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17 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Planets
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Mercury
Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto |
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Mercury
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This planet is very similar to the Earth's moon
- 60% of planet’s mass = iron - Dynamo action in core = planets generation - 1/100 magnetic force compared to Earth - No atmosphere → results in temperature variation - Traces of hydrogen and helium from solar winds → releases in a few weeks - Has no moons - Pinkish in color - Orbital speed changes - Surface comparable to Earth’s Moon - Geologically dead for 4 billion years - Core volume to total planet volume is greater ?? - Extremely slow rotating planet, so how does it have a magnetic field? - Marine 10 made 3 fly-bys in ‘74 & ‘75 - Messenger 2 went into orbit in 2011, flyby in 2008 |
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Venus
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One rotation of this planet takes 176 Earth days
Atmosphere is CO2 rich and the greenhouse effect is very strong (Compared to Earth?) - - Similar tectonic plates - Higher core temp - Surface pressure 90x that of Earth, caused by atmosphere - Lots of cloud cover, reflective - 96.5% CO2, 3.5% N Compared to Earth? - Extends into space farther, greenhouse effect - Absorbs more infrared radiation, less escapes - Young Earth, before plate tectonics - Venus doesn’t have a magnetosphere - 243 days to rotate vs. Earth’s 1 - Venus keeps eroding and changing constantly ?? - Similar topography (to Earth?) - No moons - Retrograde motion - Double lobed polar vortex ?? - Venera 2—lasted an hour before being burned - Pioneer Venus goes to planet ? - Why has not developed plate tectonics? - Venus Express - US Magellan |
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Earth
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Atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen with some oxygen
Water exists in liquid form - Thick mantle, 2-part core (inner/outer), thin crust - High-density metallic core, intermediate-density rock material mantle, low-density rock surface - Interior is very hot - Mixture of gases: nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (0.9%), carbon dioxide (0.03%) - Layers: Troposphere (where everything on Earth’s surface lies, convection occurs), stratosphere (ozone layer), mesosphere, ionosphere (kept partly ionized by solar UV radiation) - It is Earth ☺ - 1 moon, ~384,000 km from Earth - Only habitable planet found so far - Made mostly of water - Large magnetic field extends far above atmosphere, made of charged particles - Greenhouse effect/global warming ?? - Growing hole in ozone. CFCs accumulate in atmosphere and carried high into an astrosphere by convection, broken down by sunlight, turns into chlorine. 1 mol of chlorine can destroy up to 100,000 ozone mol |
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Mars
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Has no magnetic field
Currently the home to tow rovers that are still collecting data and images - Permafrost - Internal heat escapes easily due to small size - Composed of Fe, Ni, sulfide - Mantle to rigid & core too thick for plant tectonics to occur - Much of planet died?? 2 billion yr ago - Nonmetallic/ nonliquid cause a weak magnetic field ?? - Quite thin and dusty - Pressure = 1/150th of Earth’s at sea level - Composed mostly of CO2 (93%), N (2.7%), Ar (1.6%) & traces of O, CO3 & H2O vapor - Rotation on axis in 24.6 hr, just < Earth’s rotation - Equator incline to orbital plane @ 24º angle & Earth’s is 23.5º - Earth’s crust is 1/3 as thick relative to planet size - Has daily & seasonal cycles as Earth - Has a soil as does Earth, but with different composition - 2 moons: Deimos & Phobos - Phobos rises in the west and is larger - Not circular but lumpy ??; unattractive in appearance ?? - Mariner - Vikings - Pathfinder - Mars Xploration Rover - Spirit - Opportunity % Pheonix - Mares Reconnaissance - Mars Global Surveyor - Is there life on Mars? - Is there funning water? - Where did the water go? |
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Jupiter
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A gas planet that has differential rotation
Has a "Great Red Spot" which is a permanent storm in its atmosphere - Both temperature and pressure increase - Few thousand km the gas makes a transition to liquid state - After, hot liquid hydrogen makes a transition to metallic state - Metallic hydrogen is a create conductor for electricity - Pronounced bulge at equator due to planet’s strong outward push - Jupiter composes hydrogen and helium alone ??? - Clouds are arranged in several layers - Colors = different depth of the planet’s atmosphere - Planet lacks a solid surface - Measurement = troposphere (ok) and clouds inward are (-) attitudes - Both have gravity - The belts/zones on Jupiter are equivalent to high/low pressures that control weather on Earth - Jupiter’s weather is considered a constant hurricane - 4 moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Calisto - Nearly circular orbit (prograde motion) in Jupiter’s plane - Named after mythical attendants of Roman god Jupiter (the moons??) - How do we determine the conditions beneath the clouds in the unseen interiors of these distant worlds and moons? |
