Edge of the Solar System

Edge of the Solar System

Inner Planets

• Mercury

• Venus

• Earth

• Mars

Multiple Choice

What is located in between the Inner planets & the Outer planets?

• The Sun

• The Asteroid Belt

• The Kuiper Belt

• The Oort Cloud

Outer Planets

• Jupiter

• Saturn

• Uranus

• Neptune

Multiple Select

The inner planets are considered terrestrial or rocky planets. Which of these planets are considered "gas giants"?

• Jupiter

• Saturn

• Uranus

• Neptune

Multiple Select

Which of these planets is considered "ice giants"?

• Jupiter

• Saturn

• Uranus

• Neptune

Beyond Neptune...

The Edge of the Solar System

Multiple Choice

What about Pluto??

Pluto is technically classified as a.....

• Planet

• Dwarf Planet

• Asteroid

Pluto

Classified as a Dwarf Planet, Pluto resides beyond Neptune in the Kuiper Belt region. Pluto is not considered a planet because it does not have a clear path in its orbit, instead it's path is filled with debris from the Kuiper Belt.

Kuiper Belt Objects (KBO's)

• Pluto

• Eris

• Makemake

• Haumea

• And many more...

• 
  

Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) & the Heliosphere

The solar wind streams out into space and carves out a protective bubble around the solar system called the heliosphere. The heliosphere encases all the planets in our solar system and much of the space beyond them, separating the domain of our Sun from that of interstellar space.

Multiple Choice

Solar wind from the Sun creates the heliosphere, the "bubble" that protects us from galactic cosmic rays (radiation).

• True

• False

Heliopause

This boundary is created by the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium (galactic cosmic rays).

The heliopause marks the end of the heliosphere and the beginning of interstellar space.

Multiple Select

So where do Voyager 1 & 2 fit in?? Where are they now??

(Check all that apply)

• They are past Neptune

• They are past the Kuiper Belt

• They are past the Heliopause

• They are past the Oort Cloud

Voyager Missions

• Launched in 1977

• First spacecraft to reach interstellar space

• Collects data about cosmic rays, solar wind, and magnetic fields

The Oort Cloud

• Collection of icy objects

• Spherical layer between 2,000 - 100,000 AU from the Sun

• Long-period comets originate from here

• Objects held in place by Sun's gravity

• Has not been visually seen, but we know it exists because of comets

Oort Cloud - Fun Fact

No missions have been sent to explore the Oort Cloud yet, but five spacecraft will eventually get there. They are Voyager 1 and 2, New Horizons, and Pioneer 10 and 11. The Oort Cloud is so distant, however, that the power sources for all five spacecraft will be dead centuries before they reach its inner edge.

***It will take 300 years for Voyagers to reach the Oort cloud!!

Poll

So what do YOU think marks the edge of the solar system??

• Neptune

• The Kuiper Belt

• The Heliopause/Heliosphere

• The Oort Cloud

https://youtu.be/6Sd0nwb6dd4

Watch this short video

Multiple Choice

The edge of the solar system can be defined by various things.

• True

• False