DR.-ING.

PONGPAN KAEWJINDA
Topics of Lesson
Solar System
ระบบสุริยะ
 "Solar" System
 The planetary system we call home is located in an outer spiral
arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

 Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything
bound to it by gravity — the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets such as Pluto,
dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and
meteoroids.
 "Solar" System
Why Is It Called The "Solar" System?
 There are many planetary systems like ours in the universe, with
planets orbiting a host star. Our planetary system is named the
"solar" system because our Sun is named Sol, after the Latin word
for Sun, "solis," and anything related to the Sun we call "solar."
 "Solar" System
 Today, we know that our solar system is just one tiny part of the
universe as a whole. Neither Earth nor the Sun are at the center of
the universe. However, the heliocentric model accurately describes
the solar system.
 "Solar" System
 In our modern view of the solar system, the Sun is at the center,
with the planets moving in elliptical orbits around the Sun. The
planets do not emit their own light, but instead reflect light from
the Sun.
 "Solar" System
 The Solar System that we live in consists of a medium-size star (the
Sun) with eight planets orbiting it. The planets are of two different
types.
 The four inner planets, those closest to the Sun, are Mercury,
Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are smaller and composed mainly of
metals and rocks.
 The four outer planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune —
are larger and composed mostly of gases.
 What is a Planet?
Scientists believe planets begin to form when a dense cloud
of dust and gas, called a nebula, spins around a newly formed
star. Gradually, gravity causes the bits of matter in the nebula to
clump together.
Slowly, these clumps accumulate and grow. Eventually, these
clumps become planets.
 What is a Planet?
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) resolves that
planets and other bodies, except satellites, in our Solar System
be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:
 What is a Planet?
 A planet is a celestial body that
(a) is in orbit around the Sun,
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round)
shape, and
(c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
What is a Planet?
 What is a Planet?
 A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that
(a) is in orbit around the Sun,
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round)
shape,
(c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and
(d) is not a satellite.
What is a Planet?
 What is a Planet?
 All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be
referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".
 What is a Planet?
All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be
referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".
 What is a Planet?
Earth is one of eight planets that circle the star
we call the sun. Together, the sun, the planets,
and smaller objects such as moons make up
our solar system.
 What is a Planet?
 The four planets closest to the sun—Mercury, Venus, Earth,
and Mars—are called terrestrial planets. These planets are solid
and rocky like Earth (terra means “earth” in Latin).

 Earth is the largest of the four terrestrial planets, and Mercury is

the smallest.
 What is a Planet?
 All are surrounded by a layer of gas, or atmosphere. Their
atmospheres vary in density from Mercury’s extremely thin
atmosphere to Venus’, which is thick with clouds of sulfuric acid.
 What is a Planet?
 The four planets that are more distant from the sun—
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—are called gas giants.

 Gas giants are huge compared with Earth, and they do not have
solid surfaces. They are big balls of gas.
 What is a Planet?
 Jupiter and Saturn are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium.

 Uranus and Neptune have greater proportions of water

vapor, ammonia, and methane.
 Each of the four gas giants also has a ring system. A planet’s
rings are made of ice, dust, and small rocks. Saturn’s ring
system is the largest.
 What is a Planet?
 Every planet except Mercury and Venus has at least one natural
satellite, or moon.

 A planet’s moon orbits it as it revolves around the sun. Jupiter,

Saturn, and Uranus each have dozens of moons.
 What is a Planet?
 In addition to orbiting a star, planets also rotate, or spin, around
an axis.

 An axis is an invisible line that runs through the center of a

planet.
 What is a Planet?
 One complete rotation is called a day. A day on Earth is about 24
hours.

 A day on Jupiter takes only 9.8 hours. Venus has the longest day
of any planet in our solar system. It takes 243 Earth days for
Venus to make a complete turn on its axis.
 What is a Planet?
 Unlike stars, planets do not experience nuclear fusion, the
process of combining tiny particles called atoms to
release energy.

 Nuclear fusion creates radiation (heat and light) and makes stars
glow.
 What is a Planet?
 Because planets do not have nuclear fusion, they do not produce
their own light.

