Solar System PDF
Preview Solar System
Solar System Author and consultant: Sarah Cruddas Contents Project editor Sam Priddy Senior designer Katie Knutton 4 What is the Solar System? Designers Emma Hobson, Lucy Sims Editorial assistant Kathleen Teece 6 The Milky Way US Senior editor Shannon Beatty Managing editor Laura Gilbert 8 The Sun Managing art editor Diane Peyton Jones Picture researcher Surya Sarangi 10 Mercury Pre-production producer Dragana Puvacic Producer Srijana Gurung Art director Martin Wilson 12 Earth’s evil twin Publisher Sarah Larter Publishing director Sophie Mitchell 14 Life on Earth Educational consultant Jacqueline Harris First American Edition, 2016 16 The Moon Published in the United States by DK Publishing 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 Copyright © 2016 Dorling Kindersley Limited 18 The Space Race DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC 16 17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 20 Living in space 001–284927–Sept/2016 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above,no 22 Spacesuit part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), 24 What’s it like to be without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. an astronaut? Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-1-4654-5428-7 DfKo rb soaolekss parreo mavoatiliaobnlse, patre smpeiucmials d, fiuscnodu-rnatiss iwngh,e onr peduurcchaatsioenda iln u bseu.l k The Earth For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 The Moon [email protected] Printed and bound in China A WORLD OF IDEAS: SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW Saturn www.dk.com Pl ut o 26 Mars 48 Space ages 28 Exploring Mars 50 Alien hunters 30 Asteroid belt 52 Postcards from probes 32 Jupiter 54 The future 34 Jupiter’s moons 56 Beyond the Solar System 36 Saturn 58 Space facts and figures 38 Ice giants 60 Glossary 40 Pluto 62 Index 42 Meet the expert 64 Acknowledgments 44 Space rocks 46 Landing on a comet n u S di e oret Th s A pro b e Jupiter Space Astro n a u t 3 Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars belAtsteroid Jupit Saturn er What is the Solar System? Asteroids Asteroids are lumps of rock and metal The Solar System is made up of our star, left over from when the Solar System called the Sun, and everything that travels, or first formed. Most orbits, around it. This includes eight planets can be found in the asteroid belt, which and their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, is located between comets, and smaller pieces of rock and dust. the planets Mars The Solar System is one of many solar and Jupiter. systems that exist in the Universe. Comets Comets are cosmic snowballs of rock, ice, and dust. When one passes near to the Sun, it heats up and forms a tail. Mars Uranus The Sun Gas planets Earth The four outer Jupiter Venus planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—are the largest planets in the Solar System. They are mostly made of gas, and spacecraft are unable to land on them. 4 Uranus Neptune Pluto BelKtuiper Super-sized The Solar System is so big Rocky planets that if the Sun were the Closest to the Sun size of a basketball, the are the four rocky Earth would be the size planets—Mercury, of a sesame seed—and it Venus, Earth, and would be located more than Mars. They all 80 ft (25 m) away! began their existence in the same way, but over Dwarf planets time became very The Kuiper Belt different worlds. This ring of icy rocks lies Dwarf planets, such as beyond the path that Neptune Pluto, also travel around follows around the Sun. the Sun. These worlds are smaller than the other planets. Scientists think there may be Pluto dozens of undiscovered dwarf planets hiding in the Solar System. Neptune Mercury WO ! W! Asteroid belt Scientists believe Solar System the Saturn began to form 4.6 billion around years ago. 5 The Milky Galaxy edge The distance from one edge of the galaxy to the Way other is 120,000 light years. A light year is the distance light travels in a year. The Solar System is located in the Milky Way, a huge spiral galaxy containing billions of stars. They are grouped in “arms” that spiral outward. All of the stars are traveling around a point at the center. Scientists think there is a supermassive black hole located there that sucks in anything that gets too close to it. The night sky On a clear, dark night it is possible to see the Milky Way stretching across the sky as a bright, cloudy band. Although the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, it doesn’t look like it from Earth because we are inside it! 6 Black hole The pull of gravity from a black hole is so great that not even light can escape it. Supermassive black holes, like the one at the center of the Milky Way, also fire out jets of energy. You are here! Our Solar System is located on the inside edge of this arm of the spiral galaxy. Side view When seen from the side the Milky Way is flat, with a bulge in the center. It’s a bit like two fried eggs laid back to back. Center of the galaxy 7 The Sun Located at the center of the Solar System is Solar flare the Sun. It is a star, like the ones you see in the Huge eruptions from the surface of the night sky. A burning ball of gas, made of mostly Sun are called solar hydrogen and helium, it provides us with the prominences. They heat we need to survive. The Sun is so massive form loops because of the Sun’s invisible that its gravity—the force that pulls things magnetic field. together—keeps the planets in orbit around it. FACT FILE » Name: Sun » Surface temperature: 9,930°F (5,500°C) » Core temperature: 27 million°F (15 million°C ) » Width: 865,374 miles (1,392,684 km) Our star Energy is constantly being generated deep within the Sun. It can take up to 100,000 years for energy to reach the surface, but then it only takes 8 minutes to reach the Earth! 8
The list of books you might like
