Solar System

Solar system

The sun and the planets, the moon and the satellites of the other planets,

the comets, asterois, and meteoroids make up the solar system. The solar

system is located in the Milky Way Galaxy. Almost the whole galaxy is made

of stars. Astronomers believe there are at least 100 billion stars. If you

counted one star a second it would take you more than thirty thousand years

to count 100 billion. And each star has planets, like the sun.

Sun.

The big burning ball of gas that holds nine major planets in orbit is not

unlike many stars in the universe. The Sun makes up 99.86 percent of the

solar system's mass and provides the energy that both sustains and

endangers us. Scientists have lately begun calling its tremendous

outpouring of energy "space weather."

Massive energy

The Sun can be divided into three main layers: a core, a radiative zone,

and a convective zone. The Sun's energy comes from thermonuclear reactions

(converting hydrogen to helium) in the core, where the temperature is 15 to

25 million degrees. The energy radiates through the middle layer, then

bubbles and boils to the surface in a process called convection. Charged

particles, called the solar wind, stream out at a million miles an hour.

Sunspots

Magnetic fields within the sun slow down the radiation of heat in some

areas, causing sunspots, which are cool areas and appear as dark patches.

Sunspot activity peaks every 11 years. The next peak is due in 2000.

During this so-called solar maximum, the sun will bombard Earth's

atmosphere with extra doses of solar radiation. The last peak, in 1989,

caused power blackouts, knocked satellites out of orbit and disrupted radio

communications. (See our special report on Sunspots.)

Though NASA scientists aren't predicting any record-setting space weather

in 2000, the peak is expected to be above average. "It's like saying we're

going to have a mild or cold winter," says Dr. David Hathaway at NASA's

Marshall Space Flight Center. But as communications rely increasingly on

satellites, there are more targets in the sky and more significant

consequences to any disruptions.

And there may be more to sunspots than disrupted communications. An active

sun, known to heat the Earth's outer atmosphere, may also affect our

climate. Scientists say a small ice age from 1645 to 1715 corresponded to a

time of reduced solar activity, and current rises in temperatures might be

related to increased solar activity.

Solar flares

The Sun frequently spews plumes of energy, essentially bursts of solar

wind. These solar flares contain Gamma rays and X-rays, plus energized

particles (protons and electrons). Energy is equal to a billion megatons of

TNT is released in a matter of minutes. Flare activity picks up as sunspots

increase.

Effect on Earth

The Sun's charged, high-speed particles push and shape Earth's magnetic

field into a teardrop shape. The magnetic field protects Earth from most of

the harmful solar radiation, but extreme flares can disable satellites and

disrupt communication signals. The charged particles also excite oxygen and

nitrogen in the atmosphere to create the aurora borealis, or northern

lights. More solar radiation during the upcoming solar maximum means an

increase in the aurora.

Coronal mass ejections

Similar to a solar flare, a coronal mass ejection is a bubble of gas and

charged particles ejected over several hours. It can occur with or without

solar flares, and can also threaten Earth's atmosphere.

Final fact

If you stood on the Sun, its gravity would make you feel 38 times more

heavy than you do on Earth. But it's kind of hot, so please don't try it.

Mercury

The innermost planet is rarely seen because of the Sun's glare. With less

than half Earth's gravity, Mercury retains only a wisp of an atmosphere

(presumed to be helium). The lack of a significant atmosphere allows

temperatures to fluctuate from 750 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to

minus 320 Fahrenheit at night.

Like the other terrestrial planets -- Venus, Earth and Mars -- Mercury is

made mostly of rock and metal. This small world is scarred by craters and

looks somewhat like our Moon.

MERCURIUS: ROMAN WINGED MESSENGER OF THE GODS

Historical notes

Mercury has been known since ancient times. Its elusiveness generated the

name Hermes, given by the Greeks, later translated to Mercurius by the

Romans.

Venus.

The second planet from the sun bakes under twice as much solar radiation as

Earth and reaches temperatures of 895 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees

Celsius). Pressure from the dense atmosphere of sulfuric acid gas is about

95 times greater than Earth's and would crush a human.

The thick cloud cover around Venus rotates much faster than the planet

itself -- once every four days. After the moon, Venus is the brightest

object in the sky.

The surface of Venus is mostly a rocky desert (this computer-generated view

shows lava flows around Sif Mons). Like Mercury, Earth and Mars, Venus is

composed of mostly rock and metal.

