Government of Tamilnadu

Department of Employment and Training

Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

Subject : Geography
Topic : Earth, Universe & Solar system

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Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training

UNIVERSE, EARTH AND
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
UNIVERSE, EARTH AND THE
SOLAR SYSTEM
The solar system consists of eight
planets, with the sun at its center. These
eight planets revolve around the sun in a
definite path. The eight planets are:
MERCURY:
 The first planet positioned near the
sun, smallest planet.
 The day temperature in this planet
rises to a maximum of 3500C.
 At night the temperature goes down
to a minimum of - 1700C. This planet
is unable to hold the heat it receives
during the daytime because of the
absence of Atmosphere.
Geography
 This is the swiftest planet of the solar
family. It has the shortest period to
orbit the sun.
 No satellites
 Second densest planet after earth.
VENUS - Shining Planet
 Venus is positioned second from the
sun and it is next to Mercury.
Hottest Planet
 The maximum temperature of
this planet is about 4800C. This
planet records the highest degree
of temperature in the entire
solar system. Because 98% of its
atmosphere is covered by CO2.

 Geography

 Because of its proximity to the earth OCEANS:

Venus can usually be seen, before 1. Pacific Ocean
down as the ‘Morning Star’ in the 2. Atlantic Ocean
eastern sky. Likewise, the after 3. Indian Ocean
sunset the same planet shines as 4. Arctic Ocean
brightly as an ‘Evening Star’ in the  The land, water, air and the favourable
western sky. climate facilitate the origin of life
 This is the only planet of the solar in the Earth. Thus the earth is also
family that rotates from east to known as Living planet.
west.  No other planet of the solar family
 No Satellites has life like that of the earth.
 Its only satellite is Moon. It take
 It is also called as earth’s twin
365.25 days to around the sun.
(similar to earth in radius, mass &
 From radio active dating, the earth’s
density)
age is estimated to be 4.6 × 109 grs.
 Nearest planet to earth.
The moon keeps the same face turned
towards us:
EARTH Because the moon’s axial rotation period
 Earth is positioned third from the is the same as that of the period of
sun. revolution round the earth i.e. about 27
 Water accounts for 71% and land days 7¾ hrs.
29% of the total area of the earth. Seasonal Changes are due to:
 There are seven continents and four (i) Revolution of the earth
oceans on the surface of earth. (ii) Direction of the Earth’s tilt changes
Seven Continents: in relation to earth.
(Areawise descending order) Rotation :
1. Asia (Largest)  Mean solar day: time interval from
2. Africa one noon to the next, about 24hrs.
3. North America  Sidereal day : time it takes for earth

4. South America to make one complete (3600) rotation

with respect to a star other than the
5. Europe
sun 23 hrs, 56 min, 4 seconds.
6. Antarctica
 Full moon - 14¾ day.
7. Australia (Smallest)
 New Moon again → 29½ day based
on the cycle of the moon’s phases
(synodic month)
 Day 27 ⅓ → Earth, Moon and distant



star are once again aligned
(sidereal month) One special feacture of Jupiter is the
↓ great ‘Redspot’. Satellites: Ganemade,
True period of the moon’s revolution
around earth
MARS - (Red planet)
 230C temperature prevails during
day time and about - 1010C during
night.
 Dry rivers, extinct volcanoes, stormy
deserts, snow covered poles are
discovered on the surface of this
planet. Though these features look
similar to these of the earth, they do
not possess greenery like the earth.
 Only dry landscape is present all over
this planet.
 High amount of iron oxides (fenic
oxides) are found in the soils and
the rocks of this planet. It appears
Reddish. Hence called as Red planet.
 There are stormy winds with a speed
of 270 km/hr that blow for months
together. They create a dusty layer
making the planet appearing red.
Satellite : Deimos, phobos - It is
smaller than the earth. Has very thin
atmosphere and a very small amount
of oxygen.
Geography
JUPITER
IO, Europa, Callisto - Ganymade dis the
Largest satellite in the solar system.
 It is very cold because of its distance
from the sun.
 Biggest planet of the solar family. 10th
of the size of the sun.
 It has almost perpendicular axis. It
rotates on its axis with an inclination
of about only 2O and hence the planet
does not have any season like the
Earth.
 It has highest number of satellites in
the solar system.
 Its upper cloud layers seem to
have ammonia & methane, both
poisonous gases.
 Fastest rotating planet
 It is interesting to astromers because
it sends strong burst of Radiowaves
which may be the result of tremondous
storm on its surface.
SATURN (6th Planet from the sun)
 Second largest planet.
 There are seven rings around this
planet. This planet, with its 7 multi
coloured rings, appears very elegant.
 Cyclonic winds of 1500 km/hr blow
on this planet.
 It is the least dense planet in our
solar system.

