Solar System Study Guide

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What Makes Up Our Solar System? The Planets Know their order from the Sun. The Planets are held in their orbit and position around the Sun because of gravity Mercury Closest to the sun, resembles our moon, hot enough to burn metals Venus rocky planet, thick layer of Carbon dioxide Earth supports life Mars The Red Planet, largest volcano in solar system, Olympus Mons Jupiter largest planet, has great red spot Saturn lots of rings, gas giant Uranus spins on its side Neptune furthest planet, stormiest, very windy My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos Planets are large spherical, non-shining bodies that orbit a start. The Asteroid Belt is located between Mars and Jupiter A. Asteroids are large rocky bodies that orbit the sun. MOST are in asteroid belt. Comets are chunks of ice and dirt that orbit the sun at incredible speeds If an object gets pulled down into a planets atmosphere, it is called a meteor as it burns through the sky. If the meteor makes contact with the surface, it is called a meteorite. Before it enters a planets atmosphere, it is called a meteoroid as it floats in space.

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V. Know that when it comes to space, the Universe contains billions of galaxies, which contain billions of stars and planets, and planets are made up of hemispheres Famous Astronomers Aristotle First real astronomer who said that Earth is the center of the universe (geocentric) Ptolemy Believed Earth was the center because it looked like planets revolved around Earth Copernicus Believed that the Sun was the center of the solar system (heliocentric) Galileo built a telescope and observed moons orbiting Jupiter and believed Sun was center

Astronauts & Cosmonauts USSR, the first country to put a rocket and man into space

Yuri Gagarin first man in space (USSR) Alan Shepard Jr. first American man in space Sally Ride First American woman in Space Neil Armstrong first man to walk on the moon

Space Probes Sputnik 1 first satellite to orbit the Earth (USSR) Mariner and Viking Missions went to Mars Cassini Reached Saturn in 2005 Apollo 11 first manned lunar landing (USA) Famous Space Shuttles: A. Challenger blew up in 1986, killing all aboard (USA) B: Columbia blew up in 2003, killing all aboard (USA) C: Space shuttles are longer be in use Space Stations Skylab USA Mir Russia International Space Station being built by 16 counties. The Moon Moons Affect on Tides - Tides are the result of the gravitational pull of the moon on the surface waters of the Earth. Eclipses An object comes between the Sun and a third object Lunar Earth comes between Sun and Moon

Solar (RARE) Moon comes between Sun and Earth and blocks the Sun from Earth

*Phases of the moon- caused by its position relative to the Earth and sun.

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New Moon Side away from Earth received sun light, so Earth sees nothing Waxing moon appears to be growing Waning moon appears to be shrinking Gibbous more than half, but less than full Crescent less than half, but not a new moon

The Earth Rotation The reason we have night and day. It takes 24 hours for Earth to rotate on its axis. Revolution The time it takes a planet to go around the sun. It takes Earth 365.25 days to revolve around the sun. Seasons We have seasons because Earth is tilted on its axis (23.5 degrees) as it goes around the Sun. *Because Earth is on a tilt, part of the year it is pointing towards the sun, the other part it points away from the Sun. *Because of the tilt, Summer in the northern hemisphere means winter in southern. *During Northern hemispheres summer, the sun shines over the tropic of cancer

*Equinox (Equal night) - happens twice a year in March and then in September. During an equinox, day and night are the same all over the world. The sun shines directly at the equator. No part of Earth is tilted towards or away from the sun. *Solstice (UNEQUAL)