1. The Solar System
Where we live!

2. Mercury Mercury is the planet closest to the sun.
Mercury’s surface looks like the moon.
It is very cratered billion years ago
Mercury has no atmosphere to speak of
No moons

3. Mercury Mercury is the fastest planet – 30 mps
Mercury’s revolution is 88 days, rotation is 59
One day lasts 176 Earth days
Gravity is 1/3 of E
Temps range from 840 to -275

4. Mercury Mercury is 3032 miles at the equator
Mercury is hard to see because it is close to Sun. Seen in phases
Named after Roman god of commerce, travel, and thievery

5. Mercury Dust covers the surface of the planet
Mariner 10 came close in

6. Venus 4.6 billion years old
2nd planet from the sun, 67 million miles from the sun
Rotation- 243 E days
Revolution- 225 E days
900 to – 225 degrees!
Mass of Earth

7. Venus Earth’s twin due to size, density, and gravity.
Temperature 900F due to runaway
greenhouse effect.
97% Carbon Dioxide- atmospheric
Pressure is 90 times
21+ spacecraft have visited

8. Venus Volcanoes, rocky, craters, basins, highlands
Mount Maxwell – 17 times higher than Everest
Oceans once- boiled away
Photojournal:

9. Mars

10. Mars The Red Planet – reminded ancients of blood and war.
Names after the Roman god of war
Has 2 moons- Phobos and Deimos (fear and terror)
Avg 142 million miles from the sun

11. Mars The soil is rusted because it has a high iron content
The large volcano is Olympus Mons (over 3 Mount Everests!)
Ice caps at both poles
Once believed to have water
Scientists thought “canali” meant canals- canals= life

12. Mars Temperatures range from super cold to barley above freezing
A Martian day is almost the same as Earth’s but a year is twice as long (687 days)
Mars has seasons like Earth because its axis is tilted about 25 degrees

13. Asteroids
Asteroids are bit and chunks of solid material left over form the formation of our solar system. Most are in orbit between Mars and Jupiter- asteroid belt (belt asteroids) Some have been captured- like Mars’ moons Some cross Earth’s orbit- near Earth asteroids

16. Solar system picture: http://www. aerospaceguide
Solar system picture: Veus-