A.

Solar System

The sun and all other celestial objects (planets and comets) which move
around the sun are called the solar system. Nicolas Copernicus declared the
heliocentric theory which started that the planets move around the sun. This
theory broke the geocentric theory which stated that the planets and the sun
moved around the earth. There are the attractive forces between sun and the
other celestial object is called gravity. The magnitude of gravity is determined
by the mass and the distance of the objects. The mass of the sun is greater than
that the other celestial objects, thus the celestial objects move around the sun.

B. Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar
System. It has a diameter of about
1,392,000 km, about 109 times that of Earth, and
its mass (about 2×1030 kilograms, 330,000 times
that of Earth) accounts for about 99.86% of the
total mass of the Solar System. About three
quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen,
while the rest is mostly helium. Less than 2% consists of heavier elements,
including oxygen, carbon, neon, iron, and others.
C. Planets
The planets revolve
around the sun in an
elliptical orbit. The
gravitational force between
the sun and the planets hold
them in their orbit. Due to its
elliptical orbit, the distance of a planet to the sun changes. The closest distance
of a planet to the sun is called perihelion, meanwhile the longest distance of a
planet to the sun is called aphelion.
Based on their relative position to the earth’s orbit, planets are classified
into two types:
a. Inferior Planets are the planets which are located inside the earth’s orbit.
The planets are Mercury and Venus.
b. Superior Planets are the planets which are located outside the earth”s orbit.
The planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The list of the eight planets in order of their distance from the sun started
from the closest one:
1. Mercury
Mercury (0.4 AU from the Sun) is the
closest planet to the Sun and the smallest
planet in the Solar System (0.055 Earth
masses). Mercury has no natural satellites,
and its only known geological features
besides impact craters are lobed ridges or
rupes, probably produced by a period of
contraction early in its history. It has no atmosphere (sky). Its surface is
filled with craters (it appears to have many holes) similar to moon surface.
On a daytime, the temperature of its surface is so hot (400⁰C), but the
temperature become so cold at night (-200⁰C).
2. Venus
Venus (0.7 AU from the Sun) is close in size
to Earth, (0.815 Earth masses) and like Earth,
has a thick silicate mantle around an iron core,
a substantial atmosphere and evidence of
internal geological activity. However, it is
much drier than Earth and its atmosphere is
ninety times as dense. Venus has no natural
satellites. Its temperature at daytime can reach 500⁰C. Venus is usually
called as the morning star or the evening star because it shines so brightly in
the eastern sky during the sunrise or in the western sky during the sunset.
3. Earth
Earth (1 AU from the Sun) is the largest and
densest of the inner planets, the only one
known to have current geological activity, and
is the only place in the universe where life is
known to exist. It has one natural satellite, the
Moon, the only large satellite of a terrestrial
planet in the solar system. It has atmosphere
which makes the temperature on its surface is possible for the presence of
life.
4. Mars
Mars (1.5 AU from the Sun) is smaller than
Earth and Venus (0.107 Earth masses). It
possesses an atmosphere of mostly carbon
dioxide with a surface pressure of 6.1 millibars
(roughly 0.6 percent that of the Earth's). It has
rocky surface. It also has ice poles and active
volcanoes. The greatest volcano is Olympus
Mountain, which is height of 23,000 m high. It is predicted that there used
to be a presence of life at mars.
5. Jupiter
Jupiter (5.2 AU), at 318 Earth masses, is 2.5
times the mass of all the other planets put
together. It is composed largely of hydrogen and
helium. Jupiter's strong internal heat creates a
number of semi-permanent features in its
atmosphere, such as cloud bands and the Great
Red Spot. Jupiter has 63 known satellites. The four largest, Ganymede,
Callisto, Io, and Europe, show similarities to the terrestrial planets, such as
volcanism and internal heating. Ganymede, the largest satellite in the solar
system, is larger than Mercury.
6. Saturn
Saturn (9.5 AU), distinguished by its extensive
ring system, has several similarities to Jupiter,
such as its atmospheric composition and
magnetosphere. Although Saturn has 60% of
Jupiter's volume, it is less than a third as
massive, at 95 Earth masses, making it the least
dense planet in the solar system. The rings of Saturn are made up of small
ice and rock particles. Saturn has 62 confirmed satellites; two of which,
Titan and Enceladus, show signs of geological activity, though they are
largely made of ice. Titan, the second largest moon in the solar system, is
larger than Mercury and the only satellite in the solar system with a
substantial atmosphere.
7. Uranus
Uranus (19.6 AU), at 14 Earth masses, is the
lightest of the outer planets. Uniquely among the
planets, it orbits the Sun on its side; its axial tilt is
over ninety degrees to the ecliptic. It has a much
colder core than the other gas giants, and radiates
very little heat into space.
 8. Neptune
The condition at Neptune is almost the same as the
condition at Uranus. That is why these planets are
considered as twin planets. The temperature at
Neptune’s surface can reach -120⁰C.

