Astronomy: Pluto & Moons

Edmund Halley

"Halleys Comet" every 76 yrs Used Newtons Laws of Gravity & Motion to the orbits of Comets First to realize Comets orbit the Sun

Planet Definition

1. Body in orbit around the Sun 2. Body that has sufficient mass to have a nearly round shape 3. Body has cleared neighborhood around its orbit

Dwarf Planets Definition

1. Body in orbit around the Sun 2. Body that has sufficient mass to have a nearly round shape No Cleared Neighborhood

Sun Interior

1. We construct mathematical/computer models 2. Measuring sound waves-Helioseismology 3. Neutrinos-H3O

Eris

10th planet, Founded by Palomar Astronomers 100 AUs away, 560 yr orbit (1500 Diam.), 25 percent ice Moon-Dysnomia (Gabrielle)

Polarity Cycle

11 yr cycle

Sunspot Cycle

11 yr cycle

Pluto

1930 in Arizona by Clyde TOmbaugh 40 AUs=Little Sunlight/249 yr orbit, 122 degree axis tilt Retrograde Rotation, 6 Day Rotation 4 Moons; Charon, Nix, Hydra, P4 70 percent Rock, 30 percent water ice Atmosphere & Surface-Nitrogen, Carbon Monoxide, Methane (tenuous Merc. & Moon)/Density=2 Grams/cc/ Diam.= 1480 Miles Dwarf Planet

Two Places to Find Meteorites

1st-Antarctica for its contrast 2nd-Deserts

Solar Cycle

22 yr cycle

Sun

71% H, 21% He, 2% Other (Oxygen, Carbon, Iron) Pressure balances inward force of gravity Gravitational (Hydrostatic) Equilibrium Mass lost turns into energy/10 billion yrs old/E=MC2 Core-Radiation Zone-Convection Zone-Photosphere-Chromosphere-Corona-Solar Wind Interior is Opaque=We cannot see into it with light 5770 K=G2

Meteorite

Any piece of rock that fell to the ground from space

Absolute Magnitude

Apparent Magnitude if star is viewed from distance of 10 parsecs (actual brightness)

Asteroid Belt

Between Mars & Jupiter Inner Asteroids=Stony/Light Outer Asteroids=Carbon-rich/Dark

Dwarf Planets

Ceres (asteroids), Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Pluto

4 Moons of Pluto

Charon, Nix, Hydra, P4

Parallax

Closer the star the more it appears to move Apparent shift of star against background stars

Kuiper Belt

Comets orbit ecliptic plane (30-500 AU)

3 Quantities From Spectra

Composition, Velocity, Temperature O Stars temperature=50,000 K (Orion's Belt) M Stars temperature=3000 K (Betelgeuse)

Meteor Shower

Earth passes through comet Dust

3 Types of Neutrinos

Electron Muon Tau Neutrino Oscillations

Chromosphere

Emits Suns UV Light

Corona

Emits Suns X-Rays/Solar Wind

Zeeman Effect

Evidence of Strong Magnetic Field which slows down convection Less Heat=Cooler Spots

Meteor

Flash of light in the sky caused by particle entering the atmosphere

Apparent Magnitude Scale

How bright star appears in from Earth

7 Moons of Jovians

Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto (Jupiter) Titan, Enceladas (Saturn) Triton (Neptune)

Spicules

Jets of rapidly rising gas in chromosphere

Solar Spectrum

Joseph Fraunhofer observed (Spectral Lines) A(Strongest)-O(Weakest) Natural Order of Spectral Types: O,B,A,F,G,K,M

Europa

Jupiters Moon, Fractured surface= Plate Tectonics Few Craters Seen, Jumbled Icebergs Evidence of a subsurface ocean (life)

Ganymede

Jupiters Moon, Largest Moon in Solar System (Bigger than Mercury) 2 Types of Terrain:Heavily Crated(Old), Long grooves, few craters(young)

Callisto

Jupiters Moon, Old Surface (Moonlike) Big rock with ice Heavily Cratered, No evidence of TectonicsInterior did not differentiate, Dirty ice(Rock + Ice)

Io

Jupiters Moon, Volcanoes Erupt frequently Sulfur in the lava accounts for yellow color Surface ice vaporizes & jets away Evidence of tectonics & impact cratering is covered

Mass Measured for Pluto

Keplers 3rd Law & Newtons Law of Gravity

Helioseismology

Measuring Suns Vibrations of photosphere using Doppler Shifts

Retrograde Moons

Neptune=Triton

Triton

Neptunes Moon, Retrograde orbit (captured moon) Thin Nitrogen atmosphere, Largest Moon of Neptune Will Rip Apart, Cantalope-Like

Neutrino Production

Neutrinos are result of nuclear reactions in Sun's Core/33% of neutrinos detected

Sun-Shine

Nuclear Fusion=Outward Pressure

Layers of Comets

Nucleus-Coma(Gas)-Plasma or Gas Tail(H or He)- Dust Tail(Everything else)

Meteoroid

Piece of material flying through space

Synchronous Moons

Pluto=Charon Jupiter= Io, Europa, Callisto, Ganymede

Impacts on Earth

Quebec Crater-62 mi, 250 million yrs old Tanquska, Siberia in 1908 Chicxulub Crater-65 million yrs old-Mass Extinction

Comet

Rock & ice leftover planetesimals orbiting the Sun

Asteroid

Rocky & metal leftover planetesimals orbiting the sun

Asteroid Dwarf

Rocky & metallic mixtures Ceres/ Not Spherical in shape & fragments from other collisions

Enceladas

Saturns Moon, 2 Terrains: Heavily Cratered: Old Geologic Activity: Young/ Cryovolcanism Contributes to E Ring

Titan

Saturns Moon, Largest of Saturns Moon, Thick Atmosphere like Venus Nitrogen (90 percent), Argon, Methane, Ethane Ethane & Methane condense to form clouds, rains, & oceans Cryocolcanism

Solar Wind

Stream of Electrons, Photons, He & Ions extends beyond Pluto Magnetic field lines break release charged particles into space comes from sunspots

Spectropophy

Studies composition of planet

Composition of Sun

Study of Spectra

Differential Rotation

Suns equator rotats faster than poles=Jovians Strong Magnetic Fields+Gases 25 Days (equator)/35 Days(poles)

Photosphere

Yellow surface we see

Coronal Mass Ejection

bigger eruption on Sun immense amounts of gas from corona/2 to 4 days to reach Earth

Plages

bright features on the chromosphere

Sunspots

dark spots on the surface where the temperature is cooler Galileo discovered Sunspots George Ellery Hale examined Spectrum=Absorption lines split into 3 Appear & Disappear in 11 yr cycle

Prominences

gas trapped in the magentic fields is heated and elevated through the chromosphere to the corona

Granules

tops of convection cells sen "Bubbling" on Solar Surface

Cryovolcanism

volcanoes erupt ice Enceladas, Titan

Solar Flares

when a magnetic loop breaks it releases matter and energy into space comes from Sunspots