Trio Sci Cymru Design your own Planet Image Source: NASA
What makes a planet a planet? There are 3 rules for a celestial object to be classified as a planet 1. It must orbit a star. 2. It must have enough mass that it’s rounded by its own gravity. 3. It must be big enough that it is the ‘boss’ of its orbit.
Life - as we know it. Earth is the only planet we know of with life on it. Scientists have estimated there are around 8.7 million different species of life on Earth, from bacteria to plants to animals. There are 3 core things life on Earth needs: 1. Energy – Species like humans get their energy from the Sun; the Sun gives energy to the growing green plants that provide the food and oxygen. Life deep underground can get its energy from things like chemical reactions. 2. Food or nourishment – The 6 key elements found in food on Earth are Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Sulphur (S). 3. Liquid water – The planet needs to be the right temperature to sustain liquid water.
The Solar System We on Earth are on one of the eight planets in the solar system to orbit the sun (our star). In the solar system there are four terrestrial (rocky) planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. And there are four gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Recommended YouTube Videos • "What makes a planet a planet": • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNMDhE-1edo • "How Earth sustains life": • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNMDhE-1edo • "Brian cox - are we the only intelligent life form": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9GNCc_4f8A • "How big Is the universe": • //www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7yFDb1zOA
Orbit: 88 Earth days One rotation: 58 Earth days Mercury Sunrise to sunrise: 176 Earth days Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It is the smallest planet Diameter: 4,800 km being not much bigger than the Moon (and looking quite a lot like Moons: 0 the Moon). Mercury is the fastest planet to orbit the sun with its Distance from Sun: orbit taking only 88 earth days. 58,000,000 km Mercury has no atmosphere and so it is boiling hot on the side facing the Sun (at around 427 °C) and freezing cold on the shaded side (around -180 °C). Mercury's orbit is so quick compared to its rotation, its day (from sunrise to sunrise) is a shocking 176 Earth days. Mercury is one of the 5 planets you can see from Earth using just your eyes. Cool fact: Mercury has water ice in craters at its poles. This is because the sunlight never reaches them!
Orbit: 225 Earth days Venus One rotation: 243 Earth days Sunrise to sunrise: 117 Earth days Venus is the second planet from the Sun and although it isn’t Diameter: 12,107 km the closest it is the hottest. This is because of its thick Moons: 0 atmosphere of Carbon Dioxide that traps in the heat. Distance from Sun: Venus is sometimes referred to as Earth's sister planet as they 108,000,000 km are very close in size and gravity. Venus has an active surface, including volcanoes and although it has an atmosphere it is not one humans could breathe. When star gazing, Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. Cool fact: Venus spins in the opposite direction to Earth and most of the other planets (Venus spins clockwise).
Orbit: 365 Earth days Earth One rotation: 24 hours Sunrise to sunrise: 1 Earth day Earth is sometimes referred to as the ‘Goldilocks Diameter: 12,756 km planet’ as it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid Moons: 1 water (which is essential for life as we know it). Distance from Sun: Earth is the largest terrestrial planet in the solar 150,000,000 km system. It is the only planet that we know of to have life on it. The Earth's rotation is slowly slowing down with time. Research shows that a modern-day is longer by about 1.7 milliseconds than a century ago. Cool fact: The Earth is the only planet in our solar system not to be named after a Greek or Roman deity.
Orbit: 687 Earth days Mars One rotation: 25 hours Sunrise to sunrise: 1 Earth day Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last terrestrial planet. It is often known as the red planet. The red Diameter: 6,792 km colour is because of the Iron Oxide (rust) dust in the surface Moons: 2 layers. Distance from Sun: The surface of Mars is cold, and it has a thin 228,000,000 km atmosphere made of carbon dioxide and oxygen. There is frozen water at its poles. And what's more interesting is there appears to be what looks like old riverbeds on the surface; leading scientists to believe there was once liquid water on the surface. Scientists are currently very interested in Mars and are looking for signs of life. They are also hoping to send Astronauts to land on Mars in the not too distant future. Cool fact: Mars has the solar system's largest known mountain. It is called Olympus Mons and is 600 km wide and 22 km high.
