1. Carver Road Middle School
The Solar System
Carver Road Middle School
See body of Powerpoint for image sources

2. Relative Sizes of the Planets, plus Pluto
Neptune
Uranus
Saturn
Not pictured
The dwarf
planet Eris
Jupiter
Mars
Earth
Venus
Mercury
Not pictured, the dwarf planet Ceres
Image from

3. Clean picture comparing relative sizes
Image from

4. Another perspective Another perspective Renamed Eris
Image from

5. The Inner Planets
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars

6. Characteristics of the Inner Planets
They are 4 planets closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Located inside Asteroid Belt
Very similar to each other, they are small and have rocky surfaces. They are dense. Do NOT have rings
Often called “terrestrial planets” because they resemble Earth, “terra-” means “Earth”

7. Mercury Size- about 38% of Earth’s diameter
it is 4878 km
Distance from sun- about 39% of Earth’s distance it is 58,000,000 km
Surface- thin, hard rocky surface covered with many plains and craters
Atmosphere- very thin, some sodium and other gases

8. Mercury(cont’d)
Ability to support life- none, there is NOT any sign of life on Mercury, lack of water and oxygen along with hot temperatures make life unlikely
Moons- none
Rotation- 59 Earth days
Revolution- .24 Earth years
Daytime(sunlit side) temperature 430ºC Nighttime(shaded side) temperature
-190ºC

9. Mercury
Image on right from
Image on left from

10. Venus Size- slightly smaller than Earth
95% of Earth’s diameter, it is 12,104 km
Distance from sun- about 2/3 of Earth’s, it is 108,000,000 km from sun
Surface- covered with rock similar to some parts of Earth, has volcanoes with lava flows and strange domes

11. Venus (cont’d)
Atmosphere- Very thick and cloudy, mostly carbon dioxide, clouds partly sulfuric acid
Atmospheric pressure is 90 times heavier than Earth’s and would crush a human

12. Venus (cont’d)
Atmosphere continued- Mostly carbon dioxide so greenhouse effect is strong
Has clouds of sulfuric acid
Ability to support life- Life does NOT appear to exist on Venus, lack of water along with harsh temperatures and atmosphere make life on Venus unlikely

13. Venus (cont’d)
Sometimes called “Earth’s twin” or “Earth’s sister planet” due to similarity
Retrograde rotation- rotates “backward” from east to west (opposite of Earth)
Rotates very slowly, one rotation takes about 8 Earth months and one revolution around sun takes about 7.5 Earth months (One day is longer than one year)
Moons- None

14. Venus
Phases of Venus Image from
Image on left from

15. Earth Size- 12,756 km diameter Distance from Sun- 150,000,000 km
Surface- Crust is a solid rocky surface, 70% is covered by water
Atmosphere- up to 100 km thick, made up of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% other gases

16. Earth
Ability to Support Life- Life does exist on Earth. Gaseous oxygen, liquid water and moderate temperatures are hospitable for life on Earth
Rotation takes 24 hours
Revolution takes days
Earth has one moon

17. Earth
Image on right from
Image on left from

18. Mars Size- 53% of Earth’s diameter, it is 6794 km
Distance from Sun- about 1.5 times distance of Earth
It is 228,000,000 km from sun
Surface-Rocky surface with carbonite rocks high in iron, creating red color Polar ice caps contain frozen water and carbon dioxide

19. Mars
Atmosphere- Very thin, with thin clouds Mostly carbon dioxide, only 1% of Earth’s atmospheric pressure
Ability to support life- It is possible that primitive bacteria may have lived on Mars or may now live there but none has been found. Existence of liquid water makes life on Mars a possibility

20. Mars continued
Has polar ice caps of frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide
Rotation Earth days
Revolution- 1.9 Earth years
Mars has largest volcano in solar system, called Olympus Mons
Moons- 2 Phobos and Deimos
Image of Phobos from

21. Mars
Image on left from
Image on right from

22. The Outer Planets Jupiter Saturn Uranus pronounced “YOOR-a-nus” see
Neptune
Pluto (a dwarf Planet)

23. Characteristics of The Outer Planets
These are the planets outside of the Asteroid Belt, they are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the dwarf planets Pluto and Eris
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are called “Gas Giants” . They are much larger than Earth and do not have solid surfaces

24. Characteristics of The Outer Planets
Pluto and Eris are small and rocky, like the terrestrial planets.
The gas giants do not have well-defined surfaces but have deep atmospheres that are typically about 75% hydrogen, 24% helium, and 1% other elements
Gas giants likely have solid cores of rock, ice, frozen carbon dioxide and other compounds

25. Jupiter Size- diameter is 11 times Earth’s, It is 142,800 km
Distance from Sun- 5.2 times further than Earth. It is 778,000,000 km
Surface and atmosphere of gas and liquid it does not have a well-defined surface
Has a deep atmosphere of about 86 % hydrogen,14 % helium, and tiny amounts of methane, ammonia, phosphine, water, acetylene, ethane, germanium, and carbon monoxide.

