Ch.3- The Solar System Part 2

What are the similar characteristics of Jupiter and Saturn?

1.) Atmosphere: hydrogen and helium 2.) Core: solid 3.) Rings 4.) Many moons

What are the four ways in which the outer planets are similar?

1.) Have a strong gravitational forces due to their large masses; the strong gravity creates tremendous atmospheric pressure that changes gases to liquids. 2.) Mainly have liquid interiors. 3.) Have a thick gas and liquid covering a small, solid core. 4.) Have a ring system

What is similar about Jupiter's and Saturn's structure?

An outer gas layer, a thick layer of liquid hydrogen, and a solid core.

Terrestrial Planets

Are the planets closest to the Sun, are made of rock and metal, and have solid outer layers.

Inner Planets

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars- are also called the terrestrial planets.

What gives Neptune a bluish color?

Methane; hydrogen and helium.

How do Uranus and Neptune compare?

1.) The atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium, with a trace of methane. 2.) The interior is partially frozen water and ammonia with a rock and iron core.

In addition to the Great Dark Spot, how many other massive storms faded away?

2 massive storms have appeared and faded away over the last decade.

How many times farther from the Sun is Jupiter (distance = 30.05 AU) than Neptune (distance = 5.20 AU)?

30.05 AU➗5.20 AU= 5.78 AU *Neptune's is 5.78 times father from the Sun than Jupiter. *Remember to divide the large distance by the smaller distance

How long does each pole on Uranus spend?

42 Earth years in darkness and 42 years in sunlight due to its tilt.

How many bands of rings does Saturn have?

7.

What percent of Earth's surface is covered by water?

71%.

What might have caused the sideways tilt?

A collision with an Earth-sized object, such as a large asteroid, early in the solar system's history.

What produces a greenhouse effect that increases Earth's average surface temperature?

A mixture of gases and a small amount of water vapor make up most of Earth's atmosphere. This effect and Earth's distance from the Sun warm enough for large bodies of liquid water to exist.

Unlike Mercury and Venus what does Earth have?

A moon which is made up of minerals similar to those of Earth. Earth's Moon is about one-fourth the size of Earth.

Great Dark Spot

A storm seen In Neptune's atmosphere by Voyager 2 In 1998. Five years later, the storm was gone.

What is beneath Uranus's atmosphere?

A thick, slushy layer of water, ammonia, and other materials.a

What is the temperature of the cloud tops of Uranus?

About -215 Celsius.

How many kilometers do the winds on Neptune exceed?

About 1,000 km/h.

What is Saturn's moon made out of?

Chunks of ice less than 10 km in diameter.

How did Mercury's large core might have formed?

Collision with a large object during when the planet was forming.

What makes up Jupiter's faint rings?

Collisions between Jupiter's moon and meteorites likely resulted in the particles.

What is the southern hemisphere of Mars surface covered by?

Craters.

What indicates sites of nitrogen geysers?

Dark streaks on Triton's surface.

What were the recent findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiters (MRO)?

Dark, narrow streaks on the slopes of Hale Craters. They were detected using an imaging spectrometer where streaks and craters can be seen in false-color images. These streams are evidence that water flows periodically on Mars.

Earth's Data

Diameter: 12,756 km Average distance from Sun: 1 AU Period of Rotation: 24 hours Period of Revolution: 365 days Number of moons: 1

What supports a variety of life on Earth?

Earth's protective atmosphere which absorb much of the Sun's radiation and protects the surface below, moderate temperature range, and the presence of liquid water.

What moons of Jupiter are larger than Earth's moon?

Ganymede, Callisto, and Io.

Uranus's Atmosphere

Has a deep atmosphere composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, also contains a small amount of methane.

Neptune's Ring System

Has a faint, dark ring system; the rings are made of microscopic dust particles which do not reflect light well. Therefore, the rings are not visible from Earth.

Earth's Structure

Has a solid inner core surrounded by a liquid outer core. The mantle surrounds the liquid outer core. Above the mantle is Earth's crust. It is broken into large pieces called plates The crust is made mostly of oxygen and silicon and is constantly created or destroyed.

Uranus's Rings

Has a thin ring system. Has a system of narrow, dark rings.

Uranus's Axis

Has a tilted axis of rotation. The axis is so tilted that the planet moves around the Sun like a rolling ball. The rotational axis is tipped so far that it's North Pole almost lies in its orbit.

Titania

Has an icy cracked surface that once might have been covered by an ocean.

What formed the outer planets?

In the outer regions of the solar system, as planets formed farther from the Sun, cooler temperatures allowed ices and other gases to collect and condense into giant planets.

