Solar System Final (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter & Saturn, Uranus & Neptune, Comets, Exoplanets

focus

(1) one of two points within an ellipse used to generate the elliptical shape. The Sun lies at the focus of each planet's elliptical orbit. (12.2). (2) A point in an optical system in which light rays are brought together; the location where an image forms in such systems.

Copernicus

(1473-1543) Polish astronomers who proposed that Earth was just one of the planets orbiting the Sun (11.3)

Brahe

(1546-1601) Danish astronomer who made the finest pretelescopic measurements. His observations disproved the idea that comets and novae were atmospheric phenomena and provided the basis for Kepler's law about the motions of the planets (12.1 )

Galileo

(1564-1642) Italian physicist and astronomer who studied inertia and published the first studies of the sky with a telescope (12.3)

Kepler

(1571-1630) German astronomer who first discovered the elliptical orbit of Mars (12.2)

arc minute

(abbreviation: arcmin) an angular measure equal to 1/60 of 1 degree

ptolemy

(about 100-170 C.E.) Roman astronomer who developed a geocentric model of the Solar System that could predict most of the observable motions of the planets (11.2)

filter

(for light) a material that transmits only particular wavelengths of light

Martians moons

-All that is true about the Martian moons: · They are only a few tens of kilometers across. · They are named Phobos and Deimos. · Their surfaces have craters and dust -Mars has two small moons that may captured asteroids or debris from a....Collision like the one that created our Moon. -Statements that are true about Mars's moons: · They have craters on their surfaces. · They are likely to be captured asteroids. · They are not spherical. -True or false: A moon that orbits a planet faster than the planet rotates will rise in the west and set in the east, if both are moving counterclockwise as seen from above. · True (Reason: This is true of Phobos, one of Mars' moons).

Features on Mars

-All the features that are evidence of past geologic activity on Mars... Giant volcanic mountains such as Olympus Mons · Giant rifts such as the Valles Marineris -Mars has huge volcanoes and a long chasm that may have...Opened up as the result of internal tectonic or geological activity. -Water-ice is present under the surface in...Many regions and is kilometers thick at the poles

Earth and Mars

-Comparisons of the Earth and Mars... · Both planets have four seasons. · Temperatures are sometimes above 0° C. · The length of a solar day is similar (Reason: Mars's day is only 40 minutes longer than Earth's). -In Mars's surface conditions, rotation period, and axis tilt, Mars is more similar to Earth than any other planet in our Solar System. -The dream of many science fiction stories is that it might be possible to "terraform" Mars (to make it more like Earth) so that its environment would be suitable for humans. How might this be done? Seeing if there is seepage underground to find a resource of water to live on Mars.

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 11 Planetary Motion) List the arguments in favor of and against Copernicus's model of a Sun-centered universe

-Greek philosopher Aristotle; Late 1500s the English astronomer Thomas Digges; Italian philosopher and monk Giordano Bruno;

Jupiter & Saturn atmosphere

-Jupiter and Saturn have atmospheres composed mainly of hydrogen and helium (Jupiter and Saturn are similar in composition to the Sun.) -Metallic liquid hydrogen, formed at tens of millions of times normal atmospheric pressure, acts like a metal. Consequently,currents can flow through it. -If you attempted to land on a Jovian planet, your ship would descend into the gaseous layers until it was crushed and/or melted by pressure and heat

(Inner Planets: Unit 43- Asteroids) What are the Kirkwood gaps? How were they formed?

-Kirkwood gaps are regions in the asteroid belt that are mostly empty because of orbital resonances with Jupiter or its best described as areas within the asteroid belt where Jupiter's gravity disturbs asteroid orbits -

Mar's surface

-Mars once had large bodies of water on its surface, what observations support this? · Compounds that form in water have been detected using spectra. · Images show features that appear to be dried-up river channels or lakes. · Substantial ice is currently present in the polar caps and under the surface. · Mars -What materials besides water ice might explain the Hydrogen detected on Mars's surface by the Odyssey spacecraft? Would these be likely? Mars probably had extensive liquid water on its surface when it was young. -Surface features imply that Mars once had bodies of...Liquid water, flowing streams, and deposited layers of sedimentary rock. -Today we think that liquid water cannot exist on Mars due to the low atmospheric pressure. Evidence that ice is present at or near the surface: · Ground-penetrating radar found the polar caps are mostly water ice. · Landers have excavated ice (Reason: The Phoenix lander dug up ice in 2008).

Mar's atmosphere

-Mars' atmosphere has a percentage of carbon dioxide that is much higher than Earth's and about the same as Venus'. -Possible explanations for how Mars has lost so much of its atmosphere.... · Low gravity allows gas to escape. · The weak magnetic field allows the solar wind to strip gas. · Major asteroid impacts disrupted the atmosphere -Mars's thinning atmosphere, several billion years ago allowed... the surface to cool to below the freezing temperature of water. -The atmosphere is now too thin for liquid water to remain the surface of Mars, but....There may be seepage from underground -Match the property of Mars to how it affects the density of Mars's atmosphere over time: · Small mass — A low escape velocity means molecules in the atmosphere can escape · Weak magnetic field —The solar wind can directly interact with the upper atmosphere, stripping it · No recent volcanic activity —The atmospheric gases are not replenished regularly. · No plant life or rain —Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere. -About how dense is Mars's atmosphere, compared to the Earths? · 1% (Reason: Mars likely had more atmosphere in the distant past, but with a weak magnetic field and a small mass, it easily loses gas to space).

(Inner Planets: Unit 43- Asteroids) Where are asteroids found, other than in the main belt? What are their orbits like?

