UNIT 3 — THE SOLAR SYSTEM

PLANETS AND ASTEROIDS

There are nine (official) planets in our Solar System. They are, starting with the closest to the Sun:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. Planets can be observed as they reflect starlight (eg sunlight),
whereas stars are visible as they give off light.

Planet Average surface Average distance Orbital period Average diameter Surface gravity Mass (kg)
temperature (K) from Sun (AU) (km) (compared to
Earth)
Mercury 623 (day) 0.39 87.97 days 4880 0.38 3.30 x 1023
103 (night)
Venus 737 0.72 224.70 days 12 100 0.91 4.87 x 1024
Earth 288 1.00 365.25 days 13 000 1.00 5.97 x 1024
Mars 220 1.52 686.98 days 6800 0.38 6.42 x 1023
Jupiter 165 5.20 11.86 years 142 800 2.36 1.90 x 1027
Saturn 93 (at cloud tops) 9.57 29.37 years 120 500 0.92 5.69 x 1026
Uranus 55 (at cloud tops) 19.19 84.10 years 50 700 0.90 8.68 x 1025
Neptune 55 (at cloud tops) 30.07 164.79 years 49 200 1.10 1.02 x 1026
Pluto 40 39.54 248.60 years 2300 0.07 1.30 x 1022

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 39

 Planet Features Atmosphere Composition

Mercury Difficult to observe as it is close to the Thin, mainly He from the solar wind Iron-rich core, rocky surface
Sun, lots of craters

Venus Known as the morning and evening star, 96% CO2, 3.5% N, traces of He, Ar, Ne, Low density crust, iron-nickel core
clouds observed, mountains and plains Kr. Haze of sulphuric acid
beneath

Earth One moon. Oceans of water. It was
previously warmer allowing life forms to
evolve and develop
Mars Red surface (iron oxide), two moons
(Phobos and Deimos), plains
78% N, 21% O2, traces of other gases. Low density crust, rocky dynamic
There are greenhouse gases (methane mantle, iron-nickel core
and carbon dioxide) which keep in some
of the Sun’s heat and keep the planet
warm
95% CO2, 2.5% N, 1.5% Ar, traces of O2, Hot, fluid iron-nickel core. Iron oxide
CO, H2O. Pressure less than 1% of rocks
Earth’s atmospheric pressure

Jupiter Belts and zones in gases, great red spot
storm, gases, many moons
Saturn Rings system, with gaps, shepherd
moons to keep the rings in place, many
moons
90% H, 30% He some trace chemical
elements and compounds, including
phosphorous (red)
Mostly H, has a weather system. 97% H,
3% He, traces of methane, ethane and
ammonia
Gas clouds, 1 000 km down a sea of
liquid H, ‘metallic’ H 20 000 km down.
The H behaves like a metal and gives it
its extensive magnetic field.
Iron-silicate core (5 x mass of Earth’s
core), icy mantle (25 x mass of Earth’s
mantle), metallic H near mantle

Continued overleaf

40 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

 Planet Features Atmosphere Composition

Uranus Steeply inclined tilt (axis of rotation), 83% H, 15% He, 2% methane (methane Maybe: iron-silicate core, deep mantle
many moons, thin rings absorbs red light so it looks blue) of water, ammonia and methane
Neptune Winds, ring arcs (parts of a ring), great 85% H, 15% He, methane traces (making Maybe: iron-silicate core, mantle of
oval dark spot, many moons it blue) water and ammonia
Pluto One moon, maybe not a planet but a Icy deposits, 98% N, traces of methane Ice and rock
Kuiper belt object and water, CO2 and CO

As Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are closest to the Earth they have been observed since ancient times.
The other planets were discovered more recently.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 41

Uranus
Discovered by William Herschel on 13th March 1781. He observed it during a
telescopic survey of faint naked eye stars. It was previously thought to be a star.
Herschel was a German-born English astronomer. He also discovered two of the
moons of Uranus and Saturn and infra-red radiation.

