Our Starthe Sun

Our Solar System

Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, & Neptune.

Dwarf Planets Pluto, Ceres, Haumea, Makemake, Eris.The Solar System is made up of all the planets and their moons that orbit our Sun, comets, asteroids, and minor planets. There are eight known planets in our Solar System. The nearest planet from the sun is Mercury, then Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus then finally Neptune

In 2006, Pluto's status was officially changed from planet to dwarf planet. There are five dwarf planets in our Solar System, including Pluto, Ceres, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

1Asteroids

Asteroid Belt is located between Jupiter and Mars.

If an asteroid falls to Earth is called a Meteor.

If it does not burn up completely before it falls to the ground it is a Meteorite.The asteroids are in an area between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars called the Asteroid Belt. There are thousands of rocky objects that are too small to be considered planets. If an asteroid falls through the Earths atmosphere, it is called a meteor. The meteor travels at a high velocity and friction causes it to incinerate in a streak of light. Sometimes these are called shooting stars. If the meteor does not completely burn up and it hits the ground, it is called a meteorite.

2Kuiper Belt

The Kuiper (sounds like viper) is made up of icy circular pieces that have a different composition than asteroids or comets. Beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto, is the Kuiper Belt. This belt contains millions of small objects that have a different composition than asteroids (icy) and a different orbit (circular) than comets.

3Oort Cloud

The Oort Cloud contains a trillion comets.

They can arrive from neighboring solar systems.

A foreign comet called Sedna was discovered in 2003. Past the Kuiper Belt is an area called the Oort Cloud. It is not a cloud but an area containing about a trillion comets. These comets do not orbit the Sun in a ring but each comet can arrive in the solar system from any direction and orbit the Sun. An object discovered in the Oort Cloud in 2003 is named Sedna. This object is the most distant body known that orbits our Sun and it takes 11,500 years to do so.

4Heliosphere

Solar winds and winds from the Sun mix with winds from other stars. This is known as the Heliosphere, or the border of our solar system and a neighboring one. Scientists define the boundaries of the solar system as being the border of the heliosphere. The heliosphere is the place where the solar winds from the Sun mix with the winds from other stars. The heliosphere extends out from the Sun to a distance of about 15 billion miles.

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Our Star

the Sun

Our Sun is the source of heat and light on Earth.6T/F Questions1. The Sun gives heat and light to the Earth.2. Our Sun is different than a star.3. The Sun is the center of our Solar System.4. The Sun is a burning ball of gas.5. Our Sun is very large compared to other stars in the universe.

Before we begin our lesson on the Sun, Please write these questions down on a piece of notebook paper and answer them as true /False.

7AnswersThe Sun gives heat and light to the Earth. True2. Our Sun is different than a star.False3. The Sun is the center of our Solar System. True4. The Sun is a burning ball of gas.False5. Our Sun is very large compared to other stars in the universe. False

The Sun gives heat and light to the Earth. (True) Our Sun is different than a star. (False. A sun and a star are the same object. A star is called a "sun" if it is the center of a planetary system.) The Sun is the center of our Solar System. (True.) The Sun is a burning ball of gas. (False. It does not burn fuel but undergoes nuclear fusion.) Our Sun is very large compared to other stars in the universe. False. Our Sun is a medium size star that is about halfway through its life cycle.)

Instruct students to write the titles of each slide in their notebook. The titles are: Location Comparative Size Revolution Rotation Layers Composition Temperature Nuclear Fusion

8Location

The Sun is approx. 93 million miles from Earth.

The distance of the Sun to the Earth is an Astronomical Unit (AU).

The Sun is located in the Orion arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.The Sun is 149,600,000 km (93 million miles) from the Earth. The sunlight takes slightly over 8 minutes to get to the Earth.The distance of the Sun to the Earth is called an Astronomical Unit (AU) and is sometimes used to denote large distances that are less than a light year. The Sun is located in the Orion arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. The diameter of the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years and the Sun is located about 28,000 light-years from the Galactic Center.

9Comparative Size

The sun is 1,390,000 km in diameter. The diameter of the Sun is over 100 times the diameter of the Earth.

The Sun is a medium sized star that is halfway through its lifecycle.The Sun appears larger because of how close it is to Earth.

The mass of the Sun in about 2 x 10 to the power of 30 kg.The Sun is 1,390,000 km in diameter. The diameter of the Sun is over 100 times the diameter of the Earth.In June, 2004, Venus passed in front of the Sun. Venus is the black dot as seen from the Earth. Since the diameter of Venus is only slightly less than that of Earth this gives a visual of the relative size of the Earth or Venus compared to the Sun.The sun is a medium sized star that is about halfway through its lifecycle. There are larger stars and smaller stars in the Universe. The Sun appears larger than the other stars because of its nearness to the Earth.

The mass of the Sun is about 2 x 1030 kilograms. The Earth is 6 x 1024 kg. This means that the mass of the Sun is more than 300,000 times greater than that of Earth.

10Revolution

A complete Revolution, or circle, happens once about 250 million years.The Sun orbits about 28,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. It completes a revolution once about 250 million years. 11Rotation

The Sun Rotates on its axis.

A spot on the equator takes 25 days.

The north and south poles takes 31 days.

The rotation of the Sun and the Iron in its core cause it to have a strong magnetic field that affects objects within 3 million miles of it.The Sun rotates on its axis. Since the Sun is very hot gas, parts of it rotate at a different rate. A spot on the equator of the Sun takes 25 days to rotate around the Sun and return to the same position. At the north and south poles, the rotation of the Sun is 31 days. On the surface there are swirls in high and low pressure areas, similar to those that occur on Earth.

The rotation of the Sun and the iron in its core cause it to have a strong magnetic field that affect objects within 4, 828, 032 km (3 million miles) of it.

12Layers

CoreRadiation ZoneConvection ZonePhotosphereChromosphereCoronaProminenceNote: It is not necessary for students to memorize all the layers of the Sun.1. Core 2. Radiation Zone 3. Convection zone 4. Photosphere5. Chromosphere 6. Corona 7. Prominence

13Composition

The Sun consists about 70% hydrogen, 28% helium and 2% of metals, such as Iron.The Sun consists of about 70% hydrogen, 28% helium and 2% of metals such as iron. In the graph, the numbers represent the atomic mass of He and H.

14Temperature

The Temperature of the surface of the Sun is about 5,000 degrees C.

The Core is about 15,600,000 degrees CThe Suns temperature is extremely hot, with the surface being about 5000 C and the center core at 15,600,000 C. The high temperature in the core, along with extreme pressure from the Sun's mass, result in nuclear fusion reactions. 15Nuclear Fusion

The Sun is 4.5 billion years old. Has about 5 billion years left before the hydrogen runs out.

Nuclear Fusion is when 2 protons combine with 2 neutrons. The energy is released through its surface and through space.The Sun is 4.5 billion years old and has converted about half of the hydrogen in its core into helium. It still has about 5 billion years before the hydrogen runs out. During nuclear fusion, two hydrogen nuclei (protons) combine with two neutrons to form a helium nucleus. There is a huge amount of energy released that travels through its surface and through space. 16