PROJECT

THE STUDY
OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Prof. Laurentziu Rosu

“Nicolae Titulescu”
Comprehensive School
Constanta
 The goal of the project :
To make a synthesis of the information
related to the following topics:
A) The Earth is a planet. What do we know
about planet Earth?
B) How many planets are there in the Solar
System?
 Solar System

• The regions of the Solar System consist of:

• 1. Our Sun
2. Four Terrestrial Inner Planets:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
3. Asteroid Belt: Composed of small rocky bodies
4. Four Gas Giant Outer Planets:
Jupiter, Saturn, Uransus, Neptune
5. Kuiper belt - Second belt composed of icy objects.
6. Oort cloud: Beyond the Kuiper belt
• Note: Pluto was demoted in 2006 from a Planet to Dwarf Planet.
 Sun
• The Sun is the centre of our solar system and celestial bodies such as the
planets, their moons, the asteroid belt, comets and other objects revolve
around the Sun (gravitationally bound to it). The Sun contains around 98%
of all the material in the Solar System.
• The boundaries of the solar system's known planets fit within a sphere 50
AU in radius. Beyond that is the Oort Cloud which extends to a distance of
100,000 AU. Beyond that, the nearest star system is Alpha Centauri.
• Mercury

• Mercury was named by the Romans after the fleet-footed messenger of the gods
because it seemed to move more quickly than any other planet. It is the closest
planet to the Sun, and second smallest planet in the solar system. Its diameter is
40% smaller than Earth and 40% larger than the Moon.
 Venus

• Venus, the jewel of the sky, was once know by ancient astronomers as the morning
star and evening star. Early astronomers once thought Venus to be two separate
bodies. Astronomers refer to Venus as Earth's sister planet. Both are similar in size,
mass, density and volume. Both formed about the same time and condensed out of
the same nebula. However, during the last few years scientists have found that the
kinship ends here. Venus is very different from the Earth. It has no oceans and is
surrounded by a heavy atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide with virtually
no water vapor. Its clouds are composed of sulfuric acid droplets. At the surface, the
atmospheric pressure is 92 times that of the Earth's at sea-level.
 Earth

• From the perspective we get on Earth, our planet appears to be

big and sturdy with an endless ocean of air. From space,
astronauts often get the impression that the Earth is small with a
thin, fragile layer of atmosphere. For a space traveler, the
distinguishing Earth features are the blue waters, brown and
green land masses and white clouds set against a black
background.
 Mars

• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet.
The rocks, soil and sky have a red or pink hue. The distinct red color was observed
by stargazers throughout history. Before space exploration, Mars was considered the
best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. Astronomers thought they saw
straight lines crisscrossing its surface. This led to the popular belief that irrigation
canals on the planet had been constructed by intelligent beings.
 Jupiter
• Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is the largest one in the solar system. If
Jupiter were hollow, more than one thousand Earths could fit inside. It also contains
more matter than all of the other planets combined. Jupiter possesses 28 known
satellites, four of which - Callisto, Europa, Ganymede and Io - were observed by
Galileo as long ago as 1610. Another 12 satellites have been recently discovered and
given provisional designators until they are officially confirmed and named. There is a
ring system, but it is very faint and is totally invisible from the Earth. (The rings were
discovered in 1979 by Voyager 1.) The atmosphere is very deep, perhaps comprising
the whole planet, and is somewhat like the Sun. It is composed mainly of hydrogen
and helium, with small amounts of methane, ammonia, water vapor and other
compounds. At great depths within Jupiter, the pressure is so great that the hydrogen
atoms are broken up and the electrons are freed so that the resulting atoms consist
of bare protons. This produces a state in which the hydrogen becomes metallic.
 Uranus

• Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is the third largest in the
solar system. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1781. Uranus has at
least 22 moons. The two largest moons, Titania and Oberon, were
discovered by William Herschel in 1787. The atmosphere of Uranus is
composed of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane and small amounts
of acetylene and other hydrocarbons. Methane in the upper atmosphere
absorbs red light, giving Uranus its blue-green color.
 Neptune

• Neptune is the outermost planet of the gas giants. If Neptune were hollow, it could
contain nearly 60 Earths. Neptune orbits the Sun every 165 years. It has eight
moons, six of which were found by Voyager. A day on Neptune is 16 hours and 6.7
minutes. Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle,
of the Berlin Observatory, and Louis d'Arrest, an astronomy student, through
mathematical predictions made by Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier. The first two thirds
of Neptune is composed of a mixture of molten rock, water, liquid ammonia and
methane. The outer third is a mixture of heated gases comprised of hydrogen,
helium, water and methane. Methane gives Neptune its blue cloud color.
• Neptune is a dynamic planet with several large, dark spots reminiscent of Jupiter's
hurricane-like storms. The largest spot, known as the Great Dark Spot, is about the
size of the earth and is similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Voyager revealed a
small, irregularly shaped, eastward-moving cloud scooting around Neptune every 16
hours or so. This scooter as it has been dubbed could be a plume rising above a
deeper cloud deck.
 Pluto

• Although Pluto was discovered in 1930, limited information on the distant object
delayed a realistic understanding of its characteristics. Pluto is the second largest
known dwarf planet and tenth largest orbiting the Sun. From its time of discovery in
1930 to 2006 it was considered to be the ninth planet in the solar system, but
because additional objects have been discovered including Eris which is 27% more
massive, the IAU reclassified Pluto and the other objects as dwarf planets.
 Dwarf Planet
Eris

• The icy dwarf planet, Eris, has rattled the general model of our
solar system. The object was discovered on January 5, 2005 by
Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz at Palomar
observatory in the out reaches of the Kuiper belt. The discovery
came from images taken on October 21, 2003. It was
announced on July 29, 2005. Eris is slightly larger than Pluto.
“Comet Halley” painting by Vladimir Kush (american painte
 Project Evaluation
• Organizing the students into groups
• Work tasks: - each group will choose one topic from the list of
topics;
- each member will look for , bring, analyze information, in order
to elaborate the contents.
- there will be an analysis, in the team, of the content, in order to
make a plan of the presentation;
- there will be a presentation in front of the class