What is a solar system? This is our common home. What is it made of? How and when was formed? It is important for everyone to know more about the corner of the Galaxy in which we live.
From large to small
The lesson "Solar System" should start with the fact thatthe latter is part of a vast and limitless universe. The extent of her human mind is not able to comprehend. The stronger our telescopes become, the deeper we look into space, the more we see stars and galaxies there. According to modern concepts, the Universe has a certain structure. And it consists of galaxies and their clusters. The place where the solar system is located is the Milky Way galaxy. It consists of one hundred billion stars, many of which resemble the sun. Our luminary is a rather ordinary yellow dwarf. But largely due to the very modest size and stable temperature, life was born in his system.
Occurrence
Modern theories of the emergence of the solar systeminherently associated with hypotheses about the evolution of the universe. Its origin is still a mystery. There are only various mathematical models. In the most common of these, our Universe originated seventeen billion years ago as a result of the Big Bang. It is believed that our star is 4.7 billion years old. About the same age and the solar system. How long does she have to live? After a billion years, the Sun will move into the next cycle of its development and become a red giant. According to the calculations of most scientists, the upper boundary of its atmosphere will be located just at the distance of the Earth's orbit. And if after such a huge period of time mankind will still exist, then for people it will become a catastrophe of a truly universal scale. But all this is in the distant future. What is the situation today?
Solar system bodies
So, first of all, this is, of course, our star.People from ancient times gave it a name and called it the Sun. It concentrates ninety-nine percent of the mass of all systems. And only one falls on the planets, their satellites, meteorites, asteroids, comets and Kuiper belt bodies. So what is the solar system? It is the sun and all that is drawn around it. But first things first.
The sun
As mentioned above, the star is the center.our system. Its size is amazing imagination. The sun is heavier than the earth three hundred and thirty thousand times! And its diameter exceeds the earth one hundred and nine times. The average density of the substance of the Sun is only 1.4 times higher than the density of water. But this should not be misleading. Indeed, in the central regions of the star, the density is one hundred fifty times more, there, due to the colossal pressure, nuclear reactions begin. Here helium is formed from hydrogen.
Then the energy released as a resultusing convection is transferred to the outer layers and scattered in outer space. According to scientists, our Sun is now seventy-five percent composed of hydrogen, and about 25% helium, the remaining elements are no more than 1%. First of all, it means that the Sun is in full bloom, because there is still a lot of fuel. Usually the lifetime for a star of this class (yellow dwarf) is ten billion years. We can not say a few words about the structure of the sun. At the center of it is a massive core, followed by zones of radiant energy transfer, convection, the photosphere and the chromosphere. At the latter often occur prominences. Sunspots are areas on the surface of a star, where the temperature is noticeably lower, because they look darker. Our star rotates around its axis with a period of twenty-five terrestrial days. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the entire solar system depends on the state of this star. Photo labs to study the processes on it are created even in orbit.
Mercury
Это первое космическое тело, которое мы встретим, moving away from the sun. And as a result of its proximity, the surface is very hot and there is almost no atmosphere. It belongs to the so-called terrestrial planets. Their general characteristics are quite high density, the presence of a gas-water atmosphere, a small number of satellites, the presence of a core, mantle and crust. However, as mentioned above, the atmosphere of Mercury is almost deprived - it is blown away by the solar wind. Recall that the Earth is protected from it by a strong magnetic field and distance. But despite this, the gas envelope on Mercury can still be detected, it consists of metal ions that evaporate from the surface of the planet. There are there (in small quantities) oxygen, nitrogen and inert gases.
Around the Sun, Mercury moves along an elongatedorbit The period of its circulation is 88 Earth days. But to turn around the axis of the planet takes almost 59 days. Largely due to this, a large temperature difference is observed on Mercury: from minus 1830 up to plus 4270 Celsius.
The surface of the planet is covered with craters, lowmountains and valleys. There are also traces of Mercury's compression (due to the cooling of the metal core) - in the form of extended ledges). Scientists suggest the presence of water ice in some shaded areas of the planet.
