Planets

  • 8 Planets

    • Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars - Terrestrial Planets

    • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune - Jovian Planets

  • Terrestrial Planets

    • Characteristics

      • Made of rocky material

      • Surfaces are solid

      • Relatively Small

      • Don’t have rings

      • Very few moons

    • Mercury

      • Smallest planet

      • Shortest orbit in the solar system

    • Venus

      • Hottest planet due to its atmosphere of CO2 & extensive lava flows

    • Earth

      • Water systems help create only known environment to sustain life

    • Mars

      • Might have supported life 3.7B years ago

      • Once had a watery or icy surface

  • Asteroid Belt

    • It orbits between Mars and Jupiter

  • Jovian Planets

    • Characteristics

      • Multiple moons

      • Support ring systems

      • No solid surface

      • Immense in size

    • Gas Giants

      • Jupiter & Saturn

      • Predominantly helium & hydrogen

    • Ice Giants

      • Uranus & Neptune

      • Contains rock, ice, and a mixture of water, methane, and ammonia

    • Jupiter

      • Largest planet

    • Saturn

      • 2nd largest planet

    • Uranus

      • Rotates on its side

      • Coldest planet (asteroids?)

    • Neptune

      • Outermost planet

  • Kuiper Belt

    • a doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies extending far beyond the orbit of Neptune

    • Pluto

  • Oort Cloud

    • Collection of icy debris

    • The edge of the solar system since that is where the gravitational and physical influence of the sun ends.