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Tour of the
Solar System
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Tour of the
Solar System • A system of diverse planets rotating around a single
star seems to be a common occurrence in our Milky Way Galaxy of around 200 billion stars.
• Only in the last 20 years or so have we been sure of this and have been able to spot other planets that rotate around stars.
• We have discovered thousands of planets in other solar systems and more are being found every day. The galaxy is clearly teeming with planets.
• We still have many unanswered questions. How many of these planets are like Earth? Can life exist on planets that are very different from Earth?
• Take this trip through the solar system that we know best - ours. Perhaps answering questions about our own planets will help us answer questions about the others that are out there.
• The human race has done a lot in space
since the first satellite, named Sputnik, orbited the Earth in October of 1957.
• Before this Russian-made satellite
launched, mankind could only dream of going into space… and dream we did.
• Soon after, in April of 1961, the first man
went into space. He was a Russian
named Yuri Gargarin, and he was not only the first human in space, but also
the first to orbit the Earth.
NASA , ESA
• For the first 30 years of space
travel, the United States and
Russia were in a tense competition called “The Space Race” to see who would dominate space militarily and
scientifically.
• However, since the fall of the old
Soviet Union, Russia and the
United States have worked
together in space and have cooperated mightily in the
building of the International
Space Station.
• Now that the space shuttle missions are over, we are totally
dependent on the Russians for
human transport to the space
station.
• We have spacecrafts like the Voyager ships that went to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that are capable of visiting several planets in our solar system, but can’t carry people on them.
NASA - ESA
• Another complication when
using the space shuttle is that it
is unable to leave Earth’s orbit.
• So right now no human can actually tour the entire solar
system as we will do right now.
• We don’t have the technology to build a ship capable of
sustaining life for that long.
• But like most things, if we put
our minds to it we could accomplish it.
• We have spacecrafts like the
space shuttle, capable of
supporting human life in space
for several weeks, but this is not
enough time to travel to any
other planets.
• Our solar system
consists of the Sun,
8 planets,
asteroids, mini-
planets and almost a trillion comets, all
held together by
the Sun’s gravity.
• “Sol” in the word solar system
means “Sun.”
NASA , ESA
• To even get to the part of the solar system that has planets, we must travel half its length inward towards the Sun.
• The first planet we encounter looks something like Earth at a glance.
• Neptune is 17 times more massive than the Earth. Its atmosphere gives it a pleasing blue appearance and its Earth-like clouds are easily visible.
• At the furthest reaches of the planetary system, it is one of the most geologically active bodies in the solar system.
NASA , ESA
• This huge blue marble holds a lot of
records in the solar system.
• Neptune boasts the fastest recorded
winds in the solar system, clocking
speeds of over 1,000 miles per hour. This
is because Neptune doesn’t generate much energy from its center or core, so
when the winds start blowing there is no
force to disrupt them.
• The strongest hurricanes on Earth blow
at 155 miles per hour and only last a few
weeks.
• Its largest moon, Triton, is the coldest
surface in the solar system at just 40
degrees above absolute zero.
• Absolute zero is the coldest anything can
get. It is -460 °F, a temperature at which
molecules do not vibrate.
NASA and ESA
• If the planets lined up neatly for us we
would then approach Uranus, a twin ice giant to Neptune.
• With the discovery of Uranus in 1781, the
size of the solar system was effectively
doubled.
• Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn
have all been known since antiquity, so
Uranus was the first planet that we have
any record of discovering.
• Uranus spends 20 years
with its south pole facing
the Sun and 20 years with its north pole facing the
Sun. Uranus basically lies
on its side. (click mouse)
• Because of its sideways position, there are no real
day and night cycles. One
day lasts for 20 years and
one night lasts for the
same amount of time. Talk
about a long day.
• Uranus lays on its side, but not from
slumber. It is most likely the result of a cosmic collision on a grand scale.
• The outer solar system was a dangerous
place some time ago with lots of huge rocks zipping around among the planets,
pulled by the Sun’s gravity and the gravity of the planets.