Besides revolving the sun, those planets also rotate around their axis which
called rotation. The time required to complete one full rotation is called the
rotation period. Revolution is the movement of the planets around the sun, and
the period of one revolution is called an orbital period.

D. Comets
Comets consist of a nucleus, a hydrogen
layer, and a tail. The nucleus is composed of
carbon compounds with very high density.
When the ice materials in the comets evaporate,
it turns into gases and forms a certain kind of
atmosphere called coma.
The comet’s tail (in form of gas) always points away from the sun due to
the sun’s radiation pressure. A comet often called as a “star with hair”.
The orbital period of each comet is different. One of the famous comets is
the Comet Halley which has orbital period of 76 years. The comets which are
 originated from the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud can have an orbital period from
1 to 30 million years.

E. Meteoroid and Meteorite

Meteoroid is formed from debris of
fragment of comets which keep moving in
the space. If a meteoroid reaches the earth’s
surface, then it is called meteorite. A huge
crater named Barringer Crater (with diameter
of 1200m and depth of 200m) is predicted to be the place where a meteor
down.

F. Asteroid
Asteroid adalah benda-benda langit kecil yang
mengelilingi matahari. Lintasan pergerakan
asteroid dalam mengelilingi matahari berbentuk
lingkaran, tetapi kadang juga beberapa asteroid
mempunyai lintasan pergerakan yang lonjong.
Letak lintasan/orbit asteroid dekat dengan
ekliptika. Pada dasarnya asteroid tidak mempunyai angkasa. Asteroid terbesar
adalah Ceres dengan diameter 750 kilometer. Asteroid bergerak mengelilingi
matahari mempunyai kala revolusi rata-rata 4 sampai 6 bulan. Ada sebuah
asteroid yang berorbit lonjong dan pernah mendekat ke laut bumi, yaitu
asteroidIcarus. Sebagian besar asteroid terkumpul atau berkerumun di orbit
Mars dan Jupiter. Sekumpulan asteroid ini disebut sabuk asteroid. Sebanyak 23
asteroid mempunyai orbit yang memotong bumi yang disebut asteroid Apollo,
75 asteroid memotong orbit Mars dan 16 asteroid dinamakan Trojan karena
mengikuti Jupiter dalam orbitnya.
G. Satellite
Satellite is a small celestial object orbiting a bigger celestial object
(planet). Together with its planet, satellite also revolves the sun. A satellite
revolves the sun in the same direction as its planet, and its orbital plane almost
coincides with the orbital plane of its planet.
There are two types of satellite:
a. Natural Satellite are naturally created satellite in the solar system which
not made by human, such as moon.
b. Artificial Satellite are a human-made satellite. The purpose of artificial
satellite are :
1. For getting information about weather condition.
2. As a transmission relay for TV, and radio broadcastings.
3. For navigation and mapping
4. Scientific investigation purpose
Human-made satellite revolves around the earth in a certain orbit. The
satellite is launched by using a rocket or a spacecraft. The first artificial
satellite was Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4th,
1957.

