ADVENTURES THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM

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ADVENTURES THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM
RIKKI ROKKETT
stargazer
Rick Young
MEDT 7468
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CONTENT

• SUN
• MERCURY
• VENUS
• EARTH
• MARS
• ASTEROID BELT

• JUPITER
• SATURN
• URANUS
• NEPTUNE
• PLUTO
• OORT CLOUD

• Clicking the heading on each page will direct
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• For more information, click the image on each
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INTRODUCTION

• Im Rikki Rokket and Im going to give you a
  tour of the Solar System. You will be amazed at
  the wonders of the planets, asteroids and comets
  that comprise our solar system. Youll see
  planets with beautiful rings, planets that are on
  their sides, planets with awesome storms and
  planets that arent planets. Well fly over the
  largest mountain in the Solar System and it isnt
  even on Earth. Youll see snow that is poisonous
  and where life possibly got its start. So, sit
  back, relax and enjoy the ride.

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SUN
The Sun is the heart of our Solar System. It
contains 98 percent of all the material in the
Solar System. It provides heat and light to all
the planets in the Solar System. Without the
Sun, we would not exist here on Earth. It is
150 million kilometers from the Earth and it
takes light from the Sun 8 minutes to reach the
Earth. The Sun is approximately 5 billion
years old and will continue to burn for about
another 5 billion. Like a leopard, the Sun has
spots. These are the cool areas on the Sun and
help scientists predict when solar flares are
going to erupt. These solar flares can be
responsible for static on your radio to the
beautiful Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.
We will leave our shining guardian, now, and
explore the planets that surround our parent
star.
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MERCURY

• Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, only 57
  million kilometers away. It is constantly being
  baked by the intense heat of the sun. It has no
  atmosphere to hold in heat so on the side away
  from the Sun, it is always very, very cold.
• Mercury rotates once every 2 trips around the
  Sun. This keeps one side facing the Sun the
  majority of the time.

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VENUS
Except for the Sun and Moon, Venus is the
brightest object in the night sky. It is the 2nd
planet from the Sun and even though it is our
sister planet, we have never seen its surface
as it is constantly obscured by poisonous clouds.
Sunlight reflecting off these clouds is why
Venus appears so bright in our sky. The pressure
of Venus atmosphere is 90 times that of the
Earth. In other words, you would be crushed by
the pressure, if you were standing on its
surface. It is believed that Venus once had
abundant water, which has since boiled away. The
heat that boiled the water is the result of the
runaway Greenhouse Effect on Venus, which is a
result of the dense cloud cover. Some scientists
think this may be Earths fate, if we dont get
our greenhouse gas emission under control
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EARTH
The Earth, the third planet from the sun, is our
homeworld. It is the only planet we know of that
supports life. It is the only planet whose
name does not come from Greek mythology. 70
of our planet is covered with water. We have
about the same amount of landmass as the planet
Mars. We have 1 natural satellite, The Moon,
which orbits the Earth once about every 29 days
and provides light for us at night. There are
active volcanoes and tectonic plate activity.
There are an infinite variety of flora and fauna
on Earth. The land, air and oceans are teeming
with life. It takes the Earth 365 twenty-four
periods called days to travel once around the
Sun.
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MARS
Mars. The Red Planet. Named after the God of
War. Mars has about the same land area as the
Earth but no surface water. It also is home to
the largest mountain in the Solar System,
Olympus Mons, which towers 78 thousand feet
high, over 2 ½ times as high as Mt. Everest on
Earth. Mars has no liquid water but does have
much frozen water in its polar ice caps. It is
also speculated that Mars has substantial water
supplies frozen underground. This is important
for the prospect of colonizing Mars in the near
future. Mars has 2 natural satellites, or
moons, Demos and Phobos.
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ASTEROID BELT

• The Asteroid Belt is a region between Mars and
  Jupiter with hundreds of thousands of small, (all
  but 26 are less than 200 kilometers in diameter)
  rocky bodies.
• It is not known whether the asteroids are
  remnants of the formation of the Solar System or
  a small planet that was pulled apart by the
  gravity of Mars and Jupiter.
• Analysis has shown that all are composed of
  common metals such as nickel and iron but some
  have a wealth of precious metals such as
  platinum.

