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How Long Would It Take To Travel the Solar System? | Unveiled

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The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System (Jupiter contains most of the rest).

It is often said that the Sun is an “ordinary” star. That’s true in the sense that there are many others similar to it. But there are many more smaller stars than larger ones; the Sun is in the top 10% by mass. The median size of stars in our galaxy is probably less than half the mass of the Sun.

The Sun is, at present, about 70% hydrogen and 28% helium by mass everything else (“metals”) amounts to less than 2%. This changes slowly over time as the Sun converts hydrogen to helium in its core.

The Sun is about 4.5 billion years old. Since its birth it has used up about half of the hydrogen in its core. It will continue to radiate “peacefully” for another 5 billion years or so (although its luminosity will approximately double in that time). But eventually it will run out of hydrogen fuel. It will then be forced into radical changes which, though commonplace by stellar standards, will result in the total destruction of the Earth (and probably the creation of a planetary nebula).

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Explore the Solar System: The Gas Giants

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Explore the Solar System: The Rocky Planets

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NEPTUNE

Neptune is the furthest planet from the Sun. There is not much information about it, but, however, it is known that among its constituents are hydrogen, helium and methane in its atmosphere.

This planet presents  a ring structure around it, like Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. More information is needed on this planet, which requires deeper studies that are expected to be done in the future.

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URANUS

Uranus is very rich in hydrogen, helium, and methane. It is therefore another planet in the Solar System in which life is not possible, beyond the fact that water presence has been detected in its intermediate layer.

It also contains liquid metals and a very rocky inner layer, while the outermost layer is gaseous. Apart from this, it  also has a system of rings that surround the planet.

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SATURN

Saturn is almost a hundred times larger than Earth. It is primarily formed by hydrogen, and is surrounded by seven rings of solid materials on the equatorial plane of the planet.

It takes Saturn almost 30 years to go around the Sun. An interesting fact is that it is the least dense planet in the Solar System, a feature completely opposite to the reality of our planet.

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JUPITER

Jupiter is by far the largest planet in the Solar System. Known as the gas giant, it is formed by gaseous layers of hydrogen and helium, as well as methane, ammonia and water.

It is a planet with several satellites: Europe, Ganymede, and Callisto are the biggest and the most famous ones. Their dimensions are similar to the Moon, and they present a rocky composition.

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MARS

Mars is a slightly smaller planet than Earth. Some nights it can be seen with the naked eye from Earth as a reddish celestial body.
It is the most similar to Earth planet in the Solar System.

However, this planet could not host human life. The atmosphere is hostile and causes great storms and dust with high speed winds, which modifies its surface. There is evidence that in the past there were rivers of water, which is now frozen and concentrated at the poles.

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EARTH

Our home planet Earth is a rocky, terrestrial planet. It has a solid and active surface with mountains, valleys, canyons, plains and so much more. Earth is special because it is an ocean planet. Water covers 70% of Earth's surface.

Its atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen and has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe. The atmosphere also protects us from incoming meteoroids, most of which break up in our atmosphere before they can strike the surface as meteorites.

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VENUS

Venus has many characteristics that make it similar to the Earth. It is most easily identifiable planet of the Solar System, since we can see it with the naked eye, before sunrise or just after sunset.

It is the second planet closest to the Sun and it has a very hot temperature. Due to the very high presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a lot of greenhouse effect is generated. High temperatures, atmospheric pressure and the composition of the air make Venus an unsuitable planet for life.

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MERCURY

Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to the Sun. Its density is greater than any other planet in the System, and it is characterized by a rotation period which corresponds to 59 Earth days.

Due to its proximity, it reaches temperatures totally incompatible with human life, and does not contain any water. Its metallic core is similar to Earth's core, but its atmosphere is almost non-existent.

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Presentation and instructions from the teacher

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Presentation and instructions from the teacher

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Outer space has always been a mysterious reality for human kind. Today there is much more information about what is beyond the ends of the earth, but throughout history, everything that is now known about the Solar System and outside it was unknown. Nowadays, the planets that form the solar system and their characteristics are increasingly known, although not everyone is familiar with this information. For this activity, the students will have to research information about the main elements of the Solar System in order to elaborate a concept map in which its main components and characteristics will be briefly explained.

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The Nine Planets is an encyclopedic overview with facts and information about mythology and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons, and other objects in our solar system and beyond.

The 9 Planets in Our Solar System

The Five Dwarf Planets

Other Objects in The Solar System

Earth Science course

Excel High School has an online high school Earth Science course. Learn more about the course details here.

Northgate Academy offers Earth science and astronomy as online homeschooling courses.

Washington Technical Institute is an accredited college that offers online paralegal program and more.

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The Nine Planets of The Solar System | Eight Planets Without Pluto

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An overview of the history, mythology and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons and other objects in our solar system.