Neptune
Discovered by the German astronomer Johann Galle on 23rd September 1846. This
was close to a position predicted by Le Verrier and its mass, orbit and position had
been calculated by John Couch Adams. It was calculated by looking at the
perturbations (irregularities in the orbits of celestial bodies) in the orbital motion
of Uranus.

Pluto
Discovered by the American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in Jan/Feb 1930, but
announced on 13th March 1930. Percival Lowell calculated its position by looking at
the perturbations of the orbits of other planets but these calculations are now
known to be incorrect. However, Lowell died in 1919 and the search was continued
again in 1929.

Satellites
Satellites are moons of planets and are naturally occurring. The following satellites
are important and may be examined.

Io
This is the innermost Galilean moon (moon discovered by Galileo) of Jupiter. It is
slightly larger than our Moon and is similar in bulk to the terrestrial planets. Io is
primarily composed of molten silicate rock, with an iron core and maybe some iron
sulphide too.

Figure 3.1: Io (NASA)

42 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

There are very few impact craters on the surface. This shows that Io has a young
surface.
There are hundreds of active volcanoes with up to 300 km high eruptions. The
eruptions vent sulphur and sulphur dioxide gas. The terrain shows lakes of molten
sulphur, mountains, flows of a low viscosity fluid and volcanic vents. Sulphur and
its compounds give it its range of colours (primarily yellow) and variegated
appearance. Io is the most volcanic world in the solar system. This is due to its
interactions with Jupiter’s magnetic field.
Io has little or no water.

Titan
This is the largest of Saturn’s moons. It was discovered by Huygens in 1655. It is
larger in diameter than Mercury and the second largest satellite in the Solar System
(Ganymede is the largest and is a moon of Jupiter). Voyager 1’s mission was to
study it, and it came within 4000 km of it.
A thick opaque atmosphere surrounds Titan and the surface cannot be seen in
visible light.

Figure 3.2: Titan’s hazy atmosphere (NASA)

Titan is about half water ice and half rocky material, with an atmosphere of mainly
nitrogen, 6% argon and some methane. Titan is the only satellite in the Solar
System to have a significant atmosphere. It contains trace amounts of organic
compounds and a lot of methane is in the upper atmosphere forming the thick
smog. Titan’s atmosphere is similar to early Earth’s atmosphere. It has clouds of
ethane so there may be some liquid ethane on the surface.
The Cassini-Huygens craft entered a Saturnian orbit in 2004. The Huygens probe on
the Cassini craft will hopefully detach and land on Titan in early 2005. It will take
measurements of the atmosphere and photographs of the surface as it descends.
The Huygens probe will survive for about an hour on the surface before its
batteries run down.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 43

Miranda
Uranus’ innermost and largest moon. It was discovered by Kuiper in 1948. It is
made of about half water ice and half rocky material.

Figure 3.3: Part of Miranda’s surface (NASA)

The surface is heavily cratered with weird grooves, valleys and cliffs. It is thought
that the surface was caused by partially melted ices moving or maybe the surface
was shattered then put back together.

Triton
This is the largest of Neptune’s moons. It was discovered by Lassell in 1846, a few
weeks after the discovery of Neptune. Its orbit is retrograde and it is the only large
moon to orbit its planet backwards. This shows that it must have been formed
elsewhere and then have been captured by Neptune’s gravity (maybe formed in the
Kuiper belt). Due to the retrograde orbit Neptune and Triton have tidal interactions
and energy is removed from Triton lowering its orbit. It will eventually break up,
becoming a ring, or it will crash into Neptune.

Figure 3.4: Part of Triton’s surface (NASA)

44 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

Its surface temperature is an extremely cold 34.5 K so the methane, nitrogen and
carbon dioxide found there are solids. There are few craters on the surface, so this
indicates that the surface is very young. There are ice volcanoes with eruptive
material of liquid nitrogen, dusts and methane.

Pluto — planet or not?

