The Solar System
By
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Introduction
As far as we know, there are nine planets locked in orbit around the Sun. Only one, our own Earth, supports life. But there are countless other suns throughout countless galaxies scattered across the expanse of the universe. We still don’t know if life exists on another planet in some other galaxy.
Mercury
Named for the wing-footed messenger of the Roman gods, Mercury races around its orbit at a dizzying speed of 30 miles (48 kilometers) per second, making the Mercurial year only 88 Earth days long. In contrast, one rotation around its axis—or a single day—takes almost 59 Earth days.
Geology
Mariner 10 gave us a wealth of information about Mercury when it approached the planet in 1974 and 1975. Because Mercury has no water and barely any atmosphere, no erosion has taken place on its surface. We see Mercury much the way it was soon after it formed.
Core
We learned that Mercury has an extremely weak magnetic field, which could indicate a hot metallic core, such as molten iron. Geologists think Mercury may be the most iron-rich planet in the solar system.
Crust
Mercury’s crust seems to be silicate, like that of Earth.
Craters
The planet’s surface, viewed for the first time via Mariner’s cameras, is covered by craters. The battering occurred during the early period of the solar system when clumps of material were ramming into each other to form the planets.
Atmosphere
Mercury doesn’t have what we think of as an atmosphere—that is, a gaseous envelope that produces clouds and weather or protects the surface of the planet from some of the harmful solar radiation. The weak magnetic field on Mercury captures only the barest perceptible trace of charged particles from the Sun.
Venus
Shrouded in the cloak of mystery, Venus, our nearest planetary neighbor, takes the name of the Roman goddess of love. For some unknown reason, Venus rotates on its axis in retrograde—that is, in the reverse direction of its revolution around the Sun.
Geology
Geologically, Venus appears to have some similarities to Earth. Its crust is probably granitic, overlying a basaltic mantle and a iron-nickel core. The geologic activity that we are familiar with on Earth seems not to exist on Venus, except for the presence two volcanoes along a fault line.
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Uranus 19.18 84 years 16 hours 14.54 4.10 15
Neptune god of the deep blue sea 30.06 165 years 18 hours 17.23 3.88 8
Pluto god of the underworld 39.44 248 years 6.4 days .002? 0.12-0.30 1
* AU = Astronomical Unit (Earth = 1)
Conclusion
We know more and more all the time about our own solar system. During the past 15 years, space probes such as the Mariner and Voyager missions have given us tremendous detail about all the planets in this system. Tiny by comparison to the Milky Way, our solar system is awesome, nevertheless, when considered in human scale.
Uranus is about 4 times the diameter of earth at 46,700km. Its mass is 15 times that of earth at 8.68*10 kg. The axial tilt of this planet is one of the most unusual things about it. It is tilted 98 degrees which classifies it as being in retrograde rotation. Uranus is also unique because it has the most inclined magnetic field. The surface magnetic field is 74 percent that of the earth. The surface gravity on Uranus is 8.87 m/s².
Although Pluto was discovered in 1930, limited information on the distant planet delayed a realistic understanding of its characteristics. Today Pluto remains the only planet that has not been visited by a spacecraft, yet an increasing amount of information is unfolding about this peculiar planet. The uniqueness of Pluto's orbit, rotational relationship with its satellite, spin axis, and light variations all give the planet a certain appeal.
The age of the figurine has been changed several times. Originally, when found, the date was estimated to be 15,000 to 10,000 BCE. During the 1970’s the time period was adjusted to 25,000 to 20,000 BCE; the date was again recalculated in the 1980’s to 30,000 to 25,000 BCE; the most recent estimate of age was in the 1990’s and was placed at 24,000 to 22,000 BCE after scientific research was performed on the rock stratification. This statuette was discovered by Josef Szombathy in 1908 near the town of Willendorf, Austria, in an Aurignacian loess deposit, which loosely defined is a yellow brown loamy geological deposit dating to the Paleolithic period. The name Venus was first associated with the figurine as a joke.