-Orbiting along Jupiter's path -Orbiting the Sun at a distance between 2 and 4 AU from the Sun

Seasons on Mars

-Seasonal changes on Mars.... Dust storms are more common during the southern summer. · Laminated terrain forms near the poles. · The polar caps shrink in the summer. -Causes Mars's seasonal changes: · Orbital shape (Reason: Mars's distance to the Sun changes 20% over its orbit) · Axial tilt of 25 -The warmest temperatures on Mars are about 10°C (283 K or 50°F), chilly but comfortable (Reason: During a warm time of year, the temperature at the Martian equator is quite reasonable. Unfortunately, the atmosphere is still only about 1% as dense as Earth's). -Winds occasionally raise global dust storms that have covered the entire planet with red dust.

Jupiter and Saturn have rapid jet streams that alternate directions of flow. Arrange the arguments into a logical explanation of how the jet streams are created in Jupiter's northern hemisphere.

1. Heat from the interior warms gases low in the atmosphere 2. Hot material rises 3. At the surface, rising materials spreads out in all directions 4. The Coriolis effects deflects material moving toward the pile to the east and material moving toward the equator to the west. 5. This result in an eastward flow on the north side and a westward flow on the south, creating opposite streams.

Valles Marineris

A canyon feature on Mars stretching thousands of kilometers.

A comet's tail always points away from the Sun, so it may be in front of the comet as the comet travels away from the Sun.

Orbital perturbation

A deviation from the normal elliptical orbit of one body around another, generally caused by the gravitational pull of a third body.

Epicycle

A fictitious, small, circular orbit superimposed on another circular orbit. Epicycles were proposed by early astronomers to explain the retrograde motion of the planets and to make fine adjustments to the predictions of planets' positions (11.2)

(Inner Planets: Unit 43- Asteroids) What is Bode's rule, and how did it lead to the discovery of asteroids?

A formula that somewhat accurately predicts the orbital distances of the first eight major bodies in the Solar System and then somewhat predicts the next several is known as Bode's rule.

hot jupiter

A gas giant exoplanet located much closer to its star than expected based on the solar nebula model for planet formation

Great Dark Spot

A large atmospheric vortex discovered on Neptune, similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The spot was discovered by the Voyager II spacecraft in 1989 but has since disappeared.

Tharsis bulge

A large volcanic region on Mars rising about 10 km above surrounding regions.

A planet called a super-earth could have a mass anywhere from 2 to 10times Earth's mass

ion tail

A stream of ionized particles evaporated from a comet and then swept away from the Sun by the solar wind.

Ice giant

A term used to distinguish Uranus and Neptune form the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. The name is descriptive of their composition, which suggests that they formed from the accretion of icy planetesimals. Despite the name, these planets have interiors hotter than Earth's interior.

A typical short-period comet might return to the inner Solar System after 150 years. (Reason: Short-period comets have orbital periods of less than 200 years).

Oort Cloud

A vast region in which comet nuclei orbit. This cloud lies far beyond the orbit of Pluto and may extend halfway to the next nearest star.

(Unit 34 - Structure of the Solar System) What is the Oort cloud? Where is it located, and what kind of objects come from it?

A vast region in which comet nuclei orbit. This cloud lies far beyond the orbit of Pluto and may extend halfway to the next nearest star. Objects that come from the Oort Cloud are comets, Sedna, a TNOs,

Olympus Mons

A volcano on Mars, the largest volcanic peak in the Solar System.

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 12 - Modern Astronomy) How were Tycho Brahe's observations critical to the development of astronomy?

Accurate measurements of the positions of planets made in the late 1500s by Brahe allowed Johannes Kepler to examine the orbits of the planets in greater detail than ever before.

Achondrite

Achondrite— A story meteorite of rocky material from the upper layers of a differentiated body. Achondrites have no chondrules. Achondrite meteorites come from differentiated bodies (the Moon, Mars, or very large asteroids) because they contain no chondrules. The material has melted since it was in the Solar Nebula Spectral and chemical analysis of the objects matches analyses of the Moon, Mars, or specific asteroids. Achondrites are a type of meteorite made of materials that have been melted and differentiated in the formation of a large body or planet. They lack the chondrules found in meteorites that are leftover materials from the Solar Nebula (Reason: Chondrules are approximately millimeter-sized small round nodules).

All the true statements comparing brown dwarfs to planets. · The least massive brown dwarfs are about 13 times more massive than Jupiter. · Although they cannot sustain the reactions that power regular stars, unlike gas giants, some fusion can occur in brown dwarfs.

Laminated terrain

Alternating layers of ice and dust seen in the ice caps of Mars. The layers appear to reflect climate changes caused by long-term orbital variations.

An exoplanet with between 2 and 10 times Earth's mass and a radius from 1.25 to 2 times Earth's is called (an) super- earth.

An object orbiting an asteroid allows astronomers to find the asteroid's mass using what law?

An object orbiting an asteroid allows us to find the asteroid's mass using Newton's laws.

(Unit 34 - Structure of the Solar System) What is a dwarf planet?

An object orbiting the Sun that is so massive that its gravity pulls it into a roughly spherical shape but, because it is not the dominant mass in the neighborhood of its orbit, it cannot be called a planet.

Evening Star

Any bright planet, but most often Venus, seen low in the western sky after sunset.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite— A continent-like highland region on the planet Venus.

As a comet approaches the Sun, solar radiation causes ices on comet's surface to sublimate (The ices turn directly into gas

How would a comet nucleus be best described?

As a dirty snowball, loosely packed (Current estimates of the densities of comet nuclei are less than 1 kg/L. They appear to be loosely packed, at least for a good chunk of the volume, rather than solid ice).

Asteroid family

Asteroid family— A group of asteroids that appear to have originated from a single object that underwent a collision (killed the dinosaurs). The asteroids all have orbital parameters and spectroscopic properties that indicate they have similar compositions (makeups).

