Astro 105 Sfa Ch8 Jovian Planets

Front 1

Which planets rotate faster, Jovian or terrestrial?

Back 1

Jovian

Front 2

What are the "gas planets"

Back 2

The Jovian planets

Front 3

Which jovian planets are made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium?

Back 3

Jupiter and Saturn

Front 4

T or F
Jupiter and Saturn's overall compositions are much more similar to the composition of the Sun than to the compositions of the terrestrial planets.

Back 4

True

Front 5

What planet has been referred to as a "failed star"?

Back 5

Jupiter

Front 6

Why is Jupiter sometimes referred to as a failed star?

Back 6

Because it has the composition of a star but lacks the nuclear fusion needed to make it shine

Front 7

Why does Jupiter lack fusion?

Back 7

Because it is less massive than any star, and
Gravity is too weak to compress its interior to the extreme temperatures and densities needed for nuclear fusion

Front 8

Which Jovian planets have much smaller amounts of hydrogen and helium, making up much less than half their total masses?

Back 8

Uranus and Neptune

Front 9

What are Uranus and Neptune primarily made of?

Back 9

Hydrogen compounds such as H20, methane, and ammonia

Front 10

What is the chemical symbol for methane?

Back 10

CH4

Front 11

What is the chemical symbol for ammonia?

Back 11

NH3

Front 12

T or F
The Jovian planets formed in a different way than the terrestrial planets.

Back 12

True

Front 13

Which planets grew only through accretion of solid planetesimals containing rock and metal

Back 13

Terrestrials

Front 14

Why didn't the terrestrial planets grow massive?

Back 14

Because rock and metal were quite rare in the solar nebula, and they never grew enough for their gravity to hold any of the abundant hydrogen and helium gas that made up most of the nebula

Front 15

Where did the jovian planets form?

Back 15

In the outer solar system, beyond the frost line

Front 16

What is the frost line of the solar system?

Back 16

The boundary where it began to be cold enough for hydrogen compounds to condense into ices.

Front 17

Why did some of the ice-rich planetesimals of the outer solar system grow to great size?

Back 17

Because hydrogen compounds were so much abundant than metal and rock

Front 18

T or F
All 4 of the jovian planets are thought to have grown from ice-rich planetesimals of about the same mass-roughly 10 times the mass of Earth.

Back 18

True

Front 19

What causes the difference in the composition amongst the jovian planets?

Back 19

The amount of hydrogen and helium gas that they captured

Front 20

HOw much of the original planetesimal mass make up Jupiter and Saturn's current masses?

Back 20

Jupiter 3%
Saturn 10%

Front 21

How much did Uranus obtain of its total mass from drawn-in hydrogen and helium gas?

Back 21

33% or 1/3 or one third

Front 22

What makes up the bulk of Uranus's and Neptune's mass?

Back 22

the original ice-rich planetesimal made up of hydrogen compounds mixed with smaller amounts of rock and metal

Front 23

What explains the order in size of the Jovian planets: the largest being the closest to the Sun down to the smaller being further from the Sun?

Back 23

Solid particles that condensed far from the Sun must have been much more widely spread out than particles that condensed nearer to the Sun.
At greater distances from the Sun, it took longer for small particles to accrete into large, icy planetesimals with gravity strong enought to pull in gas from the surrounding nebula

Front 24

Which planet is thought to have grown large enough to start drawing in gas?

Back 24

Jupiter

Front 25

Why are the smaller jovian planets further from the Sun?

Back 25

When the solar wind blew the remaining gas into interstellar space, the more distant planets had less time to capture gas and ended up smaller in size.

Front 26

Why is Jupiter more dense than Saturn?

Back 26

The extra mass of Jupiter compresses its interior to a much higher density

Front 27

What would happen if more gas were added to Jupiter?

Back 27

Its weight would actually compress the interior enough to make the planet smaller rather than larger

Front 28

T or F
The Gas planets' strong gravity compresses most of the "gas" into forms of matter.

Back 28

True

Front 29

Describe Jupiter's 4 interior layers:

Back 29

1. outer layer-first 10% it is gaseous hydrogen
2. liquid hydrogen-next 10%
3. metallic hydrogen-most of the rest of Jupiter
4. core-mix of hydrogen compounds, rock and metal

Front 30

How do the jovian planets differ in their interiors?

Back 30

Mainly in the hydrogen/helium layers that surround their cores

Front 31

What planet is the most similar to Jupiter?

Back 31

Saturn

Front 32

Why does Saturn differ from Jupiter in its interior?

Back 32

Saturn has lower mass and weaker gravity

Front 33

Why does Saturn have a thicker layer of gaseous hydrogen and a much thinner and more deeply buried layer of metallic hydrogen?

