Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
67 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Describe 4 discoveries made by Galileo with his telescope.
|
The moons of Jupiter
Sunspots Lunar craters Venusian phases and changing angular size Rings of Saturn |
|
|
Explain how his observations of Venus proved the Copernican heliocentric cosmology was correct.
|
Galileo was able to observe Venus going through a full set of phases which essentially ruled out the Ptolemaic system, and was compatible only with the Copernican system
|
|
|
_______ is the force that keeps the planets in their orbits around the Sun.
|
Gravity
|
|
|
Astronauts in an orbiting spacecraft have not escaped the Earth's gravity, so they have weight, yet we refer to them as being "weightless". Why do they appear as if they have no weight?
|
They have weight and are falling toward the Earth. However, they are also traveling rapidly in a perpendicular direction. This velocity carries them eternally beyond the horizon as they fall downward. The result is that they “fall” in a circle without getting any closer to Earth. Since the capsule or shuttle is falling at the same rate, they appear weightless with respect to it.
|
|
|
Explain how Isaac Newton’s law of gravity did away with the old notion of “quintessence” and thus allowed for space to be completely empty.
|
The law of gravity explained how planets could actually be always falling but still remain the same distance away.
|
|
|
a) Terrestrial planets:
|
Mercury_______, _Venus_________ ,_Earth________, _Mars_
|
|
|
Jovian planets:
|
_Jupiter_______, _Saturn_______, _Uranus_______, __Neptune_____
|
|
|
c) largest size
|
Jupiter
|
|
|
Smallest size
|
Mercury
|
|
|
Roundest orbit
|
Venus
|
|
|
Most eccentric orbit
|
Mercury
|
|
|
Most Dense
|
Earth
|
|
|
Least Dense
|
Saturn
|
|
|
Coldest Surface
|
Neptune or Uranus
|
|
|
Hottest surface
|
Venus
|
|
|
Thickest Atmosphere
|
Venus
|
|
|
Thinnest Atmosphere
|
Mercury
|
|
|
Most Moons
|
Jupiter
|
|
|
Fewest Moons
|
Mercury and Venus
|
|
|
Fastest rotation
|
Jupiter
|
|
|
slowest rotation
|
Venus (retrograde)
|
|
|
Identify the following planetary satellites: Largest Size
|
Ganymede
|
|
|
Identify the following planetary satellites: Roundest shape
|
Europa
|
|
|
Identify the following planetary satellites: most geologically active
|
Io
|
|
|
Identify the following planetary satellites: Thickest Atmosphere
|
Titan
|
|
|
Identify the following planetary satellites: larger than Mercury (2)
|
Ganymede, Titan
|
|
|
The Jovian planets are made up mainly of _______ elements.
|
Lighter - Hydrogen and Helium
|
|
|
the terrestrial planets contain heavier elements such as
|
SIMSN - Silicon, Iron, Magnesium, Sulfer, Nickel
|
|
|
In what chemical form
are Jupiter’s nitrogen, carbon and oxygen? |
Ammonia, methane, and water
|
|
|
why the chemistry of the terrestrial and Jovian planets are different
|
In time these swept together to form planetisimals, then the terrestrial planets. Jupiter and the Jovian planets formed further away, in cooler orbits, where the lighter gases could condense and collect
|
|
|
why do all planets orbit in the same plane?
|
The solar nebula collapsed under its own gravity. In the process it began to flatten and spin up until it was a rotating disk of gas. Because if this all planets orbit in the same plane
|
|
|
why do the planetary orbits are all nearly circular?
|
As planetesimals swept together theier inward and outward motions tended to cancel leaving the protoplanets in mainly round orbits
|
|
|
why do the planets orbit in the same direction that the sun itself rotates and
|
Conservation of angular momentum amplified the spins and orbital motions concentrating them all in the same direction
|
|
|
why does the moon has the pattern of cratering that it does.
|
Since the average size of solar system objects kept increasing but the number of bodies was decreasing as the soalr system aged, older surfaces on the moon have more, smaller craters while the younger surfaces have fewer, larger craters.
|
|
|
Mercury’s surface looks similar to the moons except the cratering is more _______.
|
Uniform
|
|
|
The moon has heavily cratered __________ and lightly cratered ______.
|
Highlands and Maria
|
|
|
Mercury has rolling planes interspersed with _______
|
Craters
|
|
|
A large impact created the Caloris basin (on Mercury), sending shock waves around the planet which left
|
Permanent ripples on the side opposite the basin.
|
|
|
Mercury spins _ times on its axis with respect to the stars for every _ times it orbits the sun.
|
3x axis, 2x orbits the sun
|
|
|
how long is a Mercurian day in terms of Mercurian years?
|
2 Mercurian years because days are defined with respect to the
sun, not the stars and the sun takes 2 orbits to go from meridian to meridian. |
|
|
_____ is one of the brightest objects in the sky. The reason for this is that it is close to both the Earth and Sun and because a thick layer of clouds reflect __% of all the light it receives.
|
Venus and 76%
|
|
|
The clouds on Venus are made of _______ ____.
|
Sulfuric Acid
|
|
|
(Venus) A process termed the __________ ______ traps radiation inside the atmosphere and has driven the surface temperature up to ___ degrees F.
|
Greenhouse Effect, 900 Degrees F.
