Lecture 12: The Solar System Briefly
Formation of the Moonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpOKztEiMqo&feature =related Formation of our Solar System Conservation of Angular Momentum Why are the larger, gaseous planets farther away and the smaller, rocky planets that are closer? How do we have an estimate of our solar system s age? What makes something a dwarf planet? The IAU says it is a celestial body orbiting the Sun a) massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity b) has not cleared its orbit of planetesimals.
Collisions dominated the early solar system (What is the key force here?) dust collects together into planetesimals planetesimals collect together into protoplanets Protoplanets gather up left over debris and became planets
The solar system formed from a giant cloud of rotating, cold gas and dust called the solar nebula about 4.6 billion years ago
The planets formed by the accretion of planetesimals and the accumulation of gases in the solar nebula
Which planet formed at the furthest location from the Sun where it was hot enough to boil water? A. Mercury B. Mars C. Jupiter D. Neptune E. None of the above
How should we categorize the objects in the Solar System?
Discuss size of Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury & Moon Venus is nearly same diameter as Earth Mars is nearly half the Earth s diameter Moon is about ¼ Earth s diameter Mercury is smaller than Mars, about size of Saturn s moon T itan and Jupiter s moon G anymede
The Sun is the Largest Object in the Solar System The Sun contains more than 99.85% of the total mass of the solar system If you put all the planets in the solar system together, they would not fill up the volume of the Sun 110 Earths or 10 Jupiters fit across the diameter of the Sun How big is the Sun?
The Sun has a diameter of approximately 1.4 million kilometers. Roughly how many Earths would fit across the diameter of the A. 10 B. 100 C. 1000 D. 10,000 E. 1 million Sun? 80% 3% 3% 6% 8% 10 100 1000 10000 1 million
Where are the asteroid belts and what are their names? What is the name of the largest asteroid in the Main Asteroid belt? Discuss the VUP s. What is the name of the largest asteroid in the Kuiper belt?
Main Asteroid Belt
How should we divide the Solar System?
How should we divide the Solar System?
How should we divide the Solar System?
How should we divide the Solar System?
Mercury Jupiter
Mercury Jupiter
Brilliant blue Neptune has a giant storm too Which of these is Earth-like? Which of these is Jupiter-like? Or are they the same (both Earth-like or Jupiter-like)?
How should we divide the Solar System? By Density?
The Inner Planets (Family Portrait)
Inner (Terrestrial) Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Characteristics Small Rocky Very close to the Sun Have few moons Have no rings a central metallic core, mostly iron, the Moon is similar, but lacks an iron core
The Outer Planets (Family Portrait)
Outer (Jovian) Planets Jupiter Saturn Uranaus Neptune Characteristics Large Gaseous Far from the Sun Have many moons Have rings Have magnetic fields thick atmosphere and a dense molten core
The surface of Venus is completely hidden beneath permanent cloud cover
The Venusian Surface
Venus is covered with gently rolling hills and numerous volcanoes
EARTH The Privileged Planet
Mars, as seen from the Hubble Space Telescope
Enormous shield volcanoes Valles Marineris is as big as the entire United States of America
Ice caps dominate the poles during different times of the year
Olympus Mons - the largest volcano in the solar system has a base larger than the state of Arizona
Early space probes to Mars found no canals but did find some controversial features
Surface features indicate that water once flowed on Mars Ohio River valley on Earth River channels on Mars
Viking I Lander Picture from 1976
1999 Picture from the Mars Pathfinder Lander Note the remotecontrol rover, Sojourner, next to a Martian rock
Mars Water/Ice Discovered North Pole only None found on South Pole only CO2 dry ice Activities Manual Prather Offerdahl Slater
The Martian meteorite found in Antarctica has not provided conclusive evidence about life on Mars
Most asteroids orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter
In general, asteroids are small
Asteroid Ida and its tiny moon, Dactyl
Outer Outer (Jovian) Planets Planets Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Enormous Gaseous Far from Sun Separated by large distances Have ring systems Have many moons
Inner planets are vastly different than outer planets in terms of orbital distances
The Outer Planets (Family Portrait)
Jupiter is the Largest of the Gas Giant Planets
Besides being the largest planet, Jupiter is probably best known for its Great Red Spot - a hurricane-like storm that has been observed ever since the invention of the telescope.
Jupiter has four large moons and tens of small ones
Saturn has the most extensive ring system in the solar system
Saturn s spectacular rings are composed of fragments of ice and ice-coated rock
Titan is Saturn s largest moon
Saturn and Jupiter share the same basic structure
A system of rings and satellites revolves around Uranus Uranus has a hazy atmosphere with few clouds
Uranus tilt gives it very exaggerated seasons
Brilliant blue Neptune has a giant storm too
Neptune s Rings
Uranus and Neptune have similar interiors
Main Asteroid Belt & Kuiper Belt Dinosaurs
Vagabonds of the Solar System
Comet Kohoutek and Comet West
Comets have two tails
The anatomy of a comet ion tail coma dust tail
Anatomy of a comet
Comets often have two tails: a thin ION tail (in a line) and a curving DUST tail (dust deviates)
NOTICE the colors are off, they should be: The blue tail should always be the ion (gas) tail as it fluoresces and it should be straight in a line away from the Sun. Thus the dust tail is (dang) curved and should be whitish to whitish-yellow. Comets lack tails until they enter the inner solar system. A comet s tails always point away from the Sun, no matter which way the comet is moving!
15 km long by 8 km wide Comet Halley nucleus
Meteor showers occurs when Earth passes through the dusty tail debris left by a passing comet. Dust particles burn up as they enter Earth s atmosphere, like bright light shooting from a single point in the sky.
Taken by an amateur astronomer, this picture shows the comet taken on October 1 as a bright green glow in the sky. The Deep Impact spacecraft will pass a mere 435 miles (702 kilometers) from Comet Hartley 2 on November 4 th, 2010 about 6:50 am PT.
Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites & Tektites