Some astronomers think that Pluto should not be classed as a planet, but rather an
asteroid in the Kuiper belt. The reasons for this are as follows:
• Charon is the largest moon, compared to its planet’s size
• at 8% to 16% of Pluto’s mass
• Pluto-Charon resemble other binary systems found in the Kuiper belt
• Pluto has a very eccentric orbit, which cuts across Neptune’s orbit
• it is very small in size, so it may just be a large asteroid
• Pluto’s orbit is highly inclined to the ecliptic.

Ring systems of Saturn and Uranus

Saturn
Saturn has three main rings, two prominent and one faint, and many smaller rings.
The A and B rings are the most prominent. The C ring is faint and the D ring is even
fainter still. The gap between the A and B ring is called the Cassini Division.

Figure 3.5: The different rings of Saturn

The rings are composed of many small particles, which range from a few cm to
several meters in size. The rings are very thin (less than 1 km thick) but are about
250 000 km in diameter. The rings are mostly composed of water ice and rocks with
icy coatings.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 45

 Figure 3.6: Part of the rings of Saturn, taken by the Cassini spacecraft (NASA)

Voyager confirmed the radial spokes in the rings. These appear as dark lines at 90°
to the edge of the rings. These are possibly caused by the magnetic field of Saturn.
The rings are kept in place by some of Saturn’s smaller moons, which are called
shepherd moons.

Uranus
Uranus’ ring system is made up of two main rings. There are in fact 11 known rings,
but most are very faint. The brightest is the Epsilon ring, which is the furthest from
Uranus.

Figure 3.7: The different rings of Uranus

The rings are dark but are made of fairly large particles, ranging from fine dust up
to 10 m in diameter. The rings are made of ice and rock.

46 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

 Figure 3.8: The rings of Uranus, as taken by Voyager 2 (NASA)

Planet motion
The position of the planets in the sky lie in the band called the Zodiac. The orbits
are slightly inclined to the ecliptic. Where they are in the sky depends on the
position of the Earth and the planet. On a star map the planets follow the ecliptic.
Their motion is either direct (forwards) or retrograde (backwards), with stationary
points.

Retrograde motion
This is the apparent backwards movement of planets with respect to fixed stars. It
appears that the planet is moving backwards. As the motion of the Earth catches
up and then overtakes the planet it seems to slow down, stop (stationary points),
go backwards (retrograde), stop, then go forwards (direct) again.

Figure 3.9: Retrograde motion

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 47

Planetary terms

• Superior a planet that is further from the Sun than the Earth.
planet

• Inferior a planet that is closer to the Sun than the Earth.

planet

• Opposition when a superior planet is in line with the Sun and Earth, but
opposite the Sun in the sky (ie 180° difference in celestial
longitude).
• Conjunction when the planet is in line with the Earth and Sun, so it is at the
same celestial longitude as the Sun. This can be achieved in
three ways:
° Inferior Conjunction — when an inferior planet is between
the Earth and the Sun.

° Superior Conjunction — when an inferior planet lies on the

opposite side of the Sun from the Earth.

° Full Conjunction — when a superior planet lies on the

opposite side of the Sun from the Earth.

• Transit the passage of a body directly in front of the Sun. Mercury and
Venus do this at times. It is also the passage of a moon across a
planet, as viewed from Earth.
• Occultation the temporary cutting off of some light from one celestial body
as another one passes in front of it eg eclipses.

• Greatest when the inferior planets are at their maximum angular distance
Elongation from the Sun and we can still observe them.

Inferior planets have phases similar to the Moon. These are caused by the way that
the Sun’s light is reflected off the planet and its position relative to the Earth. The
phases of Venus can be observed from Earth and were first observed by Galileo.
The planets appear to travel in different directions depending on where they are in
their orbits relative to the earth.
Inferior planets around inferior conjunction move east to west with respect to fixed
stars. Inferior planets around superior conjunction move west to east with respect
to fixed stars.
Superior planets normally move west to east with respect to fixed stars. Superior
planets in retrograde motion move east to west with respect to fixed stars.

