SOLAR

SYSTEM

By, MANJUNATH D NAYAK

VIII ‘B’ ROLL NO. 17
 1.INTRODUCTION
 The Solar System is made up of all the planets that
orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar
System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids,
minor planets, and dust and gas.
SOLAR SYSTEM
COMPARISON OF
DISTANCES
 COMPOSITION
 The Sun contains 99.85% of all the matter in the Solar System. The planets,
which condensed out of the same disk of material that formed the Sun,
contain only 0.135% of the mass of the solar system. Jupiter contains more
than twice the matter of all the other planets combined. Satellites of the
planets, comets, asteroids, meteoroids, and the interplanetary medium
constitute the remaining 0.015%. The following table is a list of the mass
distribution within our Solar System.
 Planets: 0.135%
 Comets: 0.01% ?
 Satellites: 0.00005%
 Minor Planets: 0.0000002% ?
 Meteoroids: 0.0000001% ?
 Sun: 99.85%
 2.THE SUN
 Our Sun is not unique in the universe. It is a
common middle-sized yellow star which scientists
have named Sol, after the ancient Roman name.
This is why our system of planets is called the
Solar System. There are trillions of other stars in
the universe just like it. Many of these stars have
their own systems of planets, moons, asteroids, and
comets.
THE SUN
 3.HOW WAS SUN BORN
 The Sun was born in a vast cloud of gas and dust around 5 billion
years ago. Indeed, these vast nebulae are the birth places of all
stars. Over a period of many millions of years, this gas and dust
began to fall into a common center under the force of its own
gravity.
 At the center, an ever growing body of mass was forming. As the
matter fell inward, it generated a tremendous amount of heat and
pressure. As it grew, the baby Sun became hotter and hotter.
Eventually, when it reached a temperature of around 1 million
degrees, its core ignited, causing it to begin nuclear fusion.
 When this happened, the Sun began producing its own light, heat,
and energy.
 4.SOLAR FLARES
 During periods of high solar activity, the Sun
commonly releases massive amounts of gas and
plasma into its atmosphere. These ejections are known
as solar flares. Some solar flares can be truly massive,
and contain impressive power. On occasion, these
more powerful flares can even cause satellites orbiting
the Earth to malfunction. They can also interact with
Earth's magnetic field to create impressive and
beautiful light shows known as the Northern and
Southern lights. In the northern hemisphere, these
lights are commonly known as the Aurora Borealis.
SOLAR FLARES
 5.THE PLANETS
 A planet ("wandering star") is a celestial
body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is
massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity,
is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear
fusion, and has cleared its neighboring
region of planetesimals.
THE PLANETS
 6.MERCURY ☿
 The planet Mercury is the closest of the planets to the Sun.
Because this planet lies so close to the Sun, and as a result
somewhat near to Earth, it is visible to observers on Earth in
the late evening or early morning sky.
 Because of this, Mercury has become a part of the mythology
and legend of almost every culture throughout the history of
the Earth. This planet is often called a morning star. This is
because Mercury shines brightly in the early morning just
before the sun rises. It has also been called an evening star for
the same reason. Mercury is often visible for a brief period of
time just after the Sun sets.
MERCURY
 MERCURY
 The planet Mercury is too small and has too little gravity to
hold onto an atmosphere. Any gases released from the planet
quickly escape into space. Also, Mercury is so close to the Sun
that any atmosphere is quickly blown away by the Sun's solar
winds. That means that there is almost no air on Mercury.
 The surface of Mercury that faces the Sun can reach about 800
degrees Fahrenheit. On the other hand, the temperature on the
nighttime side can plummet to almost -300 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is because Mercury has little to no atmosphere to help
regulate temperature,  orbiting the Sun once every 87.969
Earth days. 
 7.VENUS
 The planet Venus has long been one of the most misunderstood of all the
inner planets. Like the Earth, Venus has an atmosphere. However, Venus'
atmosphere is far thicker than that of the Earth, making it difficult for
modern science to penetrate. Interestingly, scientists have recently been
able to peek through the thick clouds and get a few glimpses of the
surface.
 There are numerous volcanoes and many mountains that appear
misshapen. There is much we still do not know about how this planet
looks and what it is like. However, using special instruments and probes
scientists have in recent years unlocked many of the secrets long hidden
by this mysterious world .
 In the 1970s, the Soviet Union actually was able to land more than one
probe on the surface of Venus. These scientific probes only lasted a few
hours before they were destroyed by the intense heat of the planet. These
probes were able to take several pictures and send them back to earth for
scientists to study, orbits the sun 224.71 EARTH days.
VENUS
 8.EARTH
 The Earth is the biggest of all the terrestrial planets.
A terrestrial planet is a dense planet found in the
inner Solar System Earth orbits the Sun once every
366.26 times it rotates about its own axis, which is
equal to 365.26 solar days, or one sidereal year.
 The diameter of Earth is 7,926 miles. The
circumference measured around the equator is
24,901 miles.
 There are currently almost 7 billion people living
on the Earth. About 30% of the Earth's surface is
covered with land, while about 70% is covered by
oceans.
EARTH
 9.MARS
 Mars excites scientists because its mild temperament
is more like the Earth's than any of the other planets.
Evidence suggests that Mars once had rivers, streams,
lakes, and even an ocean. As Mars' atmosphere
slowly depleted into outer space, the surface water
began to permanently evaporate. Today the only
water on Mars in either frozen in the polar caps or
underground.
 You may sometimes hear Mars referred to as the
"Red Planet." This is because the surface of Mars is
red. If you stood on the surface of Mars, you would
see red dirt and rocks everywhere. It has 2 moons.
MARS
DEIMOS AND PHOBOS

