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The Solar System

The Solar System. Solar System Formation. Your Parents ’ Solar System. 21 st Century Solar System. The 21 st Century Solar System. Sun Terrestrial Planets Asteroid Belt Jovian Planets Kuiper Belt Oort Cloud. Ingredient Sun Jupiter Other planets Everything else.

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The Solar System

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  1. The Solar System

  2. Solar System Formation

  3. Your Parents’ Solar System

  4. 21st Century Solar System

  5. The 21st Century Solar System Sun Terrestrial Planets Asteroid Belt Jovian Planets Kuiper Belt Oort Cloud

  6. Ingredient Sun Jupiter Other planets Everything else Percent of total mass 99.8% 0.1% 0.05% 0.05% The Solar System: List of Ingredients

  7. A middle-aged, average star: Mostly Hydrogen & Helium 99.8% of the Solar System ~4.6 billion years old Shines because it is hot: Surface Temp ~6000 C Mostly Visible, UV & IR light Kept hot by nuclear fusion in its core: Builds Helium from Hydrogen fusion. Will shine for ~12 billion years The Sun

  8. The Sun dominates the Solar System

  9. Terrestrial Planets • Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars • “Earth-Like” Rocky Planets • Largest is Earth • Only in the inner solar system (0.4 to 1.5 AU) • Rocky Planets: • Solid Surfaces • Mostly Silicates and Iron • High Density: (rock & metal) • Earth, Venus, & Mars have atmospheres

  10. The Terrestrial Planets Mercury (0.055 M) Venus (0.82 M) Earth (1 M) Mars (0.11 M)

  11. The Jovian Planets • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune • Largest Planets: at least 15 times mass of Earth. • Only in the outer solar system (5 to 30 AU) • No solid surfaces (mostly atmosphere) • Low density • Gas Giants: (Jupiter & Saturn) • Thick H/He atmosphere, liquid hydrogen mantle, ice core • Ice Giants: (Uranus & Neptune) • Ice/rock core & mantle, thin H/He atmosphere

  12. The Jovian Planets Jupiter (318 M) Saturn (95 M) Uranus (15 M) Neptune (17 M)

  13. Dwarf Planets • Defined by the IAU in 2006 • Dwarf Planets: • Ceres: first of the Asteroids, discovered in 1801 • Pluto: trans-Neptunian object discovered in 1930 • Eris: trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2005 • Haumea (trans-Neptunian, suspected) • Makemake (trans-Neptunian, suspected)

  14. Dwarf Planets

  15. The Giant Moons • Moon: any natural satellite orbiting a planet or dwarf planet • Giant Moons: • Earth: The Moon (Luna) • Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, & Callisto • Saturn: Titan • Neptune: Triton • Many smaller moons, both rocky & icy. • Only Mercury & Venus have no moons.

  16. The Giant Moons

  17. Umbriel Mimas Ariel Iapetus Hygeia Miranda Proteus Pallas Tethys Dione Vesta Oberon Ceres Charon Rhea Titania Enceladus Io Mercury Europa Moon Triton Titan Ganymede Callisto Pluto

  18. Kuiper Belt • Class of icy bodies orbiting beyond Neptune. • Found only in the outer Solar System (>30AU) • Densities of 1.2 to 2 g/cc (mostly ices) • Examples: • Pluto & Eris (icy dwarf planets) • Kuiper Belt Objects (30-50AU) • Charon, Pluto’s large moon • Sedna & Quaor: distant large icy bodies

  19. Kuiper Belt

  20. Oort Cloud • Spherical cloud of comets. • Extends out to almost 50,000 AU (1 light-year) • May contain trillions of comets • The outer edge is the farthest reach of the Sun’s gravitational pull. • There are no confirmed observations – its existence is theoretical only.

  21. Oort Cloud

  22. The Leftovers (small bodies) • Asteroids: • Made of rock & metal (density 2-3 g/cc) • Sizes: Few 100km to large boulders • Most are found in the Main Belt (2.1-3.2 AU) • Meteoroids: • Bits of rock and metal • Sizes: grains of sand to boulders • Comets: • Composite rock & ice “dirty snowballs” • Longs tails of gas & dust are swept off them when they pass near the Sun.

  23. Asteroids 951 Gaspra 243 Ida 253 Mathilde

  24. Meteor burning up in the atmosphere.

  25. Comet P/Halley Comet P/Wilt

  26. Is Pluto a Planet? • What to consider? • Size? • Shape? • Orbit? • What is it made of?

  27. IAU Definition of a Planet In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a planet: • orbits the Sun • has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical), • has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, • is not a satellite

  28. IAU Definition of a Dwarf Planet In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a dwarf planet: • orbits the Sun • has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical), • has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, • is not a satellite

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