48 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

 Figure 3.10: Planetary terms for different positions

Asteroids
Asteroids are also called minor planets and are rocky objects, which are spherical
(larger asteroids) or irregular (smaller asteroids). These are small Solar System
bodies that have an independent orbit around the Sun.

Figure 3.11: The asteroids Ida and Gaspra (NASA)

They mostly lie in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Within this
belt are the Kirkwood Gaps where no asteroids lie. Some asteroids have orbits that
bring them into the inner Solar System.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 49

 Figure 3.12: The location of the main asteroid belt

Asteroids almost certainly originate from the small protoplanets left over from the
formation of the Solar System. They were prevented from forming major planets by
the influence of Jupiter’s gravitational field.

Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet
This was discovered in 1993 in a temporary orbit around Jupiter. A close approach
to the planet in 1992 had disrupted its nucleus into 20 separate fragments. In July
1994 those collided with Jupiter leaving temporary dark scars and creating fireballs
at the impact site. The impact made scientists think more about what would
happen if Earth were to be hit by a large comet or asteroid.

Contributions of astronomers

Copernicus
1473-1543 Polish astronomer
He developed the heliocentric theory (the Sun at the centre of the Solar System) by
observing the movement of the planets. This became more accepted due to the
work of Galileo and Kepler.

Kepler
1571-1631 German astronomer
He supported the heliocentric theory and suggested that the planets moved in
elliptical orbits. He formulated the three laws of planetary motion.

50 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

Galileo
1564 – 1642 Italian astronomer
He stated that Aristotle’s theory of the Earth being at the centre of the Universe
was wrong and championed Copernicus’ heliocentric theory. His main discoveries,
made using the newly invented refracting telescope, were:
• sunspots
• the phases of Venus
• relief features of the Moon
• the principle satellites of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto)
• Saturn’s unusual appearance (its rings)
• resolving the Milky Way into stars.

Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion

First law
The orbit of a planet around the Sun is an ellipse with the Sun’s centre of mass at
one focus of the ellipse and the other focus empty.

Figure 3.13: Kepler’s first law

Second law
The line (imaginary) joining a planet, or comet, to the Sun sweeps out equal areas
of space in equal intervals of time. This means that as the planet is closer to the
Sun (at perihelion) it moves faster, and when the planet is furthest from the Sun
(at aphelion) it moves slower, to cover the same area. For example, in figure 3.14
area A = area B, although the distance travelled by the planet close to perihelion is
greater than the distance travelled close to aphelion.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 51

 Figure 3.14: Kepler’s second law

Third law
The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of its mean
distance from the Sun

T2 = r3
T = period of orbital rotation (in years)
r = mean distance of the planet from the Sun (in AU)

Kepler’s third law can be used to work out the period or radius of one planet given
data for a second planet.

2 3
⎛ T1 ⎞ ⎛ r1 ⎞
⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
⎜ ⎟ = ⎜ ⎟
⎝ T2 ⎠ ⎝ r2 ⎠
1 = body number 1 (planets)
2 = body number 2

The equation shows that for an object in orbit around a mass, the closer the
distance the less time the object takes to complete one orbit.

52 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

Newton’s law of gravitation
This is the law for the universal attraction of all particles of matter. This law is
true for all objects, but Newton devised it to explain Kepler’s second and third
laws of planetary motion.

= GM1 M2
F 2
r
F = gravitational force between two bodies
1, 2 = bodies 1 and 2
M = mass of a body
G = universal gravitational constant
r = distance between the centre of mass of the two bodies
Gravity is much weaker than electromagnetic or nuclear forces. However opposite
charges cancel and the strength of the nuclear forces drops dramatically with
distance. Hence over long distances the force of gravity dominates.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 53

METEORS AND COMETS

Meteoroids
A meteoroid is a small particle or body orbiting the Sun, with the potential to
become a meteorite if it falls to Earth. They are usually of cometary (from a
comet) or asteroidal (from asteroids) origin. Those of cometary origin are dust
particles that are shed by comets, spread around the comet's orbit and are
responsible for meteor showers.

