Tour of the Solar System

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Tour of the Solar System
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General Properties of the Solar System

• There are two classes of planets
• The Terrestrial planets are small, solid bodies
  (rocks or iron) in the inner part of the Solar
  System.
• The Jovian planets are hydrogen-rich gas giants
  in the outer part of the Solar System.
• Each planet (except for Pluto) is in a roughly
  circular (elliptical) orbit in the plane of the
  ecliptic, moving west-to-east in the sky.

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General Properties of the Solar System

• There are two classes of planets
• The Terrestrial planets are small, solid bodies
  (rocks or iron) in the inner part of the Solar
  System.
• The Jovian planets are hydrogen-rich gas giants
  in the outer part of the Solar System.
• Each planet (except for Pluto) is in a elliptical
  orbit in the plane of the ecliptic, moving
  west-to-east in the sky.

• Between Mars and Jupiter there are large numbers
  of small asteroids.
• Outside the orbit of Neptune is the Kuiper Belt
  of comets.
• Far past Pluto is the Oort Cloud of comets.

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The Planets
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Mercury
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88 d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
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Mercury
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Mercury notes many impact craters (looks like
the Moon) very dense (mostly iron) rotation
period exactly 2/3 of its orbital period (a
resonance) very large day/night temperature
difference no atmosphere no moon
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88 d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225 d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 2
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Venus
optical
Venus notes similar in size and mass to earth
extremely thick CO2 atmosphere sulfuric acid
clouds hottest planet in the Solar System
little temperature variance evidence of volcanos
on surface rotates slowly (backwards) some
impact craters no moon
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Venus and Jupiter
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225 d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 2
Earth 1.0 365 d 1.0 5.55 -50/50 24h 23
Moon 0.012 3.35 -170/130 29d 6
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Earth and Moon
Earth/Moon notes double planet (Moon similar in
size to earth) extremely different surface
conditions Moon keeps its same side to the
earth at all times
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Earth
Earth notes liquid water on surface very dense
(mostly iron) atmosphere of N2 and O2 (with
trace amounts of CO2) a few impact craters
small difference in day/night temperature
evidence of volcanos and tectonic activity water
vapor clouds
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The Moon
Moon notes many impact craters less dense than
Earth (mostly rock) no atmosphere large
day/night temperature difference evidence of
past lava flows (only on side facing Earth) no
present volcanos or tectonic activity
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period (yr) Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 2
Earth 1.0 365d 1.0 5.55 -50/50 24h 23
Moon 0.012 3.35 -170/130 29d 6
Mars 1.5 687d 0.11 3.3 -140/20 24h 37m 24
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Mars
Mars notes medium density (rocks) polar ice
caps (H2O and CO2) thin CO2 atmosphere moderate
daytime/night temperature changes some impact
craters large canyons and volcanos evidence for
old river beds dust storms two small moons
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Mars
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Mars
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Sand Dunes on Mars
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Mars moons
Deimos and Phobos
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period (yr) Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 2
Earth 1.0 365d 1.0 5.55 -50/50 24h 23
Moon 0.012 3.35 -170/130 29d 6
Mars 1.5 687 d 0.11 3.3 -140/20 24h 37m 24
Jupiter 5.2 11.9 years 318 1.34 -130 9h 50m 1
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Jupiter
Jupiter notes gas giant (mostly H and He, with
CH4 and NH3) strong winds faint system of
rings rapid rotation (and slightly flattened)
4 large, many smaller moons emits more energy
than it receives from the Sun contains more mass