|
|
|
Because Venus spins with
_______ rotation, the Sun rises in the ______ on Venus and takes ____ days before it sets! |
Retrograde, West, 58.4
|
|
|
Venus' thick atmosphere is filled with sulfur from active volcanoes and has a pressure that is
_________ times greater than the Earth’s. |
98 times
|
|
|
The atmospheres of Venus and Mars consist primarily
of _____ while the atmosphere of Earth is 77% ____, 21% ____, and 2% everything else. |
Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Oxygen
|
|
|
What is the reason that there is life on earth, but not on Venus or Mars?
|
Earth's atmosphere is made up of Nitrogen and Oxygen and heavier elements while Venus or Mars are made up of mostly gas.
|
|
|
On Mars, the thinness of the air together with seasonal temperature changes created from a tilt of its rotational axis at an orientation much like that of the Earth combine to create violent _____ _____ which carve the surface and give the air a pinkish tint.
|
Dust Storms
|
|
|
Why did Astronomers think there may be a presence of life on Mars?
|
Because they uncovered different colored rock and thought they were seeing CANALI or "water channels".
|
|
|
Earth has very few craters while the moon has many. Explain why?
|
Earth’s surface is subject to resurfacing by erosion from the hydrological system (weathering) and plate tectonics. Both of these processes have worked to remove the craters from the formative years.
The moon has no such processes and so the craters have persisted through time. |
|
|
Explain how Earth came to have an oxygen-rich atmosphere.
|
Biological Life
|
|
|
What is the evidence for liquid water having been on Mars in the past?
|
Ancient stream channels, flood plains and sedimentary-type rock including the round “blueberry”
nodules imaged by Opportunity |
|
|
Does water of any type exist on Mars today? If so, where?
|
Yes. It is frozen in the polar ice caps and frozen as permafrost in the soil at the poles and mid-
latitudes. |
|
|
Describe and contrast the northern lowlands and the southern highlands of Mars. List the prominent features in each.
|
The northern lowlands are darker in color and have far fewer craters. It is as if an ancient sea or ice field once covered them. The Tharsis rise with its volcanoes extend into them. The southern highlands have a much higher density of craters.
|
|
|
Jupiter - What is liquid metallic hydrogen and where does it come from?
|
Liquid metallic hydrogen is hydrogen that has undergone a change of state from gas to a liquid. When hydrogen undergoes intense pressure the electrons can dissociate from the protons and migrate around like in a metal. This makes electric currents possible.
|
|
|
What is the connection between the liquid metallic hydrogen on Jupiter and Saturn and the fact that both these planets have auroras?
|
Liquid metallic hydrogen creates a magnetic field which is quite strong in these two planets. This in turn directs the solar wind particles to the poles just like it does on Earth, creating auroras.
|
|
|
What causes the zones and belts on Jupiter and Saturn?
|
There are high and low pressure areas in the upper “atmosphere” part of Jupiter’s surface. Jupiter’s rapid differential rotation stretches these areas into bands. We see to deeper, darker-colored layers in the belts than we do in the zones.
|
|
|
What is the Great Red Spot and why has it persisted for so many centuries?
|
The Great Red Spot is a hurricane-like vortex in Jupiter’s atmosphere in the southern hemisphere. The winds to the north and south of it blow in opposite directions keeping it spinning. With no subsurface features like mountains to disrupt it, it could persist indefinitely.
|
|
|
Saturn's rings are made of small pieces of _______ and _______. They are very thin, only about 2 km thick.
|
Ice and Rock
|
|
|
A ring and not a planet formed around Saturn because the ring material
orbits inside the _____ _________ and tidal forces prevent any individual rock from growing to a size greater than 10 meters across. |
Roche Limit
|
|
|
A gap between the A and B rings called the
______ ____ appears to be empty when seen from Earth, but in reality it is filled with small particles. |
Cassini Division
|
|
|
A twisted and braided ringlet is the __ ring. Its shape is determined by several _______ ___ whose gravity preserve the ring's shape and identity.
|
F ring, Shepherd Satellites
|
|
|
Explain why Saturn’s rings seem to disappear every 15 years?
|
We see Saturn’s rings edge on here and here, while we see them closer to face-on in the other two
locations. When they are seen edge on, they seem to disappear because they are so thin. |
|
|
Briefly describe the major features and interesting aspects of Uranus
|
The surface was nearly featureless when Voyager II passed by. Zones and belts can be faintly seen from the HST now, though. It has a greenish color from atmospheric methane. The tilt of its axis is 98 degrees from vertical meaning that Uranus rolls along in its orbit.
|
|
|
Briefly describe the major features and interesting aspects of Neptune.
|
It also has a methane rich atmosphere like Uranus, but is a darker blue because it is colder. It has
high wispy methane clouds and a dark spot similar to Jupiter’s red spot that comes and goes. |
|
|
Briefly describe the major features and interesting aspects of Pluto.
|
Its composition is similar to a comet – frozen ices mingled with some rocky material. Charon is large relative to Pluto making it almost a double planet. We have never had a good look at Pluto’s surface.
|
|
|
International Astronomical Union definition of a planet, it must:
|
1. 2. 3.
Be a body that orbits the sun Be large enough for its own gravity to make it round, Have "cleared its neighborhood" of smaller objects. |
