The Solar System

[Pages:62]The Solar System

What's in Our Solar System?

? Our Solar System consists of a central star (the Sun), the eight planets orbiting the sun, several dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets, meteors, interplanetary gas, dust, and all the "space" in between them.

? Solar System: a star (sun) together with all the objects revolving around it (planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and so on).

What's in Our Solar System?

? The word solar comes from the Latin solaris, meaning "of the sun." Sol is the Latin word for "sun."

? The eight planets of the Solar System are named for Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses.

Planetary System

Planetary System: a planet with its moon(s),

? The Earth and moon are a planetary system. ? The word planet comes from a Greek word

meaning "wandering." To the ancients, the five visible planets to the naked eye appeared to move, unlike the other fixed stars that were "fixed." ? Orbit: the path followed by a planet, asteroid, or comet around a star, or a moon around a planet. The word comes from the Latin orbita, meaning a "wheel track."

Planets, Dwarf Planets, Moons, Asteroids, and Comets

? Planet: a large body, spherical because of its own gravity, orbiting a star and not sharing its orbit with any other large bodies.

? Dwarf Planet: a planet-like body that orbits the sun and does not clear its orbital zone of other massive bodies, and is not a moon.

? Moon: object revolving around a planet. The word moon is from an ancient German root meaning "moon" or "month."

Planets, Dwarf Planets, Moons, Asteroids, and Comets

? Asteroid: a rocky or metallic object a few feet or a few miles in dimeter. It may orbit alone or be in a belt of many other asteroids. The word asteroid comes from the Greek aster ("star") and -oid ("-like"). They have no atmosphere or water.

? Meteor: small rocky or metallic object heated to incandescent vapor as it falls or streaks into Earth's atmosphere. Those streaks are called "shooting stars." ? Meteoroid: meteor in space ? Meteorite: meteor that survived its passage through the atmosphere and strikes the ground. The Greek root for rock is "-ite."

? Comet: icy object that, when passing close enough to its star, displays a tail of evaporated material. The word comet comes from the Latin stella cometa, meaning "long-haired star", referring to the tail.

Composition and Structure of the Solar System

The Solar System consists of: ? The sun ? Eight planets, including Earth ? At least five dwarf planets, including Pluto ? Over 100 moons ? Large numbers of asteroids and comets

Geocentric = Earth Centered (Aristotle, Ptolemy) Heliocentric = Sun Centered (Copernicus, Galileo)

*Copernicus was the first astronomer to accurately describe out solar system.

Composition and Structure of the Solar System

? The sun is the largest object in our solar system. It's the center of our solar system, and all other objects in our solar system revolve around it.

? The cause of this arrangement is gravity. Gravity is a property of space and time that causes both weight and orbits. The word gravity comes from the Latin gravitas, meaning "weight" or "heaviness." Because of gravity, small objects either drops onto larger, heavier objects or orbit around them.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download