Meteor showers
Each meteor shower comes from the same point in the sky (radiant) and at the
same time each year. Nearly all showers are named after the constellation in which
their radiant lies eg the Geminids, which occur in mid-December, have their
radiant in Gemini. In a typical shower activity can last around two weeks, as a
maximum number of meteors at one time can be between 10 and 100.
The shower occurs when the Earth passes through the meteor stream. The stream
consists of lots of particles of dust orbiting the Sun. The showers are only a little
distance from their radiant point as the Earth rotates on its axis whilst passing
through the dust field as it orbits the Sun.

Meteorites
A meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere becomes a
meteorite. Most of it burns up, but about 10% reaches the surface.
There are three main classes of meteorite.

• Stony these are made of silicate compounds of Fe, Ca, Al, Mg

and Na and make up 92% of meteorite finds.
• Iron made of Fe and Ni and make up 7% of finds.

• Stony-Iron they are of intermediate composition and make up 1% of

finds.

Most meteorites are fragments of asteroids. However, a few have come from the
Moon (lunar meteorites) and Mars (Martian meteorites).

Micrometeorites
This is a micrometer-sized meteorite. They are continually settling on the Earth’s
surface. They are too small to be burnt up by the atmosphere as they quickly
decelerate and ‘float’ to Earth. There are more of these than any other type of
meteorite.

54 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

Comets
These are small, icy, Solar System bodies in an independent, eccentric orbit around
the Sun.

Figure 3.15: Comet Hale-Bopp, over Italy in 1997 (NASA)

They have three main components.

• Nucleus solid, made of ice (H2O mainly, some CH4, CO2 and CO) plus
traces of organic substances (compounds containing C).
• Coma formed as the comet approaches the Sun and causes part of
the nucleus to evaporate.
• Tail Formed when the solar wind interacts with the coma. It has
two parts to it:
1 Gas tail/Ion tail — this is straight and can be up to 10 million
km long. It is made of charged sub-atomic particles. This is
the part that ‘shines’ when the solar wind interacts with it.
2 Dust tail — this is curved and shorter. It is made of smoke-
sized dust particles. Drag forces on these dust particles
causes the tail to curve. They shine when sunlight is
reflected off the dust particles.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 55

 Figure 3.16: The structure of a comet

The main differences between a cometary orbit and a planetary orbit are:

Cometary orbit Planetary orbit

More eccentric and elongated (cigar Less eccentric and less elongated
shaped) (egg shaped)
The plane or orbit is different, may Orbits the Sun in the ecliptic (except
cross Pluto)
the ecliptic
Orbit may be open Orbits are closed

The Sun is very close to one end of the comet’s orbit and the tail of the comet
always points away from the Sun.

The origins of comets

The Oort Cloud

This is the region in space surrounding the Solar System in which comets are
thought to reside. It is spherical, extending from about 6000 AU from the Sun
(beyond the orbit of Neptune) to the nearest star. The greatest concentration of

56 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

comets in this area is approximately 40 000 AU from the Sun. Long period comets
(comets with larger orbits) originate here and are thought to be displaced by
passing stars, causing them to go into a much closer orbit around the Sun.

The Kuiper Belt

This is a doughnut shaped region beyond the orbit of Neptune extending about
35 to 52 AU from the Sun. It is the source of short period comets (comets with
shorter/smaller orbits). These are caused by the gravitational pull of the giant
planets driving a comet from the Kuiper Belt onto a short orbit around the Sun.

Figure 3.17: The location of the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 57

EXERCISE 3

Questions

1 List the planets in order, starting with the closest to the Sun.

2 List the planets, starting with the biggest down to the smallest.

3 Which planets in our Solar System have been observed since ancient times?

4 Which planets in our Solar System were discovered more recently?

5 Give details of the discoveries of the planets in question 4, stating:

a who discovered them
b when were they discovered
c how were they discovered.

6 What are planetary satellite systems?

7 Which planets do the following satellites orbit:

a Titan
b Miranda
c Io
d Triton?