Back 33

Saturn's lower mass makes the weight of the overlying layers less on Saturn

Front 34

T or F
Pressures within Uranus and Neptune are not high enough to form liquid or metallic hydrogen at all.

Back 34

True

Front 35

What planet's magnetic flied is the strongest?

Back 35

Jupiter

Front 36

How much stronger is Jupiter's magnetic field than Earth's

Back 36

20,000 times

Front 37

What is created by Jupiter's huge magnetosphere?

Back 37

Auroras

Front 38

What is the main source of Jupiter's many charged particles?

Back 38

Jupiter's volcanically active moon Io

Front 39

What is the name of Jupiter's donut-shaped charged particle belt?

Back 39

Io torus

Front 40

What physical feature of Jupiter's approximately traces Io's orbit?

Back 40

The Io torus

Front 41

Why is Saturn's magnetic field weaker than Jupiters?

Back 41

Because it has a thinner layer of electrically conducting metallic hydrogen

Front 42

Which jovian planets lack metallic hydrogen?

Back 42

Uranus and Neptune

Front 43

What generate Uranus and Neptune's magnetic fields?

Back 43

Their core "oceans" of hydrogen compounds, rock and metal

Front 44

T or F
All jovian planets except for Uranus generate a great deal of internal heat.

Back 44

True

Front 45

What is the first thing noticed about the jovian planets?

Back 45

Their spectacular colors

Front 46

What is formed when a gas condenses to make tiny liquid droplets or solid flakes?

Back 46

Clouds

Front 47

What is the only gas that can condense in Earth's atmosphere?

Back 47

Water vapor

Front 48

What leads to the distinctive layers of clouds on Jupiter?

Back 48

Jupiter's atmosphere contains several gases that con condense to form clouds which condense at different temperatures

Front 49

How many cloud layers does Jupiter have?

Back 49

Three or 3

Front 50

Describe Jupiter's cloud layers?

Back 50

1. outer cloud layer- cold temps condense NH3(ammonia) to make upper layer of white clouds
2. middle cloud layer - cold temps condense NH4SH (ammonium hydrosulfide
3. inner layer - cold temps to condense water vapor to form clouds

Front 51

Which layer reflect the brown and red light, producing many of the dark colors of Jupiter?

Back 51

Ammonium hydrosulfide

Front 52

Why is Saturn's outer atmosphere colder than Jupiter's?

Back 52

1. Saturn is farther from the Sun
2. Saturn has weaker gravity

Front 53

What is the explanation for Saturn's colors to be more subdued than Jupiters?

Back 53

Saturn's clouds lie deeper in its atmosphere: less light penetrates to the depths at which Saturn's clouds are found, and the light they reflect is more obscured by the atmosphere above them

Front 54

Where does the colors of Uranus and Neptune come from?

Back 54

Mainly methane gas and clouds

Front 55

What color does methane gas absorb?

Back 55

Red light

Front 56

What color does methane gas reflect?

Back 56

Blue light

Front 57

What do the alternating bands of colors on Jupiter represent?

Back 57

The rising and falling air, and they stretch around the planet because of Jupiter's rapid rotation

Front 58

T or F
Storms around low-pressure regions tend to circulate counter-clockwise in Earth's Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Back 58

True

Front 59

What causes Earth's circulation patterns?

Back 59

The Earth's rotation by diverting north-orsouth-flowing air

Front 60

What is the term for the product of EArth's rotation that diverts the paths of missiles or rockets as well as winds?

Back 60

Coriolis effect

Front 61

On Jupiter what color clouds form in bands of rising air?

Back 61

White

Front 62

On Jupiter what color clouds form in band of falling air?

Back 62

Dark colors

Front 63

What "falls" from Jupiter's rising air clouds?

Back 63

Ammonia snow

Front 64

Why is the falling cloud layer on Jupiter red/brown?

Back 64

It's because no ammonia clouds can form and we can see down to the ammonium hydrosulfide red/brown layer

Front 65

What is Jupiter's most famous feature?

Back 65

The Great Red Spot

Front 66

What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?

Back 66

It is a gigantic storm

Front 67

How large is Jupiter's Great Red Spot?

Back 67

Twice (2X) the size of the Earth

Front 68

T or F
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter has winds that circulate around a high-pressure system rather than a low pressure system.

Back 68

True

Front 69

T or F
A second storm has been observed on Jupiter to have changed color to red and is now known as Red,Jr.

Back 69

True

Front 70

T or F
Saturn's winds are faster than Jupiter's.

Back 70

True

Front 71

What is the name of the high-pressure storm observed on Neptune?