 Instead, they shine with light reflected from a star. When we see
planets in the night sky, such as Venus, the so-called "Evening
Star," we're seeing reflected sunlight.
 What Is an Asteroid? (ดาวเคราะหนอย)
 Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless
remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system
about 4.6 billion years ago.

 The current known asteroid count is: 1,040,318.

 What Is an Asteroid? (ดาวเคราะหนอย)
 Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless
remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system
about 4.6 billion years ago.
 Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although
asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than
planets.
 The current known asteroid count is: 1,040,318.
What Is an Asteroid? (ดาวเคราะหนอย)
 What Is an Asteroid? (ดาวเคราะหนอย)
 There are lots of asteroids in our solar
system. Most of them live in the
main asteroid belt—a region between
the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
 What Is an Asteroid? (ดาวเคราะหนอย)
What can we learn from asteroids?
Since asteroids formed at the same
time as other objects in our solar
system, these space rocks can give
scientists lots of information about
the history of planets and the sun.
 What Is an Asteroid? (ดาวเคราะหนอย)
What can we learn from asteroids?
Scientists can learn about asteroids by
studying meteorites: tiny bits of asteroids
that have flown through our atmosphere
and landed on Earth’s surface.
"Solar" System
 Formation of the Solar System
Formation of the Solar System
There are two key features of
the solar system:
1. All the planets lie in nearly
the same plane, or flat disk like
region.
 Formation of the Solar System
Formation of the Solar System
There are two key features of the solar system:
2. All the planets orbit in the same direction around the Sun.
 Formation of the Solar System
Formation of the Solar System
There are two key features of the solar system:
1. All the planets lie in nearly the same plane, or flat disk like region.
2. All the planets orbit in the same direction around the Sun.
These two features are clues to how the solar system formed.
Formation of the Solar System
 Formation of the Solar System
 The mass of sun accounts for 99.86% of the total mass of the solar
system. Ninety-nine percent of the remaining 0.14% mass is
constituted by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Owing to its
great mass, the sun is able to exert gravitational pull on the rest of
the bodies of the solar system.
 Formation of the Solar System
 By analyzing the radioactive decay of radioactive elements in the
meteorites, astronomers have said that the origin of the solar
system can be traced back to 4.6 billion years ago.
Planets are born from the clouds of gas and dust that orbit new
stars. Billions of years ago, circumstances were just right for Earth
and the other planets in our Solar System to form.
 This was when a gravitational collapse of a small portion of a giant
molecular cloud occurred.
 Formation of the Solar System
 4,600 million years ago, a giant
cloud floated in one of the
spiral arms of the Milky Way
galaxy.
 Formation of the Solar System
 This cloud, called a nebula by astronomers, was made up of dust
and gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, with a small percentage of
heavier atoms. These heavier atoms had been formed earlier in the
history of the Universe when other stars aged and died.
 Formation of the Solar System
The nebular hypothesis was designed to explain some of the basic
features of the solar system:
 The orbits of the planets lie in nearly the same plane with the Sun
at the center
 The planets revolve in the same direction
 The planets mostly rotate in the same direction
 The axes of rotation of the planets are mostly nearly perpendicular
to the orbital plane
 The oldest moon rocks are 4.5 billion years
 Formation of the Solar System
 This cloud/nebula began to
contract, collapsing in on itself.
The atoms, once separated, began
to jostle each other, generating
heat. In the rising heat, the atoms
collided more frequently and
more violently.
 Formation of the Solar System
 Eventually, they reached a
temperature at which the protons at
the centers of the atoms began to
fuse, in a process called nuclear
fusion. As they did, a tiny bit of
matter transformed into a whole lot
of energy, and a star was born. In this
way, our Sun came into being.
 The Birth of the Planets
 The material in the nebula not
absorbed into the Sun swirled
around it into a flat disk of dust
and gas, held in orbit by the
Sun’s gravity.
 The Birth of the Planets

 This disk is called an accretion disk.

Material in the disk accumulated
by further accretion — from
sticking together.
 The Birth of the Planets
 Each planet began as microscopic grains of
dust in the accretion disk. The atoms and
molecules began to stick together, or accrete,
into larger particles.
 By gentle collisions, some grains built up into
balls and then into objects a mile in
diameter, called planetesimals. These objects
were big enough to attract others by gravity
rather than by chance.
 The Birth of the Planets
 If the collisions of planetesimals occurred at
high speeds, they could shatter the objects.
But when impacts were gentle enough, the
objects combined and grew.

