UPSC Geography 04 - Solar System

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UPSC Geography 04 - Solar System

Solar System

• 8 Planets
• 166 Moons
• 5 Dwarf planets
• Asteroid belt
• Kuiper belt
• Scattered disc
• Hypothetical oort cloud

Planets Motion

• All counter clockwise
• Follows Kepler's law
• Kepler's first law - sometimes referred to as the law of ellipses - explains that planets are orbiting the sun in a path described as an ellipse.
• Kepler's second law - sometimes referred to as the law of equal areas - describes the speed at which any given planet will move while orbiting the sun. 
• Kepler's third law - sometimes referred to as the law of harmonies - compares the orbital period and radius of orbit of a planet to those of other planets- T2 = R3

Mercury

• 0.4 Astronomical Unit (AU)
• 1 AU = 150 Million Kms
• Eroded Atmosphere
• Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Its orbital period around the Sun of 87.97 days is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System

Venus

• 0.7 AU
• Hottest (due to Natural Greenhouse effect)
• Rotation East to west
• Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. It has the longest rotation period of any planet in the Solar System and rotates in the opposite direction
• Orbital period: 225 days

Mars

• 1.5 AU
• Olympus mons- largest volcano
• Valles marineris- canyon system
• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury.
• Orbital period: 687 days
• Red Soil color is due to Iron Oxide
• Phobos and Deimos are two moons

Planets Classification

• Inferior Planets- Left of Earth
• Superior Planets- Right of Earth
• Inner Planets- Rocky upto Mars “Denizens”
• Outer Planets- from Jupiter onwards “Ices” & Gas Giants known as “Jovian” planets

Jupiter

• 5.2 AU
• 63 Moons (Io & Ganymede)
• Orbital period: 12 years
• two and a half times more massive than all the other planets in the solar system combined

Saturn

• 9.5 AU
• 60 moons
• Titan is the Largest satellite of solar system & has atmosphere
• Enchiladas has geyser
• Orbital period: 29 years
• Second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter

Uranus

• 19.6 AU
• East to west rotation
• 27 moons
• Titania is the notable moon
• Orbital period: 84 years
• Atmosphere has methane

Neptune

• 30 AU
• 13 Moons
• Triton moon has liquid nitrogen geysers
• Orbital period: 165 years

Moons (Comparisons)

• Titan
• Ganymede
• Callisto
• IO
• Moon (Fifth Largest)

Dwarf Planets

• Ceres
• Pluto
• Haumea (egg shaped)
• Makemake(Brightest)
• Eris
• Conditions for being Planet - Sphere, Revolve around sun & Clear Neighborhood

Pluto

• 39 AU
• Pluto-Charon considered twin star
• Five moons
• Nix & Hydra are notable moon
• Orbital period: 248 years
• Largest Dwarf planet
• Planet until 2015

Near Dwarf Planets

• Aks Minor Planets
• Sedna
• Charliko
• Chiron
• Centaurs
• Present in Outer Solar System

Comets

• Short Period comets
• Long Period Comets-hale bopp (returns every 76 years) is the brightest comet.
• Kurtz sun-grazers ( family of sungrazing comets, characterized by orbits taking them extremely close to the Sun at perihelion)
• Snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town
• When passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process called "Outgassing".

Asteroids & Meteors

• Rocks Originated from Asteroid belt
• Small in size called meteors called Shooting stars
• Large in size called Asteroids

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