Back 71

The Great Dark Spot

Front 72

How long did the Great Dark Spot last after it was discovered

Back 72

6 years

Front 73

What is the discrepancy between the Voyager and Hubble Telescope observations of Uranus?

Back 73

1. In 1986 Voyager didn't find any clouds and no banded structure like other Jovian planets
2. Hubble now shows storms raging

Front 74

What is the possible explanation for why Hubble now see storms raging on Uranus?

Back 74

Its northern hemisphere is just beginning to see sunlight for the first time in decades due to Uranus's extreme tilt and 84-year orbit

Front 75

What is the total # of known moons orbiting the jovian planets?

Back 75

150

Front 76

How are the jovian moon classified?

Back 76

Based on size:
small=less than 300km diam.
medium=300km-1500km diam.
large=greater than 1500km diam.

Front 77

What physical feature of worlds relate to geological activity?

Back 77

size

Front 78

T or F
Larger moons are more likely to show evidence of past or present geological activity?

Back 78

True

Front 79

How do the large and medium moons compare with the terrestrial planets?

Back 79

The large and medium sized jovian moons are similar to the terrestrial planets

Front 80

Name the 2 largest of the Jovian planet moons?

Back 80

1. Jupiter's Ganymede
2. Saturn's Titan

Front 81

T or F
Titan and Ganymede are both larger than Mercury.

Back 81

True

Front 82

In addition to rock and metal, what do the jovian planet moons contain?

Back 82

Substantial amounts of ice because they formed in the cold outer solar system

Front 83

What explains why the large and medium sized moons have orbits that are almost circular and lie close to the equatorial plane of their parent planet?

Back 83

Because they probably formed by accretion within the disks of gas surrounding individual jovian planets

Front 84

What is the source of many of the small moons?

Back 84

Captured asteroids or comets because they do not follow any particular orbital patterns

Front 85

What is the shape of most of the small moons?

Back 85

potatoes

Front 86

Why are the small moons' shapes like potatoes?

Back 86

Because their gravities are too weak to force their rigid material into spheres.

Front 87

Which jovian moons are just chunks of ice and rock held captive by the gravity of a massive jovian planet?

Back 87

The small jovian moons

Front 88

What planet/moon is the most volcanically active world in the solar system?

Back 88

Io

Front 89

T or F
Io lacks impact craters because its surface is so new.

Back 89

True

Front 90

What tells us that Io interior is very hot?

Back 90

Its volcanoes

Front 91

What is the term for a source of internal heating created by tidal friction that is particularly important for satellites with eccentric orbits such as Io and Europ;a

Back 91

Tidal heating

Front 92

What causes Io's tidal heating?

Back 92

Jupiter's large tidal force exerting on Io every time it moves through each orbit, which in turn changes the size and orientatin of Io's tidal bulges.

Front 93

What geological activity results from bulges changing sizes on Io?

Back 93

Flexing that heats up the interior

Front 94

Why is Io's orbit so elliptical?

Back 94

Ganymede, Europa, and Io's orbits line up periodically and the gravitational tugs they exert on one another add up over time.
Because the tugs are in the same direction each alignment, they tend to stretch out the orbits, making them slightly elliptical.

Front 95

What is the term for the series of small pushes and tugs caused by gravity during alignment that can add up.

Back 95

orbital resonance

Front 96

What covers Europa?

Back 96

Water ice

Front 97

What is believed to be beneath Europa's icy skin?

Back 97

Deep water ocean

Front 98

Why do we wonder might exist on Europa?

Back 98

Because evidence suggests that there is a deep water ocean and primitive life thrives near seafloor vents on EArth

Front 99

What is the name of the largest moon in the solar system?

Back 99

Ganymede

Front 100

Name the Galileon moons:

Back 100

1. Io
2. Europa
3. Ganymede
4. Callisto

Front 101

Name Jupiter's outermost Galileon moon?

Back 101

Callisto

Front 102

Describe Callisto:

Back 102

A heavy cratered ice ball

Front 103

Name the possible 3 water worlds that are orbiting Jupiter?

Back 103

1. Europa
2. Ganymede
3. Callisto

Front 104

Except for the 4 Galilean moons, what is the category for Jupiter's other moons?

Back 104

small category

Front 105

Name the solar system's 2nd largest moon?

Back 105

Saturn's TITAN

Front 106

Why is Titan unique amongst the moons of our solar system?

Back 106

It has a very thick atmosphere that hides the surface from view, except at a few specific wavelengths of light

Front 107

What does Titan's reddish color come from?

Back 107

Chemicals in its atmosphere much like those that make smog over cities on Earth

Front 108

How is EArth's and Titan's atmospheres similar?

