The Solar System

PLUTO
Not to (Dwarf Planet)
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the inner planets.
scale
NEPTUNE
They are also known as terrestrial planets.

URANUS

SATURN
MARS

EARTH
JUPITER Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto are
VENUS
the outer planets.
MERCURY
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune are also
SUN known as gas giants or
Jovian planets.

Pluto is a big ball of ice.

COMETS OR METEOROIDS
 Relative
planet size
 Mercury
• 1st planet out from the sun.
• Resembles Earth's Moon, scarred by
thousands of impact craters. There are
areas of smooth terrain as well as cliffs,
some soaring a mile high, formed by
ancient impacts.
• Rocky material. It is a terrestrial planet.
• Almost no atmosphere. The very little
atmosphere that exists is composed
chiefly of oxygen, sodium, and helium.
• Planetary satellites (Moons): None
• Rotation: 59 days (very slow rotation)
• Revolution: 88 days to go around the Sun
once.
 Venus
• 2nd planet out from the sun.
• It is covered by thick, rapidly spinning
clouds. Due to its thick cloud layer reflecting
sunlight, it is the brightest planet in the sky
• Rocky material. It contains an iron core and a
molten rocky mantle. The crust is a solid,
rocky material.
• Planetary satellites (Moons): None
• Rotation: 243 days
• Revolution: 225 Earth days. Its day is longer
than its year.
• sometimes called Earth's "sister planet", for
the two are similar in size, gravity, and bulk
composition.
 Earth
• 3rd planet out from the sun.
• The Earth looks blue and green from
space with clouds moving through the
atmosphere. The surface of the Earth is
70% water and 30% land.
• Rocky material. It is a terrestrial planet.
It has a nickel-iron core with a molten Special feature: Earth
mantle and solid rocky crust. sustains life as we
• Planetary satellites (Moons):1 moon know it. Water exists
• Rotation: 24 hours (1 day) in all three states (solid,
• Revolution: 365.25 days liquid , and gas) on the
• Temperature: Mean surface 15 °C to Earth. There is a
20 °C delicate balance
between its oceans, air,
land, and life.
 Mars
• 4th planet out from the sun.
• Mars appears red due to the iron oxide in
its soil. It has polar ice caps that grow
and recede with the seasons, and it has
dust storms, which cause giant dunes,
wind streaks, and wind-carved features.
• Atmosphere: Mostly carbon dioxide,
nitrogen, and argon.
• Planetary satellites (Moons): 2 moons
• Rotation: 24.6 hours
• Revolution: 687 days.
• Also referred to as the "Red Planet"
because of its reddish appearance as seen
from Earth
 Jupiter
• 5th planet out from the sun.
• It is sometimes called a “mini-solar system”
because of its numerous moons and several
rings. Jupiter appears striped because light
and dark belts are created by strong east-west
winds.
• It is a gas giant, meaning it is mostly made of
gases. Jupiter's core is probably not solid but Special Feature: The
Great Red Spot has
a dense, hot liquid with a consistency like existed for at least 100
thick soup. years, and perhaps longer.
• Planetary satellites (Moons): 67 moons; It is a hurricane-like
storm on Jupiter.
some of them have been named and some (Galileo reported seeing a
have alphanumeric designations. similar feature nearly 400
years ago). Three Earths
• Rotation: 9 hours, 19 minutes could fit across the Great
• Revolution: 12 Earth years Red Spot.
 Saturn
• 6th planet out from the sun.
• Saturn has a large system of rings, and
the yellow and gold bands in its
atmosphere are caused by super-fast
winds combined with heat rising from its
interior.
• It is a Gas giant, meaning it is mostly Special feature: Saturn's
ring system is the most
made of the gases hydrogen and helium. extensive and complex in
• Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen and our solar system; it extends
helium. hundreds of thousands of
kilometers from the planet.
• Planetary satellites (Moons): 60 Moons The rings are mostly water
some have been named and others have ice with particles ranging in
alphanumeric designations size from a few micrometers
to several tens of meters
• Rotation: 10 hours, 38 minutes
• Revolution: 29.45 Earth years
 Uranus
• 7th planet out from the sun.
• It has a blue-green color from the methane gas
above the deeper clouds. Methane absorbs red
light and reflects blue light. It does have a
small system of rings.
• It is a Gas giant, meaning it is mostly made of
the gases hydrogen and helium, with a small
amount of methane and traces of water and
ammonia. It has no solid surface, but it does
contain a liquid core made mostly of “icy” Special feature:
materials (water, methane, and ammonia) Uranus’ axis is tilted
• Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen, helium, and so that it seems to
methane. rotate on its side. This
• Planetary satellites (Moons): 27 Moons tilt gives it seasons
• Rotation: 17 hours that last over twenty
• Revolution: 84 Earth years years.
• Temperature: 224 °C
 Neptune
• 8th planet out from the sun.
• Neptune has a blue color because of the
methane in its atmosphere. The methane
reflects blue light while it absorbs red light.
It has a small system of rings and
periodically Great Dark Spots (hurricane-
like storms) appear.
• It is a Gas giant, meaning it is mostly made
of the gases hydrogen, helium, and methane. Special features:
It has no solid surface, but its liquid core is Neptune is actually the
farthest planet from the
composed of water and other “melted ices.” Sun for a 20-year period
• Planetary satellites (Moons): 14 Moons out of every 248 Earth
• Rotation: 16 hours years due to Pluto’s
unusual elliptical orbit.
• Revolution: 165 Earth years
 Pluto
• 9th planet out from the sun.
• A large frozen ball of ice.
• Rocky core surrounded by water ice.
• Frozen most of the time. When it is closest
to the Sun the bright layer of frozen methane,
nitrogen, and carbon monoxide thaws out
and gives it a thin atmosphere.
• It is the planet with the lowest gravity in the
solar system.
• Planetary satellites (Moons): 5 moon
( Charon, Kerberos, Nyx, Styx and Hydra)

• Rotation: 6.39 days

• Revolution: 247.9 Earth years
• Temperature: 233 °C
THE END…