H. The Similarity between the Sun and the Stars

A star is a celestial object which emits and radiates its own light. The sun
is one of the billions of stars. Several similarities between the sun and the stars
are:
a. The sun and the stars emit and radiated their own light.
b. The light energy produced by the sun and the stars comes from the
nuclear fusion occurring in their cores.
The sun is the closest star from the earth. That is why the sun looks bigger
than the other stars. But actually there are many stars that are bigger than the
sun.
I. The Structure of the Sun
a. Solar Atmosphere
Solar atmosphere is the outer part of the sun. It consist of two layers,
the outer layer, which is called the crown (corona), and the inner layer,
which is called the color layer (chromospheres)
1. Corona
The layer of corona contains a very thin gas, but its temperature
can reach 1,000,000 K. The corona layer has a thickness about
2.5 x 106 km.
2. Chromosphere
Chromosphere emits a weak red light which is originated from
the hydrogen gas with temperature of 4,000 K. Its layer has
thickness of 16,000 km.
b. Photosphere
The photosphere is a solar disk which covers the core of the sun. Its
color is yellow because it has temperature range from 5,000⁰C –
6,000⁰C. The thickness of the photosphere layer is 320 km. The
sunspot, granules and faculae are located on the photosphere.
c. Solar Core
The core of the sun is located at the inner part of the sun. Its
temperature can reach 15,000,000 K. The reaction of nuclear fusion
occurs in the core. The core has a spherical form with a radius of
175,000 km. The space between the core and the photosphere are
divided into zones (not layer), i.e. the convection zone and the
radiation zone. The convection zone is located beneath the
photosphere. Thermal convection of gas occurs at this zone. If its
temperature is high, the gas will flow to the upper side, otherwise if its
temperature decreases, the gas will flow to the lower side. Heat is
transferred together with the flow of the gas. The thickness of the
convection zone can reach 150 km. The radiation zone is located
 below the convection zone. At this zone, the energy is transferred from
the core to the outer layer through radiation mechanism.

J. Solar Activity
Solar activitiy is the irregular movement of the sun’s particle. The activity
is caused by the temperature differences on every layer of the sun causes
disturbances on the sun. Some examples of solar activities are:
a. Sunspot
Sunspot is the region in the photosphere which has a lower
temperature due to magnetic disturbances that obstructs the hot gas
from the sun’s core. The dark area on the sunspot is called the umbra
and the faint area is called penumbra. The sunspots appear and
disappear in a certain cycle which is called the sunspot cycle. The
average cycle of the sunspot cycle is 11 years. Hot gases flow around
the sunspot and form bright path which is called faculae.
b. Granule
Granule is a fire blast in the form of hot gas bubble on the
photosphere. Sometimes, the granule is so large that we can see I from
the earth. Through a telescope, the granule looks like a bright grain
with diameter of 1,600 km.
c. Flare
Flare is a bright explosion which spouts charged particle out from the
photosphere. The charged particles from the flare can disrupt the radio
wave on earth. If those charged particles enter the earth’s atmosphere,
they will form a bright light in the northern or southern hemisphere
which is called aurora. Some of the charged particles cannot reach the
atmosphere because they are trapped in the earth’s magnetic field and
form a radiation belt around the earth. This region is called the Van
Allen radiation belt.
 d. Prominences
Prominences occurs because the flow of energy from the sun’s core is
unblocked, which makes the hot gas bubbles explode and burst.

K. The Shape and Size of Earth

A more precise measurement shows that the shape of the earth is not
perfectly round, but it has an oblate and a bulgate around the equator. As the
consequence, the earth’s diameter around the equator is greater than that
around the pole. The earth’s diameter on the equator is 12,757 km, meanwhile
its diameter on the pole is 12,714 km. By using mathematical calculation, the
mass of the earth is predicted to be 5,98 x 1024 kg, and its volume is about 1.08
x 1021 m3. Thereby, the density of the earth is about 5.5 g/cm3.