Back 108

They each contain @ the same percentage of nitrogen: 77% nitrogen

Front 109

Name the jovian planet's moon that has an appreciable greenhouse effect?

Back 109

Saturn's TITAN

Front 110

WHat is the ESA?

Back 110

European Space Agency

Front 111

Name the probe developed by NASA and the ESA that carried the probe named __________ to Titan?

Back 111

Huygens

Front 112

Why is Titan's climate thought to be wet?

Back 112

With liquid methane rather than liquid water

Front 113

Where is the Darth Crater located?

Back 113

On Saturn's moon, Mimas

Front 114

Why is the Darth Crater so named?

Back 114

Because it resembles the Death Star in the Star Wars movies

Front 115

Name Saturn's medium sized moon that shows clear evidence of ongoing geologial activity?

Back 115

Enceladus

Front 116

Which of Uranus is a surprise because it show tremendous tectonic features and relatively few craters?

Back 116

Miranda

Front 117

Name Neptune's moon that is a large moon but it does not orbit like other large moons in the outer solar system, it orbits "backwards"?

Back 117

Triton

Front 118

Which of Neptune's moons is thought to have originally orbited the Sun and became captured by Neptune?

Back 118

Triton

Front 119

What is the physical characteristic that makes Triton's terrain unique?

Back 119

It has wrinkly ridges nicknamed "cantelope terrain"

Front 120

What is the crucial difference between the terrestrial moons and the jovian moons?

Back 120

Composition

Front 121

What material do the jovian moons posses that can melt or deform at far lower temperatures than rock, and lead to geological activity when their interiors have cooled to temps far below what they were at their births?

Back 121

Ices

Front 122

What type of lava is thought to have been produced by volcanism on the jovian moons?

Back 122

icy lava, not rock lava, that may have been water perhaps mixed with methane and ammonia

Front 123

List 3 major components of the jovian planets:

Back 123

1. the planets
2. the moons
3. the rings

Front 124

Which planet has the most spectacular rings circling it?

Back 124

Saturn

Front 125

What is the name of the gap that separates Saturn's rings from the planet itself?

Back 125

Cassini division

Front 126

The sheets of rings that circle Saturn are actually ___________

Back 126

many individual rings each separated from the next by a narrow gap

Front 127

What makes up Saturn's rings?

Back 127

Icy particles ranging in size from dust grains to large boulders

Front 128

How do we know that Saturn's rings are made of relatively reflective water ice?

Back 128

Spectroscopy

Front 129

According to what law of physics explains why each individual ring particle orbits Saturn independently?

Back 129

Kepler laws

Front 130

T or F
Each particle in Saturn's rings are so close that they collide frequently

Back 130

True

Front 131

T or F
When particles in Saturn's rings collide it is catastrophic.

Back 131

FALSE
When particles collide in Saturn's rings they collide gently

Front 132

What is known as the thinnest known astronomical structure?

Back 132

Saturn's rings

Front 133

How long does Saturn's rings span?

Back 133

270,000 kilometers in diameter

Front 134

How thick are Saturn's rings?

Back 134

a few tens of METERS thick

Front 135

What causes the rings and gaps in Saturn's rings?

Back 135

Caused by particles bunching up at some orbital distances and being force out at other.

Front 136

What are gap moons?

Back 136

Small moons that are located within the gaps in the rings

Front 137

T or F
The gravity of a gap moon can keep the gap clear of smaller ring particles

Back 137

True

Front 138

What are the gap moons often referred as?

Back 138

Shepherd moons

Front 139

What causes the nudging of particles in Saturn's rings?

Back 139

1. shepherd moons
2. gravity form larger, more distant moons

Front 140

T or F
All 4 jovian planets have rings.

Back 140

True

Front 141

T or F
The ring particles are not leftovers from the birth of the planets.

Back 141

True

Front 142

Why aren't the particles in the rings left overs from the birth of the planets?

Back 142

Because particles of the size we find in the rings today cannot survive for billions of years

Front 143

What is thought to be the source for the jovian rings?

Back 143

new particles must be continually supplied to the rings to replace those that are destroyed by moonlets

Front 144

What are moonlets?

Back 144

The moons the size of the fap moons that formed in the disk of material orbiting the young jovian planets

Front 145

How do the moolets conribute ring particles?

Back 145

1. each tiny impact releases particles from a small moon's surface
2. occasional larger impacts can shatter a small moon completely, creating a supply of boulder[size ring particles

Front 146

T or F
The collisions that shatter small moons and generate large ring particles must occur only occasionally and at essentially random times

Back 146

True