• The outer solar system was a dangerous
place some time ago. Huge rocks, pulled
by the Sun’s gravity and the gravity of the planets, zipped around among the
planets.
NASA
• As we travel towards the Sun we are
astounded by the beauty of the approaching planet, Saturn. As far as we
know, humans have always known of this
planet’s existence, though our ancestors did not know about its rings until the last
400 years or so.
• Saturn has the lowest density of any of
the planets in the solar system.
• “Density” describes how tightly mass is packed together.
• It’s less dense than water, which means it would float if you could find an ocean big
enough to drop it into.
• It’s about as dense or thick as a milkshake. I wonder what Saturn
would taste like? Be ready to call
poison control after taking a sip
though as it’s made of hydrogen and helium gases.
NASA , ESA
• The next planet is a
familiar one to us… Earth.
• The Earth is
particularly suited
to sustaining us.
• There is not
another place in
the solar system where we could live
for even 5 minutes
without a space
suit, and very few
places where even a spacesuit would
help.
• Few places in the solar system have enough air pressure to keep our insides inside our skin.
• Those planets that do have enough pressure to hold us together have too much and would squash us under a mountain of atmosphere.
• No place has anything we could eat or drink – not a morsel, not a sip – nothing.
• Earth’s atmosphere lets in what we need, sunlight and heat, and keeps out what would kill us, harmful radiation.
• Space is beautiful, but in the way that Mt. Everest or the vast Pacific Ocean is beautiful – beautiful but not hospitable.
• We can’t live below the ground because there is no air, not to
mention any room to move around.
• We can’t live in the water, which occupies most of the planet’s surface, and we can’t live near the north or south poles as it is too cold
and there is no food.
• There is only a very small pocket of
land on the Earth that we can
survive in.
• The vast majority of Earth is toxic to human life.
• The Earth is a womb of safety, but even on
the Earth we can only inhabit a very small sliver of the planet.
• Think about it. We can’t live very high off the surface or there is not enough air to breathe
(not to mention anything to stand on).
• The part of the Earth that we do
live in is perfect for us, just the right
distance from the Sun – not too hot
and not too cold.
• It has just the right tilt, just the right
atmosphere and just the right kind
of protection from the deadly radiation of the Sun and space.
• It is positioned just right in the solar
system, and the solar system is
positioned just right in the galaxy – not
near the dense radiation of the galactic center.
• The galaxy is positioned just right in the
universe – not in a tight, violent,
radiation-filled cluster of other galaxies.
SOHO/NASA/ESA
• All the nuclear bombs in the
world could blow up on the
surface of the Sun and we
wouldn’t even notice.
• Its energy output in one second is more than the
human race has generated in
all its history.
• Only a tiny fraction of the
Sun’s energy reaches the Earth, yet it is the power
behind all life on this planet.
SOHO/NASA/ESA NASA
• There are many interesting
occurrences on the surface of
the Sun.
• Solar tornadoes spin jets of fire
and gas near the poles of the
Sun and are as wide as North
America.
• They are thousands of miles
high and spin thousands of
times the speed of tornadoes
here on Earth.
• The Sun’s rotation twists magnetic fields and the
cyclones pop up like uncoiling
springs from the surface.
• A storm cellar will not help you
here.
1. Do you think that because the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) were in a “Space Race” the exploration of space was accelerated or slowed down? Why?
2. What combination of features would a ship need to allow a human to tour the solar system?
3. We try to understand other planets in the galaxy by better understanding the planets in our solar system. Is it
reasonable to suppose that planets that are far are similar to planets that are close?
4. In what way is Neptune like the Earth? In what way is it different than the Earth?
5. Why does Uranus lay on its side? What other object in the solar system has been knocked over similarly?
6. Why do you think Jupiter and Saturn have so many moons? Why do you think Jupiter protects the Earth from
getting hit by many comets and asteroids? Hint: The answer to each of these questions is the same.
