Solar System Research Paper
The Solar System
The solar system still to this day one of the most fascinating subjects of study in the science world. In our time, we are one of the first generations to see the planets of our solar system up close, and we have been able to view evolution of these planets through time. Our solar system consists of a middle aged star called the Sun, 9 planets, about 100 moons, thousands of asteroids, millions of icy bodies, and many comets revolving around all of it.
We can begin by looking at the origin of the solar system. The protoplanet nebular model is the theory that is most widely accepted to describe the origin of the solar system. The model is made up of 3 stages: A, B, and C. Stage A is the beginning of the creation of the elements that are heavier than hydrogen in previously existing stars. Part 2, stage B, is when …show more content…
the nebula is formed from the raw materials that were created in the first stage, A. With gravitational attraction, the nebula contracts forming the protosun in the center of the nebula. The protosun is then surrounded by a fat, bulging accretion disk around it. The sun forms from the protosun, and the planets form in the accretion disk. Stage C, Part 3, begins as the protosun becomes established as a star. The original nebula's icy remains then become the birthplace of comets. The first planet is Mercury. It is the innermost planet to the sun. It is also the eighth largest planet. Mercury is the brightest planet, because it is so close to the sun, which causes extremely high heat temperatures. The planet moves around the sun in about 3 months, giving it the shortest "year" of all the planets in the solar system. Mercury is named after the mythical roman messenger of speed. The next planet is Venus. It shines very brightly because it is always covered with clouds, which reflects 80% of the sunlight. Venus spins very slowly, and each day on Venus is longer than a whole Venus year. It is unusual, because the planet spins the opposite direction than it moves. Venus is called earth's sister planet, because it's mass, size, and density is almost identical to that of planet Earth. The Earth's Moon is the largest, brightest object in the sky.
It is also Earth's closest neighbor. It is believed that the moon formed from the impact of Earth colliding with a very large object. It is said that the ejected material produced by the collision was the moon, but it is still just a theory. Mars is unique with its bright reddish color. Its surface is made up of a reddish fine grained material, even the rocks are coated red. Mars takes twice as long to orbit the sun than Earth. Its day's length is almost the same as Earth's. Jupiter is the next planet. It is the largest planet of all the planets. Its mass is three hundred and eighteen times bigger than Earth. It travels very slowly, and takes 12 Earth years to rotate once around the sun. Jupiter also has a very low density. In fact, it is only about ¼ of Earth's density. This is because Jupiter is made up of very light elements, such as hydrogen, and helium. Saturn follows Jupiter in the line up of planets. It can be identified by its rings. The rings of Saturn consist of thousands of narrow bands of particles. Saturn also has the lowest density of all the
planets. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are the last planets that follow. Uranus revolves around the sun taking 84 years to circle once. Neptune takes almost twice that of Uranus, and takes 165 years to circle the sun once. Both Uranus and Neptune are thought to consist of water and water ice surrounding a rocky core. Pluto is the very last planet, and is therefore, the outermost planet. Pluto itself is the smallest planet in the atmosphere. It is so small that the all seven moons in the atmosphere are all larger than Pluto. Pluto's density is made up of 70% rock and 30% water ice. There are also small bodies of the solar system, other than planets, such as comet's, asteroids, meteors, and meteorites. These small bodies are the leftovers from the formation of the sun and planets. Comet's, for example, are relatively small, solid bodies of frozen water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane, along with dusty rocky materials. The comet's get brighter and brighter the closer they get to the sun, with the tail pointing away from the sun. Asteroids are also small rocky bodies that range in size. Meteoroids are the remains of comets and asteroids, and when they come in contact with Earth, it moves rapidly towards the Earth due to gravity. The streak of light and smoke in the sky are called meteors. Meteorites are formed if the meteoroid survives it's firery trip through the atmosphere to strike the surface of the earth. All of these small bodies influence our solar system. So as one can see the solar system is an extremely fasinating part of science. It is still one of the most intriguing subjects of study in science, because there are still endless questions about the solar system that remain unsolved. But this unknown is our solar system.