 For some 10 to 100 million years these

protoplanets orbited the Sun, some in egg-
shaped circuits that resulted in more
frequent collisions.
 The Birth of the Planets
 Worlds collided, combined, and evolved for
a dramatic period of time. When it was over,
there remained eight stable planets that
had swept their orbits clean.
 The Birth of the Planets
 A planet is defined as a body that orbits the
Sun, is massive enough for its own gravity to
make it spherical, and has cleaned its
neighborhood of smaller objects.
In 2007, researchers at the University of
California–Davis determined that our Solar
System was fully formed at 4.568 billion years
ago. They did this by determining the age of
stony materials from the asteroid belt.
 The Birth of the Planets
 The Sun sent out energy and
particles in a steady stream, called
stellar winds. These winds proved so
strong that they blew off most the
gases of the four planets closest to
the Sun, leaving them smaller, with
only their rocks and metals intact.
 The Birth of the Planets
 That’s why they are called rocky, or terrestrial, planets. The
four outer planets were so far from the Sun that its winds could
not blow away their ice and gases. They remained gaseous, with
only a small rocky core.
 The Birth of the Planets

 Between the inner and outer

planets lies an area filled with
millions of asteroids — small
rocky, icy, and metallic bodies
left over from the formation of
the Solar System.
 The Birth of the Planets
 Astronomers theorize that Jupiter’s
gravity influenced this region so
much that no large planet could
take shape.
 The Birth of the Planets

