Our Solar System! BY Allison Kenney :D =D

The Solar System

By: Allison Kenney

4B

Neptune

www.planetsforkids.com

The atmosphere of Neptune changes frequently.

In 1994 observations indicated that the Great Dark Spot had disappeared! A few months later, a new dark spot appeared in the northern hemisphere.

The composition of Neptune's rings is unknown.

Neptune was home to the Great Dark Spot, which is half the size of Jupiter's Red Spot.

Neptune has been visited by one spacecraft.

Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system, up to 2000 km per hour.

Neptune's composition is very similar to Uranus's.

Like Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune has an internal heat source, and it radiates more than twice as much energy as it receives from the sun.

www.nineplanets.org

Young, Abby, Jupiter, New York NY,

Rosen Publishing Group Inc., 2007, print

Uranus

Uranus's axis almost perpendicular to the other planet's axes.

The planet is mainly composed of rock and various ices.

Uranus's blue color comes due to the absorption of red light by methane in the upper atmosphere, which gives the clouds their blue tint.

Uranus has bands of clouds that blow around rapidly.

Uranus is sometimes barley visible on a clear night with the unaided eye.

Uranus has 27 named moons.

Uranus's magnetic field is not centered on the center of the planet.

This planet has 13 known rings.

Pluto changed from being classified as a planet, to a dwarf planet on August 24, 2006.

Pluto

This dwarf planet is smaller than 7 moons in the solar system.

Pluto has 4 moons.

Pluto's orbit is not exactly circular like the other planet's, it is an oval shape.

Pluto and its largest moon Charon are sometimes called double planets.

In 1999, a group of scientists tried to classify Pluto as a comet.

Due to Pluto's "irregular" orbit, it sometimes is closer to the sun than Neptune.

Pluto is the only planet, or dwarf planet, to be named by a kid.

Saturn

Saturn is the least dense of the planets.

Saturn radiates more energy into space than it receives from the sun.

Saturn's rings are extremely thin, less than 1 km thick.

Ancient astronomers were confused when they looked at the planet because of its rings.

The rings are 250,000 km or more in diameter.

Saturn has a very rapid rotation.

53 of Saturn's satellites are named.

Saturn has a significant magnetic field.

Jupiter

Some of Jupiter's moons are large enough to be considered planets if they were orbiting the sun.

Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium with traces of methane, water, and ammonia.

Jupiter has powerful storms, lightning, and winds many times faster than hurricanes on Earth.

The main bulk of Jupiter is in the form of liquid metallic nitrogen.

Jupiter is home to the largest storm in the solar system.

Jupiter has the most moons in the solar system. (63)

The cloud layers cause the bands on this planet.

It is believed that there are 3 cloud layers on Jupiter.

This video shows the different speeds of these planet's orbits.

Comets

Comets are made out of dust and ice.

Comets come from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.

Comets begin to melt when they reach the inner solar system because of the sun's heat.

Some comets spend billions of years in the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud.

Comets only last several thousand years once they enter the inner solar system.

Comet's comas, or tails, always face away from the sun.

Comets shine when they start to burn up.

One of the most famous comets is the Halley's comet.

The Inner Planets Orbits

Mars

The Sun

Mars has weak magnetic fields.

Mars has two moons.

Is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet.

Mars has permanent ice caps at

both poles.

There is clear evidence of erosion, and some

scientists think there used to be water on Mars.

Mars has less than 1% of Earth's pressure.

A small number of meteorites seem to have originated from Mars.

Mars is home to Valles Marineris, a system of canyons 400 km long and 2 to 7 km deep.

The sun is the source of heat and energy in our solar system. It is 99.8% of all the mass in the solar system. The sun's energy comes from nuclear fusion. Its atmosphere has 3 layers: the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona. Features on or above the sun's surface include sunspots, prominences, and solar flares. Without the sun, there would be no light on Earth!

The sun goes through a pattern of change every 11 years.

Some sun spots can be 30x larger than the Earth.

The surface is about 5700 degrees K.

The sun is a middle sized star.

Sun spots are spots on the sun that are cooler than the surrounding area.

Earth

Earth's atmosphere is 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, with traces of argon, carbon, and water.

Earth is the fifth largest planet.

Earth has plate tectonics.

Temperatures inside of Earth can be hotter than the sun's surface.

71% of its surface is covered in water.

Earth has auroras caused by its magnetic field.

The Earth has 8 different plates.

Ancient astronomers believed that the Earth was the center of the universe.

The Asteroid Belt

The asteroid belt is divided into the inner belt and the outer belt.

Venus

The asteroids in the inner belt are made of metal.

It has strong winds, 350 kph, at the cloud tops.

Venus's rotation is very slow; there are 243 Earth days for every Venus day.

Venus and Earth are sometimes called sister planets.

This planet has no magnetic field.

Venus is the third brightest object in the sky.

Venus has a retrograde rotation.

Venus is home to 2 large highland areas:

Ishtar Terra and Aphrodite Terra.

The planet was named after Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.

The asteroids in the outer belt are made of rock.

Mercury

Asteroids of the outer belt are darker than asteroids of the inner belt.

Mercury is covered in craters,

some even 3 km in depth.

Mercury is named after the messenger god,

Mercury, because it travels so quickly around the sun.

It has a large iron core that measures 1800 to 1900 km.

Mercury rotates 3 times in 2 of its years.

Mariner 10 found evidence of water ice in some protected shadows of craters.

Mercury has a weak magnetic field whose strength is about 1% of Earth's.

Mercury has been visited by 2 spacecraft.

Mercury's temperature variations are very extreme (90 K to 700 K).

Outer belt asteroids are also rich in carbon.

Asteroids are leftover material from the creation of the solar system.

One asteroid, Ida, has its own moon named Dactyl.

Dactyl

Ida

Quaoar is the largest asteroid/non-planet object in the solar system.