THE SOLAR SYSTEM
By: Justin Elder
INTRODUCTION
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Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy
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The solar system consists of the Sun and planets that gravitationally orbit around it
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The solar system is approximately 4.6 billion years old
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The solar system consists of four inner planets (Terrestrial Planets) Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars and four outer planets (Gas Giants) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
THE SUN
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The Sun is the star at the center of
the Solar System.
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Diameter: 1.4 million
kilometers or 870,000 miles.
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Composition: 71% hydrogen, 27%
helium and less than 2% of all other
elements.
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Atmosphere: photosphere,
chromosphere, and corona.
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Layers: core, radiation zone, and
convection zone
MERCURY
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The first planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 4,878 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 58 million
kilometers (0.39 AU)
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Atmosphere: carbon dioxide,
nitrogen, argon, oxygen, carbon
monoxide, water vapor, nitric oxide
VENUS
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The second planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 12,100 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 107 million
kilometers (0.72 AU)
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Atmosphere: carbon
dioxide and nitrogen.
EARTH
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The third planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 12,715.43 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 150 million
kilometers (1.0 AU)
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Atmosphere: nitrogen and oxygen
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Earth is the only planet we know of to
have life
MARS
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Fourth planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 6,792 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 228 million
kilometers (1.52 AU)
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Atmosphere: carbon dioxide,
nitrogen, argon
ASTEROID BELT
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Belt of asteroids located between the
planets Mars and Jupiter
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Distance from Sun: approx. 2.8 AU
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Size of asteroids vary from very small
to about 930 kilometers
JUPITER
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The fifth planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 142,984 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 778 million
kilometers (5.2 AU)
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Atmosphere: hydrogen and helium
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The Great Red Spot is an anticyclone
storm that could fit two to three Earth
sized planets
SATURN
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The sixth planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 120,536 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 1,429 million
kilometers (9.5 AU)
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Atmosphere: hydrogen and helium
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Saturn’s rings extend from 6,630 km to
120,700 km and are about 20 meters
thick
URANUS
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The seventh planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 51,118 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 2.87 billion
kilometers (19.2 AU)
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Atmosphere: hydrogen, helium and
methane
NEPTUNE
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The eighth planet from the Sun
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Diameter: 49,500 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 4.5 billion
kilometers (30.1 AU)
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Atmosphere: hydrogen and helium
PLUTO
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The second largest known dwarf
planet in the solar system
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Diameter: 2,320 kilometers
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Distance from Sun: 5.9 billion
kilometers (39.5 AU)
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Atmosphere: a thin layer of gases
surround pluto
KUIPER BELT
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A region in the solar system outside of
the orbit of Neptune from about 30 AU
to 50 AU
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20 times as thick as the asteroid belt
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Three dwarf planets exist in the Kuiper
belt Pluto, Haumea, and Makemake
CONCLUSION
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Andromeda is the close galaxy to the solar systems galaxy
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There are more that 140 moons in the Solar System
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The Sun will eventually turn into a red giant and finally a white dwarf