 Jupiter is 11 times the size (in

diameter) of Earth and more than
twice as big as all the other planets
combined. It is almost large enough
to have become a star.
 Inner Planets
 What evidence do planetary
geologists have to go on to
determine the geology of the inner
planets?
 Inner Planets
 On Earth, scientists can collect and
analyze the chemistry of samples,
do radiometric dating to determine
their ages, and look at satellite
images to see large-scale features.
 Inner Planets
 Rovers have landed on Mars and
sent back enormous amounts of
information but much of the rest
of what is known about the inner
planets is from satellite images.
 Inner Planets
 The inner planets, or terrestrial
planets, are the four planets
closest to the Sun:
 Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
Mars. Figure shows the relative sizes
of these four inner planets.
 Inner Planets
 This composite shows the relative sizes of the four inner planets.
From left to right, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
 Inner Planets
 Unlike the outer planets, which have many of satellites, Mercury
and Venus do not have moons,
Earth has one, and
Mars has two.
 Of course, the inner planets have shorter orbits around the Sun,
and they all spin more slowly.
 Inner Planets
 Geologically, the inner planets are all made of cooled igneous
rock with iron cores, and all have been geologically active, at least
early in their history. None of the inner planets has rings.
 Inner Planets
Earth
Although Earth is the third planet out
from the Sun. We know a lot more
about Earth, so what we know can be
used for comparison with the other
planets.
 Inner Planets
Earth’s Surface and Life
Earth has vast oceans of liquid water, large masses of exposed land,
and a dynamic atmosphere with clouds of water vapor. Earth also has
ice covering its polar regions. Earth’s average surface temperature is
14°C. Water is a liquid at this temperature, but the planet also has
water in its other two states, solid and gas. The oceans and the
atmosphere help keep Earth’s surface temperatures fairly steady.
 Inner Planets
As yet Earth is the only planet known to
have life. The presence of liquid water,
the ability of the atmosphere to filter out
harmful radiation, and many other
features make the planet uniquely suited
to harbor life.
 Inner Planets
As Life and Earth now affect each
other; for example, the evolution of
plants allowed oxygen to enter the
atmosphere in large enough quantities
for animals to evolve.
 Inner Planets
Although life has not been found
elsewhere in the solar system, other
planets or satellites may harbor
primitive life forms. Life may also be
found elsewhere in the universe.
 Inner Planets
Structure and Plate Tectonics
The heat that remained from the
planet’s accretion, gravitational
compression, and radioactive decay
allowed the Earth to melt, probably
more than once.
 Inner Planets
Structure and Plate Tectonics
As it subsequently cooled, gravity
pulled metal into the center to
create the core. Heavier rocks
formed the mantle and lighter rocks
formed the crust.
 Inner Planets
Structure and Plate Tectonics
Earth’s crust is divided into tectonic
plates, which move around on the
surface because of the convecting
mantle below.
 Inner Planets
Structure and Plate Tectonics
Movement of the plates causes other geological
activity, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and
the formation of mountains. The locations of
these features are mostly related to current or
former plate boundaries. Earth is the only
planet known to have plate tectonics.
 Inner Planets
Mercury
The smallest planet, Mercury, is the planet closest to the Sun. Because
Mercury is so close to the Sun, it is difficult to observe from Earth, even
with a telescope.
 Inner Planets
Mercury
However, the Mariner 10 spacecraft, shown in Figure below, visited
Mercury from 1974 to 1975.
 Inner Planets
Mercury
The MESSENGER spacecraft has been studying Mercury in detail since
2005. The craft is currently in orbit around the planet, where it is
creating detailed maps. MESSENGER stands for Mercury Surface, Space
Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging.
Inner Planets
 Inner Planets
Mercury: Short Year, Long Days
Mercury is named for the Roman messenger god, who could run
extremely quickly, just as the planet moves very quickly in its orbit
around the Sun. A year on Mercury — the length of time it takes to
orbit the Sun — is just 88 Earth days.
 Inner Planets
Mercury: Short Year, Long Days
Despite its very short years, Mercury has very long days. A day is
defined as the time it takes a planet to turn on its axis. Mercury rotates
slowly on its axis, turning exactly three times for every two times it
orbits the Sun. Therefore, each day on Mercury is 59 Earth days long.
 Inner Planets
Mercury: Extreme Temperatures
Mercury is close to the Sun, so it can
get very hot. However, Mercury has
virtually no atmosphere, no water to
insulate the surface, and it rotates
very slowly.
 Inner Planets
Mercury: Extreme Temperatures
In direct sunlight, the surface can
be as hot as 450°C . On the dark
side, or in the shadows inside
craters, the surface can be as cold
as -183°C!
 Inner Planets
Mercury: Extreme Temperatures
Although most of Mercury is
extremely dry, scientists think there
may be a small amount of water in
the form of ice at the poles of
Mercury, in areas that never receive
direct sunlight.
 Inner Planets
Mercury: A Liquid Metal Core
Figure below shows a diagram of Mercury’s interior. Mercury is one of
the densest planets. It’s relatively large, liquid core, made mostly of
melted iron, takes up about 42% of the planet’s volume.
Mercury contains a thin crust, a mantle,
and a large, liquid core that is rich in iron.
 Inner Planets
Venus
Named after the Roman goddess of
love, Venus is the only planet
named after a female. Venus’ thick
clouds reflect sunlight well so Venus
is very bright.
 Inner Planets
Venus
