The Solar System
Modeling the Solar System
______Model
Ancient ______
Earth is at the center of the______
The Earth stood ______& never moved.
______are on a separate sphere orbiting the Earth
7 objects moved differently in the sky known as the “______” or ______. Sun, Moon, Mercury, ______, Mars, ______& Saturn
______
Designed an updated model of the ______model.
The planets ______in circles around the Earth & also travel in ______on the orbit.
______Model
Nicholas ______
Earth revolves around the ______.
______revolves around the Earth.
Earth ______on an axis.
Planets revolved around the ______.
Planets have ______orbits.
______Brahe & Johannes ______
Brahe charted the motions of celestial bodies before ______.
______Kepler used Brahe’s data to form the Laws of ______Motion:
1. The path of a planet around the Sun is an ______.
2. A planet will travel ______when it is closer to the Sun & cover a greater distance than when it is farther away.
3. The more ______the planet’s orbit is from the Sun, the longer it takes to make a single revolution.
Revolutionary ______
Mercury = ______Earth days
Earth = ______days
Jupiter = ______Earth years
Pluto = ______8 Earth years
______Theory: Formation of the ______System
1. More than ______years ago, the solar system was a cloud (nebula) ______of gas, ice, & dust.
2. Gradually, this cloud fragment contracted into a large, tightly packed, ______. The disk’s center was so hot & dense that nuclear ______reaction occur forming the Sun.
3. The rest of the material in the disk cools enough to clump into ______solids.
4. Finally, these clumps ______& combined to become the planets, dwarf planets, comets, ______, etc.
» The planets all orbit on the same ______called the ecliptic.
» The 8 ______occasionally line up in a straight line.
______and the Solar System
Galileo
Believed that objects ______to the Earth at the same rate despite the object’s ______.
______slows down falling objects.
Sir Isaac ______
Law of Universal ______
» Gravity is a ______generated between two objects.
» Gravity depends on the mass of each object & the ______between them.
Gravity Equation
F is gravitational ______
r is the distance between the 2 ______
m is the ______of an object
G is the Gravitational ______
G= 6.673 x 10 -11
Albert ______
Theory of General ______
» ______tells space how to ______.
» Curved space______matter how to move.
» ______moves in the straightest possible ______in curved space-time.
Distances in the Solar System
- Astronomical ______
Distances in space are ______of miles/kilometers in the solar system.
One ______units (AU) is the distance btw the Earth & Sun. 1 AU = ______miles = 150 million km
Terrestrial Planets
Mercury
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Roman messenger god (______)
Covered in ______& cliffs, similar to the Moon.
No true atmosphere; trace amounts of ______.
As cold as ______in the dark & as hot as 425oC in the light.
Venus
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Roman goddess of love & beauty (______)
Thick atmosphere of ______which causes a severe ______effect producing temperatures well over ______. (Hottest planet)
Air pressure is ______times greater than the Earth’s.
______to Earth’s size.
Has retrograde rotation (______backwards)
Takes longer to ______than to revolve around the Sun. (Day is longer than its year.)
______with inactive volcanoes.
3rd brightest object in Earth’s ______.
Earth
______AU from the Sun
Also known as ______, ______, or Home.
More than ______of Earth’s surface is covered in water.
Only planet known to have______in existence.
Has a ______satellite (Moon/Luna.)
Mars
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Roman god of war (______)
______(rust) in the soil gives it a reddish color.
Polar ice caps made mostly of frozen ______(dry ice) & some water.
Mars is ______the size of the Earth.
______dust storms.
Ranges from ______at night & 20oC during the day.
Olympus Mons, the largest ______in the solar system is on Mars.
Thin ______atmosphere of Nitrogen & CO2
Mars has two small moons that came from the ______belt.
______Planets
Jupiter
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Roman king of the gods.( ______)
Completely made of Hydrogen & ______gas (gas giant)
______of the solar planets.
Swirling bands of ______clouds in the upperatmosphere.
Large rotating hurricane called the ______. (2 Earth sizes)
4 faint ______in orbit.
______times greater in mass than all of the other planets combined.
Has at least ______natural satellites,4 largest are known as the ______Moons.
- Ganymede
» Largest ______in the solar system (bigger than ______,but less mass.)
» Covered with a crust of ______& ice that is heavily cratered.
» Thin atmosphere of ______.
- Callisto
» ______largest moon in the solar system
» Most heavily______object in the solar system.
» Thin atmosphere of ______
- Europa
» Covered in a shell of ______
» A deep ______beneath the ice shell.
» Thin atmosphere of ______.
- Io
» About the size of the ______Moon.
» Most ______active body in the solar system. Erupts sulfur.
» Thin atmosphere of ______dioxide.
» No______.
Saturn
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Roman god of agriculture. (______)
Made of ______& Helium (gas giant)
______poles from spinning very fast.
Less dense than ______.
Most elaborate system of rings (rock & ice ______)
______or more rings.
56 or more natural ______.
- Titan
» ______largest moon in the solar system.
» Has a thick, dense atmosphere mostly of ______& some ______.
» Surface is “______” & has lakes of liquid hydrocarbons.
Uranus
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Greek god of the ______.
Gas giant made of ______, Helium & methane.
______on its side.
System of ______.
______or more moons.
Neptune
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Roman god of the sea (______)
Gas giant made of ______, Helium, & methane.
Near-______& dynamic storms.
______ring system.
13 known moons
- Triton
» Icy, ______surface.
» Coldest body in the solar system (______)
» Icy volcanoes & ______erupting Nitrogen, dust & ______
Dwarf Planets
Ceres
______AU from the Sun
Largest object in the ______belt (______in diameter.)
______an asteroid for over 150 years.
It is believed to have a rocky core, icy water ______, & a thin, ______crust.
Pluto
______AU from the Sun
Named after the Roman god of the ______(Hades)
______largest dwarf planet in the solar system.
Pluto’s companion, ______, is half the size & doesn’t ______around Pluto.
Pluto & Charon are small enough to fit ______the United States.
Eris
______AU from the Sun
Largest known dwarf planet in the solar system with a diameter of ______km.
At least one moon, ______.
Other Possible Dwarf Planets
Orcus
______
Charon
Possibly ______others
Other Solar Objects
Comets
Large chunks of ______gases, rock & dust orbiting the Sun. (Dirty ______)
1. ______– main portion of the comet
2. Coma – thawed gases & dust form a bright cloud surrounding the ______.
3. ______– solar winds push away the gases of the ______forming a blue ion tail & a yellowish-white dust tail.
Famous Comets
______Comet
» Most famous comet
» Returns roughly every ______years.
Comet Hale-______
» Comet discovered by ______astronomers.
» Last seen Spring of 1997.
Comet Shoemaker-______9
» Broke into several pieces and collided with ______in 1994.
» They created several ______marks in the atmosphere that eventually disappeared.
Asteroids
Large chunks of rock material left over from the ______of the solar system.
Most ______are found in the asteroid belt between Mars & Jupiter.
Meteoroids, Meteors, & Meteorites
______are pieces of rock & dust left behind by orbiting comets.
Small meteoroids that ______in the Earth’s atmosphere are called ______or “shooting stars.”
Larger meteoroids that don’t burn up in the atmosphere and hit the Earth are called ______.