The document summarizes key information about the solar system. It describes the inner and outer planets, with the inner planets being terrestrial and the outer being gas giants. It explains that astronomers believe the sun formed from a rotating gas cloud that over time became a star through nuclear fusion. It also notes that the sun is about a third of the way through its lifespan and will eventually expand and shed its outer layers to become a white dwarf.

1. Proficiency 4 Jessica Brothers

2. All eight planets are categorized into 2 different sections, inner and outer planets. Inner planets are the first four planets closet to the Sun. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The planets are characterized by their different features. The inner planets are terrestrial meaning they solid surfaces similar to Earth. And the outer planets are gas giants because they have no solid surfaces and are made of liquids. Planets

3. The Inner Planets

4. The Outer Planets

5. Planet Order

6. The Sun and Solar System

7. Astronomers believe that the Sun was formed from a giant cloud which was rotating slowly and that the Sun is slightly older than the Earth. Most of this cloud that formed the Solar System was made of hydrogen gases but also contained some oxygen, silicon, and carbon. Solar System’s Birth

8. The gases in this cloud started rotating faster and faster until eventually the core became a hot and very dense core. It could now start generating energy through nuclear fusion of the hydrogen. This is when the Sun became a star. The rest of the cloud material broke off and made the planets we know today, this is the Big Bang Theory.

9. Cloud/Big Bang Theory

10. Our Sun is predicted to be about 1/3 of its way through life. In the next billions and trillions of years the Sun will eventually die. How exactly? Well, over these MANY years the Sun will keep increasing its brightness until it will shed most of its outer layers and the core will become a smoldering white dwarf . The Sun’s Death

11. Even though the Sun will eventually end, it does not mean that the human race has to. Scientists and astronomers can explore life on Mars and the Moon for an alternative way of living. But right now, is the spending really worth it? I think that when the time is necessary, and when we have more knowledge of technology and science, in a couple billions of years we should look into these explorations and spend money but as of right now we do not need it. Opinion

12. The Sun

13. " Death of our Sun." Frontier Homepage Powered by Yahoo!. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://www.frontiernet.net/~docbob/sun.htm>. "Inner and Outer Planets." Universe Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://www.universetoday.com/34577/inner-and-outer-planets/>. "Primer on Space Weather." NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/primer/primer.html>. "Solar System ." MWCS - Home of the YellowJackets. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://mwcs-inet.mwcsk12.org/faculty/tdashnaw/stusites/weblh/solarsystemlh.htm>. "Space." MWCS - Home of the YellowJackets. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://163.153.62.5/faculty/tdashnaw/stusites/webng/spaceng.htm>. Strickland, Jonathan. "HowStuffWorks "The Big Bang, Gravity and General Relativity"." Howstuffworks "Science". N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/astronomy-terms/space-shape1.htm>. Bibliography