When it is visible, Venus is the
brightest object in the sky besides
the Sun and the Moon. Because the
orbit of Venus is inside Earth’s
orbit, Venus always appears close
to the Sun.
 Inner Planets
Venus
When Venus rises just before the
Sun rises, the bright object is called
the morning star. When it sets just
after the Sun sets, it is the evening
star.
 Inner Planets
Venus
Of the planets, Venus is most similar
to Earth in size and density. Venus is
also our nearest neighbor. The
planet’s interior structure is similar
to Earth’s with a large iron core and
a silicate mantle. But the
resemblance between the two inner
planets ends there.
 Inner Planets
Venus: Motion
Venus rotates in a direction opposite
the other planets and opposite to
the direction it orbits the Sun. This
rotation is extremely slow, only one
turn every 243 days. This is longer
than a year on Venus—it takes Venus
only 224 days to orbit the Sun.
 Inner Planets
Venus: Extreme Atmosphere
Venus is covered by a thick layer of
clouds, as shown in pictures of
Venus taken at ultraviolet
wavelengths (Figure below).
 Inner Planets
Venus: Extreme Atmosphere
This ultraviolet image from the
Pioneer Venus Orbiter shows thick
layers of clouds in the atmosphere
of Venus.
 Inner Planets
Venus: Extreme Atmosphere
Venus’ clouds are not made of water
vapor like Earth’s clouds. Clouds on
Venus are made mostly of carbon
dioxide with a bit of sulfur dioxide —
and they also contain corrosive
sulfuric acid.
 Inner Planets
Venus: Extreme Atmosphere
Because carbon dioxide is
greenhouse gas, the atmosphere
traps heat from the Sun and creates
a powerful greenhouse effect.
 Inner Planets
Venus: Extreme Atmosphere
Even though Venus is further from
the Sun than Mercury, the
greenhouse effect makes Venus the
hottest planet. Temperatures at the
surface reach 465°C. That’s hot
enough to melt lead.
 Inner Planets
Venus: Extreme Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Venus is full of
acid, its pressure is crushing, and the
enormous amount of carbon dioxide
causes runaway greenhouse effect.
 Inner Planets
Venus:Venus’s Surface
Since spacecraft cannot see through
the thick atmosphere, radar is used
to map Venus’ surface. Many
features found on the surface are
similar to Earth and yet are very
different.
 Inner Planets
Venus:Venus’s Surface
Figure shows a topographical map of
Venus produced by the Magellan
probe using radar.
 Inner Planets
Venus:Venus’s Surface
Orbiting spacecraft have used radar
to reveal mountains, valleys, and
canyons. Most of the surface has
large areas of volcanoes surrounded
by plains of lava.
 Inner Planets
Venus:Venus’s Surface
In fact, Venus has many more
volcanoes than any other planet in
the solar system and some of those
volcanoes are very large.
 Inner Planets
Venus:Venus’s Surface
Most of the volcanoes are no longer
active, but scientists have found
evidence that there is some active
volcanism.
 Inner Planets
Venus:Venus’s Surface
Think about what you know about
the geology of Earth and what
produces volcanoes. What does the
presence of volcanoes suggest about
the geology of Venus? What
evidence would you look for to find
the causes of volcanism on Venus?
 Inner Planets
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the
Sun, and the first planet beyond
Earth’s orbit. Mars is a quite different
from Earth and yet more similar than
any other planet. Mars is smaller,
colder, drier, and appears to have no
life, but volcanoes are common to
both planets and Mars has many.
 Inner Planets
Mars
Mars is easy to observe so Mars has
been studied more thoroughly than
any other extraterrestrial planet.
Space probes, rovers, and orbiting
satellites have all yielded
information to planetary geologists.
 Inner Planets
Mars
Although no humans have ever set
foot on Mars, both NASA and the
European Space Agency have set
goals of sending people to Mars
sometime between 2030 and 2040.
 Inner Planets
Mars: A Red Planet
Viewed from Earth, Mars is reddish in
color. The ancient Greeks and
Romans named the planet after the
god of war. But the surface is not red
from blood but from large amounts
of iron oxide in the soil.
 Inner Planets
Mars: A Red Planet
The Martian atmosphere is very thin
relative to Earth’s and has much lower
atmospheric pressure. Although the
atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon
dioxide, the planet has only a weak
greenhouse effect so temperatures are
only slightly higher than if the planet had
no atmosphere.
 Inner Planets
Mars: Surface Features
Mars has mountains, canyons, and other
features similar to Earth. Some of these
surface features are amazing for their size!
Olympus Mons is a shield volcano, similar
to the volcanoes that make up the
Hawaiian Islands. But Olympus Mons is also
the largest mountain in the solar system.
 Inner Planets
Mars: Surface Features
Olympus Mons is about 27 km (16.7
miles/88,580 ft) above the Martian surface,
more than three times taller than Mount
Everest. The volcano’s base is about the
size of the state of Arizona.
 Inner Planets
Mars: Surface Features
Mars also has the largest canyon in the
solar system, Valles Marineris.
 Inner Planets
Mars: Surface Features
Two Martian Moons
Mars has two very small moons that are
irregular rocky bodies . Phobos and Deimos
are named after characters in Greek
mythology — the two sons of Ares, who
followed their father into war. Ares is
equivalent to the Roman god Mars.
Inner Planets
Inner Planets
Inner Planets
Outer Planets
 Outer Planets
 The four outer planets are farther
from the Sun as well as farther
from Earth. They are much more
difficult to learn about since they
are very different from our home
planet.
 Outer Planets
 The four planets farthest from the
Sun are the outer planets. Figure
shows the relative sizes of the
outer planets and the Sun.
 These planets are much larger than the inner planets and are
made primarily of gases and liquids, so they are also called gas
giants.
 Outer Planets

