ALL ABOUT ME AND MY FAMILY

                   
                  I am JERALDINE CASAS and i am the oldest among the 4 children of my parents ..              .

PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The Solar System consists of the SUN and the astronomical objects gravitational bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Of the many objects that orbit the Sun, most of the mass is contained within eight relatively solitary planets whose orbits are almost circular and lie within a nearly flat disc called the ecliptic plane. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, earth and mars, also called the terrestrial planets, are primarily composed of rock and metal. The four outer planets, the gas giants, are substantially more massive than the terrestrials. The two largest, Jupiter and Saturn, are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium; the two outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune, are composed largely of ices, such as water, ammonia and methane, and are often referred to separately as "ice giants".
The Solar System is also home to a number of regions populated by smaller objects. The asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, is similar to the terrestrial planets as it is composed mainly of rock and metal.
Six of the planets and three of the dwarf planets are orbited by natural satellites usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon. Each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other particles.

Mercury

MERCURY 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.Mercury's almost negligible atmosphere consists of atoms blasted off its surface by the solar wind. Its relatively large iron core and thin mantle have not yet been adequately explained. Hypotheses include that its outer layers were stripped off by a giant impact, and that it was prevented from fully accreting by the young Sun's energy.

Venus

VENUS 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. It is the hottest planet, with surface temperatures over 400 °C, most likely due to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. No definitive evidence of current geological activity has been detected on Venus, but it has no magnetic field that would prevent depletion of its substantial atmosphere, which suggests that its atmosphere is regularly replenished by volcanic eruptions.

Earth

EARTH 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 Solar System where life is known to exist. Its liquid hydrosphere is unique among the terrestrial planets, and it is also the only planet where plate tectonics has been observed. Earth's atmosphere is radically different from those of the other planets, having been altered by the presence of life to contain 21% free oxygen. It has one natural satellite, the moon, the only large satellite of a terrestrial planet in the Solar System.

Mars

MARS 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). Its surface, peppered with vast volcanoes such as Olympus Mons and rift valleys , shows geological activity that may have persisted until as recently as 2 million years ago. Its red color comes from iron oxide (rust) in its soil. Mars has two tiny natural satellites (Deimos and Phobos) thought to be captured asteroids

Jupiter

JUPITER 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 Europa, show similarities to the terrestrial planets, such as volcanism and internal heating.Ganymede, the largest satellite in the Solar System, is larger than Mercury.

Saturn

SATURN, 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 rice 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.

Uranus

URANUS, 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.

Uranus has 27 known satellites, the largest ones being Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda.

Neptune

NEPTUNE, though slightly smaller than Uranus, is more massive (equivalent to 17 Earths) and therefore more dense.. It radiates more internal heat, but not as much as Jupiter or Saturn.

Neptune has 13 known satellites. The largest, Triton is geologically active, with geysers of liquid nitrogen. Triton is the only large satellite with a retrograde orbit. Neptune is accompanied in its orbit by a number of minor planets, termed Neptune Trojans, that are in 1:1 resonance with it.                                                                                                                  

               PLUTO, a dwarf planet, is the largest known object in the Kuiper belt. When discovered in 1930, it was considered to be the ninth planet; this changed in 2006 with the adoption of a formal definition of planet. Pluto has a relatively eccentric orbit inclined 17 degrees to the ecliptic plane and ranging from 29.7 AU from the Sun at perihelion (within the orbit of Neptune) to 49.5 AU at aphelion.

THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

 