The planet Venus is an uninhabited planet, 109 million kilometers from the sun making it the second closest planet (“Planet Venus Facts”). Being also the sixth largest planet in our Solar System it measures 12,100 km in diameter, similar to that of Earth (“Planet Venus Facts”). Because of their similarities in size Earth and Venus are often called “twins” (Feather and Zike 77). Venus was first discovered by ancient astronomers because of its visibility to the naked eye, but they were unable to identify what it was (Cain). Because this was before recorded history, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly who first saw it in the sky (Cain). In 1610 it was confirmed by Galileo that Venus was, in fact, a planet, based on the grounds that it also experienced phases, just like our own moon (Cain).
Saturn has an uncountable amount of physical characteristics unlike any other planet. Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, is the farthest planet in the solar system that a person is able to visualize with the naked eye (How Big Is Saturn?). Other than Jupiter, Saturn is the fastest spinning planet and completes its rotation approximately every ten and a half hours. Because of the rapid rate that it spins, Saturn tends to bulge at its equator and flatten at its poles. Saturn’s main contents are hydrogen and helium along with a various amount of other gases (How Big Is Saturn?). Its dense core includes ice, water, rock, and other unknown combinations made up by extreme heat and pressure (Saturn: Read More). Saturn has the lowest density of all the planets, being le...
This is the Scholarly Journal Archive. 2. Letters Planet Pluto Gerard P. Kuiper Science, New Series, Vol. 124, No. 2 -. 3216. The. Aug. 17, 1956, p. 322.
Meteorites, having a decent impact on this, have been separated into three categories; stony, stony iron, and iron. They have been split into these because of their composition and stony is the most commonly found on Earth. This suggests that other objects in the universe are made of some of the same material because meteorites are usually small pieces or leftovers of a larger object in the solar system. Planetary surfaces are the surfaces that show the impact cratering but less impact craters are found than the number of meteorites. The age and histories of different planetary surfaces can be determined by impact craters. “Scientists record the size and number of impact craters - and how eroded they are - to determine the ages and histories of different planetary surfaces” (Impact Cratering). Even though so many meteorites hit Earth, a lot of impact craters are difficult to recognize because Earth’s weathering and
Perhaps one of the most interesting features of our fathomless universe are the planets that are classified as gas giants. Huge, turbulent, and distant, the gas giants are some of the most enigmatic features in our Solar System. I have a personal interest to the gas giants and celestial bodies in general. When I was a child, I was fascinated by our Solar System. I read innumerable books about space, and my interests of outer space had been piqued further by other forms of media. Although I held this interest of space, growing up left me with little time to learn about space, and I lost interest for a while. Taking Earth Science in Milpitas High re-invigorated my interests in the celestial bodies. Using this class, I’m now able to focus on learning more about our colossal universe, in particular, the outer planets.
The crust varies in thickness throughout earth. It is thinner under oceans and usually thicker under continents. The inner core and crust are solid while the outer core and mantle layers are semi-fluid. The core is probably composed mostly of iron. Temperatures
Our sun is the central pivot point to which or entire planet and solar system is built around. With out it all life on our planet would cease to exist. Within this paper we will explore how our Sun and solar system formed and came to resemble what we see today.
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli depicts a moment from Venus birth when she stepping, almost floating, off the seashell that was blown ashore by Zephyors along with Chloris. Horae awaits Venus arrival to shore with a large red cloak to cover her naked body .Venus is the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, and prostitution. Venus is the Roman Aphrodite. Born of seafoam from a singled drop of blood in to the sea from the castration of her farther Uranus by his son Saturn.
Our Solar System is a wonderful place, with its profuse planets big and small, giant icy wastelands and tiny volcanic planets. It is the only place known to have a planet to have a planet that supports life. The Sun, two asteroid belts, eight planets, and five dwarf planets make this place truly awesome.
Our solar system has eight planets, their moons and satellites, and they are all orbiting the Sun. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto used to be the ninth planet but IAU changed the definition of planet and Pluto did not meet the standards so it is now a Dwarf planet.
The Earth’s magnetic field is a major component to exploring the earth. The north and the south poles have always been a guide for travelers. Using compasses, the direction of the north pole and the south pole has always been provided by the magnetic force of the magnetic field. What many people do not know though is the earth’s magnetic field provides way more than that. The magnetic field, also known as the magnetosphere, protects us from all kinds of harmful substances. Some of these substances include solar wind and harmful radiation from the sun. The magnetosphere also protects the atmosphere, which protects us.