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58 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is planetary elongation?
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to view a planet, it must be above the horizon while the sun is below the horizon
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what is elongation?
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angle subtended b/w sun & planet as seen from Earth. 0 degrees has planet in same direction and 180 degress is opposite in sky
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what happens if the elongation angle is small?
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-there is a small amount of time to observe a planet (after sunset, before sunrise)
-when viewed near horizon, it suffers a lot of atmosphere distortion |
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what happens if the elongation angle is large?
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there is a longer viewing time and is seen higher in the sky b/c of less atmospher distortion
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what are superior planets?
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Mars through pluto
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What are inferior planets?
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Mercury and Venus
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what is the opposition of superior planets?
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has elongation angle of 180 degrees
has longest viewing time-all night this is cloest position to earth and is largest and brightest |
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what is the conjunction of superior planet?
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has elongation angle of 0 degrees
furthest position from Earth planet is behind sun and you cannot see it |
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What angles are possible for superior planets?
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all elongation angles are possible
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what is the conjunction of inferior planets?
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when elongation is 0 degress
is closest to Earth looking directly into the sun and view the night side of the planet |
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what is the viewing time of Mercury & venus?
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always have a small elongation angle
there is a short viewing time |
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what is the effect of a long rotation period on Mercury?
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day is a day for a very long time - very hot (700)
night is night for a long time - very cold (-300) |
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What is the consequence of Mercury with no atmosphere?
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no protection from UV & X rays from sun
No greenhouse effect no burnup of meters that will hit Mercury |
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What is the suface analysis of Mercury?
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NO VOLCANOES
lots of craters areas- old surface inter crater plains -young surface and repaving process |
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What is the repaving process on Mercury?
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impacts crack surface and lave oozed through cracks and repave the surface
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What is Caloris Basin?
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huge asteroid impact that is 1300 KM in size
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What is unique about Venus?
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rotates backwards
1 day is 243 earth days no moons day temp=night temp |
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what is unique about the atmosphere of Venus?
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completely covered in thick clouds of CO2, very thick atmosphere 90x earth
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what is the consequence of a thick atmosphere?
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greenhouse effect that enables the night temp and day temp to be equal at about 900 degrees
very few craters that are burned up |
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Does Venus have volcanoes?
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lots of dormant volcanoes that have repaved the surface volcanoes also increase the greenhouse effect
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What planet experiences seasons?
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Mars
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What is the temp of Mars?
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day usually below 32 degress and night is nearly -200 degress
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What is the consequence of Mars' thin atmosphere?
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lots of craters - old surface
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What is the evidence of past h2o on Mars?
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dry river beds
dry tributaries tear drop islands rounded boulders & pebbles from errosion |
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what does the evidence of h2o on mars prove?
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the planet must have been warmer in the past and had a much thicker atmosphere
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What are the common themes for terrestrial planets?
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rockey surface/interior
dense composition very little atmosphere -atm. represents a tiny amount of total planet's mass |
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what are the common themes for jovian planets?
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very large rock ice core
develop huge atmospheres of gas atm. is huge amount of planet's total mass |
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What are the atm. features of Jupiter?
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zones- latitudes which are bright where warm gas rises
belts- darker latitudes where cool gas falls - convection |
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What is differential rotation on Jupiter?
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each latitude has winds moving at diff. speeds/directions
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What is the Great Red Spot on jupiter?
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huge hurricane
lasted for centuries 3 earth diameters |
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What are the atm. features of Saturn?
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very windy
has zones/belts too very hot south pole -mystery? |
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What are the atm. features of Uranus?
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featureless
tipped on its side - collision? blue color - methane gas |
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What are the atm. features of Neptune?
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blue color - methane gas
fast wind speeds has methane ice cirrus clouds great dark spot - tornado that is 1 earth diameter |
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What are the Galilean moons of Jupiter?
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Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
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Give some facts about Io?
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size of earth moon
most volcanic moon- lead to new surface and few craters heating from jupiter causes hot interior on Io |
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Give some facts about Europa?
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size of earth moon
very reflective moon b/c it is icy heavily cracked with few craters |
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What is so unique about Europa?
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liquid h20 may flow through cracks, freeze and repave
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What may the tidal heating cause on Europa?
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Warm interior with liquid oceans of water which may indicate life
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Give some facts about Ganymede?
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largest moon in SS
bigger than mercury very old surface with many craters |
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Give some facts about Callisto?
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3rd largest moon in SS
most cratered object in SS |
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Name 6 Saturn Moons of interest?
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Mimas, Phoebe, Hyperion, Iapetus, Enceladus, Titan
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Give some facts about mimas?
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has huge impact crater
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Give some facts about Phoebe?
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heavily cratered
comet like captured object from SS |
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Give some facts about Hyperion?
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irregular shape & small
fragment of larger moon sponge-like crater appearance cavernous interior-low density moon |
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Give some facts about Iapetus?
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2 toned moon
1 hempisphere bright and other is dark |
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Give some facts about Enceladus?
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extremely bright and reflective
old surfaces and new has huge faults - tiger stripes |
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Give some facts about Titan?
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2 nd largest moon
larger than mercury thick atmosphere |
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What does studies of Titan resemble?
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may be similar to atm. of earth before life
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What are the rings of Saturn?
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Very reflective - icy composition
made of small particles of rock and ice thousands of rings very few large gaps b/w rings |
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What about the rings of Jupiter?
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there are very thin rings
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What about the rings of Uranus/Neptune?
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very large gaps
rings are very thin much darker and less reflective very few rings made up of larger ice particles |
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What is unique about Pluto?
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spins backwards
tilt at 120 degrees spins slowly highly inclined orbit to ecliptic plane very eccentric orbit |
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Where is PLuto at its perihelion?
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b/c of such an eccentric orbit, pluto becomes 8th planet and passes neptune for 20 year period
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What are the arguments for pluto being a planet?
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it has history for being a planet?
it is spherical (asteriod ceres is also spherical) has 3 moons |
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what are the arguments against pluto being a planet?
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its uniqueness from other planets
it de-emphasizes the meaning of a planet at least 3 other pluo sized objects were found in Kuiper Belt |
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discuss triton moon of neptune
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coldest moon recorded
active geysers and volcanoes of ice |
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discuss phobos of Mars
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7 mile crater caused by great shockwave
humans may be able to go to phobos to study mars |
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discuss the earth moon
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oldest rocks found 4.5 billion ys.
moon may have derived from hitting earth & formed moon may have previously been filled with hot volcanic surface |