The Big Bang Theory                                                                                                                                                                      =Widely accepted and the current model for how the universe started, The Big Bang Theory is the best explanation scientists have today. This theory states that the universe started out of what is known as a singularity 13.7 billion years Moments after that explosion the universe started inflating faster than the speed of light as particles interacted with one another. In a process that took billions of years to evolve the universe that exists today formed. Astronomers have discovered in recent years that the universe is still expanding and this expansion is accelerating.The Big Bang Theory is the most accepted theory for the origin and evolution of our universe. The big bang theory states that at some time in the distant past there was nothing. It suggests that around 10 to 14 billion years ago, the part of the universe we can see today was only a few millimeters across. According to this theory, at the beginning of time, all of the matter and energy in the universe was concentrated in a very dense state, from which it "exploded" and this is known as the Big Bang.The Big Bang marks the instant at which the universe began. From a dense, hot ball of gas, radiation and subatomic particles. This exploded and began expanding rapidly outward. As it expanded it cooled and electrons, protons and neutrons formed. As the universe grew in size, the temperature dropped, which eventually formed huge numbers of Hydrogen, Helium and Lithium nuclei. After many millions of years the expanding universe, at first a very hot gas, thinned and cooled enough to condense into individual galaxies and then stars. Stars and galaxies began to form about one billion years following the Big Bang. It has since expanded from this hot dense state into the vast and much cooler cosmos we currently inhabit.

The Big Bounce Theory

                                    =This is a theory that states there was actually something before the Big Bang. It suggests that another universe went through a Big Crunch and then 'bounced' back and gave birth to this universe. The Big Bounce seems to solve the problem of the unknown singularity factor of the Big Bang. It takes away the notion that the universe came to be from an infinite dense area with no mass, which goes against all mathematical notions.

Cyclic Universe Theory

                              =As the name implies, a cyclic universe explodes into existence in a Big Bang, and crunches out of existence over and over again in an endless cycle.The Cyclic Universe Theory could explain the mystery of why the 'cosmological constant' is accelerating, which the Big Bang theory could not account for.

 Steady State Theory

                                   = Another alternative to the Big Bang theory is the Steady State theory. This theory was developed by Fred Hoyle and Thomas Gold in 1949. Ironically, Fred Hoyle was the person who coined the term 'Big Bang', sort of as a way to make fun of a theory he did not advocate.Steady State theory claims that the universe had no beginning, but it created new matter as older galaxies moved apart. However, discovery of the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background radiation) became a big blow against Steady State.

 Plasma Theory

                          =The"plasma theory," which rejects the big bang theory, is a recent and controversial concept of cosmology. Swedish Nobel laureate Hannes Olof Göst Alfvén is the chief proponent of the theory. He and his colleagues discredit the big bang theory in favor of electrical and magnetic processes involving plasma (hot electrical conducting gases). While the big bang cosmologists claim over 90 percent of the universe is invisible, primarily composed of dark matter, plasma theorists believe 99 percent of the matter is composed of plasma. The big bang universe is based solely on terms of gravity, using Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity; the plasma theory is based on electromagnetism.

 The Oscillating Universe                                                                                                           

                                           =Theory This is another idea by *George Gamow. It says that when the universe finally runs down, another Big Bang will start it going again. The main difference is that, while the first Bang occurred when nothing exploded into all the matter in the universe, the later ones would be the result of all the matter packing into a tiny point and then exploding again.

The Nebular Hypothesis (also called the Planetesimal Theory)
                                    = says that, as the gas swirled around, eddies of gas caused the sun and planets. All seven theories require circling gas which contracts into the sun. We have already disproved the basics underlying this concept. Many say that material from the sun made the planets and moons. But the elemental composition of each of the planets is different from the sun and from one another. One could not come from the other. In addition, the sun would have to rotate extremely fast to hurl off planets and moons, yet it rotates very slowly.


The Gas Cloud Theory
                                     =says gas clouds were pulled in from outer space by our sun's gravity; then they paused, formed themselves into planets and moons, and began circling one another. But gas does not clump, and linear motion toward the sun would not change into circular motion around it.

 The Planetary Collision Theory                                                                                                                                                                 =says our world collided with a small planet, producing our moon. But such an impact would totally destroy our planet. How could such an impact produce a circling moon? This would have had to be repeated for all 150 moons in our solar system. The theory would require thousands of planets passing through our solar system, for enough direct hits to produce all our moons.

 The Fision Theory 

                               =says that our sun burst and sent out the planets and moons. But they would fly outward forever; they would not stop and begin circling the sun or one another.

  The Capture Theory 

                                     =says our planets and moons were wandering around and were captured by our sun. But they would then crash into the sun; they would not circle it or one another. We never see planets or moons flying by us today, yet we now know of at least 150 moons in our solar system.