VENUS: ROMAN GODDESS OF LOVE AND BEAUTY

Historical notes

The Greeks believed Venus was two separate objects -- one in the morning

sky and another in the evening. Because it is often brighter than any other

object in the sky -- except for the sun and moon -- Venus has generated

many UFO reports.

Final facts

While all of the planets orbit in an ellipse, Venus' orbit is the closest

to a perfect circle. It is the only planet in the solar system whose day

(241 Earth days) is longer than its year (225 Earth days).

Earth

The third planet from the sun is, in scientific terms, quite similar to the

first two. In fact, the four planets of the inner solar system (Mercury,

Venus, Earth and Mars) all share rock and metal as their primary

ingredients. Each of these so-called terrestrial planets has a solid

surface, unlike the gaseous planets of the outer solar system.

Perhaps Earth's most distinguishing factor, at least from our point of

view, is the presence of water, which contributed to the formation of life

some 3,000 million years ago. Most of us ought also to be fond of Earth's

unique atmosphere, rich in life-sustaining nitrogen and oxygen.

Final fact

The Earth's surface is rotates about its axis at 1,532 feet per second --

slightly over 1,000 miles per hour -- at the equator, and the planet zips

around the sun at more than 18 miles per second.

The Moon

Though a satellite of Earth, the Moon is bigger than Pluto. Some scientists

think of it as a planet (four other moons in our solar system are even

bigger). There are various theories about how the Moon was created, but

recent evidence indicates it formed when a huge collision tore a chunk of

the Earth away.

How the Moon's phases change

Because it takes 27.3 days both to rotate on its axis and to orbit Earth,

the Moon always shows us the same face. We see the Moon because of

reflected sunlight. How much of it we see depends on its position in

relation to Earth and the Sun.

The 27.3-day number is what scientists call a sidereal month, and it is how

long it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth in relation to a fixed star.

Another measurement, called a synodic month, is measured between in

relation to the Sun and equals 29.5 days. Full moons and new moon are

measured by the synodic month.

Earth's gravity keeps the Moon in orbit, while the Moon's gravity creates

tides on our oceans

On the moon

Like the four inner planets, the Moon is rocky. It's pockmarked with

craters formed by asteroid impacts millions of years ago. Because there is

no weather, the craters have not eroded.

The Moon has almost no atmosphere, so a layer of dust -- or a footprint --

can sit undisturbed for centuries. And without an atmosphere, heat is not

held near the planet, so temperatures vary wildly. Daytime temperatures on

the sunny side of the Moon reach 273 degrees F; on the dark side it gets as

cold as -243.

In June of 1999, reserchers discovered by accident that a huge cloud of

sodium gas trails behind the Moon.

The Lunar Prospector in 1998 provided evidence of ice near the Moon's

poles, perhaps as much as 6 billion tons of it.

Final fact

The Moon travels around the Earth at a little more than half a mile per

second; its speed is slowing and the satellite is gradually moving away

from Earth.

Mars

The fourth planet from the sun has always captivated our imagination, and

while scientists haven't proven there's any life, not even the microscopic

variety, the dusty red planet still commands our attention (and a lot of

space missions).

On the planet

The surface of Mars is more interesting than most planets. Like Mercury,

Venus and Earth, Mars is mostly rock and metal. Mountains and craters scar

the rugged terrain. The dust, an iron oxide, gives the planet its reddish

cast. A thin atmosphere and an elliptical orbit combine to create

temperature fluctuations ranging from minus 207 degrees Fahrenheit to a

comfortable 80 degrees Fahrenheit on summer days (if you are at the

equator). Researchers have recently monitored huge storms swirling on Mars.

The storms are very similar to hurricanes on Earth.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Is there water?

Mars was most likely warm and wet about 3.7 billion years ago. But as the

planet cooled, the water froze. Remnants exist as ice caps at the poles (as

shown here). A recent image of Mars taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

shows evidence of water-bearing minerals in large amounts, and scientists

say the deposits may provide clues to the planet's water-rich background.

Is there life on Mars?

It has not yet been proven that there is life on Mars. A NASA announcement

in 1996 about microscopic life found in a meteorite has failed to convince

skeptics, and the search continues.

Historical notes

The apparent odd motion of Mars as seen from Earth stumped scientists for

centuries, finally leading in the early 1600's to the notion that planets

orbited the sun in an elliptical pattern. Percival Lowell, an amateur

astronomer who studied Mars into the early 1900s, thought he saw canals

that must have been dug by inhabitants. Upon closer examination with modern

telescopes and planetary probes, they turned out to be optical illusions.