7. The Asteroid Belt marks the border between what two parts of the solar system?
8. What misunderstanding led to the belief that Martians were building canals on Mars?
9. Why did we initially think that our sister planet Venus might support life like ours? Name at least two reasons
that preclude that possibility now that we know more about Venus.
10. Why is Mercury so cold on one side even though it is so close to the Sun?
11. Why do you think the solar system is named after the Sun?
12. If you would like to make a real tour of the solar system possible, what fields of study might you pursue?
Discussion Questions: (Assessment)
1. Do you think that because the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) were in a “Space Race” the exploration of space was accelerated or slowed down? Why? The exploration of space was accelerated
because of the “Space Race” because the two countries were in competition and worked harder and spent more money than they would have otherwise
2. What combination of features would a ship need to allow a human to tour the solar system? The ship would
need to be very fast so it would finish the tour in less than a human lifetime, able to store and grow food, store
and recycle water, maybe generate artificial gravity so as not to negatively effect human muscle, bone and
cardiovascular function
3. We try to understand other planets in the galaxy by better understanding the planets in our solar system. Is it
reasonable to suppose that planets that are far are similar to planets that are close? Yes, since the laws of
physics, biology and chemistry are thought to be constant throughout the galaxy.
4. In what way is Neptune like the Earth? In what way is it different than the Earth? Neptune is similar to Earth in
that it has recognizable weather patterns and features. Neptune is dissimilar to Earth in practically every other
way. For example it is made of gas and ice.
5. Why does Uranus lay on its side? What other object in the solar system has been knocked over similarly? Most
objects in the solar system that are on their sides are thought to have been struck by a large object sometime
in the past. For example, Pluto has been knocked on its side as well.
Discussion Questions: Answer Key
Discussion Questions: (Answer Key)
6. Why do you think Jupiter and Saturn have so many moons? Since larger planets have very strong gravitational
pulls they capture more objects than smaller planets. Why do you think Jupiter protects the Earth from getting
hit by many comets and asteroids? Hint: The answer to each of these questions is the same.
7. The Asteroid Belt marks the border between what two parts of the solar system? The inner and the outer solar
system. It also marks the boundary between terrestrial (solid) planets and gas planets.
8. What misunderstanding led to the belief that Martians were building canals on Mars? The mistranslation of the
word “canal” from Italian to English.
9. Why did we initially think that our sister planet Venus might support life like ours? Name at least two reasons
that preclude that possibility now that we know more about Venus. We initially thought Venus could support life
because it was in the habitable zone in regard to its distance from the Sun and it was about the size of Earth.
However, because Venus’ average temperature hovers around 900 °F, is pitch black because of the clouds and
has acid rain we can’t live there.
10. Why is Mercury so cold on one side even though it is so close to the Sun? It has no atmosphere to hold the
heat in when part of the surface turns away from the Sun. The planet also has a lot of time to cool down
because it rotates so slowly.
11. Why do you think the solar system is named after the Sun? Because the Sun is the most important part of the
solar system and holds it together with its gravity.
12. If you would like to make a real tour of the solar system possible, what fields of study might you pursue?
Physics, Rocket Science, Astronomy, Medicine
Discussion Questions: Answer Key
Discussion Questions Continued: (Answer Key)
Cross Curricular and Extension Activities:
English/ Creative Writing: Select a planet and, based on its living conditions, write a descriptive essay explaining what
types of imaginary creatures could live there. These creatures do not have to be anything like
the ones that exist on Earth or could be a combination of some preexisting creatures.
Describe what these creatures would eat, their behaviors, and what they would look like.
Explain why we would or wouldn’t want these creatures here on Earth.
History/ Mythology: Select a planet and research the mythological Roman/Greek god that it was named after. In
an explanatory essay express why its name is appropriate based on what you learned about
the planet’s features and conditions. Suggest several other appropriate names for the planet and explain why these names would be good choices for the planet as well.
Art Draw, paint, or sculpt an exaggerated depiction of one of the planets with emphasis on its
most prominent features and living conditions.
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