astronomy

what is the greenhouse effect?

1. sunlight that is not reflected in the upper atmosphere is absorbed by earths surface and warms it. 2. the surface re-radiates as infrared thermal radiation. 3. the atmosphere absorbs some infrared, causing further heating

where is the kuiper belt located?

30-100 AU from the sun

what is the composition of mars atmosphere?

95.3% carbon dioxide 2.7% nitrogen 1.6% argon

what are asteroids?

BIG fragments of rocky matter, greater than 100 m in diameter

what are meteoroids?

SMALLER fragments of rocky matter, less than 100 m in diameter

what is a meteorite?

a meteor that makes it to the ground (must burn up on entry)

what is the theory that describes the formation of the solar system?

all evidence seems to point to one single event that gave all the planets, asteroids, comets ect their orbital properties. so it was not a series of random, chaotic events

what is the kuiper belt?

an outer asteroid belt containing asteroids and icy objects (including pluto). ALSO short period comets are here

what is the kuiper belt made of?

asteroids and icy objects (including pluto)

who was Percival Lowell?

boston business man dedication his life to studying the canals on mars and built an observatory in arizona. he believed an intelligent society build these canals to transport water

how are extrasolar planets found?

by studying the light of their parent stars, also by measuring a stars wobble due to gravitational pull of a planet, the measuring of the Doppler effect

canali in english?

canal

what are the primary greenhouse gases on earth?

carbon dioxide (co2) methane nitrous oxide

how can the greenhouse effect be harmful?

certain greenhouse gases may raise the earths temperature to dangerous levels

mars inclination angle of the equator

close to earth

what is the atmosphere of mars like compared to earth?

daily and seasonal cycles like earth moslty carbon dioxide mars has a thin atmosphere airpressure is 1/150 that of earth surface temp is 70 k cooler than earth

how are tides formed on earth?

due to gravitational force on earth from the moon

where to Coronas come from?

due to upwelling motions in the mantle

how were scientists first able to observe the surface features of venus

even though venus is super cloudy, RADAR IMAGING allows us to form a picture of venus' surface

properties of jovial planets?

gas giants, strong magnetic fields, lots of rings, many moons

which layer of earth is unique and not found on the other terrestrial planets?

hydrosphere and atmosphere

what is the leading theory that describes the origin of the moon?

impact theory=a mars sized body hit the still molten (liquid) earth, the material mainly from earths mantle was ejected and that material that was ejected formed the moon

in what directions to comets tails point?

ion tail-points straight away from the sun dust tail-lags behind

why does mercury have no detectable atmosphere?

it's too hott, too small, and too close to the sun

who is Giovanni Schiaparelli?

italian astronomer 1877 observed linear marking on mars that he dubbed canali-grooves or channels

what is a scarp?

its a CLIFF. they cut across craters. thought to be formed as the planet cooled and shrank

what is the most common type of extrasolar planet that has been found?

jupiter sized planets? most are within 500 light years from the sun most have orbits w/ eccentricities much higher than any solar system planet

what is the caloris basin?

large impact feature. due to asteroid impact. on mercury

whats the Valles Marineris?

major crack in the surface, visible from earth, MUCH larger than the grand canyon.

what is the Tharsis bulge?

major surface feature on Mars size of north america 10 km above its surroundings

what planet has the most violent temperature swings?

mercury

which planet has the widest range of surface temperatures?

mercury (100-700)

what does it mean to say mercurys day and year are in 3:2 resonance?

mercury rotates THREE times while going around the sun TWICE.

what are the terrestrial planets?

mercury, venus, mars, earth

what is more common? meteroids, comets or asteroids?

meteroids

what are comets?

more icy than rocky, typically 1-10 km in diameter

what are polar caps?

on mars grow and shrink due to seasons mostly frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice)

what are the major ideas of the solar system formation theory?

planets are the by product of star formation, nebular contractions are clouds of gas and dust contracts due to gravity and the condensation theory is interstellar dust grains help cool the cloud and act as condensation nuclei.

what are extrasolar planets?

planets that do not orbit our sun, planets found beyond OUR solar system

what is the thick cloud cover on venus?

prevents the ability to measure the rotation of surface features

properties of terrestrial planets?

rocky, close to the sun, no rings, few moons

what is a Trojan asteroid?

shares an orbit with jupiter, either 60 degrees ahead or behind jupiter

what are spring and neap tides?

spring tides: sun and moons gravity reinforce one another, tide is the biggest neap tides: sun and moon are perpendicular, tide is the smallest

what is a meteor?

streaks of light in the night sky (shooting stars) due to friction between air in the atmosphere and a piece of asteroid, either a meteroid or comet

what is the Oort cloud made up of

the comets we never see

how are the tides affecting earths rotation?

the earth rotates underneath these tidal bulges, so coastal regions experience 2 high tides a day

how did this special rotation rate form?

the earths gravitational pull produces a tidal bulge on the moon (not with water) this created a drag on the moons rotation until it was tidally locked

how is the greenhouse effect beneficial to earth?

the effect keeps the planet about 40 k hotter

what is the Oort cloud?

the huge cloud of comets far beyond the orbit of pluto. also home to the long period comets

what is the Olympus Mons?

the largest volcano in the solar system on mars

the surface of mercury is most similar to what other solar system object?

the moon

what is the rotation rate of the moon?

the moon rotates exactly once every time it revolves the earth in 27.3 days

how are seismic waves used to learn about the structure of the inner layers of the earth?

the pattern of reflections during earthquakes can deduce interior structures of earth. S waves are absorbed by liquid inner core P waves refracted around the inner and outer core boundaries

meteor showers are a result of what

the smallest meteroids are mainly pieces of broken up comets

why is mars so red?

the surface soil is iron rich, it reacts with the oxygen and forms iron oxide (rust)

what are the different layers of the earth?

thick mantle, liquid outer core, solid inner core, thin crust, hydrosphere and atmosphere

what are the tides on earth?

tides are due to the gravitational force on earth from the moon, a force on near side of earth is grater than the force on the far side

where does convection occur

troposphere

how many tails do comets have?

two

what are the jovial planets?

uranus, jupiter, saturn, neptune

what planet has the densest atmosphere?

venus

which of the following inner solar system bodies has the densest atmosphere?

venus

which planet rotates opposite in relation to the other terrestrial planets?

venus

what surface is hotter than mercury?

venus. it's hot enough to melt lead

what is mars rotation period

very close to earth 24.6

why does venus travel in retrograde motion?

we dont really know. the best theory suggests that it was struck by a large object in the early stages of the solar system formation (similar to the collision on earth that formed the moon)