2. The Sun Solar Wind

3. Our Solar System’s Star Current Age- 5 Billions years old Life Time Expectancy- 10 Billions years 99.8 % of our solar systems total mass. 108 Earth fit across the diameter The Sun

4. Center of the Sun Nuclear Fusion –Hydrogen fused to helium. –Releases huge amounts of energy. 15,000ºC The Core

5. Chromosphere Means “Color Sphere” A part of the Sun’s atmosphere Glows red during a partial eclipse 5,000ºC- 10,000ºC

6. Photosphere Means “Light” Sphere Sun’s Surface Layer that we see 5,000ºC-8,000ºC

7. Sun Spots Areas of cooler gas on the photosphere Don’t give off as much light Occur in pairs 10-11 year cycle

8. Prominence Reddish loops of gas. Connect sunspots. Help ventilate the sun. Solar Flares- –Huge explosions of hydrogen gas. –Increase the solar wind.

9. Corona Outer layer of the atmosphere. Gives off the solar wind. Only seen during a total solar eclipse. Looks like a halo. 2,000,000ºC

10. Solar Wind Electrically charged particles from the corona. Earth’s magnetic field acts as a shield. Some enters at the north and south poles. –Produces the Auroras or Northern Lights.

11. Mercury 1 st Planet 58,000,000km Rotation 59 Earth days Revolution 88 Earth Days Solid, rocky, surface. – -173C to 427C – Very cratered Very thin atmosphere- Sodium and other Elements. No Moon Factoids: Very hard to get a good view, has an extreme temperature range.

12. Venus 2 nd Planet 108,000,000km Rotation Period- 243 Earth Days –Retrograde rotation- rotates east to west. Revolution Period- 225 Earth Days A solid, rocky, cratered surface with volcanoes. – 460ºC hot enough to melt lead. – Greenhouse effect- traps heat in the atmosphere, due to Carbon Dioxide. Very thick atmosphere, cloud covered. No Moon

13. Earth 3rd Planet 150,000,000 km Rotation 24 Earth hours Revolution 365.25 Earth Days Solid, rocky, surface, 71% liquid water – -88°C to 58°C Atmosphere- nitrogen and oxygen One natural satellite - Moon Factoids: living beings and all that is needed to sustain life

14. Earth’s Moon

15. Mars 4 th Planet 228,000,000km Rotation 1.03 Earth Days Revolution- 687 Earth Days Solid, rocky, surface. (the red planet) – -87°C to -5°C – Once believed there were canals. – Has ice caps (made of frozen carbon dioxide and water.) – Has seasons. (dust storms) Very thin atmosphere- mostly carbon dioxide 2 Moons-Phobos and Deimos

16. Asteroid Belt Between Mars and Jupiter. Over 10,000 Too small and numerous to be planets. Ceres is a dwarf planet An asteroid might have made the dinosaurs extinct.

17. Jupiter 5th Planet 778,000,000km Rotation.41 Earth Days Revolution 12 Earth Years Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in) – 1.8987 x 10 27 kg – 300 times more massive than Earth – solid core of rock and ice Very dense atmosphere- hydrogen and helium –Great Red Spot (giant hurricane – fit 3 Earths) Moons: 62 (Io, Ganymede, Calisto, Europa)

18. Saturn 6th Planet 1,427,000,000km Rotation.43 Earth Days Revolution 29 Earth Years Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in) – 5.6851 x 10 26 kg – solid core of rock and ice – less dense than water Very dense atmosphere- hydrogen and helium 1000’s of rings (made of rock and ice) Moons: 60 (Titan)

19. Uranus 7th Planet 2,871,000,000km Rotation.72 Earth Days Revolution 84 Earth Years Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in) – 8.6849 x 10 25 kg – solid core of rock and ice – rotates on its side Very dense atmosphere- traces of methane Thin rings (made of rock and ice) Moons: 27

20. Neptune 8th Planet 4,479,000,000km (30 Earth’s) Rotation.67 Earth Days Revolution 165 Earth Years Gas giant (gravity keeps gases in) – 1.0244 x 10 26 kg – solid core of rock and ice – found by a mathematician Very dense atmosphere- traces of methane –The Great Dark Spot (Didn’t last long) Thin rings (made of rock and ice) Moons: 13 (Triton)

21. Pluto 9 th Planet (Dwarf Planet) Rotation 6.4 Earth Days Revolution 248 Earth Years Solid, rocky, icy surface. – less than 2/3 the size of our moon – -233°C (-369°F) Very thin atmosphere- frozen Moon – Charon (one of 3 moons) Factoids: too small to be a planet

22. Comet “Dirty snowballs” Chunks of ice and rock Very long and elliptical orbits Sun melts the ice into gas and forms a tail. Solar wind pushes tail away from the sun. Halley’s comet- Every 76 Years (2062)

23. Parts of a Comet 1.Coma- gas and dust from the inner layer. 2.Nucleus- Central part of a comet. 3.Tail- gas and dust, pushed away from the sun due to solar wind.

24. Meteoroid A chunk of space rock in space. Usually from a comet or asteroid.

25. Meteor Meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns due to friction leaving a streak of light. Shooting Star

26. Meteorite Too big to burn up. Hits the Earth’s surface.