SUN AND PLANET FACTS
Sun -- * middle-sized yellow star
* formed from cloud of hydrogen gas and dust, 5 billion years ago
* holds 99.85% of the mass of our solar system
* 92% hydrogen and 8% helium
* Core is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit
* nuclear reactions of hydrogen atoms being forced together under
high temperature and pressure to form helium
* heat is from nuclear reactions
Terrestrial planets – dense planets
Mercury -- * orbit 88 Earth days, rotation 58 ½ Earth years
* 800° F on the Sun side to -297° F on the dark side
* no atmosphere because so small
* covered in craters, bombarded with asteroids and comets
* gray
* mostly iron and very dense
Venus -- * orbit 225 earth days, rotation 243 days; day is longer than its year
* 908° F to 710° F
* thick carbon dioxide atmosphere keeps temperatures hotter than Mercury, 90 times the atmospheric pressure of earth
* only planet to rotate clockwise
* many volcanoes
* yellowish – white
Earth -- * only planet we know has life
* orbit 365 days, rotation 24 hours
* -100° F to 120° F
* atmosphere with oxygen
* liquid water is abundant
* bluish – green
Mars -- * Orbit 2 earth years, rotation 24 hours and 30 minutes
* - 117° F to - 27° F
* thin carbon dioxide atmosphere
* red - orange color, covered in rust
* polar ice caps, liquid water in the past
* 2 rovers on its surface
Main Asteroid Belt -- Rocky remnants from our early solar system, largest rock is 620 miles across.
Gas Planets – Planets without any solid metals or rocks on the outer surface.
May not be able to walk on these planets. May have a rocky or icy center.
Jupiter -- * largest planet, made of gas with icy core
* orbits 12 years, rotates every 9 hours
* faint rings
* atmosphere filled with storms and lightning
* winds up to 250 mph
* Giant Red Spot, massive storm raging for the last 300 years
* orange, brown, red and white bands
* – 145° F
* 50 moons
Saturn -- * second largest planet, gas with solid icy core
* least dense, made of hydrogen and helium
* winds 1100 mph
* largest and most beautiful rings; made of ice, dust and rocks, up to 1000 rings in total
* rings are 150,000 miles wide but only half a mile thick
* pale yellow
* - 178° F
* orbits 30 years, rotates every 10 hours
* 53 moons
Uranus -- * gas planet with rocky, icy core
* faint rings
* light blue-green color due to methane gas atmosphere
* 84 years to orbit, rotates on its side every 17 hours. Side rotation may be due to a large object smashing into it or a moon being pulled out of it
* – 350° F
* 27 moons
Neptune -- * gas planet with rocky, icy core
* faint rings,
* Light blue color due to methane gas atmosphere
* Cloud moving quickly across the planet
* Fastest winds of 1250 mph
* 165 years to orbit, rotates every 16 hours
* – 392° F
* 13 moons