SS1 First Term Geography Lesson Note – The Earth and Other Planets

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WEEK 3        

TOPIC: THE EARTH AND OTHER PLANETS

CONTENT: 1. Components of the Solar system

2. The Earth- Size, Shape and Position in relation to the Sun and other planets

SUB-TOPIC 1: Components of the Solar system

The Solar System

The solar system consists of the sun and the nine planets with their satellites. The sun is at the centre of the planets and all other planets revolve around it on elliptical orbits. The nine planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto

The path followed by each of these planets around the sun is called ORBIT. A smaller body which moves around a planet is called SATELLITE.

The Solar System

The planets themselves can be grouped into two:

1. TERRESTRIAL PLANETS: They are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. They are called Terrestrial planets because they have similar components with those of the earth being made of rock and heavy minerals like iron. They are also called inner planets because they are near the sun than others.
2. JOVIAN PLANETS: They include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. They are called Jovian planets because they have similar features with Jupiter being large and made of gaseous materials.

THE SUN

The sun is the largest star in the solar system. It is at the centre of the planets. It is stationary while all the planets move around it. It has a surface temperature of about 6,000⁰c with an interior temperature of over 20,000,000⁰c. In size, the sun is about 300,000 times as big as the earth. It is the ultimate source of light and energy to all the planets. The sun is important to man because it produces light which can be conserved as heat energy or radiant energy. Therefore, without solar radiation from the sun called insolation, all forms of life on earth surface would not have been possible. The stars which appear singly when viewed from the earth actually exist in groups or clusters which are better referred to as galaxies or nebula. The Asteroid zone or belt is a circumstellar disc in the solar system that is located roughly between the orbit of the planets mars and Jupiter. It is occupied with irregular shaped bodies called asteroid or minor planets.

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