Our Solar System

Terrestrial Planets

MercuryMars

EarthVenus

Jovian Planets

Jupiter

NeptuneUranus

Saturn

Photograph was taken in space by Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft while hovering above a small asteroid, 11/05.http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn8259/dn8259-3_506.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns%3Fid%3Ddn8259&h=319&w=506&sz=19&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=jDAl7CfspoArsM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAsteroid%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

Asteroid

ASTEROID• Formed from leftover debris

from Big Bang• Asteroid Belt between Mars and

Jupiter’s orbits

“Armageddon”

Asteroid Belt

Halley’s Comet

Nucleus

Photo taken by space probe Giotto, 3/14/86.

Every 76 years, as Halley’s Comet nears the Sun, it becomes visible to the unaided eye. (next sighting in 2062)

COMETS• Chunks of Ice, dust and gas • Elongated orbits around the Sun

(very eccentric) • Comet’s tail ALWAYS points

away from the Sun

MeteoroidA rock that floats in space

Meteor

This photograph was taken just after the mainmeteoroid body broke up into fragments.

• Light that we see when a meteoroid burns up in Earth’s Atmosphere

Hoba West Meteorite

The largest meteorite ever found is the Hoba West Meteorite in Namibia. It weighs more than 50 tons.It hit the ground about 80,000 years ago.Estimated to be between 200 and 400 million years old!!

Meteorite• Meteor that enters Earth’s

atmosphere and reaches the Ground.

• Meteorites create huge Impact Crater’s.

Impact Crater

• Large depression on the surface, caused by the impact of a meteorite.

• 300 tons of space rock and dust fall onto Earth each day!

Impact Crater - Arizona

Crater Lake - Oregon