Earth and Space

The Solar System

The solar system is the name given to the sun and all things moving
around it.

The sun is a star. A star is a very large ball of hot gas. A star does
not move. The sun is mostly made up of the gases hydrogen and
helium which burn to give off heat and light.
The sun appears very large because it is the nearest star to our planet.

Moving around the sun we find:

• 8 planets
• Comets
• Dust and Gas
• Dwarf planets
• Asteroids
• Natural satellites

The solar system is found in the galaxy called Milky Way. There are several galaxies, and
these together will form our universe.

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What is a planet?

A planet is a celestial body which orbits (moves) around the sun. It has a
round shape and has a clear neighbourhood. Planets do not give out light.
Each planet takes a different amount of time to go around the sun, since
each planet has a different orbit (pathway). The time taken for a planet
to go around the sun is called a year.

What is a dwarf planet?

A dwarf planet is similar to a normal planet as it is round and goes around

the sun. However, a dwarf planet is much smaller than a planet and does not
have a clear neighbourhood. Up till now there are about 5 dwarf planets, one
example is Pluto.

What is a natural satellite?

A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that goes around a planet.

Example: The Earth has 1 moon Uranus has 27 moons
Mars has 2 moons Neptune has 13 moons
Jupiter has 60 moons Saturn has 31 moons

What is an asteroid?

An asteroid is a minor planet. It is an irregularly shaped body orbiting the

sun. Between Mars and Jupiter there is a belt of asteroids.
If an asteroid would hit the Earth it can wipe out everything from the Earth.

What is a comet?

Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the
Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town. When a comet's orbit
brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant
glowing head larger than most planets. The dust and gases form a tail that
stretches away from the Sun for millions of miles. There are likely billions of
comets.

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What is a meteorite?

A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as

a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and
survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a
planet or moon. They can be large enough to cause a crater, normally
they are full of minerals such as iron and nickel.

Inner and Outer Planets

In our Solar System, astronomers often divide the planets into two groups:
• the inner planets
• the outer planets.

The inner planets are closer to the sun and are smaller and rockier.
The outer planets are further away, larger and made up mostly of gas.

The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Each planet has a force known as gravity. The larger the planet, the greater its gravity.
The sun being very large would have the greatest gravity, this is why it keeps the planets
going around it in orbit. The planet’s gravity would keep the moons in orbit too.

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 Find Out !!!

1) Which is the biggest planet? _____________

2) Which planet is known for its rings? ___________

3) Which planet comes between Earth and Jupiter? _____________

4) Which planet is nearest the sun? ______________

5) Which planet is furthest from the sun? _______________

6) Which planet do you think is coldest? _________________

7) Which planet is almost the same size as earth? _____________

8) Which planet moves round the sun in the shortest time? _______________

9) Which planets are larger than the earth? ______________________________

10) What pattern is there between the distance from the Sun the distance taken for one

orbit?

__________________________________________________________________

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11) Which is the hottest planet? _____________

12) Name a dwarf planet. _______________

13) Where would you find the asteroid belt? ____________________________

14) Which planet is known as the red planet? ____________________________

15) What gives this planet the reddish colour? __________________________

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What makes a year?

Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun. It takes 365.25 days to orbit the sun. This is a year.
To make life easier we say there are 365 days. However, every 4 years we add a day to
make up for the 0.25 day lost and we call it a leap year.

Every planet takes a different time to rotate around the sun. Therefore, the duration of a
year changes depending on the position of the planet. The closer a planet is to the sun,
the shorter its year and the further away, the longer would be its year.

Example: A year on Mercury takes 88 days

A year on Saturn takes 10755 days

Day and night

Apart from rotating around the sun, the Earth rotates on its axis.
• Half the Earth will face the sun. We call this day time.
• The other half will be in darkness. This is called night time.
• The Earth takes 24 hours to make a whole turn. This is called a day.

The Earth spins anti-clockwise. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Think!!!!
1) It is day time for you. Name a country where it is night time. ________________
2) How many times does the Earth spin on its own axis while it makes the journey
round the sun? ____________

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The Seasons

We have different seasons because the Earth’s axis is tilted.

The axis is tilted at 23.5°. As the Earth moves round the sun, it is always tilted the same
way.

Countries in the north and the south would expect 4 seasons, but countries near equator
would not have seasons but normally a wet and a dry season. When it is an equinox, the
sun is directly over the equator. The lengths of day and night in an equinox are equal.

The following are the start of the 4 seasons:

• Longest day and shortest night _____________________

• Longest night and shortest day ______________________

• Autumn equinox _______________________

• Spring equinox ___________________________

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Eclipse

An eclipse happens when an object in space moves in front of the other object blocking
out the light. On Earth we have 2 kinds of eclipse:
• solar eclipse
• lunar eclipse

Solar eclipse

This happens when the moon comes between the sun and the Earth. Part of the Earth is in
the moon’s shadow. The sky goes dark because the moon is blocking out the sun. In a
total eclipse, only the flames around the sun can be seen.

Note: Never look directly at the sun because it can blind you.

Lunar eclipse

When the Earth is in a position between the sun and moon, the moon seems to disappear
because no sunlight can be reflected. This is a total lunar eclipse.
If the Earth blocks only part of the moon, we call it a partial lunar eclipse.

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Earth and the Moon

A moon is a natural satellite which orbits around a planet. Our moon takes 28 days to go
around the Earth. Both the moon and the Earth move in an anti-clockwise direction. The
moon looks different at different times of the month depending on its position. This is
because the moon does not give out light but only reflects the light of the sun.

THINK!!!

• Do you think the full moon occurs on the same date every month?

__________________

• Give your reasons

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