Astronomy: The Outer Planets
What caused Saturn's main rings to form?
An icy moon approached Saturn too close and tidal forces or impacts w/ other objects tore it apart.
What organic compound may exist in large amounts below Titan's surface?
Liquid methane
What is the mystery behind Uranus not being founded until 1781?
Looks like a dim star, but it moves...(naked eye planet)
What decreases in order of Jovian planets?
Magnetospheres and size
Describe the process of Callisto's impacts
Many ripples from impacts that liquified it, then froze bc of the cold temp
Where is it now believed that Triton came from?
May be captured object
Where did Clyde get a job?
At Lowell observatory (established by Percival Lowell observatory)
What is the densest ring of Saturn?
B-ring
Why do the Jovian planets have large numbers of moons?
Bc the jovains have so much gravity, capturing asteroids which become "moons"
Why are the four moons inside the orbit of Io not round like the Galilean moons and our own?
Bc they're not large enough for gravity to pull into spherical shape
Why is there a layer around rocky core of Jupiter?
Bc tremendous high pressure on rocky core
How much stronger is the magnetospshere of Jupiter than Earth's?
20,000 times stronger
How much larger is Titan than Saturn's radius?
20.3 times
How many moons orbit Uranus?
25 moons
What is Saturn's tilt?
27*
How long does it take Saturn to orbit the sun?
29.5 yrs
What gas is responsible for the blue color of Neptune?
3% methane
How many moons does Saturn have?
34
Galilean moons
4 biggest moons of Jupiter
How many rings does Jupiter have?
4 very thin rings
How old is Jupiter?
4.5 billion yrs
How many moons does Saturn have?
62
What percent of the solar system does Jupiter's mass represent?
66% (2/3)
How many moons does Jupiter have that we know about?
67
How many moons does Jupiter have?
67 moons
What is the composition of Saturn?
75% hydrogen 25% helium
What is the compostion of Saturn?
75% hydrogen 25% helium
How fast to the winds blow on Uranus?
800 km/hr
How many years does it take Uranus to get around the sun?
84 years
How long is Uranus' orbital period?
84 yrs
How many rings does Neptune have from stellar occultation?
9
How many AU's is Saturn from the sun?
9.6 AU
Composition of Jupiter
90% Hydrogen 10% He (basically same as a star)
What is Uranus' tilt?
98*
What is the tilt of Uranus?
98*
What are the benefits of the Jovians having a lot of mass?
More mass enables them to produce metallic hydrogen (combined with fast spin) to have high magnetospheres
What landscape does Pluto have?
Mountains made of ice--nitrogen frozen water under the surface, too
What captured pics of Pluto?
New Horizons Probe
Is fission the Io's source of heat?
No!
Which moon is the most crated system in the solar system?
Callisto
What are moons?
Captured asteroids (named after Shakespearean characters)
Who did a lot of work with Hershel?
Caroline
What is the name of Pluto's largest moon?
Charon
What does Triton's retrograde spin do?
Closer to Neptune
Who discovered Pluto?
Clyde Tombaugh
What is the final fate of the Cassini probe?
Commanded to impact Saturn
When did Cassini's mission end"?
Dec 12, 2017
What is the cause of the banding atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn?
Differential rotation, which means that the equator spins faster than the poles. This causes a tearing in the atmosphere.
What is the source of heat in Io and Europa?
Io: volcanoes, as the result of tidal source being twisted Europa: ocean under the ice surface (smooth ball of ice)
When did Cassini arrive at Saturn?
July 1, 2004
Biggest planet
Jupiter
Which two Jovians are gas giants?
Jupiter and Satun
Which planet has the fastest spin?
Jupiter, 10 hrs
Which Jovian planets have ring systems?
Jupiter, Saturn, uranus, neptune
KBO
Kuiper Belt Object
Why does Jupiter's moon, lo have the youngest surface of any body in the solar system?
The interior contains no gas
Who discovered Uranus?
William Hershel
tidal force
a secondary effect of the force of gravity, responsible for the tides
WHAT CAUSED THE tilt of Uranus?
an early impact
Why is the middle of Saturn more oblate?
bc has less of solid core , so stretches out
Why was Pluto given its name?
bc it is very cold and farthest from the sun
Why does Europa have a high albedo?
bc it's covered by ice
Why is Saturn's atmosphere 50% thicker than our atmosphere?
bc nitrogen doesn't trap heat
Why does Uranus have a weaker magnetosphere?
bc not as much metallic hydrogen as the two others
Why does Jupiter have an oblate shape?
bc of fast spin
Why does Jupiter spin so fast?
bc surface is all gas, the gas can't hold together
Why is Europa's gravity twisting Europa from Jupiter and the other moons?
bc the water under the surface is not frozen all the way through
Why does Jupiter have less pronounced belts?
bc there is a haze on atmosphere, which is the result of it being so cold
Why can't you see the Galilean moons w/ the naked eye?
bc they're very close to Jupiter, and Jupiter washes out the sky
Ganymeade
biggest moon in solar system, one of the Galilean moons
What is Jupiter's moon Ganymede's claim to fame with regards to size?
biggest moon in the solar system
stellar occultation on uranus
blocked out the background stars. Blinked out.