Asteroid

Asteroid— A small, generally rocky, solid body orbiting the Sun and ranging in diameter from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers. Some asteroids were large enough to differentiate and subsequent collisions between asteroids have broken them apart. The largest asteroid is called a dwarf planet because of it's gravity that has pulled it into a round shape, like Ceres, but it has not cleared its orbit to be a planet. Asteroids have been cleared out from Kirkwood gaps, where orbits have a resonance with Jupiter's orbit (gravitational pull). Thousands of asteroids have orbits that come close to Earth's orbit, and astronomers are searching for any others. Asteroid's orbits have been determined for hundreds of thousands of asteroids, but are far more too small to have been detected yet. Asteroids composition and size and where they orbit: Size— small Composition— rocky bodies Orbit— Most orbit between Mars (inner planet) and Jupiter (outer planet) and their combined mass is much less than the Moon's mass. An asteroid would best be described as a small object made of rock and metal orbiting the Sun at a distance between 2 and 4 AU (Reason: Although some asteroids have ice, you have selected a better description of the icy bodies that orbit in the Kuiper belt (trans-Neptunian objects). True of asteroids in our Solar System: —Differentiated; —Mostly rock; —Orbit along Jupiter's path (Reason: The Trojan asteroids occupy stable points along Jupiter's orbit); —Mostly iron; and —Orbit between 2 & 4 AU from the Sun. Asteroids were discovered by a systematic search for a planet between Mars and Jupiter (Reason: The search was guided by Bode's rule).

Astronomers are detecting some exoplanets and measuring their sizes as they transit in front of their star, dimming its light.

Astronomers have detected material around some young stars consistent with the early stages of solar nebula theory.

Auroras occur when charged particles funneled by a planet's magnetic field collide with the planet's atmosphere.

Bode's Rule

Bode's Rule— A numerical formula for predicting the approximate distances of most of the planets from the Sun. Bode's rule provides a fairly accurate prediction of the orbital distances of the first eight planets A formula that somewhat accurately predicts the orbital distances of the first eight major bodies in the Solar System and then somewhat predicts the next several is known as Bode's rule.

By measuring the Doppler shift of stars, it is possible to detect a "wobble" due to the gravitational pull of orbiting exoplanets.

Carbonaceous chondrite

Carbonaceous chondrite— A type of meteorite containing many tiny spheres (chondrules) of rocky or metallic material embedded in carbon-rich material. Carbonaceous chondrites contain organic compounds such as amino acids. These were not produced by living organisms but by physical processes due to the right- and left-handed forms that occur in equal numbers. If you found a meteorite that looked like a big lump of coal with a small round of rock nodules in it, you have found a carbonaceous chondrite.

Ceres

Ceres— The first discovered and largest of the asteroids, over 900 km in diameter. Often was called a planet during the early 1800s. — Ceres is a dwarf planet

Chondrite

Chondrite— A meteorite containing small spherical granules called chondrules. Chondrites are stony meteorites composed of rounded grains, flakes of metal, and rocky bits

Chondrule

Chondrule— A small spherical silicate body embedded in many meteorites. Chondrules, rounded grains found in meteorites, are extremely useful to study because they are materials that formed directly in the Solar Nebula.

Comets are leftover material, a mix of ice and dust, from the formation of the Solar System.

Comets from the Oort cloud might develop elliptical orbits and arrive in the inner Solar System as a result of gravitational interactions with other nearby stars in the Milky Way and dwarf planets that orbit in the Oort cloud

Compared to the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud is... · about 2000 times farther from the Sun (reason: The Oort cloud is at about 100,000 AU.) · more nearly spherical · colde

Detecting a planet by observing the parent star's "wobble" actually shifting the position of the star on the sky is called the ___astrometric__ method.

Detecting a planet by observing the parent star's "wobble" actually shifting the position of the star on the sky is called the astrometric method.

(Inner Planets: Unit 42- Mars) Why is it impossible for Mars to have liquid water on its surface today?

Due to.. · Low gravity allows gas to escape. · The weak magnetic field allows the solar wind to strip gas. · Major asteroid impacts disrupted the atmosphere

Dust lost from a comet continues in orbit and can create meteor showers if Earth passes through the debris cloud

Each time a comet passes by the Sun, it loses the material that forms the tail, parts of the nucleus experience outbursts, explosions, and melting

Effects that a massive planet in a very elliptical orbit might have on its system. · It could disturb the orbits of the other planets. · Planets may be ejected from the system (reason: Reason: Ejection can result if a planet's orbit is disrupted). · Planets may collide with the parent star (Reason: A disrupted orbit might end up passing too close to the star).

Examining spacecraft photos of asteroids from missions such as NEAR, you would be most likely to observe craters

Exoplanets have also been detected by microlensing of background stars.

Few exoplanets have been images directly because of their small separation from and dimness relative to the star.

How do we use the Doppler shift to find exoplanets? · We measure changes in the wavelength of the star's light resulting from its wobble in response to the orbiting planet (reason: this is called the radial velocity method).

Although methane causes these planets to be blue, their atmospherse are mostly consist of?

Hydrogen (80%) and Helium (15%)

If the comet's orbit brings it to the inner Solar System, the solar wind pulls gas from the coma into an ion tail, and radiation pressure from the Sun pushes the dust particles out into a dust tail.

In the Solar System, only terrestrial planets are found inside the frost line around 4 AU. How is it that gas giants orbit inside the frost line of other stars? · These giants formed far from their stars and migrated in (reason: Gas giants cannot form or survive very close to stars. Gravitational interactions among the planets can cause their orbits to change. Some models predict some stars might "eat" gas giants that get too close!)

Ion tails of comets glow through fluorescence. The process is also why fluorescent paint looks bright at twilight or under a blacklight. It happens when ultraviolet photons excite electrons in atoms to high-energy orbitals. The electrons emit multiple lower-energy photons as they drop back down (Reason: In fluorescence, the electrons are excited by external radiation).

Ishstar

Ishstar—A continent-like highland region on Venus.

It is possible that material in the Oort cloud originated closer in and was sent outward by gravitational interactions with the Jovian planets

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 12 - Modern Astronomy) What is the relationship between the size of a planet's orbit and the length of time it takes to complete an orbit?

