Unit 2c: Our Solar System

(Read pgs. 80-98 in 4/E of the textbook)

What properties of the Solar System can you see in Fig.3.15?

Fig.3.15 in 3/E
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 Properties of the Solar System

 The Solar system has a disk shape with

orbits of the major planets in nearly the same plane

 Planets have the same direction of revolution (CCW)

and rotation (with minor exceptions)

 There are two types of major planets: Terrestrial and Jovian

and many dwarf planets (mostly beyond Neptune’s orbit)

 There is interplanetary matter: asteroids, comets,

meteoroids and dust
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 1. Our Sun – the nearest star
150 million km away (1 AU).

Sunlight needs about 8 minutes

to reach us.
100 Earths will fit across the Sun’s
diameter.

Rotation period: about 25 days on the equator, 34 days near the poles.

The Sun’s mass is about 98% H and He and 2% other elements.

The Sun’s Luminosity (power output) is 4x1026 W. Your body receives about 500 W.
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Our Sun is in the middle of its life

The visible “surface” temperature is about

5,500oC.
The temperature in the core is about
15 million degrees.

Fig. posted in the public domain by Kelvinsong

The Solar Dynamic Observatory has

been monitoring the Sun for over 10
years:
https://youtu.be/mvPH_gDMarw?t=2
01

Observe the granular structure of

the visible “surface” of the Sun:
https://youtu.be/znBesUwVOok

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 Stars produce their energy by nuclear reactions of
fusion of Hydrogen into Helium
The output (4He nucleus)
has less mass than the
input (4 4H nuclei).

The mass difference is converted to energy: E = mc2

The Sun has enough energy for another 5 billion years.

Watch the video about nuclear fusion in stars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ZQ4JBv3-Y

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 2. Our Nearest Neighbour – the Moon
• 384,000 km away;
The dark areas (mária)
• 4 times smaller formed by asteroid
in size than Earth; impacts a few billion
years ago.
• Your weight there
will be about 6 times Lava filled the impact
less than on Earth; basins on the young
Moon. Now they are
cold dark rock.

• The Moon slowly drifts away Fig.3.16 from 3/E

(with about 4 cm/yr)
The Moon’s history – watch the LRO video
• It causes tides and slows down about the Heavy Bombardment period
Earth’s rotation about 4 billion years ago. 6
3. a) The 8 Major Planets
The planet sizes are shown to scale, but distances are not to scale.

Fig. in the public domain by Lsmpascal: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Planets_and_sun_size_comparison.jpg

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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  The Terrestrial (Earth-like) planets

Fig.3.15 in 3/E

• high density
• solid surfaces
• slow rotation
(24 hours for Earth;
243 days for Venus).

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Fig. in the public domain by Lsmpascal. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The Terrestrial planets have high density
due to their rocky outer layers and metallic cores

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Figs. prepared by NASA, in public domain.
 The Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets:
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Fig.3.15 in the 3/E

• low density
• no solid surfaces
• spin very fast
(10 – 16 hours rotation periods)
Fig. in the public domain by Lsmpascal: 10
http://www.lesud.com/lesud-astronomy_pageid81.html
 The Jovian planets have low density as they are made of
mostly H and He, with some methane and ammonia

NASA - public domain image

The Jovian planets have turbulent atmospheres and strong magnetic fields.

Their strong gravity keeps numerous rings and moons orbiting around them.
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3. b) Dwarf Planets –
made of rock and ice
Most dwarf planets are in the Kuiper
belt beyond Neptune.
The dwarf planet Ceres is in the
asteroid belt.

Credit: NASA

Sedna is the most distant

planet discovered so far:
https://science.nasa.gov/science-
news/science-at-
nasa/2004/16mar_sedna

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University

Applied Physics Laboratory/ Southwest
12 Research Institute
Pluto is different from the major planets,
but similar to other Kuiper Belt objects:
• The average density of Pluto: 2 g/cm3
(mix of rock and ice)

• Pluto’s orbit is very tilted to the orbits

of major planets

• A large number of similar small planets

exist beyond Neptune.
Credit: NASA

Illustration from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum:

https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/exploring-the-planets/online/solar-system/pluto/orbit.cfm
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Fig.3.33
3. c) Interplanetary Matter
Remnants from the original material of the Solar System
 Asteroids – large space rocks, mostly in the asteroid belt

Asteroid Ida, Credit: NASA/JPL

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  Comets –
“the dirty snowballs”

Comet_NEAT,_NASA / NSF

Fig.3.18 in 3/E

Watch this to see the difference between

asteroids, comets, and meteoroids:
https://youtu.be/EYFNw72QlXI
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Fig.3.32 Comet McNaught
 Comparing Asteroids with Comets
Both types are space debris, left over from
the formation of the Solar system

Asteroid Ida,
Credit: NASA/JPL
Asteroids
Made of rocks and metals.
Irregular shapes, with
sizes from tens of meters
to 530 km.
Mostly in the asteroid belt,
between the orbits of Mars
and Jupiter.
Comets
Fig.3.32 The long tail
Made of rocks and ice. of comet McNaught
Typically a few km
size of the nucleus.
Currently
Originate in the area observed
beyond the orbit of comets
Neptune.