26. Jupiter continued
Ability to support life- Lacks water, oxygen and moderate temperatures needed to support life. NO known life
Largest planet in solar system with 300 times the mass of Earth
Rotation- .41 Earth days (fastest)
Revolution- 29 Earth years

27. Jupiter continued
Moons- 17 (book), 63 (web), 16 that are 10 km or larger and many smaller ones(NASA), Europa may have water
Has dark rings
Great Red Spot is storm on Jupiter, twice as big as Earth

28. Jupiter Jupiter and moon Io
Image on left from
Image on right from

29. Saturn Size- About 9.44 times size of Earth. It is 120,540 km
Distance from sun- About 9.5 times distance from sun as Earth. 1,427,000,000 km
Surface and atmosphere of a gas giant, it does not have a well-defined surface but has syruplike mixture of helium and hydrogen and a thick atmosphere of gaseous helium and hydrogen

30. Saturn continued
Ability to support life- Lacks water, oxygen, and moderate temperatures needed to support life
Second largest planet in solar system
Rotation Earth days
Revolution- 29 Earth years

31. Saturn continued
Moons- 19 (book), 34 (Web), 25 that are 10 km or larger plus additional smaller ones (NASA)
Low density planet, could float in water
Prominent rings- diameter of 250,000 km or more but only about 1 kilometer thick, mostly chunks of ice and rocks

32. Saturn
Image on right from
Image on left fromhttp://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/images/full/saturn/saturn.jpg

33. Uranus pronounced “YOOR-a-nus”
Size- About 4 times diameter of Earth. It is 51,200 km
Distance from Sun- About 19 times farther from sun than Earth. It is 2,871,000,000 km
Surface and atmosphere of a gas giant, it does not have a well-defined surface,

34. Uranus continued
the surface of Uranus consists of blue-green clouds made up of tiny ice crystals of methane, and rock. The crystals of methane have frozen out of the planet's atmosphere.
Uranus' atmosphere is about 83% hydrogen, 15% helium and 2% methane.

35. Uranus continued
Ability to support life- Lacks water, oxygen, and moderate temperatures needed to support life, NO known life
Rotation Earth days, is retrograde rotation like Venus, and rotates on side
Revolution- 84 Earth years
Moons- 18 (book), 27 (Web), 21named moons (NASA)
Rings- 11 dark rings

36. Uranus
Image on left from
Image on right from

37. Neptune Size- Almost 4 times diameter of Earth. It is 49,500 km
Distance from Sun- Almost 30 times farther from sun than Earth. It is 4,497,000,000 km
Surface and atmosphere of a gas giant, it does not have a well-defined surface
Neptune's composition is probably similar to Uranus': various "ices" and Silicates (rock) with about 15% hydrogen, some water, and a little helium

38. Neptune continued
Atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium with a small amount of methane.
Ability to support life- Lacks significant water, oxygen, and moderate temperatures needed to support life. NO known life.

39. Neptune continued Rotation- 0.67 Earth days
Revolution- 165 Earth years
Visible clouds in atmosphere
Moons- 8 (book), 13 (web), 11 (NASA)
3 Very dark rings, 1 very faint ring

40. Neptune
Image on left from
Image on right from

41. Pluto Size- about 17% of diameter of Earth. It is 2200 km
Distance from sun- more than 39 times farther than Earth. It is 5,913,000,000 kilometers
Rocky, icy surface is very small
Thin atmosphere of methane gas

42. Pluto continued
Ability to support life- Lacks water, oxygen, and warmth needed for life
NO known life
Moons- 1 Charon (book), 3- Charon, Hydra and Nix (web and NASA)
Rotation- 6.4 Earth days
Revolution- 248 Earth years

43. Pluto
Image on left from
Image on right from

44. The Dwarf Planets
Ceres- new dwarf planet, it was classified as the largest asteroid in the Asteroid Belt (it is between Mars & Jupiter). Say sir’eez
Pluto- was classified as a planet, now classified as a dwarf planet
Eris- new dwarf planet, past Pluto it is an icy body near the edge of our solar system. Say ee’ris

45. The Dwarf Planets and their Moons
Image from

46. Planets and Dwarf Planets compared
Dwarf planets are smaller than planets
Both orbit the Sun
Both are large enough that their gravity pulls them into the shape of a sphere
Planets clear smaller objects out of their orbit. Dwarf planets can not because of their weaker gravity
Information from

47. Additional Sources