Solar system

• What does it consist of?

  • Star (Sun)
  • Planets and dwarf planets in orbit around the sun
  • Satellites (moons) in orbit around most of the planets
  • Comets and asteroids in orbit around the sun
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• There are many other smaller objects that orbit the Sun. Three of these are Ceres, Pluto and Eris, known as 'the dwarf planets'. Ceres orbits between Mars and Jupiter. Pluto orbits further away from the Sun than Neptune, while Eris orbits further out still
• How was the solar system formed?


  Formed for a cloud of dust and gas rich in hydrogen.
• What is a comet?

  Large balls of rock and ice. As they near the sun, heat from the sun melts the ice and vaporises it. Seen as the vapour tail when they move across sky
• What is a asteroid?


  Large rocks moving through space. Mainly found in the asteroid belt.
• Formation of solar system

  The Solar System formed from a cloud of gas, mainly hydrogen and helium, and dust ejected from a supernova. Gravitational forces caused this cloud to collapse and the particles to collect together. As the cloud collapsed it began to spin, this made it turn into a disk. The centre of the disk became the Sun and the rest collected together to form the planets.
• Why are the inner planets rocky?

  Because it was too close to the Sun for the light gaseous elements

  to condense and so the elements were pushed further away from the Sun.
• Why are the outer planets gaseous?

  Because it is further from the Sun and the gaseous elements were able to condense and collect to form the gas giants.
• What is the asteroid belt?

  A region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where there are thousands of rocky asteroids and dwarf planets.