The solar system and beyond

Objectives To explain what makes up the solar system To explain how scientists overcame challenges to develop the modern concept of the solar system To understand how modern technological innovations in terms of space travel have added to our understanding of the universe. To boldly go where no man has gone before!.

What is in our solar system Sun (a star) Planets Asteroids Moons Comets

How is the solar system organised? Heliocentric = Sun at centre Planets, asteroids and comets orbiting Comet orbits highly elliptical Moons orbit planets

Geocentric universe The idea was codified by an Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy in 1st Century AD but had existed for a long-time Idea was accepted by the Christian Church and was a tenet of faith by the Middle Ages, as was the fact that the earth was flat and Jerusalem was the centre of the Earth.

Heliocentric Proposed as early as the 3rd century BC by Aristarchus of Samos, and subsequently by astronomers in the Seleucid empire in Persia and the late Christian Roman Empire. Also proposed by Indian astronomers During renaissance times by Copernicus Observations supporting this made by Kepler It explained wandering motion of planets

Galileo Heliocentric universe Supported by Galileo whose telescope allowed him to make better observations including the moons of other planets. He observed phases of planets. Opposed by the Church. Pope put him under house arrest. Finally pardoned in 1992. Ideas spread by the new invention printing developing more in Protestant Northern Europe

Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Can you make a mnemonic to remember these by? Formed by material from older solar systems captured in the sun’s gravitational field.

Other bodies Moons Asteroids or dwarf planets Orbit planets Orbit sun Material caught in planetary orbit. Earth has 1 Saturn has 62, Jupiter 63 Not made of Cheese! Asteroids or dwarf planets Orbit sun Wide range of size Between Mars and Jupiter Jupiter’s gravity prevented them coalescing to form planets Other regions of small Solar System bodies include the centaurs, the Kuiper belt and scattered disk, and the Oort cloud Largest is Pluto

Comets Elliptical orbits Balls of ice and crushed rock As they get near the sun they start to melt This makes their tail Spend most of their time far from the sun. Orbits last many years Often viewed as bad omens!

Space travel 1950s 60s unmanned space flights 1957 Sputnik 1 world’s first satellite. 1961 Yuri Gagarin become first man in space 1962 John Glenn orbits earth 1969 Apollo landing 1972 Last Apollo flight Apollo 17 1981 Space shuttle 2011 Last Space Shuttle Mission

Lunar landings

Space Probes Luna 16 returned samples from moon Mariner 10 went to Mercury Venera 3 the first man-made spacecraft to impact on another planet (Venus). Mariner 9 to Mars The Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity ICE First probe to comet. Genesis First solar wind sample return probe from sun-earth L1. NEAR Shoemaker First probe to asteroid with landing. Hayabusa: First sample return probe from asteroid.

Pioneer 10 First probe to Jupiter. Pioneer 11 First probe for 2 planets and first probe to Saturn. Voyager 1 Launched September 5, 1977. It is currently still operational, making it the longest-lasting mission of (NASA). It visited Jupiter and Saturn and was the first probe to provide detailed images of the moons of these planets. Voyager 1 is the farthest human-made object from Earth, Voyager 2 first probe for 4 planets and first probe to Uranus and Neptune. Huygens First landing on Titan New Horizons First probe to be launched to Pluto Beyond the Solar System Along with Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and its sister space probe Voyager 2, Voyager 1 is now an interstellar probe. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have both achieved solar escape velocity, meaning that their trajectories will not return them to the solar system.

Space stations Gravity Zero research Effects of zero gravity on living organisms Medical research on cells Detailed surveying of the earth surface Looking at physical processes in the absence of the influence of gravity R&D for long term space travel

Hubble telescope High quality images of space Amazing images of the birth of stars Presence of similar solar systems to our own Possible evidence of echoes of the big bang

Space Quiz Which was the first Apollo mission to land on the moon? Name two of the astronauts on the first moon landing Name the two fleets of space shuttles From which country does Russia launch its space rockets? Name a planet that has no moons On which planet did Luke Skywalker live as a young man?

The Future What do you think the future holds for space research?