1. The Solar System

2. ORGANIZATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM  Claudis Ptolemy said the earth was the center of the universe and the planets and sun revolved around it.  Nicholas Copernicus said the sun was in the center of the universe and the planets rotated around it in a circular orbit.

3.  Johannes Kepler published his laws of planetary orbit stating the planets rotated in an elliptical orbit.  Galileo used the newly invented telescope to study the planets and say there were many planets orbiting the sun.  Planetary system- a system of planets revolving around the sun (a star).

4.  Smaller bodies that orbit the sun include asteroids, meteoroids, and comets.  Asteroid a chunk of rock and metal that orbits the sun.  Asteroid belt – a large area of asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter.

5.  Meteroid- a rock that floats in space  Meteor- a streak of light produced by the friction of the atmosphere rubbing against the meteoroid.  Meteorite- when a meteor strikes the earth’s surface it is called a meteorite.

6.  Comet- a ball of ice, rock, and frozen gases that orbits the sun.  All planets orbit the sun.

7. MERCURY  Rocky surface with craters  Thin atmosphere containing hydrogen and helium  In sunlit areas the surface is hot enough to melt lead

8. VENUS  Surface: Rocky  Atmosphere: thick, mostly carbon dioxide and nitrogen  Fact: direction of rotation is opposite of all other planets

9. EARTH  Surface: Mostly water with areas of soil covered rock  Atmosphere: mostly nitrogen and Oxygen  Fact: has only known life in the solar system

10. MARS  Surface: Rocky, Covered with dust  Atmosphere: thin mostly carbon dioxide  Fact: has largest volcano-Olympus Mons, whose base is larger than the state of New Mexico.

11. JUPITER  Surface: Gaseous planet, possibly with liquid hydrogen surface  Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium  Fact: Great Red Spot-huge storm that has lasted since the time of Galileo Great Red Spot

12. SATURN  Surface: Gaseous planet with no known solid surface  Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium  Fact: has wide, thin system of rings made of small pieces of ice and rock

13. URANUS  Surface: Gaseous planet without a known solid surface  Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium  Fact: Possible collision with an earth sized object may have knocked Uranus on it’s side as a result, it roll around in an orbit.

14. NEPTUNE  Surface: Gaseous planet without a known solid surface  Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen, helium, and methane  Fact: one of the windiest places in the solar system. (1,000km per hr) 620 mph.

15. Pluto  Surface: Water and Methane Ice  Atmosphere: Mostly Methane  Fact: Usually 9 th planet, but part of its orbit is inside Neptune’s orbit, making Pluto the 8 th planet on occasion.

16. Astronomical Units/Light –Years  Astronomical unit (A.U.)-the unit of measurement astronomers use to measure distances in the solar system.  A.U.-equal to the average distance between the Earth and the sun  This distance is 150 million km or 93 million miles.  Light-year-equal to the distance light can travel in a vacuum in one year. Used to measure distances to the stars.

17. The Solar System