Kepler's third law, which relates the duration of a planet's orbit to the size of its orbit

Kirkwood gaps

Kirkwood gaps— Regions in the asteroid belt with a lower-than-average number of asteroids. Some of the gaps result from the gravitational force of Jupiter removing asteroids from orbits within the gaps. Gaps appear in the asteroid orbital distances because —Jupiter's orbit is a simple multiple of the orbital period at the gaps and gravitational interactions that modify the orbits recur at the same location (Reason: An orbit in the gap would have an orbital period one-third (or one-fourth or one half, etc.) of Jupiter's. So every three orbits, an asteroid would be closest to Jupiter in exactly the same point in the orbit. Jupiter's gravity would pull on the asteroid, gradually elongating the asteroid's orbit). Kirkwood gaps are best described as areas within the asteroid belt where Jupiter's gravity disturbs asteroid orbits

Long-period comets come from the Oort Cloud, which extends roughly 100,000 AU from the Sun.

Many of the massive exoplanets detected so for have very ellipticalorbits. This could lead to disruption of the orbits of smaller planets in these systems. (Reason: During the part of the orbit close to the star, the large planet would likely distrupt terrestrial planets' orbits.

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 12 - Modern Astronomy) Which planets can we see through a telescope as a crescent? When does this happen?

Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn

Match the systems below with the method that would be the most likely to find it. · Direct imaging - A Jupiter-mass planet 100 AU from the star. · Radial velocity - A Jupiter-mass planet 1 AU from the star. · Gravitational lensing - A super-Earth 5 AU from the star. · Transit method -- A super-Earth 0.2 AU from the star.

Maxwell Montes

Maxwell Montes— A set of mountains on Venus, including the tallest volcano; one of the first features detected by radar imaging.

(Inner Planets: Unit 40- Mercury) How can Mercury's day be longer than its year?

Mercury rotates very slowly, spinning three times for every two orbits, making its day longer than its year

Mercury's surface resembles the Moon in being...

Mercury's surface resembles the Moon in being heavily cratered, having large ancient lava flows, and lacking an atmosphere.

Meteorite

Meteorite—The solid remains of a meteor that falls to Earth. True, some meteorites come from bodies that grew large enough to differentiate, making an iron core and crustal rocks. True, some meteorites appear to never have been melted, and contain chondrules that were grains of material in the solar nebula. A meteorite forms when a larger chunk of rock and iron from the asteroid belt survive the fiery trip from the Solar System to the ground on Earth, turning into a meteorite.

What causes Uranus and Neptune to be blue?

Methane

Due to rapid rotation, both Uranus and Neptune show evidence of atmospheric bands and storm systems, however, much of this detail is hidden beneath

Methane Haze

Methane is a very strong greenhouse gas on Earth. How would you expect the methane in Uranus and Neptune to affect their temperatures?

Methane freezes into a haze of crystals in Uranus's and Neptune's atmosphere because their outer atmospheres are so cool (cold) (much cooler than Saturn's or Jupiter.)

Most of the planets detected so far orbit closer to their star than in the Solar System, but the detection methods are biased.

Near Earth Object

Near Earth Object— An asteroid with an orbit that crosses or comes close to Earth's orbit.

G (gravitational constant)

Newton's universal gravitational constant, which allows us to determine the force between objects if we know their masses and separation

(Unit 38 - Earth's Atmosphere & Hydrosphere) What are the major layers of Earth's atmosphere, and what are the major features of each layer?

Nitrogen -- 78% Oxygen -- 21% Water vapor -- A few percent Carbon dioxide -- Less than 0.1% Argon -- About 1%

Deimos

One of the two small moons of Mars, probably a captured asteroid.

Phobos

One of the two small moons of Mars, thought to be a captured asteroid. Its close orbit will cause it eventually to spiral into the planet.

(Unit 34 - Structure of the Solar System) How can we determine the density of a distant planet?

Outer planets, indicate that they contain mainly low-density material in their interiors...

Outer-belt asteroids and some meteorites contain

Outer-belt asteroids and some meteorites contain carbonaceous materials and ice.

Pancake dome

Pancake domes—Unusual surface feature on Venus , they appear as "blisters" of uplifted rock that may be produced by volcanic activity.

(Unit 37 - Earth as a Terrestrial Planet) How does plate tectonics cause earthquakes and volcanoes?

Plates shift abruptly at boundaries

Quantity that is reliably and unambiguously found when using the Doppler shift method to discover exoplanets. The orbital period of the planet

Radar imaging

Radar imaging— is done through radio wavelengths, which Venus thick clouds do not stop radio waves.

Resonance

Resonance— A condition in which the repetitive motion of one body interacts with the repetitive motion of another to reinforce the motion. For example, planets or satellites orbiting with orbital periods that have a simple fractional ratio are in resonance and can have a strong influence on each other's orbit.

Jupiter shows more prominent bands than Saturn is that ·

Saturn is farther from the Sun. It is cooler, so different chemicals are able to condense in the high atmosphere, creating a haze (Reason: The difference is a layer of ammonia haze (crystals form like tiny snowflakes of ammonia). Its too warm for one to form at the top of Jupiter's atmosphere.)

Several hundred million years ago the Earth's continents were in very different locations

Short-period comets have orbits less than 200 years long and generally originate from Kuiper belt.

Shower meteors seem to come from one point on the sky, the radiant, because the shower is caused by the Earth running into a concentration of debris. (Reason: The meteors come from debris along a comet's orbit. The Earth crosses the orbit, so the meteors all contact the atmosphere from the same direction).

(Unit 34 - Structure of the Solar System) How are asteroids and TNOs similar? How do they differ?

TNOs, (trans-neptunian object) is an object orbiting in the Kuiper belt or outer Solar System with a semi major axis larger than Neptune's. These include Pluto and many other objects ranging up to sizes even larger than Pluto. Whereas an asteroid is a small, generally rocky, solid body orbiting the Sun and ranging in diameter from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers

(Unit 34 - Structure of the Solar System) What properties distinguish the terrestrial from the Jovian planets?

