Solar System

What is the Asteroid Belt?

A region of rocky and metallic small objects located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

What is the Kuiper Belt?

A region of comets and dwarf planets located beyond the orbit of Neptune.

What is the Oort Cloud?

A distant spherical shell of icy objects and comets that surrounds the solar system.

What are the primary elements that make up the Sun?

Mostly Hydrogen and Helium

What percentage of the solar system's mass does the Sun account for?

99.9%

What role does the Sun's gravity play in the solar system?

It dominates the solar system.

What is the Sun's primary source of energy?

It is the source of light.

What is solar wind?

A constant flow of charged particles from the Sun.

The Heliosphere.

a protective bubble of charged particles created by the Sun's solar wind, and it is important because it shields our solar system from harmful interstellar cosmic rays.

Density

mass/volume (units include: Units: 𝑔/𝑐𝑚^3, 𝑘𝑔/𝑚^3

How does density work with bouncy?

When materials can flow, those with the higher density, and those with the lower density, float

Terrestrial Planets:

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars-

Close to the Sun-

Rock and Metal-

Solid Surface-

High density

Jovian Planets:

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune-

No solid sufarces-

Hydrogen, Helium, and Hydrogen compounds (Water, Ammonia, Methane)-

Farther from Sun and farther apart-

Low density-

Rings and Many Moons

Asteroid Belt

the region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where many asteroids are found

Two reservoirs for comets

Kupier and Oort belt

Nebular theory

A model for the origin of the solar system that supposes a rotating nebula of dust and gases that contracted to form the Sun and planets.

Nebula

98% Hydrogen and Helium. 2%heavier elements

.• Elements that formed planets weremade in stars and then recycledthrough interstellar space

Gravitational collapse

Regions of cloud compress due to shock wavesproduced by other stars

.• Compressed regions begin to collapse under theirown gravity.

• Density of matter increases in center, where thestar (the Sun) will eventually form.

Nebula disk formation

Heating (hot in centre cool outer) and spinning, flattening, The material begins to flatten into a disk due to the moderating effect of collisions.

Frost line

the boundary in the solar nebula beyond which ices could condense; only metals and rocks could condense within the frost line

frost line elements

In frost line: too hot for hydrogen compounds to form ices• Outside the frostline: cold enough for ices to form

How did terrestrial planets form

Small particles of rock and metal were present inside thefrost line.•

Planetesimals of rock and metal built up as these particles collided.•

Gravity eventually assembled these planetesimals into terrestrial planets

.• This process of assembly is called accretion.

How did jovian planets form

Ice could also form small particles outside the frostline.

• Larger planetesimals were able to form.• Gravity of these larger planets was able to draw in surrounding H and He gases leading to the formation of giant planets

• A fracturing of the disk into smaller disks occurs: larger gaseous planets with many moons.

Where did asteroids and comets come from?

• Leftovers from the accretion process• Rocky asteroids inside frost line (Asteroid Belt)• Icy comets outside frost line (Kuiper Belt)• Giant planets deflect comets (Oort Cloud)

Diferentiation

When the planet is very hot, heavier elements (Iron, metals) sink tothe center, and lighter elements, (silica, rock) float above.

Heavy Bombardment

Leftover planetesimals bombarded other objects in the late stages of solar system formation.• Craters• Water and Atmosphericgases

Why does our moon exists

The similarity in materials making up the Earth and Moon suggest thatthe Moon may have been created from Earth material ejected after acollision with a large planetesimal.EARTHMOON

How can we identify the age of planets?

Radiometric dating

What is accretion