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Saturn
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Encircled by rings composed of ice and rock
Planet with the lowest average density - Center core is 15x larger than E - Composed mainly of H by H layer is than Jupiter’s and transitions to metallic hydrogen - Basic in internal parts as Jupiter, but with different proportions - Extreme core temp, density and pressure > Earth < Jupiter - Not as colorful as Jupiter, tan & yellowish cloud bands - 250 km thick with weather gravity - Consists of H (92.4%) & He (7.4%) & traces of methane & ammonia - No obvious large spots or ovals - It orbits the Sun - Central core pressure is almost the same - It doesn’t have definite surface - It’s storms are similar to E’s thunderstorms - Lightning is powered by convection and precipitation as on E - It radiates more EM than it receives - Titan is largest and has its own atmosphere - It has rings - Farthest planet seen with naked eye from E - Has ~62 moons - Huygens Probe - Voyager 1 & 2 - Cassini Mission - Why is the winds stronger? - Why is the lightning stronger? - Why does it radiate more EM than it receives? |
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Uranus
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Sometimes closer to the sun than its nearest planet neighbor
Was discovered in 1781 with a telescope - Rocky, icy core surrounded by icy slush, surrounded by molecular hydrogen - Interior pressure is sufficiently low, thus hydrogen stays in molecular form down to the core - Gaseous atmospheres just become hotter and denser with depth and eventually becomes liquid in interior - Made of molecular hydrogen (84%), helium (14%), and methane (2%) - Appears blue due to methane, which absorbs red/yellow light - Ammonia may exist as ice crystals due to low atmospheric temperatures - Hard to observe spectroscopically - Much larger, much looser, much less dense - Has a differential rotation due to gaseous makeup, which is not possible on solid Earth - Strong gravitational fields - Has 5 major moons - Rotation axis lies almost within ecliptic plane; “toppled over” onto its side—axial tilt is 98% (%??) - Retrograde rotation - Extreme seasons (poles plunged into 42 yrs darkness) - Discovered in 18th century by chance - Orbit didn’t fit Kepler’s laws—led to discovery of Neptune - Voyager 2 reached Uranus in Jan 1986, took “Grand Tour” of outer planets, studying magnetospheres and radiation |
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Neptune
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Appears dark blue in color due to methane in the atmosphere
Has a moon, Triton, that orbits the planet backwards - Similar to Earth’s density core?? - Interior pressure low - Slush—thick layers of highly compressed water clouds - Hydrogen stays in a molecular form - 85% H, 15% He, 3% methane - Methane makes planet look blue - Warmer than Uranus - Moves at differential speeds - Has a strong magnetosphere - Neptune doesn’t have a solid surface; rotates differentially - 1000x less light than Earth from Sun - 10x greater core than Earth - 16 hr 7 min day - Similar axis tilt to Earth - Has 13 moons - Triton spiraling into planet, retrograde rotation - Dark spot (storm) - Emits 2.7x more energy than it receives - Discovered mathematically - Has light rings (not heavy, or not dark??) - White methane clouds - Why it has rapid winds (2000 km/h) & why they should be retrograde relative to the W→E rotation of the interior - Voyager 2 passed by |
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Pluto
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No longer a true planet
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Pluto
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Its axis is inclined by 98 degrees from the vertical to the ecliptic
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Pluto
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- 50-70% rock (core)
- 30-40% ice (mantle) - Subsurface ocean between core and mantle |
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Pluto
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Thin envelope of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide
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Pluto
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Atmosphere melts as it approaches Sun, refreezes as it moves away
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Pluto
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Has 3 moons
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Pluto
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Does not have a liquid core
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Venus
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Similar molten iron core
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