EARTH AS THE ONLY HABITABLE

PLANET
MS. ROSIE J. SIALANA
There are two major
requirements for a planet
to become habitable.

1. The star should survive

long enough for its
planet to develop life.
2. The planet should exist
in a region where water
could remain liquid.
The star should survive long
enough for its planet to
develop life.
• Not too young.
• Not too big.
• Not too small.
• Not too violent.
• Not too rich and
not too poor.
• Not too crowded.

The planet should exist in a
region where water could remain
liquid.
Being in the Goldilocks
Zone, indicates that the
distance of Earth from
the sun such that the
amount of energy
received is just enough to
make the temperature of
Earth neither too hot nor
too cold.
 Different stars have
different Goldilocks Zon
or habitable zones. Blu
stars, farther habitable
zones. Red stars have clo
habitable zones.
Aside from their distance, planets may also have other features that are
not suitable for life.
The Jovian planets are also called the gas giants.
HABITABLE EARTH
• A planet with the right
temperature enables water to
remain in its liquid form,
which is necessary to
maintain life.
• Scientists believe that carbon
and its unique properties are
the basis of all life.
 The Miller-Urey
Experiment made use of
hydrogen, methane,
ammonia, and water vapor
as components of the early
atmosphere. These gases
were exposed to electrical
sparks for one week. When
the week ended, some
reddish-brown substances
were found in the container.
SOLAR SYSTEM
EXPLORATIONS
These space explorations have helped astronomers
dramatically increase their knowledge and discoveries
regarding celestial bodies.
 Some are recent and ongoing
space explorations
•March 18, 2011 – First spacecraft to orbit Mercury
(NASA’s MESSENGER)
•July 16, 2011 – First spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
(NASA’s Dawn)
•August 6, 2012 – Curiosity rover lands on Mars (NASA’s
Curiosity Rover)
•August 25, 2012 – First humanmade spacecraft in
interstellar space. (NASA’s Voyager 1)
•August 6, 2014 - First spacecraft to orbit a comet
(European Space Agency’s Rosetta Space Probe)
•July 14, 2015 – New Horizons Mission (NASA’s New
Horizons)

A planet is a celestial body that:
a. is an orbit around the sun;
b. Has sufficient mass for its self-
gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a
nearly round shape; and
c. Has cleared the neighborhood
around its orbit.
A dwarf planet is a celestial body
that:
a. Is in orbit around the sun;
b. Has sufficient mass for its self-
gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a
nearly round shape;
Small solar system bodies are all
objects except satellites orbiting
around the sun. These currently
include asteroids, trans-
Neptunian Objects or TNOs
(objects orbiting beyond
c. Has not cleared the Neptune), comets, and other small
neighborhood around its orbit; celestial bodies.
and
d. Is not a satellite.