The Solar System

?
  • Created by: M.Qvvlls
  • Created on: 20-05-17 15:35
View mindmap
  • The Solar System
    • From the Sun there is: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, then the Asteroid Belt, then Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
    • Stars are huge, (Suns diameter = 100x bigger than Earth's). They give out lots of light.
      • Planets are much smaller, they just reflect sunlight falling on them.
    • The solar system formed from big clouds of dust and gas. (possibly  a nearby star caused one cloud to get squeezed).
      • Once particles had moved closer, gravity then pulled everything closer until the whole cloud began to collapse in on itself.
        • At the centre of the collapse, particles began to form a protostar. When the temperature got high enough fusion began (the joining of hyrogen nuclei to make helium.
          • Fusion gave out massive amounts of heat and light (our star was formed-the sun).
            • Surrounding the sun, material from the cloud containing hydrogen, helium and heavier elements clumped together to form planets.
              • The oldest rocks on Earth are meteorites, they are roughly 4500 million years old, so the solar system is at least that old.
    • Asteroids and comets are smaller than most planets.
      • Asteroids and comets are made of stuff left over from the formation of the solar system.
        • Rocks between Mars and Jupiter stayed as smallish lumps of rubble and rock (Asteroids).
          • Comets are balls of rock, dust and ice which orbit the sun in very elongated ellipses.
            • As a comet approaches the sun, its ice melts leaving a bright tail of gas and debris which can be millions of kilometres long.

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Physics resources:

See all Physics resources »See all Earth in space resources »