 The image shows the four outer planets and the Sun, with sizes to scale.
From left to right, the outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune.
 Outer Planets
 The gas giants are made up
primarily of hydrogen and
helium, the same elements that
make up most of the Sun.
 Astronomers think that hydrogen
and helium gases comprised
much of the solar system when it
first formed.
 Outer Planets
 Since the inner planets didn’t have enough mass to hold on to
these light gases, their hydrogen and helium floated away into
space.
 Outer Planets
 The Sun and the massive outer planets had enough gravity to keep
hydrogen and helium from drifting away.
 Outer Planets
 All of the outer planets have numerous moons. They all also
have planetary rings, composed of dust and other small particles
that encircle the planet in a thin plane.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter
Because Jupiter is so large, it reflects a
lot of sunlight. Jupiter is extremely
bright in the night sky; only the Moon
and Venus are brighter .
 Outer Planets
Jupiter
This brightness is all the more
impressive because Jupiter is quite far
from the Earth — 5.20 AUs away. It takes
Jupiter about 12 Earth years to orbit
once around the Sun.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter
Jupiter is named for the king of the gods
in Roman mythology. The planet is
enormous, the largest object in the solar
system besides the Sun.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter
Although Jupiter is over 1,300 times
Earth’s volume, it has only 318 times the
mass of Earth. Like the other gas giants, it
is much less dense than Earth.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: A Ball of Gas and Liquid
Astronauts trying to land a spaceship on
the surface of Jupiter would find that
there is no solid surface at all! Jupiter is
made mostly of hydrogen, with some
helium, and small amounts of other
elements.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: A Ball of Gas and Liquid
Jupiter’s atmosphere is composed of
hydrogen and helium. Deeper within the
planet, pressure compresses the gases
into a liquid. Some evidence suggests that
Jupiter may have a small rocky core of
heavier elements at its center.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: A Stormy Atmosphere
The upper layer of Jupiter’s atmosphere
contains clouds of ammonia (NH3) in
bands of different colors. These bands
rotate around the planet, but also swirl
around in turbulent storms.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: A Stormy Atmosphere
The Great Red Spot (Figure) is an
enormous, oval-shaped storm found
south of Jupiter’s equator. This storm is
more than three times as wide as the
entire Earth.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: A Stormy Atmosphere
Clouds in the storm rotate in a
counterclockwise direction, making one
complete turn every six days or so.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: A Stormy Atmosphere
The Great Red Spot has been on Jupiter
for at least 300 years, since astronomers
could first see the storm through
telescopes.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: Jupiter’s Moons and Rings
Jupiter has a very large number of moons
— 63 have been discovered so far. Four
are big enough and bright enough to be
seen from Earth, using no more than a
pair of binoculars.
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: Jupiter’s Moons and Rings
These moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede,
and Callisto — were first discovered by
Galileo in 1610, so they are sometimes
referred to as the Galilean moons (Figure).
 Outer Planets
Jupiter: Jupiter’s Moons and Rings
The Galilean moons are larger than the
dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, and Eris.
Ganymede is not only the biggest moon in
the solar system it is even larger than the
planet Mercury!
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Saturn
Saturn, shown in Figure, is famous for its beautiful rings. Although all
the gas giants have rings, only Saturn’s can be easily seen from Earth.
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Saturn
Saturn’s mass is about 95 times
the mass of Earth, and its volume
is 755 times Earth’s volume,
making it the second largest
planet in the solar system.
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Saturn
It is less dense than water. What would
happen if you had a large enough
bathtub to put Saturn in? Saturn would
float! Saturn orbits the Sun once about
every 30 Earth years.
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Saturn
Like Jupiter, Saturn is made mostly of
hydrogen and helium gases in the outer
layers and liquids at greater depths.
The upper atmosphere has clouds in
bands of different colors.
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Saturn
These rotate rapidly around the planet,
but there seems to be less turbulence
and fewer storms on Saturn than on
Jupiter.
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Saturn
One interesting phenomena that has
been observed in the storms on Saturn
is the presence of thunder and lightning
The planet likely has a small rocky and
metallic core.
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Saturn: Saturn’s Rings
In 1610 Galileo first observed Saturn’s