DEIMO
S

PHOBO
S
 10.JUPITER
 Jupiter is by far the largest planet in our Solar System. The
Earth could fit inside Jupiter more than 1000 times. Jupiter
is a very stormy planet. There are storms found throughout
the atmosphere, and most of the storms seem to never end.
The many different cloud formations and storms in the
atmosphere also make Jupiter a very colorful planet.
 Jupiter's great red spot, visible in the picture above to the
right, is where a giant storm has been raging for at least
300 years. This red spot is also called "The Eye of Jupiter"
because of its shape. This storm's super hurricane winds
blow across an area larger than the Earth.
 JUPITER
 It is considered a gas giant because it does not have a solid surface. Under
its atmosphere is a large liquid ocean of hydrogen and water. What lies in
between that ocean and the atmosphere? Actually, there is no in between.
 The atmosphere slowly gets thicker and thicker until it becomes part of
the ocean. In other words, Jupiter's ocean has no surface on which you
could float a boat. The sky becomes the ocean.
 In the early 1600's an Astronomer named Galileo Galilee looked at the sky
for the first time using a telescope.  He was the first scientist to ever use a
telescope to study outer space.  When he looked at Jupiter, he discovered
four moons.  Today we know that Jupiter actually has 28 moons.  Only
four of its moons are big enough to be seen through the small type of
telescope that Galileo was using.  Today we call these four large moons
the Galilean moons. 
JUPITER

JUPITER’S
MOONS
 JUPITER
 Rings of Jupiter are faint and are only able to be
viewed when Jupiter passes in front of the Sun. This
is because the light from the Sun lights them up for us
to see here on Earth. There are three rings in all. They
are named Gossamer, Main and Halo.
 Jupiter has 50 official moons and 12 provisional
(unofficial) moons. The four largest and most well-
known were discovered by Galileo in the year 1610.
Their names are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Some of the other moons are Adrastea, Ananke,
Carme, Elara, Himalia, Leda, Lysithea, Metis,
Pasiphae, Sinope, and Thebe.
 11.SATURN
 In many ways, Saturn is similar to Jupiter, but it is much smaller. It is the
second largest planet in our Solar System and it is a gas giant like Jupiter.
Under the clouds of methane, hydrogen and helium, the sky gradually
turns into liquid until it becomes a giant ocean of liquid chemicals. Saturn
is the least dense planet in our Solar System.
 It is made up of mostly hydrogen and helium, which are the two lightest
elements in the universe and thus make Saturn the lightest planet that we
know of. This is why you wouldn't weigh as much on Saturn as you think
you would because of its size. And because Saturn is so light, it does not
have as much gravity. Interestingly, it is believed Saturn would actually be
able to float in water because the hydrogen and helium that make up the
planet are so lightweight.
 Because Saturn is such a lightweight planet and it spins so fast, Saturn is
not perfectly round like most of the other planets. Like Jupiter, Saturn is
wider in the middle and more narrow near its top and bottom.
SATURN

SATURN’S MOONS
 SATURN
 Saturn is most well-known for its rings. However, it is not the only
planet with rings. Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings. Saturn is
a favorite object for many observers. Its beautiful rings are 169,800
miles wide (approx 273,266 km). But the rings are amazingly thin. If
you turned the rings on their side, they would be able to fit between the
goal posts on a football field. The rings are split into categories, Ring A
Ring B, Ring C, Ring D, Ring E, Ring F and Ring G, totaling 7 in all.
 The rings are not solid but rather are made up of particles of ice, dust
and rocks. The rings are held in place around Saturn by the moons that
also orbit this large planet. The gravity of these moons also cause the
gaps that are seen in between the rings.
Saturn has 53 official moons and 9 provisional (unofficial) moons. The
most well-known of Saturn's moons is probably Titan. It is the second
largest moon in the Solar System next to Jupiter's Ganymede. Titan is
 12.URANUS
 Like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus is a gas giant. But Uranus is a little different. Unlike
all the other planets and most of the moons in our Solar System, Uranus spins on its
side. It is believed that long ago a very large object smashed into this planet. The crash
was so powerful that it completely changed the direction of Uranus' planetary rotation.
However, a more recent theory is that the extreme tilt of Uranus' axis may have been
caused by a large moon that was slowly pulled away from the planet by another large
planet long ago when our Solar System was still new.
 It is thought that the gravitational pull of this moon moving away from Uranus may
have caused it to tilt on its side. Like Saturn, the thick atmosphere of Uranus is made
up of methane, hydrogen and helium. But Uranus is an extremely cold planet. It has
been called the "ice giant." It is believed that Uranus is made up of rock and ice and
has a large rocky core. Because of the tremendous planetary pressure of Uranus, there
could possibly be trillions of large diamonds in or on the surface of this planet.
 Scientists also believe that on the surface of Uranus there may be a huge ocean. And,
interestingly, it is thought that the temperature of this ocean may be extremely hot,
maybe even as hot as 5000 degrees Fahrenheit (2760 Celsius).
 URANUS