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JUPITER
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar
System. Lying 780 million kilometers away, it is
the 5th planet from the Sun. It is one of the 4
gas giants that do not have a solid surface but
are composed of dense gas. You wouldnt be able
to stand on the surface of Jupiter or any of the
gas giants. If you did, though, you would be
instantly crushed from the tremendous gravity.
Jupiter has a distinct mark known as The Great
Red Spot, which is a whirling storm that has
travelled around the planet for over 300 years.
Jupiter has rings, like Saturn, but they are
much fainter. Jupiter has many natural
satellites.
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SATURN
Saturn is the 6th planet from the Sun and, with
its majestic ring system, is considered to be
the most beautiful planet in the Solar System.
While its rings are thousands of kilometers
wide, they are only a few kilometers (less than
10) thick. They are composed of rock and ice
crystals. Saturn itself is another of the gas
giants and has no solid surface to stand on.
Saturn has 34 named, and many, smaller unnamed
natural satellites. Saturn is visible from
Earth and, with binoculars or a small telescope,
the rings can be seen prominently.
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URANUS
The 7th planet from the Sun is Uranus. (Be
careful how you pronounce its name. ) Like all
the outer planets, Uranus has a ring system but
it is very dark, probably composed of large
chunks of rock. Uranus is unique in that it is
flipped over on its side so it rotates top to
bottom rather than side to side. This is either
the result of its formation or a collision with
another celestial traveler. Uranus has 21
named moons.
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NEPTUNE
Neptune is the 8th planet from the Sun and the
last of the gas planets. It is the first
planet to be discovered by calculations rather
than direct observation. Like Jupiters Great
Red Spot, Neptune has a Great Dark Spot. It,
too, is a swirling storm that travels over the
planet, sometimes moving at 2000 kilometers per
hour. Recent observations have indicated that
this storm has disappeared. Like the other gas
planets, Neptune has a ring system. They are
very dark and, in some places, have an odd
twisted formation. Neptune can be seen with
binoculars and has 13 known moons.
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PLUTO

• Pluto is the 9th planet in our Solar System.
  But, according to the International Astronomical
  Union (IAU), it isnt even a planet. Many
  scientists, however, still consider Pluto to be a
  planet.
• Lying almost 6 billion kilometers away, the Sun
  appears as only a faint star on Pluto. It is a
  frozen rock.
• Pluto has one named moon, Charon, and 2 tiny
  unnamed natural satellites.
• Because of its eccentric orbit, Pluto sometimes
  passes inside the orbit of Neptune, making it the
  9th planet.

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OORT CLOUD
Far beyond Pluto lies a vast cloud of icy objects
known as the Oort Cloud. This is the home to
comets that roam through our Solar System. This
is our last stop on our trip through the Solar
System before heading into interstellar
space. Known for their fiery tales as they near
the Sun, comets have very elongated orbits and
usually only visit the inner Solar System every
few hundred years. The best known of these,
Comet Halley, comes round every 76 years, It
will return in 2061. Dont blink! Many
astronomers now believe that in the early days of
our Solar System many comets carrying water and
organic molecules rained down on the primordial
Earth. This is where our oceans came from and,
quite possibly, how life began on Earth.
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CREDITS

• Words, illustrations and narrations by Rick Young
• Information courtesy of nineplanets.org
• Holst The Planets courtesy of freeplaymusic.org
• Pirates Nest courtesy of freeplaymusic.org
• Classis Sunrise courtesy of freeplaymusic.org
• Earth courtesy of freeplaymusic.org
• Build the Keep courtesy of freeplaymusic.org
• Grieg Morning Mood courtesy of freeplaymusic.org
• Retribution courtesy of freeplaymusic.org
• Sandstorm courtesy of freeplaymusic.org