Jupiter's Atmosphere

Is about 1,000 km thick and contains several layers of clouds. The average temperature at the top of the cloud layers is about -150 Celsius. The atmosphere is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium and is about 1,000 km deep. Within the atmosphere are layers of dense colorful clouds.

Jupiter's Structure

Is about 80% hydrogen and 20% helium with small amount of other materials. The planet is a ball of gas swirling around a thick liquid layer that conceals a solid core.

Venus's Atmosphere

Is approximately 97% carbon dioxide. The atmosphere is so dense that the atmospheric pressure on the planet is about 90 times greater than on Earth. Even though there is almost no water in the atmosphere and surface a thick layer of cloud made of acid covers the planet.

Titan

Is larger than planet Mercury. Is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere; an Cassini orbiter released the Huygens probe that landed on Titan's surface.

Saturn's Structure

Is made mostly of 90% hydrogen and 10% helium with small amount amounts of other materials. The atmosphere is made of hydrogen and helium that is about 1,000 km thick. Winds in the atmosphere have speeds as fast as 1,400 km/h.

Europa

Is slightly smaller than Earth's moon. It's surface is an icy crust covering an ocean of salty water. Tidal heating of Europa provides for the possibility of life in its salty oceans.

What is the northern hemisphere of Mars surface covered by?

Is smoother and appears to be covered by lava flows.

Diemos

Is the closet known moon to any planet. Is heavily cratered and is not round which indicates they're might be asteroids that were captured by Mars's gravity.

Neptune

Is the eighth planet from the Sun; discovered in 1846.

Saturn's ring system

Is the largest and most complex in the solar system. The main ring system is over 70,000 km wide, but it is likely less than 30 m thick.

Ganymede

Is the largest moon in our solar system. It is larger than the planet Mercury.

Jupiter

Is the largest planet in the solar system. More than 1,000 Earth's would fit within this gaseous planet's volume. Rotates the fastest than any other planet.

Io

Is the most volcanically active object in the solar system due to heat caused from Jupiter's tremendous gravitational force and other Galilean moons.

Uranus

Is the seventh planet from the Sun. It's diameter is about four times that if Earth. Has an atmosphere that is mainly gas and liquids. It has a small solid core.

Saturn

Is the sixth planet from the Sun. Like Jupiter, it rotates rapidly and has horizontal bands of clouds. Is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. It is the least dense planet. Its density is less than that of water.

Without the greenhouse effect how would Venus come to be?

It would be 450 Celsius cooler.

What planets are the gas giants?

Jupiter and Saturn; because they are primarily made of hydrogen and helium.

Why are there colorful clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere?

Jupiter rotates so quickly that these clouds stretch into colorful, swirling bands. An example of this is the Great Red Spot on the planet's surface is a storm of swirling gases. This storm is twice as wide as Earth.

Outer Planets

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; are primarily made of gases and liquids.

What planet has the most moons than any other planet?

Jupiter.

What are Saturn's rings made out of?

Mainly of ice particles, dust, and rocks.

Mars Data

Mass: 10.7% of Earth's mass Diameter: 53.2% of Earth's diameter Average distance from Sun: 1.52 AU Period of Rotation: 24.6 hours Period of Revolution: 1.88 years Number of Moons: 2

Uranus Data

Mass: 14.5 Earth masses Diameter: 4 times Earth's diameter Average distance from Sun: 19.2 AU Period of Rotation: 17.4 hours Period of Revolution: 84.3 years Number of Moons: 27

Neptune Data

Mass: 17.1 Earth masses Diameter: 3.9 times Earth's diameter Average distance from Sun: 30.1 AU Period of Rotation: 16.1 hours Period of Revolution: 165.2 hours Number of Moons: 14

Jupiter Data

Mass: 318 Earth masses Diameter: 11.2 times Earth's diameter Average distance from Sun: 5.20 AU Period of Rotation: 9.9 hours Period of Revolution: 11.9 years Number of moons: 67

Mercury Data

Mass: 5.5% of Earth's mass Diameter: 38.3% of Earth's diameter Average distance from Sun: 0.39 AU Period of Rotation: 59 days Period of Revolution: 88 days Number of Moons: 0

Venus Data

Mass: 81.5% of Earth's mass Diameter: 95% of Earth's diameter Average distance from Sun: 0.72 AU Period of Rotation: 244 days Period of Revolution: 225 days Number of Moons: 0

Saturn Data

Mass: 95 Earth masses Diameter: 9.4 times Earth's diameter Average distance from Sun: 9.6 AU Period of Rotation: 10.6 hours Period of Revolution: 29.7 years Number of Moons: 62

Venus's Structure/Surface

More than 80% of the surface is covered by solidified lava. Much of this lava might have been produced by volcanic eruptions that occurred about half a billion years ago.

