Guide To Our Solar System
Our Solar System consists of one sun and eight planets that are gravitationally bound in orbit around it. The name of our solar system is Sol and it is located in the in the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy is a bulge spiral galaxy. This means that it has arms that swirl around the outside. Sol is located on the outer reaches of the Orion arm. The Milky Way is only one of millions of galaxies in our universe.
Planets:
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun being only 57.9 million kilometres away. Its diameter is 4850 kilometres and the length of day on Mercury is 58.7 Earth days. Mercury appears grey in colour and has no moons. The maximum surface temperature is 465°C and the minimum is -184°C. The mass of Mercury is 3.3 x 1023 tons. Mercury’s atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium.
Venus, the next closest planet, is 108.2 million kilometres from the sun. It appears as a yellow-white colour and has a diameter of 12,100 kilometres. Venus. The length of a day on Venus is 243 Earth days. Venus’s mass is 4.87 x 1024 kilograms. The average temperature is 449°C. The atmosphere on Venus is made up of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Venus has no moons.
The Earth in detail:
The Earth is the third planet from the sun. It is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old. The average temperature on Earth varies from -90°C to 60°C. The Earth is 71% water. Only 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh water. This is extremely important as all like on Earth requires water. The average depth of the ocean is 3800 metres and the average height of the land, above sea level, is 840 metres. The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of various gases, 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon gas and 0.1% other gases. Most creatures, such as mammals and most reptiles, require oxygen to live. It takes the Earth 365.25 days to orbit the sun. The length of a day on Earth (the time it takes the Earth to make one full rotation on its own axis) is 24 hours. The Earth has only one moon, called The Moon. The surface area of the Earth is 510 million kilometres. The mass of Earth is 5.98 x 1024 kilograms. The Earth is blue, green, brown and white due to the water, plant life, soil and clouds.
The Earth is the third planet from the sun. It is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old. The average temperature on Earth varies from -90°C to 60°C. The Earth is 71% water. Only 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh water. This is extremely important as all like on Earth requires water. The average depth of the ocean is 3800 metres and the average height of the land, above sea level, is 840 metres. The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of various gases, 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon gas and 0.1% other gases. Most creatures, such as mammals and most reptiles, require oxygen to live. It takes the Earth 365.25 days to orbit the sun. The length of a day on Earth (the time it takes the Earth to make one full rotation on its own axis) is 24 hours. The Earth has only one moon, called The Moon. The surface area of the Earth is 510 million kilometres. The mass of Earth is 5.98 x 1024 kilograms. The Earth is blue, green, brown and white due to the water, plant life, soil and clouds.
The next planet from the sun, after the Earth, is Mars, 227.9 kilometres away. Mars has a diameter of 6,880 kilometres and appears red in colour. A day on Mars is 24.6 Earth hours. The mass of Mars is 6.42 x 1023 kilograms and it has two moons. Mars’s temperature varies from -123°C to 36°C. The atmosphere on Mars is made up of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon.
Jupiter is 778.3 million kilometres away from the sun making it the fifth closest. Jupiter’s diameter is 143,000 kilometres. There are 18 known moons orbiting Jupiter. A day on Jupiter is 9.84 Earth hours. Jupiter appears as brown, red, blue and white. The mass of Jupiter is 1.90x 1027 kilograms and its average temperature is -153°C. Hydrogen, helium and methane make up Jupiter’s atmosphere.
The sixth planet from the sun, Saturn, is 1,427 million kilometres away. Saturn appears as brown, white, yellow and red in colour. A day on Saturn is only 10.2 Earth hours. Saturn has a diameter of 120,000 kilometres and also has over 18 moons. The mass of Saturn is 5.69x 1026 kilograms. The average temperature on Saturn is -184°C. Saturn’s atmosphere is made up primarily of hydrogen, helium and methane.
Uranus is 2,871 million kilometres away from the sun. It appears light blue in colour and has a diameter of 51,000 kilometres. The length of a day on Uranus is 17.9 Earth hours. There are 15 moons orbiting around Uranus. The maximum temperature on Uranus is -184°C. The atmosphere on Uranus is made up of hydrogen, helium and methane. Uranus’s mass is 8.68 x 1025 kilograms.