L. Pengaruh Rotasi Bumi

Rotasi bumi adalah perputaran bumi pada porosnya.Bumi berputar pada
porosnya dengan kemiringan 23½o dari garis tegak lurus bidang tempat bumi
beredar (sumbu tegak ekliptika). Poros bumi merupakan garis khayal yang
menembus bumi. Bumi sekali berputar pada porosnya selama 24 jam. Akibat
dari rotasi bumi :
a. Terjadinya siang dan malam
Ketika berotasi ada bagian bumi yang menghadap matahari dan ada
yang membelakangi matahari. Bagian bumi yang menghadap
matahari menjadi terang (siang), dan yang membelakangi matahari
menjadi gelap (malam).
b. Terjadinya gerak semu harian matahari
Gerak semu harian matahari adalah gerakan matahari yang terlihat
dari timur ke barat. Sebenarnya gerakan tersebut disebabkan oleh
rotasi bumi dari barat ke timur yang membuat kita seolah-olah
melihat matahari bergerak dari timur ke barat.
 c. Terjadinya perbedaan waktu
Rotasi bumi menempuh lintasan sebesar 360⁰ selama 24 jam. Jadi
setiap 1 jam bumi menempuah lintasan 15⁰. Di kota Greenwich
(Inggris) ditetapkan garis khayal yang membagi bumi menjadi dua
bagian yaitu barat dan timur. Garis khayal ini disebut garis bujur
0⁰. Dari bujur 0⁰ ke arah timur sejauh 180⁰ disebut Bujur Timur
(BT). Dari bujur 0⁰ ke arah barat sejauh 180⁰ disebut Bujur Barat
(BB).
d. Terjadinya pembelokan arah angin
Pada bulan September – Maret angin dari utara bertiup menuju
khatulistiwa berbelok ke arah timur. Pada bulan Maret – September
angin dari arah selatan bertiup menuju khatulistiwa berbelok ke
arah barat.

M. Pengaruh Revolusi Bumi

Revolusi bumi adalah peredaran bumi mengelilingi matahari. Waktu yang
diperlukan bumi untuk satu kali mengelilingi matahari adalah 365¼ hari (1
tahun). Orbit bumi berbentuk elips.Pada saat berevolusi, sumbu bumi selalu
miring dengan arah 23½⁰ terhadap sumbu tegak ekliptika atau 66½⁰ terhadap
garis edar bumi. Revolusi bumi menyebabkan terjadinya gerak semu tahunan
matahari yaitu matahari setiap tahun seolah-olah bergeser ke arah utara dan
selatan khatulistiwa. Akibat revolusi bumi :
a. Terjadinya pergantian musim
b. Terjadinya perubahan lamanya siang dan malam
c. Terjadinya gerak semu matahari
d. Terlihatnya rasi bintang

N. Penanggalan Internasional
Batas penanggalan internasional (bahasa Inggris: International Date Line)
adalah suatu garis khayal di permukaan bumi yang berfungsi untuk
mengimbangi (offset) penambahan waktu ketika seseorang bepergian menuju
 arah timur melalui berbagai zona waktu. Sebagian besar garis ini berada pada
bujur ±180°, di bagian Bumi yang berhadapan dengan garis Bujur Utama
(Prime Meridian). Garis ini berbentuk lurus kecuali saat melewati wilayah
Rusia dan pulau-pulau di Samudra Pasifik.

O. Bulan
Bulan adalah satu-satunya satelit alami Bumi, dan merupakan satelit alami
terbesar ke-5 di Tata Surya. Bulan tidak mempunyai sumber cahaya sendiri dan
cahaya Bulan sebenarnya berasal dari pantulan cahaya Matahari. Jarak rata-rata
Bumi-Bulan dari pusat ke pusat adalah 384.403 km, sekitar 30 kali diameter
Bumi. Diameter Bulan adalah 3.474 km,[1] sedikit lebih kecil dari seperempat
diameter Bumi. Ini berarti volume Bulan hanya sekitar 2 persen volume Bumi
dan tarikan gravitasi di permukaannya sekitar 17 persen daripada tarikan
gravitasi Bumi. Bulan beredar mengelilingi Bumi sekali setiap 27,3 hari
(periode orbit), dan variasi periodik dalam sistem Bumi-Bulan-Matahari
bertanggungjawab atas terjadinya fase-fase Bulan yang berulang setiap 29,5
hari (periode sinodik). Massa jenis Bulan (3,4 g/cm³) adalah lebih ringan
dibanding massa jenis Bumi (5,5 g/cm³), sedangkan massa Bulan hanya 0,012
massa Bumi.