the solar system that works together stays together

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The Solar System that works together stays together By Michael R. Wesley

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Hi! My name is Michael. There has never been anyone in the world exactly like me. I am one of a kind. I am different. I am special! Know what ?

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You are special, different and one of a kind too. There has never been anyone in the world exactly like you. And yet, there are some things about us that are alike. Microsoft ClipArt

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One of these is that we all live on the planet Earth. Microsoft ClipArt

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Earth is one of eight planets that revolves, orbits, or moves around the sun. The names of the planets in their order from the sun are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each of these planets are different, special and one of a kind too. And yet, there are some things about them that are alike. Solar system taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001

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One of these is that they are all in the same solar system. “Sol” is the Latin word for sun. It is also the Spanish word for sun. To be in the solar system means that we are all held together by the sun. The sun is a big burning ball of gas.

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The sun doesn’t have land like the earth does. When we see a picture of the sun we are looking at the hydrogen, nitrogen and other gases burning. The sun burns very hot. The temperature on the sun is from 9,950 degrees above zero to 28,000,000 (million) degrees above zero. The reason it doesn’t burn us is because it is 93,000,000 (million) miles away from the earth. This is why it looks so small to us. But it is as big as 1,000,000 (million) earths. The sun holds all the planets together by its gravitational pull. It keeps all the planets from flying off into space. The picture of the sun was taken from http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/2683/sunimage.htm

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Mercury is the planet closest to the sun. It is only 36,000,000 (million) miles from the sun. It takes 88 days for Mercury to revolve or move around the sun. On the side facing the sun the temperature can reach 810 degrees above zero. The side facing away from the sun can get down to 180 degrees below zero. The reason it gets so cold is because there is no atmosphere to hold in the sun’s warmth. Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. It is always dark on Mercury because there is no atmosphere. The picture of Mercury was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001

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The second planet is Venus. The temperature on Venus gets to 864 degrees above zero. Venus has a thick atmosphere mostly of carbon dioxide gas. The sun’s light reflects (bounces off of) Venus quite easily. This makes it look like the brightest thing in the sky (next to the sun and moon, of course). Venus can easily be seen from the earth at sundown and at sunset. It is called our twin because it is almost the same size as earth. The third planet from the sun is Earth. The picture of Venus was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001

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Earth is a very special planet. It is the only planet in our solar system that has life on it. One of the reasons for this is because of its distance from the sun. The sun is 93,000,000 (million) miles away from earth. This is the perfect distance for living things to grow. At this distance it is never too hot or too cold. The earth’s atmosphere has just the right amount of gas (mostly nitrogen and oxygen) to support life. If there was more oxygen the plant life would burn up. If there was less oxygen there would not be enough to support life. If we were just a little closer to the sun all of the water would boil away. If we were just a little further away from the sun all the water would be frozen. As it is the earth is a perfect planet! The picture of earth was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001

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The earth rotates, or turns around once every 24 hours. When our side of the planet is facing the sun it is daytime. When our side of the planet is facing away from the sun it is night. As our planet turns around on its axis it also revolves, orbits or turns around the sun. It takes 365 days (or 1 year) for the earth to revolve around the sun. As the earth revolves around the sun we are able to have four different seasons: summer, winter, spring and fall. This is caused by the earth’s tilt. Planet Earth has 1 moon that orbits it.

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Summer in the northern hemisphere. Winter in the southern hemisphere. Fall in the northern hemisphere. Spring in the Southern hemisphere. Winter in the northern hemisphere. Summer in the Southern hemisphere. Spring in the northern hemisphere. Fall in the Southern hemisphere. The Sun The sides of the earth that are tilting towards the sun are in the warmer seasons. The sides of the earth that are tilting away from the sun are in the colder seasons. North South North South North South North South

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The picture of Mars was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001 Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. It is 141,000,000 (million) miles away from the sun. It is about one half the size of earth. It takes two years on earth for Mars to revolve (move around) the sun once. The temperature on Mars is from 60 degrees above zero to 225 degrees below zero. Mars has the highest volcano in the solar system. It is 16 miles high. The volcano graphic was taken from Microsoft ClipArt.

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diagram at left is taken from above is taken from The above diagram is taken from http://www.phy.bg.ac.yu/web_projects/solar/eng/asteroid.htm#intro The above diagram is taken from Asteroids: There is a circle of rocks that orbits (moves around) the sun. They’re called asteroids. About 200 asteroids are from 580 miles around to 61 miles around. The biggest asteroid is as large as the state of Texas. There are thousands of asteroids that are much smaller. The orbit that most asteroids take around the sun is in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Some scientists think that the asteroids are parts of a planet that were never able to come together.

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The picture of Jupiter was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is the fifth planet from the sun. Jupiter is 484,000,000 (million) miles away from the sun. Jupiter is a big ball of gas. It is not solid like the earth. Jupiter has 16 moons that orbit (move around) it. There is also a ring circling the planet. The ring was caused by stuff coming off the 16 moons. A year on Jupiter is 11 earth years long. Right this way to the planet Saturn

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The picture of Saturn was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001 The sixth planet in our solar system is Saturn. It is 88,200,000 miles away from the sun. There are 7 rings that circle the planet. These are made up of 100,000 smaller ringlets. The ringlets are made up of rock, gas and ice. Most of Saturn is made up of hydrogen gas. The temperature on Saturn is about 285 degrees below zero. At its core, however, (the very center of Saturn) it may be as hot as 27,000 degrees above zero. Next stop Uranus!

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The picture of Uranus was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001 Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. It is almost 2 billion (1,781,000,000) miles from the sun. It takes 84 earth years for Uranus to orbit the sun once. It has a rocky center that is surrounded by an ocean of water and rocky stuff. The outer atmosphere is about 350 degrees below zero. The ocean on Uranus, however, is about 12,000 degrees above zero. There are 10 rings of ice and rock that circle Uranus. It has at least 18 moons.

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This picture of the planet Neptune was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2001 Neptune is the eighth planet in the solar system. Neptune is almost 3 billion miles from the sun. Like Uranus Neptune has a rocky center that is covered with an ocean of water and rocky stuff. The temperature of Neptune’s ocean is 8500 degrees above zero. It has 4 rings and 8 moons. Next stop the dwarf planet Pluto!

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These pictures of Pluto were taken by the Hubbel telescope. They were found in http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ice_fire/hubble.htm At one time Pluto was considered to be the ninth and the smallest planet in the solar system. It was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, however, because it is not large enough to move objects out of its way. The temperature on Pluto is about 369 degrees below zero. This dwarf planet is mostly made up of ice and has one moon.

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Linear WM 1-The Christmas Comet Picture taken from http://www.nearearth.net/ Comets and meteors are also a part of the solar system but we’ll save that for another time.

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All the planets in our solar system are special, different, one of a kind planets. And yet, they all depend on each other. Each planet is kept in its orbit around the sun because of the sun’s gravitational pull. But each planet has a gravitational pull of its own. Fortunately it is not as strong as the sun’s. If it was the planets would all collide into each other. As it is none of the planets tries to be more powerful than the others. They work together to keep order in the solar system. What can we learn from this?

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When we work together as a team we’re able to get a lot of things done. If we don’t work together we’re like planets colliding into each other. Each one tries to be the most important but nothing gets done. But when we’re special, unique and one of a kind people working together we can help each other to get things done right. Everyone wins! Graphic taken from Microsoft ClipArt We can sure learn a lot from watching the planets. THE END