rings with his telescope, but he thought
they might be two large moons, one on
either side of the planet. In 1659, the
Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens
realized that the features were rings.
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Saturn: Saturn’s Rings
Saturn’s rings circle the planet’s equator
and appear tilted because Saturn itself
is tilted about 27 degrees. The rings do
not touch the planet.
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Saturn: Saturn’s Moons
Most of Saturn’s moons are very small
and only seven are large enough for
gravity to have made them spherical.
Only Titan is larger than Earth’s Moon at
about 1.5 times its size.
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Saturn: Saturn’s Moons
Titan is even larger than the planet
Mercury. Scientists are interested in
Titan because its atmosphere is similar
to what Earth’s was like before life
developed. Nitrogen is dominant and
methane is the second most abundant
gas.
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Saturn: Saturn’s Moons
Titan may have a layer of liquid water
and ammonia under a layer of surface
ice. Lakes of liquid methane (CH4) and
ethane (C2H6) are found on Titan’s
surface.
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Saturn: Saturn’s Moons
Although conditions are similar enough
to those of early Earth for scientists to
speculate that extremely primitive life
may exist on Titan, the extreme cold
and lack of carbon dioxide make it
unlikely
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Uranus
Uranus is named for the Greek god of
the sky (Figure). From Earth, Uranus is
so faint that it was unnoticed by
ancient observers. William Herschel
first discovered the planet in 1781.
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Uranus
Although Uranus is very large, it is
extremely far away, about 2.8 billion
km (1.8 billion mi) from the Sun.
Light from the Sun takes about 2
hours and 40 minutes to reach
Uranus.
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Uranus
Uranus orbits the Sun once about
every 84 Earth years. Uranus has a
mass about 14 times the mass of
Earth, but it is much less dense than
Earth.
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Uranus
Gravity at the surface of Uranus is
weaker than on Earth’s surface so if
you were at the top of the clouds on
Uranus, you would weigh about 10%
less than what you weigh on Earth.
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Uranus: An Icy Blue-Green Ball
Like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus is
composed mainly of hydrogen and
helium, with an outer gas layer that
gives way to liquid on the inside.
Uranus has a higher percentage of icy
materials, such as water, ammonia
(NH3), and methane (CH4), than
Jupiter and Saturn.
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Uranus: An Icy Blue-Green Ball
When sunlight reflects off Uranus,
clouds of methane filter out red
light, giving the planet a blue-green
color. There are bands of clouds in
the atmosphere of Uranus, but they
are hard to see in normal light, so
the planet looks like a plain blue
ball.
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Uranus: Rings and Moons of Uranus
Uranus has a faint system of rings
(Figure). The rings circle the planet’s
equator, but because Uranus is tilted
on its side, the rings are almost
perpendicular to the planet’s orbit.
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Uranus: Rings and Moons of Uranus
Uranus has 27 known moons and all but a few of them are named for
characters from the plays of William Shakespeare. The five biggest
moons of Uranus — Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon.
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Neptune
Neptune, shown in Figure below, is the
only major planet that can’t be seen from
Earth without a telescope. Scientists
predicted the existence of Neptune before
it was discovered because Uranus did not
always appear exactly where it should
appear.
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Neptune
They knew that the gravitational pull of
another planet beyond Uranus must be
affecting Uranus’ orbit.
Neptune was discovered in 1846, in the
position that had been predicted, and it was
named Neptune for the Roman god of the
sea because of its bluish color.
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Neptune
In many respects, Neptune is similar to
Uranus (Figure). Neptune has slightly
more mass than Uranus, but it is
slightly smaller in size. Neptune is
much farther from the Sun at nearly
4.5 billion km.
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Neptune
The planet’s slow orbit means that it
takes 165 Earth years to go once
around the Sun.
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Neptune :Neptune’s Rings and Moons
Neptune has faint rings of ice and dust
that may change or disappear in fairly
short time frames.
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Neptune :Neptune’s Rings and Moons
Neptune has 13 known moons. Triton,
shown in Figure below, is the only one
of them that has enough mass to be
spherical in shape. Triton orbits in the
direction opposite to the orbit of
Neptune.
 The End

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