Solar System

By Audrey Ammon

Acronyms for Our Planets

• My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas

• Men Visiting Earth Might Just Stay Until November, Probably

• My Very Extraordinary Mother Can Jog Superbly Under Nasty Pranks

• My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palaces

What Else is in Our Solar System?

• Asteroids- small rocky and metallic bodies of the inner Solar System and out to the orbit of Jupiter.

• Comets- A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma (a thin, fuzzy, temporary atmosphere) and sometimes also a tail.

• Meteorites- A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids

Quick Facts!

• Mercury is the closest planet to our sun!• Venus is the brightest planet in our sky and

can sometimes be seen with the naked eye if you know where to look. It is the solar system's brightest planet -- yellow clouds of sulfuric acid reflect the sun's light brightly.

• Earth has more exposed water than land. Three quarters of the Earth is covered by water!

Quick Facts!

• Mars is the home of "Olympus Mons", the largest volcano found in the solar system. It stands about 27 kilometers high with a crater 81 kilometers wide.

• Jupiter is so big that you could fit all the other planets in the solar system inside it. The red spot of Jupiter is the biggest, most violent storm in the known universe -- that spot is at least three times the size of earth!

• Saturn is the second biggest planet, but it’s also the lightest planet. If there was a bathtub big enough to hold Saturn, it would float in the water!

Quick Facts!

• Uranus’ axis is at a 97 degree angle, meaning that it orbits lying on its side!

• One Neptune year lasts 165 Earth years! Like Jupiter, Neptune has a dark spot caused by a storm. Neptune's spot is smaller than Jupiter's - it is only about the size of the planet earth.

• Pluto’s orbit sometimes brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune. It jumped ahead of Neptune on September 5, 1989 and remained there until February, 1999 when it went back to being the farthest.

Density

• The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume.

• A material that is denser has more matter, or stuff, packed into the same space.

• Types of density depend on it’s state of matter: liquid, gas, or solid.

• Heat and cold can affect density.

What changes density?

• -When water is frozen it turns to ice and the density (weight) increases

• - The density of a molten lava increases as it cools and hardens

• How does this apply to our planets?

Which planet is made of What?

Remember, density can be affected by the state of matter an object is in, what state of matter are these planets in? You may use your computers to research, respond with the student response system when you are through.1. Mars2. Jupiter3. Uranus4. Earth