The solar system still to this day one of the most fascinating subjects of study in the science world. In our time, we are one of the first generations to see the planets of our solar system up close, and we have been able to view evolution of these planets through time. Our solar system consists of a middle aged star called the Sun, 9 planets, about 100 moons, thousands of asteroids, millions of icy bodies, and many comets revolving around all of it.
We can begin by looking at the origin of the solar system. The protoplanet nebular model is the theory that is most widely accepted to describe the origin of the solar system. The model is made up of 3 stages: A, B, and C. Stage A is the beginning of the creation of the elements that are heavier than hydrogen in previously existing stars. Part 2, stage B, is when …show more content…
the nebula is formed from the raw materials that were created in the first stage, A. With gravitational attraction, the nebula contracts forming the protosun in the center of the nebula. The protosun is then surrounded by a fat, bulging accretion disk around it. The sun forms from the protosun, and the planets form in the accretion disk. Stage C, Part 3, begins as the protosun becomes established as a star. The original nebula's icy remains then become the birthplace of comets. The first planet is Mercury. It is the innermost planet to the sun. It is also the eighth largest planet. Mercury is the brightest planet, because it is so close to the sun, which causes extremely high heat temperatures. The planet moves around the sun in about 3 months, giving it the shortest "year" of all the planets in the solar system. Mercury is named after the mythical roman messenger of speed. The next planet is Venus. It shines very brightly because it is always covered with clouds, which reflects 80% of the sunlight. Venus spins very slowly, and each day on Venus is longer than a whole Venus year. It is unusual, because the planet spins the opposite direction than it moves. Venus is called earth's sister planet, because it's mass, size, and density is almost identical to that of planet Earth. The Earth's Moon is the largest, brightest object in the sky.
It is also Earth's closest neighbor. It is believed that the moon formed from the impact of Earth colliding with a very large object. It is said that the ejected material produced by the collision was the moon, but it is still just a theory. Mars is unique with its bright reddish color. Its surface is made up of a reddish fine grained material, even the rocks are coated red. Mars takes twice as long to orbit the sun than Earth. Its day's length is almost the same as Earth's. Jupiter is the next planet. It is the largest planet of all the planets. Its mass is three hundred and eighteen times bigger than Earth. It travels very slowly, and takes 12 Earth years to rotate once around the sun. Jupiter also has a very low density. In fact, it is only about ¼ of Earth's density. This is because Jupiter is made up of very light elements, such as hydrogen, and helium. Saturn follows Jupiter in the line up of planets. It can be identified by its rings. The rings of Saturn consist of thousands of narrow bands of particles. Saturn also has the lowest density of all the
planets. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are the last planets that follow. Uranus revolves around the sun taking 84 years to circle once. Neptune takes almost twice that of Uranus, and takes 165 years to circle the sun once. Both Uranus and Neptune are thought to consist of water and water ice surrounding a rocky core. Pluto is the very last planet, and is therefore, the outermost planet. Pluto itself is the smallest planet in the atmosphere. It is so small that the all seven moons in the atmosphere are all larger than Pluto. Pluto's density is made up of 70% rock and 30% water ice. There are also small bodies of the solar system, other than planets, such as comet's, asteroids, meteors, and meteorites. These small bodies are the leftovers from the formation of the sun and planets. Comet's, for example, are relatively small, solid bodies of frozen water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane, along with dusty rocky materials. The comet's get brighter and brighter the closer they get to the sun, with the tail pointing away from the sun. Asteroids are also small rocky bodies that range in size. Meteoroids are the remains of comets and asteroids, and when they come in contact with Earth, it moves rapidly towards the Earth due to gravity. The streak of light and smoke in the sky are called meteors. Meteorites are formed if the meteoroid survives it's firery trip through the atmosphere to strike the surface of the earth. All of these small bodies influence our solar system. So as one can see the solar system is an extremely fasinating part of science. It is still one of the most intriguing subjects of study in science, because there are still endless questions about the solar system that remain unsolved. But this unknown is our solar system.