Terrestrial planets are small, rocky planets, with relatively thin or no atmospheres. While Jovian planets are giant, mostly gaseous planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, & Neptune) The term Jovian, means Jupiter-like and is based on "Jove," an alternative name of Jupiter.

The Kuiper belt is the source of short-period comets. It also contains many times more mass than the asteroid belt, has objects with orbits of varied inclinations but that are fairly close to the plane of the Solar System, and is home to the TNOs in addition to other icy bodies

The Sun plays a role in creating both tails of a comet. Radiationpressure from sunlight pushes particles out of the coma to form the dust tail of a comet, but the ion tail is shaped by the solar wind

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 12 - Modern Astronomy) What is the shape of a planet's orbit? Where is the Sun located relative to this shape?

The cube size of the size of an orbit to the proportional to the square of the time taken to complete the orbit

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 13 - Amateur Astronomy) Why does sundial time differ from clock time?

The difference in length between the mean solar day and the true solar day accumulates to a differences of over 16 mins between clock time and time based on the position of the Sun at different times of year. A sundial can be as simple as a flagpole or any other fixed tall pole where you can make the shadow cast by the top of the pole. When we measure the length of the solar day from local noon to local noon w a stopwatch.

Differentiation

The existence of iron meteorites is evidence that what process must have occurred in at least some asteroids?" Differentiation (Reason: They are likely from the core of a differentiated asteroid). Evidence that some asteroids differentiated into cores and mantles? —Iron meteorites exists (Reason: Yes. The source of iron meteorites is believed to be the iron core of differentiated asteroids that were subsequently broken up into pieces). Iron— Core of a differentiated asteroid. Stony-Iron— Core mantle boundary of a differentiated asteroid. Achondrite— Mantle of a differentiated asteroid. Chondrite—Undifferentiated asteroid.

the process of fluorescence

The gases in the tail absorb ultraviolet light from the Sun. · The energy from an ultraviolet photon lifts an electron bound to a gas atom up several energy levels · The electron spontaneously drops back down, stopping at an intermediate level and emitting a lower energy visible light photon. The electron takes additional steps back down, emitting additional visible or lower-energy light rays until it is back to where it started.

The meteor shower appears to come from the direction of a comet's orbit relative to Earth's own motion

The most common size of exoplanets lies between the size of Earth and Neptune, so we have no examples in the Solar System.

The object Oumaumau passed inside the orbit of Mercury in September 2017 and showed evidence of acceleration in its trajectory. It is small, shows variations in brightness, and was traveling very fast compared to the typical Solar System object. Based on this evidence astronomers believe it might be a comet from outside our Solar System

The object Oumaumau astronomers believe it might be a comet from outside our Solar System because evidence of acceleration in its trajectory. It is small, shows variations in brightness, and was traveling very fast compared to the typical Solar System object. It was traveling too fast to have come from the Oort cloud.

They are basically "dirty snowballs" that spend most of their time far from the Sun at temperatures close to absolute zero.

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 12 - Modern Astronomy) How does a planet's speed change as it orbits the Sun?

They speed up as they get closer to the Sun along their orbit, "sweeping out equal areas in equal times."

Thousands of exoplanets have been detected, many in multiple-planet systems.

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 13 - Naked Eye Observations) How can you use your hand to measure angles between objects in the sky?

To find and identify stars, use your hand and fingers to estimate the angular size of at least three constellations. Spread hand held at arm's length because a fully spread hand at arm's length covers an angular size of about 20 degrees of sky, or about the length of the Big Dipper from the tip of handle to bowl. OR you can say that a star is half a handspread away from the Moon and at the 4 o'clock position

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 11 Planetary Motion) What is the best location for Mercury to appear in the sky for us to observe it?

To find this often-elusive object, look low in the west-northwest about 45 minutes to an hour after sunset. Mercury will be sparkling and unmistakable; no other bright stars or planets are anywhere near it in that part of the sky. (google)

To use the transit method to discover an exoplanet, it is necessary thatthe planet passes between us and the star, blocking some light(Reason: Measuring how much light is blocked by the planet, for how long, and how often, allows us to find the radius of the planet, the period of the orbit, and the planet's mass.)

Trojen asteroids

Trojen asteroids - Asteroids clumped in a region in Jupiter's orbit by the Sun's and Jupiter's gravity

True or False: Uranus and Neptune are similar in size. They are also about 4 times Earth's diameter AND their masses are about 16 times Earth's mass.

True, Uranus and Neptune are similar in size. They are also about 4 times Earth's diameter AND their masses are about 16 times Earth's mass.

What are Uranus and Neptune are called? Why are they called this?

Uranus and Neptune are called ice giants because their composition suggests they probably formed from icy planetesimals and captured much less gas than the gas giants, Jupiter or Saturn.

Uranus and Neptune rotate rapidly, showing evidence of?

Uranus and Neptune rotate rapidly, showing evidence of atmospheric bands and storm systems, however much of this detail is hidden beneath the methane haze.

Uranus's rotation axis is almost...

Uranus's rotation axis is almost sideways, leading to large seasonal changes in solar heating

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 13 - Naked Eye Observations) What methods can you use for describing positions in the sky? (13.2)

Use a tripod or small telescope or other object on which you can affix a ruler in somer manner (a ruler taped to a camera tripod) OR outstretched hand (hand spread) or the width between your fingers OR clock position? OR star chart

(Unit 1 - Our Planetary Neighborhood) Which planets are most similar to Earth?

Venus and Mars

We have detected many exoplanets, but we do not have many images of these planets. What is most prevalent reason why not? · The exoplanets are much dimmer than the stars. This makes them hard to see (reason: the planets are hard to see in the glare of the stars).