Orbit: 12 years Jupiter One rotation: 9.9 hours Diameter: 142,984 km Moons: 79 (Known) with 53 Jupiter is the largest planet. It is the fifth planet from of them named. the Sun, and the first of the gas giants. It is so big you Distance from Sun: could fit all the other 7 planets inside it. 778,000,000 km Because it is a gaseous planet, we can't ever land on it, but even if we could it wouldn’t be very pleasant as the whole surface is covered in strong storms. Like all gas giants, at the centre of Jupiter is a rocky core. Jupiter's core is slightly bigger than Earth but weighing about 20 times more. Jupiter is the 3 rd brightest object in the night sky after Venus. Cool fact: The great red spot is the largest storm in the solar system (you could fit 3 Earths in it) and has been going for 350 years.
Orbit: 29 years Saturn One rotation: 10.7 hours Diameter: 120,536 km Saturn is famous for its beautiful rings. Although in some Moons: 82 (Known) with 53 images they appear solid, they are actually made mostly of them named. of ice crystals ranging in size from micrometres to meters, Distance from Sun: with some rocks and dust. 1,500,000,000 km Research shows that in around 300 million years Saturn's rings will have disappeared. Saturn is the second largest planet and although it is very large it is not very dense. In fact if we had a huge Saturn sized bathtub, Saturn would float in it and not sink. Saturn is the furthest planet from Earth that we can see without the help of a telescope. Cool fact: It has hexagon shaped storms at the North Pole.
Orbit: 84 years Uranus One rotation: 17 hours Diameter: 51,118 km Moons: 27 Uranus is tilted so much that it rotates on its side. Like Distance from Sun: Venus it also rotates clockwise whilst the other planets in the solar system rotate anticlockwise. 2,900,000,000 km Uranus is an ice giant, although it has a thick gassy atmosphere, its core is made up of frozen elements. Meaning that above its core is a layer of compressed slushy water and ammonia. Uranus has the coldest atmosphere of all the planets in the solar system. It is made mostly of water, methane, and ammonia fluids. The methane gives it its beautiful blue colour. Cool fact: All of Uranus’s moons are named after characters from the works of Shakespeare.
Orbit: 165 years Neptune One rotation: 16 hours Diameter: 49,528 km Neptune has the longest orbit of the 8 planets taking Moons: 14 a whopping 165 years to orbit the Sun once. Distance from Sun: 4,500,000,000 km Neptune is also an ice giant like Uranus. In fact it is referred to as Uranus’s sister as they are close in size. They are both blue due to the methane in their atmosphere; though Neptune is a darker blue than Uranus. Cool fact: One of its moons, Triton, orbits the planet in the opposite direction to Neptune's spin.
Orbit: 248 years What about Pluto?? One rotation: 6 Earth days Diameter: 2,372 km Pluto was classed as the 9 th planet in our solar Moons: 5 system for 76 years before it was reclassified in Distance from Sun: 2006 to being a dwarf planet. 5,900,000,000 km Although Pluto does orbit the Sun and has enough mass that it is rounded by its own gravity (even though it is very small), it is NOT the ‘boss’ of its orbit. In fact Pluto makes up only around 8% of the mass in its orbit. Therefore Pluto does not meet the criteria for what makes a planet a planet. Cool fact: Pluto only has an atmosphere during its summer (when it is closest to the sun).
• Credit: CARMENES/RenderArea/J. Bollaín/C. Gallego https://www.cnet.com/news/astronomers-discovered-a-gigantic- planet-that-should-not-exist/ • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System • Credit: Mercury as taken from the spacecraft MESSENGER https://astronomy.com/news/2012/03/data-from-messenger- spacecraft-reveals-new-insights-on-planet-mercury • Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech https://phys.org/news/2019-12-venus-earth.html • Credit: NASA / GSFC / NOAA / USGS https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/11/17/book-review-earth-in- human-hands/#5855f3e1209c • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter • Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute https://astronomy.com/news/observing/2019/03/the-moon-slides-by- saturn-tomorrow-morning • Credit: NASA http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150121-mega-storms-sweep-uranus • Credit: NASA https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/neptune/overview/ • Credit: NASA/APL/SwRI https://www.space.com/43-pluto-the-ninth-planet-that-was-a-dwarf.html
Recommend
More recommend