than all the other planets put together, red spot
Giant hurricane lasting 300 years 2 times the
size of Earth.
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Jupiters Rings
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Jupiter and Io
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Jupiters Galilean Moons
Ganymede
Callisto
Io
Europa
Io density of 3.5 many volcanos no impact
craters Europa density of 3.0 smooth icy
surface few impact craters Ganymede density of
1.9 grooved surface many impact
craters Callisto density of 1.8 covered with
craters
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Europa
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period (yr) Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 2
Earth 1.0 365d 1.0 5.55 -50/50 24h 23
Moon 0.012 3.35 -170/130 29d 6
Mars 1.5 687d 0.11 3.3 -140/20 24h 37m 24
Jupiter 5.2 11.9 years 318 1.34 -130 9h 50m 1
Saturn 9.5 29.4years 95 0.69 -180 10h 39m 2
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Saturn
Saturn notes gas giant (mostly H and He, with
CH4 and NH3) strong winds bright complex system
of rings rapid rotation (and flattened) 1
large moon (Titan) with atmosphere plus many
smaller moons density less than water (it
floats)!
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Saturn and Titan
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Saturns Tethys
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Saturns Moons
Titan thick atmosphere of mostly CH4 and NH3
other moons are mostly icy, but show a wide
variety of properties
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period (yr) Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 2
Earth 1.0 365d 1.0 5.55 -50/50 24h 23
Moon 0.012 3.35 -170/130 29d 6
Mars 1.5 687d 0.11 3.3 -140/20 24h 37m 24
Jupiter 5.2 11.9y 318 1.34 -130 9h 50m 1
Saturn 9.5 29.4y 95 0.69 -180 10h 39m 2
Uranus 19.2 84y 14.5 1.29 -220 -17h 14m 98
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Uranus
Uranus notes gas giant (mostly H and He, with
CH4 and NH3) discovered by Herschel (with
telescope) in 1781 tipped 98 from ecliptic
plane moderately complex ring system many icy
moons with odd features
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Uranus Tilt
Moons of Uranus include Belinda, Rosalind,
Portia, Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Desdemona,
Puck, and Miranda
Miranda
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The Planets
Name Distance (A.U.) Period (yr) Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 177
Earth 1.0 365d 1.0 5.55 -50/50 24h 23
Moon 0.012 3.35 -170/130 29d 6
Mars 1.5 687d 0.11 3.3 -140/20 24h 37m 24
Jupiter 5.2 11.9y 318 1.34 -130 9h 50m 1
Saturn 9.5 29.4y 95 0.69 -180 10h 39m 2
Uranus 19.2 84y 14.5 1.29 -220 -17h 14m 98
Neptune 30.1 165y 17.2 1.66 -216 16h 03m 29
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Neptune
Neptune notes gas giant (mostly H and He, with
CH4 and NH3) existence and position predicted
mathematically in 1843 by John Couch Adams and
Urbain LeVerrier moderately complex ring system
many icy moons
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Name Distance (A.U.) Period (yr) Mass (M?) Density (water) Temp (C) min/max Rotation (time) Tilt
Mercury 0.39 88d 0.056 5.4 -170/430 58d 7
Venus 0.72 225d 0.82 4.2 472 -243d 2
Earth 1.0 365d 1.0 5.55 -50/50 24h 23
Moon 0.012 3.35 -170/130 29d 6
Mars 1.5 687d 0.11 3.3 -140/20 24h 37m 24
Jupiter 5.2 11.9y 318 1.34 -130 9h 50m 1
Saturn 9.5 29.4y 95 0.69 -180 10h 39m 2
Uranus 19.2 84y 14.5 1.29 -220 -17h 14m 98
Neptune 30.1 165y 17.2 1.66 -216 16h 03m 2
Pluto 39.4 248y 0.002 2.0 -230 -6d 9h 122
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Pluto- the ex-planet
Pluto notes double planet (with Charon) very
small discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh (if
discovered today, would not be called a planet)
orbit around the Sun is very elliptical, and is
sometimes closer than Neptune) icy, similar to
moons of outer planets
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Pluto
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Asteroids
Asteroid notes most asteroids are small iron
bodies most are between Mars and Jupiter (where
Bodes Law predicts a planet) a few (called
Apollo asteroids) cross the Earths orbit the
total mass is less than 0.0001 M?
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Comets
Comets notes composition similar to dirty
iceballs many are in the Kuiper belt, outside
the orbit of Neptune most are in the Oort Cloud
between 20,000 and 100,000 A.U. from the Sun
the comets we see are in highly elliptical orbits
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Message to outer space