What properties of an exoplanet can be determined by observing the pattern of changing radial velocities of a star? · Mass (reason: note that we get a lower limit on the mass (the planet is at least so big), because the angle at which we see the orbit affects the calculation). · Orbital distance

What usually happens when small rocks or chunks of ice enter Earth's atmosphere? Friction with the atmosphere heats them, causing a "shooting star" to appear

When a comet gets too near the Sun, ices sublimate and carry off dust particles, forming a gas cloud (coma) around the nucleus

When studying exoplanets using the astrometric method, the more distant the exoplanet is from the parent star, the greater the shift in position on the sky, or "wobble" of the star. · True (Reason: Exoplanets at a greater orbital distance produce a larger wobble. However, it also takes longer for the pattern to repeat.)

Where would you find a comet that has a long tail? · At the orbit of Earth · Inside the orbit of Mercury

How would a Mercury-mass planet at Earth's distance from the Sun, be different from Mercury?

Would have crustal plate tectonics because of internal heat and having enough of it, which Mercury does not have.

Do you think it is possible that there are more planets orbiting the Sun yet to be discovered? Why or why not?

Yes, planetesimals

You discover a system of five exoplanets in which the order of planets from the star is gas giant, terrestrial, gas giant, terrestrial, gas giant. The phenomenon of planetary migration could explain how this came to be.

planet

a body in orbit around a star

brown dwarf

a body intermediate between a star and a planet. A brown dwarf has a mass between about 0.017 and 0.08 solar masses—too low to fuse hydrogen in its core, but high enough to fuse deuterium as it contracts

Zone

a bright, high-pressure region in the atmosphere of a Jovian planet, where gas flows upward

super-earth

a category of exoplanet with a radius about 1.25 to 2 times Earth's radius

fovea

a central part of the retina, where most of our color vision is concentrated. This regions is not very sensitive at low light levels

photopigment

a chemical that undergoes a chemical or physical change when light shines on it. Vision is possible because of cells in the eye that have photopigments, and the chlorophyll in plants is a photopigment

dust tail

a comet tail containing dust that reflects sunlight. The dust in a comet tail is expelled from the nucleus of the comet.

Halley's comet

a comet that reappears about every 76 years, famous because it was the first comet whose return was predicted

Long-period comet

a comet whose orbital period is longer than 200 years. these comets may originates from the Oort Cloud.

short-period comet

a comet whose orbital period is shorter than 200 years. For example, Halley's Comet has a period of 76 years.

azimuth

a coordinate for indicating the direction of objects in the sky. The azimuth direction is measured as the angle eastward from north to the point on the horizon below the object. A star that is directly above the point due east is at azimuth 90 degrees, south is at 180 degrees; west at 270 degrees, and north at 360 degrees or 0 degrees

sunspot

a dark, cooler region on the Sun's visible surface created by intense magnetic fields (12.3)

belt

a dark, low-pressure region in the atmosphere of the Jovian planet, where gas flows downward

law of gravity

a description of the gravitational force exerted by one body on another. The gravitational force is proportional to the product of their masses and the inverse square of the distance between them. If the masses are M and m and their separation is d, the force between them, F, is F = G Mm I a2, where G is a physical constant

protoplanetary disk

a disk of material encircling a protostar or a newborn star.

(Unit 1 - Our Planetary Neighborhood) Astronomical unit (AU)

a distance unit based on the average distance of Earth from the Sun

Liquid metallic hydrogen

a form of hot, highly compressed Hydrogen that is a good electrical conductor, found in the interiors of Jupiter & Saturn.

ellipse

a geometric figure related to a circle but elongated along one axis (12.2)

catadioptric telescope

a hybrid telescope between a reflector and a refractor, using both a large mirror and a large lens, called a corrector plate, to focus the light entering the aperture.

Geocentric model

a hypothesis that held that Earth is at the center of the universe and all other bodies are in orbit around it. Early astronomers thought that the Solar System was geocentric (11.2)

radial velocity method

a means of detecting planets orbiting other stars by detecting the Doppler shift caused by the star's own reflect motion in response to the orbiting planet

transit method

a method for detecting planets orbiting other stars by detecting the slight dimming if the planet's orbit causes it to cross in front of the star.

heliocentric model

a model of the Solar System in which Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun. (11.3)

exoplanet

a planet orbiting a star other than our Sun

Great Red Spot

a reddish elliptical spot about 40,000 km by 15,000 km in size in the Southern Hemisphere of the atmosphere of Jupiter. The Red Spot has existed for over three centuries (45.3)

Kuiper Belt

a region containing many large icy bodies and from which some comets come. The region appears to extend from the orbit of Neptune at about 30 AU, past Pluto, out to approximately 55 AU.

equation of time

a relationship describing the offset of time measured by a sundial from the average 24-hour period from noon to noon. The offsets vary through the year because of Earth's elliptical orbit and the tilt of its axis

variable star

a star whose luminosity changes over time

Vortex

a strong spinning flow within a gas or liquid, such as the Great Spot on Jupiter (45.3)

equatorial mount

a support structure for a telescope that allows it to rotate along celestial coordinates north and south ( in declination) and around the celestial poles (in right accession)

alt-az mount

a support structure for a telescope that allows it to rotate up and down (in altitude) and parallel to the horizon (in azimuth)

microlensing method

a technique for detecting a planet orbiting a star by observing a small extra brightening as the gravitational field of the planet acts as a lens and focuses the light of a background star.

astrometric method

a technique for detecting a planet orbiting another star by observing the side to side "wobble" of the star on the sky caused by the pull of the orbiting planet.

meteor shower

an event in which many meteors occur in a short space of time, all from the same general direction in the sky, typically when Earth's orbit intersects debris left by a comet. The most famous shower is the Perseids in mid-August.

altitude

an object's angular distance above the horizon

The methane haze on both Uranus and Neptune hides much detail of

atmospheric bands and storm systems, which are caused by both planets rapid rotation.