8 Give information about the composition of these satellites (from qn.7).

9 Is Pluto a planet? Discuss giving arguments for and against.

10 What is the composition of the ring systems of:

a Saturn
b Uranus?

11 What is the band that the planets appear to move in?

12 Explain retrograde motion, including stationary points.

13 Explain the following planetary terms:

a Greatest Elongation
b Conjunction
c Opposition
d Transit
e Occultation.

58 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

14 What are asteroids and how may they have been formed?

15 Where are most asteroids found in the Solar System?

16 What would happen if a small asteroid (eg 100 m) collided with the Earth?

17 What would happen if a large asteroid (eg 10 km) collided with the Earth?

18 State Kepler’s three Laws of Planetary Motion and explain what they mean.

19 State Newton’s Law of Gravitation and explain what it means.

20 What is the connection between Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Kepler’s

early work?

21 Explain what meteor showers are and why they occur at similar times each
year.

22 What is the connection between comets and meteoroids?

23 Describe the different types of meteorites.

24 Describe the composition of the following parts of a comet:

a nucleus
b coma
c ion tail
d dust tail.

25 How do comets ‘shine’?

26 How does a cometary orbit differ from a planetary orbit? Give at least three
differences.

27 Define the two types of comets and their origins.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 59

Research

1 Find out when the next meteor shower in your location will be and observe it.
This can become part of your coursework. Record the following information:
a make detailed drawings of the meteor shower, noting the stellar
background
b estimation of the magnitudes of the meteors
c the weather and viewing conditions
d the location from which you viewed the meteor shower
e the direction from which you viewed the meteor shower
f the date and time the meteor shower was observed
g any other interesting observations.

2 Use a spreadsheet, graphical package or write your own computer program to

simulate the orbits of either at least four planets around the Sun (to scale) or
the major satellites around a named planet. This can become part of your
coursework.

3 Find pictures to show the physical appearance of Io, Titan, Miranda and Triton.

4 Find pictures of the ring systems of Saturn and Uranus, including the ring
spokes of Saturn.

5 Find an animation to show retrograde motion.

6 Explain the heliocentric theory, stating why it was not accepted but is now.

7 Find information on asteroids colliding with the Earth, if we have any measures
to prevent this, and how likely it is to happen.

8 Find information and photographs of the collision between the comet

Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter in July 1994.

9 Write a short biography of Galileo, highlighting his major astronomical

achievements and problems caused by them (200–300 words).

10 Find out about the work and contribution of the following astronomers:
a Copernicus
b Tycho Brahe
c Kepler
d William Herschel.

11 Find information, and animations, on Kepler’s three Laws of Planetary Motion.

60 Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005

PROJECT 3: RESEARCHING THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Introduction
This project is to research some of the features of our Solar System in order to help
you understand the ideas that are covered within this unit. Features to be
researched are asteroids, comets, meteors, satellites or the rings of Saturn or
Uranus. If you have a good idea for a feature to research that is not listed here
then discuss this with your teacher. You should choose one or two of these features
to research.

Resources
Research can be carried out in many ways. You should think about where you might
find information, and how you can make sure that the information you find is
correct and suitable for your project. Suggested resources include:
• libraries (school or local)
• internet
• ‘experts’ in astronomy (eg teachers).

Method
Research the features that you have chosen by finding out as much as you can
about them. Structure your project report carefully, deciding what information you
want to include and how you want to present it. Consider including pictures in your
report and how you could make it interesting. Carefully reference any source of
information and list all of these in the bibliography.

Links to the specification

This project covers the Planets and asteroids part of this unit (3.6, 3.8, 3.15, 3.16)
and areas of the Meteors and comets part of this unit (3.26-3.33).

When to start
This project could be started at the beginning of Unit 3, and you could complete
the research project as you learn about the various aspects of Unit 3: The Solar
System.

Student’s Workbook – Edexcel GCSE in Astronomy – Issue 1 – February 2005 61