Venus
The second planet of the terrestrial type from the sun.It is much larger in size than Mercury, but slightly smaller than the Earth, both in mass and diameter. There are no satellites. But in the presence of a dense atmosphere that almost completely hides the surface of Venus from our eyes. Thanks to her, the surface temperature is much higher than that on Mercury: average values reach +4750 Celsius, without serious daily fluctuations.Another feature of the atmosphere is the strongest winds at a height of several kilometers (up to one hundred and fifty meters per second), real hurricanes. What causes them is not yet clear. The atmosphere is ninety-six percent carbon dioxide. Oxygen and water vapor is negligible. Thanks to flights to the planet of several spacecraft, scientists managed to make a fairly detailed map of Venus. The surface of the planet is divided into plains and hills. There are two large continents. There are many impact craters.
Earth
Подробно останавливаться на нашей планете мы не We will, because it is still the most studied and known to the reader. But what is the solar system without the Earth? .. I must say that our house is still fraught with many mysteries. In addition, the Earth is a planet of the Solar System, which is inferior in mass only to gas giants, and the only one that has a water envelope. The period of revolution around the star is 365 days, and the distance to it - 150,000,000 kilometers - is taken as an astronomical unit. Let's say that the Earth is a planet of the Solar system, which has a significant single satellite, and will go further.
Mars
And here we have a red planet - the dream of allscience fiction and a celestial body, about which a person does not cease to think. Now on the surface of Mars is a spacecraft. And in ten years they are going to send a manned ship there. Why are people so interested in Mars? Yes, because under the conditions this planet is closest to Earth. Astronomers of the past generally assumed that Mars had water channels and plant life. The search for the latter, by the way, continues to this day. Perhaps this will be the first planet from which man will begin to explore the solar system.
Mars is twice as small as Earth.Its atmosphere is rather thin and consists mainly of carbon dioxide. The average temperature on the surface is minus 60 degrees Celsius. True, in some areas of the equator, it can rise to zero. The Martian year lasts six hundred and eighty-seven terrestrial days. And since the orbit of the planet is quite elongated, the seasons on it are different in duration. Poles of the planet are covered with thin ice caps. The surface of Mars is rich in craters and hills. On the Red Planet is the highest mountain in the solar system - Olympus. Its height is about 12 kilometers. And Mars has two small satellites, Phobos and Deimos.
Asteroid belt
Он расположился между орбитами Марса и Юпитера.In fact, this is a very extensive and interesting area. In it you can find a million different objects, mostly small - up to several hundred meters. But there are also giants such as Ceres (diameter - 950 km), Vesta or Pallas. At first they were also considered asteroids, but in 2006 they were recognized as dwarf planets, like Pluto. All these objects were formed at the time of the formation of the solar system. Perhaps all the asteroids are that which did not become a planet due to the strong influence of the rapidly forming Jupiter. There are many different types and families of asteroids. Among them are composed of various metals, so that in the distant future they can be used in industry.
Giant planets
Unlike a cosmic body like Earth,the planets of the solar system, located behind the asteroid belt, have a much larger mass. And first of all it is, of course, Jupiter and Saturn. These giants have many satellites, some of which generally resemble the size of the terrestrial planet. Saturn is famous for its rings, which in fact consist of many small objects. The density of these planets is much less than Earth. The substance of Saturn is generally lighter than water. Almost all giants have a solid core. Their atmospheres consist of hydrogen, helium, ammonia, methane, and a small amount of other gases. Moreover, the composition of Jupiter and Saturn is in many ways similar to the composition of our Sun.
Истинными газовыми гигантами Уран и Нептун можно consider only conditionally, because they have a powerful atmosphere. However, apparently, they still have a hard surface. But where such begins in Jupiter is difficult to say. It is believed that the core of the largest planet in the solar system consists of metallic hydrogen. Almost all giants radiate their own energy (heat), and in quantities greater than what they receive from the sun. All have rings and many satellites. Hurricanes unprecedented in power are raging in their atmospheres (the farther a planet is from the Sun, the stronger).
Kuiper Belt
Quite already the backyard of the solar system.Here is the former planet Pluto (in 2006, it was deprived of this status), as well as comparable with it in mass and size of Makemake, Eris, Huamea. These are the so-called new planets of the solar system. As well as thousands, if not millions of other smaller bodies. Apparently, the Kuiper belt does not extend beyond 100 astronomical units. According to scientists, short-period comets come from here. The Oort cloud ends the solar system. A photo report from these places is quite possible, we will soon receive the New Horizons from the spacecraft.
Вот так, вкратце, мы показали, что такое The solar system, and what elements it consists of. Now it includes five major planets, our star, and many smaller objects. However, modern science is actively developing. And probably tomorrow we will be able to find out that new planets of the solar system are discovered.