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 12 - Modern Astronomy) How did Galileo's observations help to rule out a geocentric model of the Solar System?

because of the telescope

Why do Uranus and Neptune have a higher percentage of Helium than their more massive neighbors, Jupiter and Saturn?

because they were built primarily by accumulating icy planetesimals

(Outer Planets: Unit 46- Uranus & Neptune) Why are Uranus and Neptune blue?

by a deep layer of methane

(Unit 34 - Structure of the Solar System) How does the density of an object provide clues to its composition?

by understanding the objects volume and mass...

(Unit 37 - Earth as a Terrestrial Planet) What is meant by plate tectonics?

cause shifting and is evidence that Earth's interior temperature increases with depth...

True or false: Radio data from the Juno mission to Jupiter showed that the Great Red Spot is about 100 km deep.

false: Radio data from the Juno mission to Jupiter showed that the Great Red Spot is about 100 km deep. Reason: Actually, Juno's data showed the spot is almost twice that, extending 200 km down.

Features of Jupiter

four bright moons, orange & brown banding, and red spot

semimajor axis

half the long dimension of an ellipse

eccentricity

how round or "stretched out" an orbital ellipse is. A circular orbit has zero eccentricity, while extremely elongated orbits have eccentricities close to one (12.2)

Both Uranus and Neptune have peculiar magnetic fields that do NOT align with the rotation axis; Thus, their peculiar magnetic fields may be generated in what layer?

in the internal water layer

Uranus's almost "sideways" rotation axis leads to

large seasonal changes in solar heating.

rod

light-sensing cell in the eye that gives us our black-and-white vision

cone

light-sensing cell in the eye that gives us our color vision

averted vision

looking slightly to one side of a dim object so that its light strikes slightly off-center in your field of vision. This allows you to more easily discern faint objects, although at a sacrifice of sharpness

Kepler's three laws

mathematical descriptions of the motion of planets around the Sun. The first law states that planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun off-center at a focus of the ellipse. The second law states that a line joining the planet and the Sun sweep over equal area in equal time intervals. The third law relates a planet's orbital period, P, to if P is measured in years and in astronomical units (12.2)

center of mass

the "average" position of a collection of massive bodies weighted by their masses (16.2)

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 16 - Gravity) What is surface gravity?

the acceleration an object will experience near the surface of a planet (or other body) because of planet's gravitational pull

surface gravity

the acceleration an object will experience near the surface of a planet (or other body) because of the planet's gravitational pull

g (acceleration due to gravity at Earth's surface)

the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of Earth--about 9.8 meters/second

pupil

the aperture of the eye, which can be adjusted in size to allow more or less light into the eye

conjunction

the appearance of two astronomical objects in approximately the same direction in the sky. For example, if Mars and Jupiter happen to appear near each other on the sky, they are said to be in conjunction. If a planet is in conjunction with the Sun, sometimes it is simply said to be in conjunction w/o specifying the Sun. (11.3)

retina

the back interior surface of the eye onto which light is focused

meteor

the brighter trail of light created by small solid particles entering Earth's atmosphere and burning up; a shooting star

opposition

the configuration of a planet when it is opposite the Sun in the sky. If a planet is in opposition, it rises when the Sun in the sky. If a planet is in opposition, it rises when the Sun sets and sets when the Sun rises (11.3)

fluorescence

the conversion of ultraviolet light (or other short-wavelength radiation) into visible light. This occurs, for example, when an atom is excited into a high energy level by an ultraviolet photon, and then descends to the ground state in a series of steps, emitting lower-energy photons.

nucleus

the core of an atom around which its electrons orbit. The nucleus has a positive electric charge and comprises most of an atom's mass

cornea

the curved transparent layer covering the front part of the eye that does most of the focusing of light that we see

focal length

the distance between a mirror or lens and the point at which the lens or mirror brings a distant source of light into focus

analemma

the figure-8 pattern the Sun traces on the sky if observed at the same clock time each day during a year

radiation pressure

the force exerted by photons when they strike matter

Galilean satellite

the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo: lo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (12.3)

coma

the gaseous atmosphere surrounding the head of a comet

aurora

the light emitted by atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere. This light is a result of magnetic disturbances caused by the solar wind and appears to us as the Northern or Southern Lights

solar wind

the outflow of low-density, hot gas from the Sun's upper atmosphere. It is partially this wind that creates the tail of a comet by pushing a comet's gases away from the Sun.

Morning Star

the planet Venus when it is sent in the eastern sky

radiant

the point in the sky from which meteors in showers appear to originate. See also meteor shower

quadrature

the points in the orbit of an outer planet when it appears (from Earth) to be at a 90 degrees angle with respect to the Sun. From the outer planet at the same times, Earth would appear to be at greatest elongation

greatest elongation

the position of an inner planet (Mercury or Venus) when it lies farthest from the Sun on the sky. Mercury and Venus are particularly easy to see when they are at greatest elongation. Objects may be at greatest eastern or western elongation according to whether they lie east or west of the Sun.

Occam's razor

the principle of choosing the simplest scientific hypothesis that correctly explains any phenomenon

dark adaption

the process by which the eye changes, through chemical changes in the retina and expanding the pupil, to become more sensitive to dim light

iris

the region of the eye surrounding the pupil that can control the amount of light entering the eye

(Unit 37 - Earth as a Terrestrial Planet) How do the ways in which P waves and S waves propagate indicate the internal structure of Earth?

the seismic waves...?

