CHAPTER 11.2 THE SUN &

PLANETSBy Parm & Harman

Formation of the Solar System

• Formed 4.5 billion years ago • sun burst into existence and leftover material

formed the planets, moons and asteroids • First planets made were the inner planets

(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) • The Jovian planets(outer) were formed from ice,

gas, and dust • The Jovian planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,

Neptune

The Sun

• Holds 99% of the mass of the solar system• Produces light and heat for the entire solar

system• Could hold 1.3 million earths inside of it • Composed of hydrogen gas

6 Features to the Sun• Solar prominence: Large loops of super hot gas that

extend out of the sun’s surface • Sunspot: dark patches on the sun’s surface that are

slightly cooler, about 3500 degrees Celsius than surrounding areas

• Photosphere: the thin outer layer of the sun, where hot gas rises to the surface cools then sinks back into deeper layers

• Solar flare: extremely violent eruptions of gas from the sun’s surface that can last a few hours.

• Corona: the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere, a layer of gas that can reach 3,000,000 degrees Celsius.

• Chromosphere: 3000km thick layer beneath the sun’s corona, composed of hot low density gas.

Solar Wind • Hot energetic gases get ejected in a sudden

burst • Gas is spewed in every direction• When these gathers hit the earths magnetic

field it deflects the solar wind from north pole to south pole

• Some winds are so powerful they can disable satellites and knock out power supply on earth

• When solar wind hits the earths magnetic fields it creates an aurora

The planets • To be, considered a planet the body:• must orbit one or more stars• Be large enough that its own gravity holds the

body in a spherical shape• Be only body occupying the orbital path.

• There are eight planets in our solar system Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Questions

How many planets are in our solar system?

What are the Jovian planets?

Name the planets in order.

How where the planets formed?

How is solar flare formed?

Bibliography

cosmoforkids.com/files/solsyst2_solarwind.html

McGraw Hill BC Science 9

Wikipedia.org/wiki/sun

Wikipedia.org/wiki/solar_wind

Wikipedia.org/wiki/planets