By: Liz Moran

S4E1: Students will compare and contrast the physical attributes of stars, star patterns, and planets.

S4E2: Students will model the position and motion of the earth in the solar system and will explain the role of relative position and motion in determining sequence of the phases of the moon.

Table of Contents

What is the Solar System?StarsPlanetsMoonsSpace Exploration

What is the Solar System?The solar system

is a group of objects in space that move around a central star (sun).

Includes planets, asteroids, moons and comets

StarsStars are

burning spheres of gases.

Even though they look small from Earth, they are enormous.

Star Patterns

Constellations are names for groups of stars that appear to form shapes in the sky. They were given their names many hundreds of years ago to help us remember which stars are which. We use constellations to divide up the sky; finding one can help us find another because constellations move so slowly that, in our lifetime, they will always be found in about the same place.

The Sun – The Biggest Star

The biggest star in the solar system is the sun.

The sun is the largest object in the solar system.

The sun is more than 1 million kilometers long.

The Nine Planets in our Solar System

Earth

Venus

Mercury

Pluto Neptune

Uranus

Saturn

JupiterMars

Nine Planets

Planet TemperaturesSince all planets

revolve around the sun…they are all different distances away.

The farther the planet is away from the sun, the colder it will be.

Planet Temp. (C)

Mercury 150

Venus 450

Earth 0

Mars -50

Jupiter -150

Saturn -190

Uranus -210

Neptune -230

Pluto -250

Planet’s Distance from the Sun

Distance from the Sun (millions)

36 67.2 93 141.6483.6

886.7

1,784

2794.4

3674.5

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

MercuryClosest planet to the sunAbout the size of the Earth’s moon

No atmosphereMercury virtual tour

VenusSecond planet from the sun

Very dry atmosphereVenus virtual tour

EarthOur wonderful planet is the third planet from the sun

Has water and volcanoesOnly planet with known life

MarsFourth planet from the sunKnown as the red planet

because of the color of its soilHas the largest volcano in the

solar system…Mons OlympusMars virtual tour Click here to go

back to the nine planets site

JupiterFifth planet from the sunLargest planet in the solar

system (3 Earths would fit inside of it)

Very active gas atmosphere, almost like a hurricane

Jupiter virtual tour

SaturnSixth planet from the sunKnown for it’s rings, which can be seen from Earth with a telescope

Saturn virtual tour

UranusSeventh planet from the sunMost distant planet you can see without using a telescope

Has faint ringsUranus virtual tour

NeptuneEighth planet from the sun

Neptune virtual tour

PlutoPlanet farthest away from the sun

Smallest planetRocky surface surrounded by frozen gases

Pluto virtual tour

Number of Moons on Each Planet

Each planet has a different number of moons. Mercury and Venus have zero.

Number of Moons per Planet

1 2

18

18

15

2 1 Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Phases of Earth’s Moon The moon does not give

off its own light. Instead, it reflects light from the sun. Half of the moon always faces the sun and so is always lit. As the moon moves through it’s orbit, different amounts of its lit half can be seen from Earth. That’s why the moon seems to have different shapes or phases. The moons cycle of phases takes about 28 days to complete.

Phases of the Moon Diagram (Earth is in center; white part of each moon is the visible part).

Space Exploration Since the planets and stars are so

far away, we need special tools to view them. We can use telescopes from Earth, but to view them up close we need to go closer.

Astronauts can explore the universe up close using space probes to examine different planets and the Earth from afar. telescope

Space ship launching

Continue your Journey in Space…The Solar System is a

wonderful and exciting thing to discover. There are many sites online to visit and learn much more. Here are a few:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/

http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/ -