 Geography

 Its specific gravity is less than.  Among the planets of the solar system,
Water (0.7) If a large ocean where except for Mercury and Venus the
available Saturn would float in it. rest have satellites of their own.
 Statellite - Titan, Tethys
 Jupiter is the swiftest rotating
URANUS planet and the slowest is Venus.
 It is positioned seventh from the sun.  Mercury is the swiftest revolving
Its axis is tilted about 98O to the planet while the slowest is Pluto.
vertical plane.
 Pulto, Eris and the astenoid ceres
 It rolls on its sides while revolving
became the first dwarf planets.
around the sun but it does not spin
Unlike planets, dwarf planets lack
at a top like other planets.
the gravitation muscle to sweep up or
 It occurs in this planet.
scatter objects near their orbits.
 Rotates from east to west.
 Satellites : Miranda, Ariel, Titania, S.No. Planet Period Period of
Oberon. of Revolution
Rotation
NEPTUNE 1. Mercury 58 ½ 88 days
Dark - It takes almost 165 earth years Days
to orbit our sun. Very cold and whipped by 2. Venus 243 days 224 days
supersonic winds. 3. Earth 24 hrs 365 ¼
Neptune and Pluto are much bigger in days
size than the earth. They appear in blue 4. Mars 24 ½ 687 days
because of the presence of methane gas days
in their atmosphere 5. Jupiter 10 hrs 12 years
 It is positioned eight from the sun. 6. Saturn 10 ¾ hrs 29 ½ yrs
This planet has not completed a 7. Uranus 17 ¼ hrs 84 years
single orbit of the sun since it was 8. Neptune 16 hrs 165 yrs
identified in the year 1846. 9. Pluto 6.4 days 248 yrs
 It appears blue in colour because There are millions of stars visible from
of presence the methane gas in the the Earth. The closest star is the Sun. The
atmosphere. closest to the Earth, after the Sun, is Alpha
 Satellite - Triton centuria. The main difference between a
planet and a star is that, a star twinkles
and a planet will glow without any flicker.



Planets:
The eight planets are classified in to
Solid planets and Gaseous planets
SOLID PLANETS Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars
GASEOUS Jupiter, Saturn,
PLANETS Uranus, Neptune
Planets like Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn can be seen with the
naked eye, whereas Uranus and Neptune
can be seen only through a telescope.
Venus and Mercury can be seen before
sunrise and sunset for a few hours. Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn can be seen during the
night either in the east or overhead or in
the west.
During the formation of the Universe, the
planets closes to the Sun experienced
greater solar winds. Due to this the
gaseous contents in these planets got
blown away. On the contrary, the planets
away from the sun did not experience
the solar winds and thus, they’re called
gaseous planets
Venus rises a few hours before
sunrise and therefore it is called as The
Morning Star.
Planet Earth is the known planet to
support different forms of life. This is due
to the earth’s atmosphere, which contains
Geography
Oxygen. All other planets have no oxygen
and have large amount of other gases
and have hence life is not found on other
planets. Every planet revolves in an anti-
clockwise direction if you take a bird’s eye
view from the north pole of the sun, but
the duration of their revolution around the
Sun differs from one another. All planets
revolve in an elliptical path in definite
paths called Orbits.
Dwarf Planets: (Grouped in 2006)
They also revolve around the Sun.
They are very small in size. Their size is
very smaller than our moon.
Pluto, Charon, Eris, Ceres belong to
this group.
Sun:
The sun is the head of the solar family.
It is the large gaseous ball of fire. The
gravity of the sun holds the solar system
together. It is the source of heat and light
to the entire solar family. The Earth is
approximately 150 million Kms away from
the Sun. The Sun is the only celestial body
that emits light in the solar system.