In 1938, Orson Welles broadcast an Americanized version of a 40-year-old

British novel by H.G. Wells -- The War of the Worlds. The radio drama was

perceived by many as a real newscast about a Martian invasion near

Princeton, New Jersey.

Jupiter

The fifth planet from the sun is a huge ball of gas so massive it could

hold all the other planets put together. What we can see of the planet are

bands of the highest clouds in a thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.

Traces of other gases produce the bright bands of color.

The Red Spot

Jupiter's most familiar feature is swirling mass of clouds that are higher

and cooler than surrounding ones. Called the Great Red Spot, it has been

likened to a great hurricane and is caused by tremendous winds that develop

above the rapidly spinning planet. Winds blow counterclockwise around this

disturbance at about 250 miles per hour. Hurricanes on Earth rarely

generate winds over 180 miles an hour.

The Red Spot is twice the size of Earth and has been raging for at least

300 years. It is one of several storms on Jupiter.

Inside Jupiter

At Jupiter's center is a core of rock many times the mass of Earth. But the

bulk of the planet is a thick gaseous murk that appears smeared through a

telescope because the planet moves so rapidly beneath. Jupiter's rapid

rotation causes it to bulge, making the diameter 7 percent greater at the

equator than at the poles.

Around Jupiter

Jupiter has thin, barely perceptible rings and at least 16 satellites. The

four largest-- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto -- are called the Galilean

moons. They orbit in the same plane and are all visible in a telescope.

JUPITER: RULER OF THE ROMAN GODS, ALSO JOVE

Historical notes

Jupiter was believed by Mesopotamians to be a wandering star placed in the

heavens by a god to watch over the night sky. In 1610, Galileo Galilei used

a 20x telescope to observe three "stars" around Jupiter. Over several

nights he observed these "stars," but each night they were in different

positions, leading to his conclusion that they were bodies orbiting the

giant planet.

In 1994, astronomers around the world watched as the fragments of comet

Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck Jupiter -- an event that had been forecast. This

image shows a bright cloud more than 8,600 miles in diameter caused by the

impact.

Final fact

You could stuff 1,300 Earths into Jupiter

Saturn

Much like its neighbor Jupiter, the sixth planet from the sun has a rocky

core and a gaseous surface. But Saturn is chiefly known for its intricate

series of rings that encircle it. The mile-thick rings are made of

countless orbiting ice particles, from less than an inch to several feet in

size.

Up close, it's clear that Saturn has more rings than we can count. But

though you can't see all of them from Earth, you can spot three of them

with a good telescope,.

The two outermost rings are separated by a dark band called the Cassini

Division, named for the astronomer who discovered it in 1675. The Cassini

division isn't empty, but it has less material in it. The middle ring is

the brightest, and just inside it is a fuzzy one that can be difficult to

spot.

Saturn has 18 known satellites, made mostly of ice and rock. The largest,

Titan, orbits Saturn every 16 days and is visible through a good-sized

amateur telescope. Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury, has a

thick atmosphere that obscures its surface. Though researchers aren't sure

how many moons Saturn has, the total is likely at least 20, and may be much

higher.

Historical notes

When Galileo Galilei first studied Saturn in the early 1600s, he thought it

was an object with three parts. Not knowing he was seeing a planet with

rings, the stumped astronomer entered a small drawing -- a symbol with one

large circle and two smaller ones -- in his notebook, as a noun in a

sentence describing his discovery. Debate raged for more than 40 years

about these "ears," until Christiaan Huygens proposed that they were rings.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini later discovered a gap between the rings, which

gained his name, and he also proposed that the rings were not solid

objects, but rather made of small particles.

Uranus

The seventh planet from the sun is much like its gaseous neighbors, with a

cloudy surface, rapid winds, and a small rocky core.

URANUS: PERSONIFICATION OF HEAVEN IN ANCIENT MYTH

Perhaps because of a collision with a large object long ago, Uranus orbits

at an extreme tilt of 98 degrees -- sort of on its side. This causes one

pole to point toward the sun for decades, giving the planet strange

seasons.

Uranus has numerous satellites and a faint set of rings. If all the

possible satellites being studied are confirmed, Uranus would have 16

regular and five irregular moons, making it the most populated planetary

satellite system known. Saturn is known to have 18 satellites (there may be

more, but they have not been well-documented).