Almost circular orbits. Very elliptical orbits.

No tails, not visible Produce long gas and dust
without a telescope. tails, pointing away from
the Sun, sometimes visible
without a telescope. 16
  Meteoroids – space rocks smaller than asteroids, typically a few meters across

 Meteor – a.k.a.“shooting star”, rocks smaller than 1m that burn in the atmosphere

 Meteorites are small space rocks that reach the ground.

The popular Perseids meteor shower is seen every year in mid-August:

https://youtu.be/q_664lrmyGE

Watch: When Was the Last Time an Asteroid Hit Earth?

A meteorite found on Mars

Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Credit: NASA Solar system exploration / Jimmy Westlake

What is the difference between meteoroids,

meteors, and meteorites?
Watch: https://youtu.be/tXfjUxdzqBY

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Meteorites tell us the age and
original chemical composition
of the Solar system

They have a range of ages with a

consistent and precise upper limit of
4.56 billion years.

This is widely accepted as the age of

the Solar System, and is often rounded
to 4.6 billion years.

Images Credit: NASA Johnson Space Center

Credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute

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 Fig.6.14 in 3/E
If space rocks do not burn completely The Barringer crater in Arizona
the impact can cause serious damage.

Meteorite craters show that Earth has

been hit by many space rocks in the past.
See the impact craters around the world: The Manicouagan Crater, Quebec
https://www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/New%20w
ebsite_05-2018/NorthAmerica.html

Image: NASA
Credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute
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Fig.6.25
 The properties of the Solar System
give us clues for its formation
 The Solar system has a disk shape with
the orbits of planets close to one plane.

 Planets have common direction of revolution and rotation

 The major planets are two types:

Terrestrial – closer to the Sun, rocky and dense;
Jovian – farther form the Sun, gaseous with low density

 A common age of 4.5-4.6 billion yrs. for Earth, the Moon,

Mars, meteorites, the Sun
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4. The Nebular Theory explains the formation
of the Solar system

Fig.3.34
A cloud of interstellar gas and dust began collapsing due to
gravity. Its speed of rotation increased as it was contracting. It
gradually flattened out in a disk shape.

Play the textbook video about the collapse of the Solar Nebula: 21
https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/solar_nebula
Planets formed in the dusty rotating disk around the young Sun.
The process is estimated to take about a few hundred million years.

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The Solar Nebula contained 98% H and He and
2% other elements.

Fig.3.21 in 3/E

Condensation:
Metals and rocks condensed closer to the
Sun, forming the Terrestrial planets.
Ices and gas formed further away.

See narrated video – starting from 3:00min:

https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/secs-bennett-tcp8-
solar_system_formation
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 Summary of the formation of
the Solar system:

a) The solar nebula contracts,

forming a dusty disk

b) Materials in the disk condense

at various distances from the
center as temperature
decreases.

c) Proto-planets form in the

dusty disk; the Sun is born

d) The remaining gas around the

planets clears up

Fig.3.36 Q: How can the Nebular Theory be tested? 24

5. Exoplanets – Newly forming stars are
planets orbiting other stars surrounded by dusty disks.
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov

Fig.3.37 Protoplanetary disks in the Orion Nebula 25

Thousands of extrasolar planets
(exoplanets) have been discovered
Kepler Space Telescope used the transit method
to search for Earth-size planets:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html

The current TESS mission and the future Credit: NASA/Goddard SFC
Roman Space Telescope will continue the search
for exoplanets (areas of search shown in the illustration above).
 Our Milky Way Galaxy may have more than 100 billion planets.
At least 1,500 planets can be within 50 LY from Earth.
From: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-discoveries/
The search for planets in the habitable zone of their stars:
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/search-for-life/habitable-zone
The current TESS mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/tess-transiting-exoplanet-survey-satellite
A cool Neptune-like exoplanet 90 LY away:
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1685/discovery-alert-a-cool-
planet-with-plenty-of-atmosphere/
A system of 3 Earth-size planets, 12 LY away:
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1451/discovery-alert-three-earth-
mass-neighbors/
A system of 7 planets discovered recently:
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/trappist1/