Neptune recorded in 1989 – Great Dark Spot

Neptune-how does it move? Revolution(earth years): 165 Rotation(earth Days): .67 (16.1 hrs)

Neptune-where is it?

Sun Physical property: 99.8% of the mass of the solar system Location: Milky Way Galaxy Movement: Orbits around the Milky Way

Galilean Moons: Physical property: Lo, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto are all moons Location: Jupiter Movement: revolve around Jupiter

Comets: Physical property: large chunks of ice and dust Location: very few come near Earth, most are around the Sun Movement: longer orbital time than planets, long and narrow ellipses around the Sun.

Asteroids: Physical property: many shapes, sizes, minerals and elements Location: asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter Movement: most revolve around the Sun between Mars and Jupiter

Meteors: Physical property: chunk of rock or dust in space Location: meteoroids formed when meteors enter Earth’s atmosphere. Movement: streak of light in the sky