Solar System Note: My beautiful PPT that I showed in class is too big to post on SWIFT so I put all the info on here. Bring your posters finished on Monday!

Sun The sun is the center of our Solar System. It gives light to all our planets and moons. The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. -Galileo

Mercury First planet in our Solar System and also the smallest. Named by the Romans after the fleet- footed messenger of the gods. 1 Revolution = 88 days Temperatures are so extreme that during the day it can reach 801 degrees Fahrenheit, and during the night can reach -279 degrees Fahrenheit.

Venus Second planet in our Solar System and also the hottest at nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Known as Earth’s sister planet due to its similar size, density, mass, and volume. Has a very heavy atmosphere consisting mostly of Carbon Dioxide. Retrograde rotation on its axis.

Earth Earth is the third planet from the sun. It is the only known planet capable of sustaining life. Earth revolves around the sun in days, and rotates around its axis every 24 hours. It’s atmosphere consists mainly of Nitrogen and Oxygen.

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. Known as the red planet due to its rusty iron minerals on its surface. Home to the largest volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons. Named after the Roman god of war.

Asteroid Belt Consists of billions of small planet like rocks that orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter. Range in size from boulder to hundreds of miles in diameter. Formed at the dawn of the solar system from dust and rock orbiting the sun. Not all asteroids are spheres, most are irregular shapes.

Jupiter Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. Jupiter completes one lap around the sun every 12 years, but one rotation in 10 hours. There are 50 known moons that orbit Jupiter, with another 17 awaiting confirmation. The “Great Red Spot” is a storm the size of Earth that has been raging for hundreds of Years.

Saturn Saturn is the furthest planet we can see with the naked eye. There are 7 main rings that orbit the planet. The rings are made of rock and ice varying in size from a grain of sand to a large house. Saturn has 53 known moons with an additional 9 awaiting confirmation. Named after the Roman god of agriculture and time.

Uranus Uranus has the largest tilt of any planet in the Solar System. This tilt is the result of a collision with another Earth-sized object. The first planet observed by a telescope. There are 13 rings, the outermost bright with color. Uranus gets its blue-green tint from the methane in its upper atmosphere.

Neptune Neptune is the last planet in our Solar System. The winds blow stronger on Neptune than any other planet. There are 6 rings around Neptune consisting of dust and rock. Neptune is called an “Ice Giant” because of its color and the presence of H2O, Ammonia, and Methane Ice.

Pluto & Dwarf Planets Dwarf Planets are not considered traditional planets due to their small size and orbital path. Pluto was reclassified as a Dwarf Planet in There are 5 known Dwarf Planets in our Solar System: Ceres, Eris, Pluto, Haumea, and Makemake Pluto is smaller than Earth’s moon and also rotates on its side.