Why is Earth's surface younger than other inner planets?

New crust is constantly forming.

Greenhouse Effect

Occurs when a planet's atmosphere traps solar energy that is absorbed and then emitted by the planet.

Phobos

Orbits at around 6,000 km. Similar to Earth's moon, it's heavily cratered. This moon is not round indicating that there might be asteroids that were captured by Mars's gravity.

Where did the ice particles from Saturn's rings come from?

Possibly from a moon that was shattered in a collision with another icy object. These particles range in size from small dust-sized specks to chunks as large as a house.

What formed the inner planets?

Rock and metal materials that could withstand the high temperatures of the inner solar system condensed to form the terrestrial planets. Many substances could not exist in their solid form in this region due to the temperatures close to the Sun.

What is Jupiter's core made of?

Scientists do not know for sure what makes up the core. They suspect that the core is made of rock and iron. The core might be as large as Earth and could be 10 times more massive.

Mercury's Surface/Structure

Surface: Has impact crater, depressions formed by collisions with objects from space. There are smooth plains of solidified lava from long-ago eruptions. There are also high cliffs that might have formed when the planet cooled quickly, causing the surface to wrinkle and crack. Structure: Has a core made of iron and nickel. The mantle is mainly made of silicon and oxygen. The crust is a thin, rocky layer above the mantle.

What determined the make-up of the planets?

Temperatures of the early solar system.

What is the largest known mountain in the solar system?

The Martian volcano "Olympus Mons," is a volcano on Mars that is as wide as Arizona and three times as high as Mount Everest..

Mars's Atmosphere

The atmosphere is about 95% carbon dioxide. It is thin and much less dense than Earth's atmosphere. Temperatures range from about -125 Celsius at the poles to about 20 Celsius at the equator during an Martian summer. Winds on Mars sometimes produce great dust storms that last for months.

Galilean moons

The four largest moons of Jupiter- Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto; the Galilean moons are all made of rock and ice.

Mars

The fourth planet from the Sun. Is about half the size of Earth. It has two very small and irregularly shaped moons, Phobos and Diemos which orbit very close to Mars.

About 1,000 km below the outer edge of the cloud layer of Jupiter what is there?

The pressure is so great that the hydrogen gas changes to liquid. This thick layer of liquid hydrogen surrounds Jupiter's core.

Mars's Surface

The reddish color is because it's soil contains iron oxide, a compound in rust. Has enormous canyons and mountains. Has polar ice caps made of frozen carbon dioxide and ice. Has lava flows which were caused by the impact of an object about 2,000 km in diameter.

Venus

The second planet from the Sun. About the size of Earth. It rotates so slowly that it's period of rotation is longer that it's period of revolution which means that a day is longer than a year. Unlike other planets it rotates from east to west.

Mercury

The smallest planet and the planet closet to the Sun. Has no atmosphere which results in temperatures as high as 450 Celsius on the side of the planet facing the Sun and -170 Celsius on the side facing away from the Sun.

Why does Mercury have no erosions?

There is no atmosphere resulting in features that formed billions of years ago have changed very little. Without an atmosphere, there is no wind that moves energy from place to place across the surface.

What are the five largest moons of Saturn?

Titan, Rhea, Dione, and Tethys.

What are the two largest moons on Uranus?

Titania and Oberon, which are considerably smaller than Earth's moon.

Out of the fourteen moons of Neptune, which is the largest moon?

Triton, is made of rock with an icy outer layer. It has a surface of frozen nitrogen and geyser that erupt nitrogen gas. Triton is about 80% large as Earth's moon and the surface temperature of Triton is about -235 Celsius.

What planets are the ice giants?

Uranus and Neptune; because these plants are composed of heavier elements than hydrogen and helium, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur.

What was the Magellan orbiter used for?

Used radar that can see through Venus's clouds to make images of the planet's surface.

What is the enormous canyon on the surface of Mars?

Valley Mariner, is about 4,000 km long.

What planet is the hottest planet in the solar system? Why?

Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system with an average temperature of about 460 Celsius. The high temperatures are caused by the greenhouse effect where carbon dioxide in Venus's atmosphere traps some of the solar energy that is absorbed and then emitted by the planet. This heats up the planet and increases temperature.

What results when Earth's plates constantly slide past, away from, or into each other?

Volcanic activity; can cause volcanic eruptions that create new crust.

When does a planet have an atmosphere?

When it's gravity is strong enough to hold gases close to its surface. Because Mercury's mass is so small, it's gravity is not strong enough to hold onto an atmosphere.