5 of Uranus’ moons which are large

 URANUS
 Uranus also has rings, though they don't stretch out as far as
the rings of Saturn. The rings of Uranus are made up of black
dust particles and large rocks.
 Uranus has 27 moons. Five of these moons are large and the
rest are smaller. The largest moon is Titania, followed by
Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda. Some of the smaller
moons are named: Belinda, Bianca, Caliban, Cordelia,
Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Ophelia, Portia, Puck, and
Rosalind.
  A shepherd moon is a moon that orbits a planet on the edge
of its rings.  By orbiting on the edge of the ring, the moon
keeps the dust and ice inside of the ring, much like a shepherd
keeps sheep inside a field. 
 13.NEPTUNE
 For many, centuries people did not know that this planet even existed.
It was discovered by Johann Galle and Heinrich D'Arrest in
1846.Neptune is the smallest of the four gas giants in our Solar
System. Much like Saturn and Uranus, Neptune's atmosphere contains
hydrogen, helium and methane.
 Not much was known about Neptune until it was visited by the
spacecraft Voyager 2 on August 25, 1989. Voyager 2 took many
pictures of the planet, and much of what we know today about
Neptune came from this single visit. These pictures show a brilliant
blue planet with a few thin white clouds laced around its surface.
 In Neptune's atmosphere, there is a large white cloud that moves
around rather quickly. The "scooting" of this cloud around the
atmosphere has led it to be named "Scooter."
 NEPTUNE
 When Voyager 2 visited Neptune, its pictures showed a giant storm
much like the storm on Jupiter. This storm is called the "Great Dark
Spot" because it appears as a dark oval shape on the surface of the
planet.
 Neptune has six rings which circle the planet. These rings are
believed to be fairly new. The rings are more irregular than the rings
of other planets. There are areas of varying thickness throughout the
rings. 
Neptune has 13 moons that we know of. Because Neptune is so far
away, it is difficult to see any of these worlds. There are probably
many more moons orbiting this blue planet which we have not yet
discovered. Perhaps you will be the astronomer who discovers some
of these worlds. The first moon to be discovered was Triton. Triton
was discovered by an amateur astronomer in England named
William Lassell only 17 days after Neptune was discovered in 1846.
NEPTUNE

NEPTUNE’S MOONS
 14.DWARF PLANET-PLUTO
 Pluto was the only planet to be named by a kid. After the planet was
discovered in 1930, an 11-year-old girl who lived in Oxford, England,
by the name of Venetia Burney, suggested that this new planet needed
to be named after the Roman god of the underworld. Venetia's
grandfather sent this suggestion to the Lowell Observatory and the
name was accepted.Pluto is smaller than 7 of the moons in the Solar
System.
 It is about two-thirds smaller than Earth's moon. Because it is so
small, many scientists don't consider it a planet at all. In 1999, a group
of scientists attempted to re-classify Pluto as a comet. On August 24,
2006, Pluto's status was officially changed from planet to dwarf
planet.
 PLUTO
 For decades, children have been taught in school that there are
nine planets in our Solar System. However, with this change,
there are now only eight planets. Also because of this change,
there is a new category of small planets known as plutoids.
 The only spacecraft to get somewhat close to Pluto was the
Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble was able to take pictures of
Pluto and its moons for scientists to study. Little is known
about Pluto and its moons because it is so far away
 Pluto has 3 moons. The largest is named Charon. Charon is
only slightly smaller than its parent Pluto. For this reason,
Pluto and Charon are often called a double system. The Earth
and its moon, Luna, are sometimes considered double planets.
Pluto's two other moons are called Hydra and Nix.
PLUTO

Comparison
of Eris, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea,Sedna, Orc
us 2007 OR10, Quaoar, and Earth.
 OTHERS-ASTEROIDS ANDS
COMETS
 What are asteroids?
An asteroid is a large rock in outer space. Some, like Ceres, can be very large, while
others are as small as a grain of sand. Due to their smaller size, asteroids do not have
enough gravity to pull themselves into the shape of a ball.  Astronomers group
asteroids into different categories based on the way they reflect sunlight.
 The asteroid belt is divided into an inner belt and an outer belt. The inner belt which is
made up of asteroids that are within 250 million miles of the Sun contains asteroids
that are made of metals.
 The outer belt, which includes asteroids 250 million miles beyond the Sun, consists of
rocky asteroids. These asteroids appear darker than the asteroids of the inner belt, and
are rich in carbon.
 Where did the Asteroid Belt come from?
 Asteroids are left over materials from the formation of the Solar System.  These
materials were never incorporated into a planet because of their proximity to Jupiter's
strong gravity.
THANK YOU