What do the Galilean moons look like?
bright stars
What are Saturn's rings made of?
debris and ice
HOw might have the rings of Jupiter have formed?
debris pulled in by Jupiter's strong gravity
What are Jupiter's rings made of?
dust and bits of debris
What is the difference between gas and ice giants?
gas giants are warmer. ice giants are gases crystalized, bc they're so far away
palimpsests
ghost writing on parchments ...ghost craters on Mercury and possibly Venus
What was Neptune named after?
god of sea
The story of Miranda
had an early impact, but pieces came back due to gravity. So Miranda looks jagged and scattered
Hyperion moon
has chaotic rotation bc of Jupiter and Saturn's gravity
What is Saturn's source of heat?
heat leftover from formation (escaped from interior)
Great Dark Spot
huge spinning storm in the southern atmosphere of Neptune. It disappeared. A new dark spot emerged in the northern hemisphere.
What allows us to see Saturn?
it's tilt. When it's on edge it's too difficult to see it
Describe the process of Callisto's impacts
many ripples from impacts that liquified it, then froze bc of cold temp
How was Neptune found?
mathematics
Miranda
moon of Uranus
What is unusual about Proteus' orbital pattern?
nearly equatorial orbit
What is believed to be below the surface of Europa?
ocean
Jovian planets
outer planets
Origin of charon
person who takes you to the underworld
What first led to the idea that Uranus even existed?
predicted through mathematics before observed
lo pasma torus
region of highly charged particles Io
Why does Triton have a retrograde (clockwise) spin?
result of impact, or comes from kuiper belt
What will the gravity of Neptune eventually do?
rip apart Triton and form a ring around Neptune
What is pluto made of?
rock and ice
What makes up the entire surface of Jupiter's moon, Europa?
rock with a central iron core
Callisto
second largest moon in solar system, most crated surface in the solar system, and one of the Galilean moons
Describe the core of Saturn
size of Earth
Why do the rings of Saturn appear and disappear over time as viewed from Earth?
stellar occulation: rings blocked out by background stars
How did they figure out Uranus has rings?
stellar occultation
The farther out you are...
the longer it takes to go around the sun
Saturn is less dense than...
water
perturbation
when a planet moves too fast or slow in orbit bc of the gravity of another planet. so pulls it in faster
Oblate shape
wider across equator than top and bottom
What is Neptune's largest moon?
Proteus
What might be the source of Neptune's other moons?
Remnants of collisions
Where do the names of moons come from?
Shakesphere
Brown and white ovals
Smaller hurricanes
What caused Callisto to have so many craters?
So near to Jupiter, so was hit many times due to gravity, which pulls in a lot of things
How long does it take Jupiter to complete an orbit?
12 yrs
How many moons does Neptune have?
13
Rings of Saturn are how wide across?
150,000 miles
When was Charon discovered?
1978
What gives Uranus its blue/green color?
2% methane
Why does Saturn have a high albedo?
From its thick nitrogen atmosphere
Who were the Galilean moons named after?
Galilea, since he discovered them
What caused the giant red spot?
Gigantic hurricane, which lasted so long bc no land
Pluto's name
God of the underworld
Why does Jupiter hold in hydrogen?
Gravity and cold temp
What is the most prominent feature on Jupiter?
Great red spot
Uranus is known as an ice planet with what equation?
H2O CH4
What element makes up the majority of Jupiter?
Hydrogen
What materials do the ice and gas giants have?
Ice giants: methane and water Gas giants: hydrogen and helium
What is the most geologically active body in the solar system?
Io
List the three rings of Saturn from inside out
1. B-ring 2. Cassini Division 3. Aring
Name the layers of a Jovian Planet from outside in
1. Gaseous hydrogen 2. Liquid hydrogen 3. Metallic hydrogen 4. Rocky core
List the Galilean moons in order closest to Jupiter
1. Io 2. Europa 3. Ganymede 4. Callisto
List the Jovian planets in order of decreasing size
1. Jupiter 2. Saturn 3. Uranus 4. Neptune
List the jovian planets in order out from the sun
1. Jupiter 2. Saturn 3. Uranus 4. Neptune
Why is Pluto not considered a planet in our solar system?
1. not in ecliptic orbit with rest of planets 2. not made of composition of any other planets
List three reasons why no flights to the jovian planets will ever be made.
1. too far away 2. humans will not survive (lungs will shrink) 3. cost is far too high
What two factors give the Jovian planets such high magnetospheres?
1. tremendous spin 2. molten, metallic hydrogen
Where is Pluto believed to have come from?
Escaped Kuiper Belt due to gravity (called KBO)
Why is there metallic hydrogen around the core of Jupiter?
From heat and hydrogen
WHAT MIGHT account for the strange black/white condition of lapetus?
Tidally locked, so the same hemisphere always faces the primary planet
What is the largest moon of Saturn?
Titan
What is the name of Saturn's largest moon?
Titan
What is the biggest moon of Neptune?
Triton (as large as Earth's moon)
Which two Jovians are ice giants?
Uranus and Neptune
Why does Saturn have a 27* tilt?
Was hit by something hard