Approximately 4406.1 million kilometres away from the sun is Neptune. Neptune is the eighth and last planet in our solar system. It appears blue in colour and its diameter is 50,000 kilometres. Neptune has two moons and a mass of 1.02 x 1026 kilograms. The length of a day on Neptune is 19.1 Earth hours. The average surface temperature on Neptune is -223°C. Hydrogen, helium and methane make up Neptune’s atmosphere.
How our Solar System and the Earth's Moon were formed
Scientists believe that our Solar System formed 4600 million years ago. They have theorised that our solar system was originally a cloud of gas and dust. This cloud was disturbed, possibly by a nearby star exploding in a supernova. This explosion made waves which squeezed the cloud. This squeezing caused the cloud to collapse. As the cloud collapsed gravity began to pull the gas and dust together. As the cloud was being pulled together it began to spin. Eventually the cloud got hotter and denser in the centre with a ‘disk’ of gas and dust surrounding. At this stage our universe was hot in the centre and cooler at the edges. As the disk got thinner particles began to stick together and form clumps. Some clumps got bigger and eventually forming planets or moons. Near the centre of the disk, where the Earth was formed, only rocky matter could stand the heat. Icy matter and rocky material settled in the outer regions of the disk, this was where planets like Jupiter formed. This accounts for the differences in the composition of the inner and outer planets in our Solar System. The cloud continued to fall in which resulted in a centre so hot that a star, our Sun, could form. The sun blew off most of the gas and dust from our newborn universe with a strong stellar wind.
There are four main theories for the formation of the moon. The first theory states that the moon formed in exactly the same way as planets. That is, through the coalescing of gas and dust during the solar systems formation. The second theory states that the moon is just a captured asteroid. The third theory states that when the earth originally formed it was spinning so rapidly that it split in two. This theory is often referred to as the “Fission Theory”. The fourth theory is the one most scientists tend to follow. This theory states that when the earth was quite young a planet, approximately the size of Mars crashed into it. This planet was moving so fast and crashed into the Earth with such force that it was completely destroyed and nearly destroyed the Earth. The molten iron in this planets core continued to travel through the earth and was included in the Earth’s core. This explained why there is very little iron in the moons core. The crash has been dubbed the “Big Splash”. It sent tons of rock and debris into orbit around the Earth. Over many years these fragments coalesced to form the moon.
Bibliography For This Page
Burro 2006, ‘Earth’s Moon’, viewed 20 August 2012, <http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/earth_moon.html>
Enchanted Learning.com 2010, ‘The Planets’, viewed 20 August 2012, <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/>
Kids Know it Network 2011, ‘All Solar Planets’, viewed 20 August 2012, <http://www.kidsastronomy.com/the_planets.htm>
Outer Space Universe 2012, ‘What are the colours of the 9 planets in our Solar System’, viewed 20 August 2012, http://www.outerspaceuniverse.org/what-are-the-colors-of-the-9-planets-in-our-solar-system.html
Roth, G 1996, ‘Stars and Planets’, Sterling Publishing, Canada.
Schmidtke, K 2012, Galaxies, teacher notes, Mercy College, Mackay, 20 August 2012.
Schmidtke, K 2012, Our Solar System, teacher notes, Mercy College, Mackay, 20 August 2012.
Enchanted Learning.com 2010, ‘The Planets’, viewed 20 August 2012, <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/>
Kids Know it Network 2011, ‘All Solar Planets’, viewed 20 August 2012, <http://www.kidsastronomy.com/the_planets.htm>
Outer Space Universe 2012, ‘What are the colours of the 9 planets in our Solar System’, viewed 20 August 2012, http://www.outerspaceuniverse.org/what-are-the-colors-of-the-9-planets-in-our-solar-system.html
Roth, G 1996, ‘Stars and Planets’, Sterling Publishing, Canada.
Schmidtke, K 2012, Galaxies, teacher notes, Mercy College, Mackay, 20 August 2012.
Schmidtke, K 2012, Our Solar System, teacher notes, Mercy College, Mackay, 20 August 2012.