Eclipses:
 When the visibility of a celestial body is
prevented by the passage of a second
body, the occurrence is called as
an eclipse.
Lunar Eclipses:
 At the time of full moon, the moon
may pass through the long shadow
cast by the earth in space.
 The lunar eclipse can last as long as
3hrs and 40 min. Totality may be upto
1 hr and 40 minutes. If the moon is
nearer the earth (perigee) the eclipse
will last longer. At apogee, the eclipse
will be of a shorter duration.
 The eclipse of the moon can occur only
at the time of the full moon, When the
earth comes in between the moon and
the sun.
 But the eclipse does not occur at every
full moon. The moon usually passes
above or below the earth’s shadow
because the path it follows is at a slight
angle of about 50 to the ecliptic.
 If the moon revolved around the earth
the same plane as that in which the
earth revolves around the sun, there
would be a lunar eclipse every full
moon day.
Geography
Solar Eclipse
 On New Moon day, the moon comes in
between the sun and the earth. If their
centres are is one line, the moon’s
shadow is cast on the earth.
 To an observer the disc of the sun will
appear completely covered by the disc
of the moon.
 The solar eclipse lasts for a few minutes
and is seen over a small area.
 Total eclipse rarely lasts over 7
minutes and never last more than 8
minutes at any place on the earth.
 During the brief period of the total
solar eclipse all direct sunlight is cut
off from the earth. There is
complete darkness in the area of
totality.
The moon’s orbit is inclined at an

angle of 50 9’to the ecliptic. An eclipse
does not occur at every new
moon. Generally the lunar shadow
passes above or below the earth.
Asteroids:
Asteroids are clusters of celestial
bodies which includes tiny stones and big
rocks which can measure upto 300 to 400
Kms in diameter. Thousands of asteroids
are found between Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroids with Tamil name: VynuPappu,
Sarabai, Ramanuja
Moon:
The Moon does not revolve around the
Sun. It revolves around the Earth. Hence,
it is a satellite. The Moon measures the

 Geography

quarter of the Earth’s diameter. It revolves shines brightly is called the Full Moon.
around the Earth at approximately at a
Meteoroids and Meteors:
distance of 3,84,401Kms. It takes 27.3
The remains of some rocky asteroids
days for the Moon to revolve around the
make their way towards the Earth. The
Earth and to rotate on its axis. Other
particles which are burnt by the friction
planets also have their respective natural
caused in the atmosphere are called
satellites.
meteorites. Some particles withstand
Planets Mercury Venus Earth
the friction of the atmosphere and reach
No. of 0 0 1
the surface of the Earth. They are called
Satellites
meteors.
Planets Mars Jupiter Saturn Comet:
No. of 2 63 60 A comet is not a star. It is a rock made
Satellites of dust and ice. The comet has a long
reflective tail.
Planets Uranus Neptune
How the tail appears? Minute particles
No. of 27 13
from the Sun strike the gaseous part
Satellites
emitted from the comet.
The Moon does not have an atmosphere
What makes the tail reflective? As
as Earth. Water is not explicitly present
the comet comes near the Sun and the ice
in the Moon, but water is available in
melts and reflects the light of the Sun.
the form of moisture. Landforms such as
mountains, plateaus and valleys are found Universe:
in the surface of the Moon. Craters are Millions of constellation of stars seen in
another special feature of the Moon. Few the sky is called the Galaxy. Thousands of
craters are volcanic in origin and few are galaxies form a Universe. The Universe is
made due to the impact of the meteorites vast and ever expanding.
on the landscape of the Moon. There are so many stars seen in the
The Moon is similar to the earth; it just sky, they are too far from us. These stars
reflects the light energy obtained from the are thousand times bigger than our sun. A
Sun. Only a part of the Moon is visible to white streak of light can be seen on a clear
the Earth. During the revolution of the night. Our ancestors called it “Akash
Moon around the Earth, the dark side of Ganga.”
the Moon that faces the Earth is called
the New Moon. The side of the Moon that