Historical notes

Uranus was thought to be a star until William Herschel discovered in 1781

that it orbited the Sun.

Neptune

The eighth planet from the Sun -- well, some of the time it's eighth, but

more on that later -- has a rocky core surrounded by ice, hydrogen, helium

and methane.Like the other gas planets, Neptune has rapidly swirling winds,

but it is thought to contain a deep ocean of water. Its quick rotation

fuels fierce winds and myriad storm systems. The planet has a faint set of

rings and 8 known moons.

Because of Pluto's strange orbit, Neptune is sometimes the most distant

planet from the Sun. Since 1979, Neptune was the ninth planet from the Sun.

On February 11, 1999, it crossed Pluto's path and once again become the

eighth planet from the Sun, where will remain for 228 years.

NEPTUNE: ROMAN GOD OF WATER

Historical notes

Neptune was discovered in 1846 after mathematical calculations of Uranus'

movements predicted the existence of another large body.

Pluto

Pluto, which is only about two-thirds the size of our moon, is a cold, dark

and frozen place. Relatively little is known about this tiny planet with

the strange orbit. Its composition is presumed to be rock and ice, with a

thin atmosphere of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane. The Hubble Space

Telescope has produced only fuzzy images (above) of the distant object.

Pluto's orbit

Pluto's 248-year orbit is off-center in relation to the sun, which causes

the planet to cross the orbital path of Neptune. From 1979 until early

1999, Pluto had been the eighth planet from the sun. Then, on February 11,

1999, it crossed Neptune's path and once again became the solar system's

most distant planet. It will remain the ninth planet for 228 years.

Pluto's orbit is inclined, or tilted, 17.1 degrees from the ecliptic -- the

plane that Earth orbits in. Except for Mercury's inclination of 7 degrees,

all the other planets orbit more closely to the ecliptic.

Interestingly, a similar thing happens with Jupiter's moons: Many orbit on

the ecliptic, but some are inclined from that plane.

Did you wonder: Will Pluto and Neptune ever collide? They won't, because

their orbits are so different. Pluto intersects the solar system's

ecliptic, or orbital plane, twice as its orbit brings it "above," then

"below" that plane where most of the other planets' revolve -- including

Neptune. And, though they are neighbors Pluto and Neptune are always more

than a billion miles apart.

Is it a planet at all?

Some astronomers think Pluto may have wandered into the system of planets

from a more distant region known as the Kuiper belt -- a region beyond the

orbit of Pluto thought to contain Pluto-like objects and comets that orbit

the sun in a plane similar to the planets of the solar system.

If that's the case, Pluto is not a planet at all, but is probably more like

a large asteroid or comet. Some have also suggested that it may have once

been a moon of Neptune and escaped.

The International Astronomical Union, the organization responsible for

classifying planets, gives these reasons for questioning Pluto's status as

a planet:

All the other planets in the outer solar system are gaseous, giant planets

whereas Pluto is a small solid object

Pluto is smaller than any other planet by more than a factor of 2.

Pluto's orbit is by far the most inclined with respect to the plane of the

solar system, and also the most eccentric, with only the eccentricity of

Mercury's orbit even coming close

Pluto's orbit is the only planetary orbit which crosses that of another

planet (during 1999 Pluto will again cross Neptune's orbit, thus regaining

its status as the most distant planet)

Pluto's satellite, Charon, is larger in proportion to its planet than any

other satellite in the solar system.

Pluto has one moon, Charon, which was discovered in 1978. The satellite may

be a chunk that broke off Pluto in a collision with another large object.

PLUTO: HADES IN ANCIENT MYTH, ROMAN GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD

Historical notes

Pluto was not discovered until 1930, by amateur American astronomer Clyde

Tombaugh. Since Tombaugh's death in 1997, many astronomers have

increasingly urged the International Astronomical Union, which names

celestial objects, to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.

After a news report generated a flurry of irate e-mails about the possible

change, officials assured the world that Pluto would remain a planet. But

it will also likely become the first in a new class of celestial object

known as a TNO, or Trans-Neptunian Object. It seems Pluto may then have a

sort of dual citizenship.

Comets

Made of dust, ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia and methane, comets resemble

dirty snowballs. You may remember them as blurry smudges in the sky. Comets

orbit the Sun, but most are believed to inhabit in an area known as the

Oort Cloud, far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Occasionally a comet streaks

through the inner solar system; some do so regularly, some only once every

few centuries.

