Exploring The Solar System

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Science@ESA (Episode 7): Exploring our backyard, the Solar System (Part 1)

In this seventh episode of the Science@ESA vodcast series Rebecca Barnes continues to journey through the wonders of modern astronomy bringing us closer to home as we begin to explore the Solar System. We'll discover the scale and structure of the Solar System, find out why we explore it and introduce the missions launched on a quest to further investigate our local celestial neighbourhood.

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The Solar System is made up of the Sun and all of the smaller objects that move around it. Apart from the Sun, the largest members of the Solar System are the eight major planets. Nearest the Sun are four fairly small, rocky planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

Beyond Mars is the asteroid belt -- a region populated by millions of rocky objects. These are left-overs from the formation of the planets, 4.5 billion years ago.

On the far side of the asteroid belt are the four gas giants - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These planets are much bigger than Earth, but very lightweight for their size. They are mostly made of hydrogen and helium.

Until recently, the furthest known planet was an icy world called Pluto. However, Pluto is dwarfed by Earth's Moon and many astronomers think it is too small to be called a true planet.

An object named Eris, which is at least as big as Pluto, was discovered very far from the Sun in 2005. More than 1,000 icy worlds such as Eris have been discovered beyond Pluto in recent years. These are called Kuiper Belt Objects. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto and Eris must be classed as "dwarf planets".

Even further out are the comets of the Oort Cloud. These are so far away that they are invisible in even the largest telescopes. Every so often one of these comets is disturbed and heads towards the Sun. It then becomes visible in the night sky.

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=7
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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• exploring
• solar
• system
• exploration
• science
• esa
• astronomy
• missions
• sun
• dwarf
• planets
• mercury
• venus
• earth
• mars
• jupiter
• saturn
• uranus
• neptune
• pluto
• asteroid
• belt
• gas
• giants
• moon
• astronomers
• eris
• comets
• kuiper
• objects
• oort
• cloud
• space
• telescopes
• international
• astronomical
• union
• iau
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[borrofburi]

@kwukduck Moreover "the evidence is out there, seek and you will find" is an intellectually bankrupt position that is indistinguishable from ANY other wild claims: from UFOs, to flat earths, to tectonic plate denial, to creationism, to Zeus-theists, to magic-dragon-in-my-back-yard-e­rs. Most of the people reading the comments are (rightfully so) simply laughing at fertilizerspike for holding such an inane assertion-based evidence-less position.

[Rhine0Cowboy]

@fertilizerspike

"You can baldly make the claim all day long that everything I say is wrong,"

The problem here is that i never said that. You paranoia is taking over again.

"Credentialism is a cultural and institutional disease."

Yea, i hear that often from cranks without any actual knowledge of the subjects they try to debate. Yet, credentials still matter, just like peer review still matters, And it does for you too, because you won't go to a car mechanic to get tips on knitting either.

[123ebeth]

@henson506 this will happen after our time...

[henson506]

after 10 billion years, sun will explode!(supernova)

[NestoriusAlpha]

Her grabbing hand gestures made it look like she was continually grabbing her breasts--not the orbs--however wonderful--that I need to study for my class.

[andreeaweed]

this is so interesting

[TheSanovita]

I'm glad I found your video

[Spasatcom]

Very Cool Vishual video, Thanks for shared

[jayUK2009]

like it