The Solar System

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Welcome to class! 

In today’s class, we will be talking about the solar system. Enjoy the class!

The Solar System: The Universe, The Planets, The Earth

Solar system

The solar system is the description of the position of the earth and other planets in relation to the sun. The solar system comprises of the sun and the nine planets. All the planets revolve round the sun in “elliptical orbits”.

The universe

It is made up of many heavenly bodies, group of stars form clusters which are known as galaxies or nebulas. Our local groups or galaxy i.e. the earth galaxy is known as ‘The Milky Way’. It contains twenty-seven galaxies.

A satellite is a smaller body which moves round a planet. The moon is the natural satellite of the earth.

Below is a summary of the components of the solar system

Planets	Number of satellites	Distance from the sun in Km	Years  it takes to complete revolution
Mercury	None	57,600,000	88 days
Venus	None	107,200,000	225 days
Earth	One	148,800,000	365  days
Mars	Two	227,200,000	687 days
Jupiter	Twelve	772,800,000	11.9 years
Saturn	Nine	1,417,600,000	29.5 years
Uranus	Five	2,854,400,000	84 years
Neptune	Two	4,468,800,000	164.8 years
Pluto	None	5,850,000,000	247.7 years

Evaluation

1. What is a solar system?
2. Define

• Galaxy
• Satellite
• Orbit

Other important specifications of the nine planets

• Mercury:

1. This is the smallest planet.
2. It is the closest planet to the sun.
3. It is the hottest planet being the closest to the sun.
4. It contains no living thing because of its high temperature.
5. It has the shortest orbit round the sun.

• Venus:

1. This is the second closest planet to the sun.
2. It contains no living thing.
3. It is often referred to as THE EARTH TWIN because of their close proximity in size, mass and density.

• Earth:

1. This is the only planet where life exists. This is because earth is the only planet that contains oxygen, and force of gravity.
2. It has one natural satellite known as Moon.

• Mars:

1. This planet is believed to have the possibility of supporting some plant’s life.
2. It has two satellites.

• Jupiter:

1. This is the largest planet in the solar system.
2. Its surface contains gases such as hydrogen and methane with light and dark bands.

• Saturn:

1. This is the second-largest planet after Jupiter.
2. It has three rings around it.

• Uranus:

1. This is the only planet that revolves round the sun in a clockwise direction.
2. It takes Uranus 84 years to complete its orbit.

• Neptune:

1. This planet is very cold because of its distance from the Sun.
2. It has two satellites

• Pluto:

1. This is the farthest planet from the sun.
2. It is the coldest planet.
3. It has the longest orbit round the sun

Evaluation

1. Describe the universe.
2. Give at least one characteristic of each of the planets.       

General evaluation

1. What is a solar system?
2. Name the first four planets and describe their characteristics.
3. State the characteristics of the last planet.
4. What is a satellite?
5. Mention the satellite of the earth.

Reading assignment

Essential Geography, O.A. Iwena, Pages 5-7.

Theory

1. What is a solar system? List the 9 planets in order of their distance from the sun.
2. State three characteristics of the planet Earth.

 

In our next class, we will be talking about the Earth as a Planet.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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