  The Stellar Collision Theory 

                                              =says that two stars collided, and produced our planets and moons. But they would not then pause and circle one of the suns which was waiting placidly to receive them. They would either be hurled away from the sun or crash back into it.  

  The Accretion Theory 

                                      =says that small chunks of material gradually got together and formed our planet. Then more chunks formed our moon, which began circling us. This idea is pretty far out also. The planets, moons, and asteroids are all in carefully arranged orbits. The meteors fly fast in linear motion. No chunks are just floating around, and those chunks would not stick together anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANCE OF CORAL REEFS

                                                                        CORAL REEFS                                                                                                                                                                      Coral reefs are important in many ways because healthy coral reefs are the foundation of many tropical ecosystems and provide livelihood, food, and cultural significance for millions of people around the world.Coral reefs ecosystems support a variety of human needs like fisheries,tourism and shorelines protection.And the very important thing is it can yield compounds that are important in the development of new medicines like the treatment of cancer,HIV,cardiovascular diseases, ulcers, and other ailments. Coral reefs are the most valuable marine habitats and it is the most beautiful of all aquatic ecosystems.In human life,trees and plants are known to be the primary producers while in marine life, coral reefs support the food chain by being a food for tropical fish and other marine animals.Coral reefs era also important in coastal protection,like the disastrous hurricanes and tsunamis that sweep off life and property in the blink of an eye,are lessened in their impact by coral reefs.Coral reefs break the power of waves and reduce their intensity that's why it can protect coastal areas from destruction. It is also important in fisheries because the fishing industry and the common income source for fishermen in the coastal areas is heavily dependent on the coral reefs. The coral reefs provide shelter, nutrition and habitat to almost a quarter of the worlds fish.

 MANGROVES

 

Mangrove is a specialized marine ecosystem consisting of a group of plants growing in muddy, loose and wet soils in tropical and sub-tropical areas, comprising of shallow, coastal waters, deltas and estuaries or lagoons.
 Mangrove forests known as 'rainforests' by the sea’ are one of the most important coastal ecosystems in the world in terms of primary production and coastal protection.Mangroves protect coastal areas from erosion, storm surge (especially during hurricanes), and tsunamis.The mangroves' massive root systems are efficient at dissipating wave energy.The unique ecosystem found in the intricate mesh of mangrove roots offers a quiet marine region for young organisms.Mangroves, trees unique for growing in seawater, grow approximately two feet in the first year, fast relative to other species of trees.
Mangroves are one of the Rhizopora species and also part of the higher plants, e.g. shrubs and trees. They serve the best functions in our biodiversity.

Importance of earth's hydrosphere

                    As we all know, the earth we live on is the only planet that is able to support life. Because among other planets, Earth is just the right distance from the sun to have temperature that are suitable for life to exist. Also the earth's atmosphere has exactly the right type of gases in the right amounts for life to survive. Our planet also has water on it's surface called the hydrosphere. In fact, earth is often called the "blue planet" because most of it is covered with water. This water is made up of freshwater in river and lakes, the salt water of ocean and estuaries, ground water and water vapor.

                 Hydrosphere is very important especially for us because  this is one of our need and we use it in many ways. Drinking water is the most important to us because we will not be able to live without water.It is also one of the source of our food.And water also used for washing, cleaning, bathing, cooking and in industry. It is also used to generate electricity through hydropower.                                                                                  From the very beginning, water is important because each cell in a living organism is made up of almost 75% water. And without water, cells would not be able to function normally and life could not exist.    We are not only the benefactor of the hydrosphere but also the animals and plants. Water provides a habitat  for many animals and plants to live because many gases are dissolved in water like carbon dioxide and oxygen and others. And the presence of this substance is useful to exist life in water.And the examples of this are fishes, shrimps and other sea creatures.

                    One of the water's unique characteristics is it's long time to heat up and long time to cool down. And it's important because it help's to regulate temperatures in earth so that it's stay with in a range that is acceptable for life to exist. Ocean currents also help to disperse heat.