Heads and tails

As a comet nears the Sun, its icy core boils off, forming a cloud of dust

and gas called a head, or coma. Comets become visible when sunlight

reflects off this cloud. As the comet gets closer to the sun, more gas is

produced.

The gas and dust is pushed away by charged particles known as the solar

wind, forming two tails. Dust particles form a yellowish tail, and ionized

gas makes a bluish ion tail. A comet's tails, like these on comet Halley,

always points away from the Sun.

Meteor showers

When Earth crosses the path of a comet, even if the comet hasn't been

around for a few years, leftover dust and ice can create increased numbers

of meteors.

Asteroids

Quick quiz: How many planets orbit our Sun? If you said nine, you're shy by

several thousand. Scientists consider asteroids to be minor planets - some

are hundreds of miles wide (and seldom round).

Orbits

Most, but not all, orbit the sun in an asteroid belt between Mars and

Jupiter. The huge gravitational pull of Jupiter accelerated these asteroids

to more than three miles per second -- too fast to prevent violent

collisions. Otherwise, they might have joined up to form "real" planets.

When asteroids collide, fragments sometimes are sent on a collision course

with Earth and become meteors.

Size and makeup

The vast majority of asteroids are small, compared with a large one like

Ida, this 32-mile-long chunk of stone and iron that was photographed in

1993 by the Galileo spacecraft. Though we normally think of asteroids as

crater-makers, they are typically pockmarked with their own impact craters.

Scientists divide asteroids into two groups, based on how they appear in

infrared images: light and dark. The lightest-looking asteroids are rocky

bodies with lots of iron and nickel, and they resemble lunar rocks. The

darkest asteroids have high quantities of hydrated minerals and carbon.

In the early days of the solar system (some 4.6 billion years ago)

asteroids had metallic cores, middle regions of stone and iron, and

surfaces of stone. Over time, many of them collided with others and broke

apart. The fragments, which became many of today's asteroids, are therefore

classified as irons, stony-irons or stony.

When an asteroid, or a part of it, crashes into Earth, it's called a

meteorite.

Origin

There are two hypotheses about how most of the asteroids formed. One says

they broke off of a mother planet that existed between Mars and Jupiter.

More likely, however, they represent what space was like before the planets

formed, and they are the remnants of that process -- bits and pieces that

never quite joined together.

The threat of impact

Since the Earth was formed more than four billion years ago, asteroids and

comets have routinely slammed into the planet. The most dangerous asteroids

are extremely rare, according to NASA.

An asteroid capable of global disaster would have to be more than a quarter-

mile wide. Researchers have estimated that such an impact would raise

enough dust into the atmosphere to effectively create a "nuclear winter,"

severely disrupting agriculture around the world. Asteroids that large

strike Earth only once every 1,000 centuries on average, NASA officials

say.

Smaller asteroids that are believed to strike Earth every 1,000 to 10,000

years could destroy a city or cause devastating tsunamis.

More than 160 asteroids have been classified as "potentially hazardous" by

the scientists who track them. Some of these, whose orbits come close

enough to Earth, could potentially be perturbed in the distant future and

sent on a collision course with our planet.

Scientists point out that if an asteroid is found to be on a collision

course with Earth 30 or 40 years down the road, there is time to react.

Though the technology would have to be developed, possibilities include

exploding the object or diverting it.

For every known asteroid, however, there are many that have not been

spotted, and shorter reaction times could prove more threatening. NASA puts

the odds at 1 in 10,000 of discovering an asteroid that is within 10 years

of impact.

Two programs have been set up to actively search for Near-Earth Objects

(NEO's): NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program, and Spacewatch

at the University of Arizona.

Also, the Spaceguard Foundation was established in 1996 in Rome. The

international organization's goal is to protect Earth from the impacts by

promoting and coordinating discovery programs and studies of NEOs. A

January report shows that NEOs 1 kilometer or larger are being discovered

at the rate of about five a month. The combined goal of these agencies is

to find 90 percent of all NEOs 1 kilometer or larger within the next

decade.

Literature

1. “Astronomy” , B. A. Vorontsov-Veliaminov, Moscow 1991.

2. “English for success”, Margareta Dushciac, “Teora” 2000.

3. www.space.com

4. www.NASA.gov

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[pic]

Comet Halley