(Unit 35 - The Origin of the Solar System) What is differentiation? Why is it more likely to have occurred in the larger bodies in the Solar System?

the separation of previously mixed material inside a planet or other object. An example of differentiation is the separation that occurs when a dense material, like iron, settles to the planet's core, leaving lighter material on the surface. Differentiation is more likely to have occurred in the larger bodies in the Solar System because ...?

synodic period

the time between successive configurations of a planet or moon, for example, the time between oppositions of a planet or between full moons

period

the time required for a repetitive process to repeat. For example, orbital period is the time it takes a planet or star to complete an orbit. Pulsation period is the time it takes a star to expand and then contract back to its original radius (12.2)

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 11 Planetary Motion) What is retrograde motion?

the westward shift of a planet against the background stars. Planets usually shift eastward because of their orbital motion, but they appear to reverse direction from our perspective when Earth overtakes and passes them (or when an inferior planet overtakes and passes Earth)

retrograde motion

the westward shift of a planet against the background stars. Planets usually shift eastward because of their orbital motion, but they appear to reverse direction from our perspective when Earth overtakes and passes them (or when an inferior planet overtakes and passes Earth)

sublimate

to charge directly from a solid into a gas without passing through a liquid phase

(Astronomy Tools: Unit 13 - Naked Eye Observations) How can you demonstrate that stars change their position throughout the night?

using a tripod and telescope

Uranus and Neptune are the only major planets in our Solar System that...

were discovered since ancient times

The rotation period of the four Jovian planets is faster the more massive the planet. Could something about the formation of a larger planet explain this trend?

yes, the four Jovian planets (Jupiter & Saturn, and Uranus & Neptune), all produce a strong Coriolis effect due to their rotations. Jupiter & Saturn rotate faster than Uranus and Neptune, creating a strong Coriolis effect and Uranus and Neptune, although both rotate rapidly their strong rotation (like duration) produces a strong Coriolis effect, too.

Math the parts of a comet to their approximate sizes: gas and dust tails, hydrogen envelope, coma, and nucleus.

· 10 km - nucleus · 100 million km - gas and dust tails · 100,000 km - coma · 10 million km - hydrogen envelope

Measurements indicate that since the 1700s, the Earth's magnetic field has weakened by about how much?

· 10%.

Match the descriptions with the type of activity on Jupiter and Saturn.

· 300+ year old storm — Great Red Spot on Jupiter · Ring of light emitted near the poles — Aurora · Intermittent flashes of light — Lightning · White oval regions between bands — Temporary storms · Whirling zone between jet streams — Vortex

(Inner Planets: Unit 41- Venus) How does Venus compare with Earth in mass & radius?

· A core made of iron-nickel and a mantle of rocky silicates Total mass of about 1 M

· A more edge-on orientation (Reason: The closer to edge-on we see the system, the more directly the star moves toward and away from us as it wobbles, making the shifts easier to detect). · Larger mass exoplanet (Reason: A larger mass would increase the wobble of the parent star, making the shifts larger).

(Inner Planets: Unit 41- Venus) How does Venus's surface differ from Earth's? How have astronomers determined what the surface of Venus is like?

· Atmospheric density · Surface temperature · Atmospheric composition · Grids of narrow cracks (feature on Venus) · Pancake domes (feature on Venus) · Volcanic mountains (feature on Venus) · Pancake domes (feature on Venus) · Continent-like masses (feature on Venus)

Jupiter and Saturn show circles of light near their poles. What causes these?

· Charged particles from the solar wind channeled into the upper atmosphere · Charged particles from some of the moons and rings hitting the upper atmosphere

Missions in Mars

· Curiosity rover — Climbed Mt. Sharp, a water- and wind- eroded sedimentary mound inside a crater. · Opportunity rover — Studied martian "blueberries", which are hematite nodules that form in water. · Spirit rover — Found minerals in layered rock outcrops that appeared to be formed through sedimentary processes. · Phoenix lander — Scooped up and chemically analyzed surface rock, exposing sub-surface ice. · Sojourner rover (Pathfinder lander) — Demonstrated we could operate a robotic rover on Mars Viking 1 and 2 — First successful landers, took pictures in 1976 · Pathfinder — Launched the Sojourner rover to explore a dead flood plain · Mars Odyssey — Orbiter that mapped hydrogen (interpreted as being in H2O) under the surface · Spirit & Opportunity — Rovers that explored valleys, plains, and craters, analyzing rocks and soil -The Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity successfully found evidence that... liquid water was once present on the surface of Mars. (Reason: The Rovers found evidence liquid water was present on the surface in the past). · Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — Orbiter capable of taking high-resolution images of the surface showing few meter-sized features

· Exoplanet - A planet orbiting a star other than the Sun · Protoplanetary disk - The disk of gas and dust in which a star forms · Brown dwarf - A body that fuses some elements in its core but is not a star · Migrating planet - A planet whose orbit has changed

(Outer Planets: Unit 45- Jupiter & Saturn) What is the source of internal heat for Jupiter and Saturn?

· Jupiter and Saturn have large volumes that cool slowly. · Gravitational energy is released as the planet contracts. · Differentiation releases gravitational energy.

Jupiter's magnetic field is 20,000 times stronger than the Earth's, and Saturn's is 500 times stronger than Earth's. What best explains this difference between the gas giants and Earth?

· Magnetic dynamo currents can flow in the layers of liquid metallic hydrogen in the giants. The layer is bigger in Jupiter than Saturn.

· Massive -- makes Doppler shifts and astrometric shifts bigger. · Far from the parent star -- takes more time to detect motion and find the period. · Orbital plane is face-on (perpendicular to the line of sight) -- minimizes the Doppler effect and eliminates any chance of transits. · Large radius -- increases the probability and effect of transits.

· Perseids - August meteor shower associated with comet Swift-Tuttle · Meteor - Particle of asteroid or comet burning up in the atmosphere · Radiant - Point on the sky from which meteors in the shower seem to diverge · Meteor shower - Many meteors associated with particular debris in the Earth's path hitting the atmosphere over a few hours. · Geminids - A shower in December with many meteors per hour

Which features best explain the strong magnetic fields of Jupiter and Saturn?

· Rapid rotation · Liquid metallic hydrogen layers · A strong Coriolis effect

What is the source of materials for a comet's tail?

· Sublimated (evaporated) material from the nucleus (Sublimation is changing directly from solid to gas. It is what happens to some of the ices in a comet's nucleus as it comes close to the Sun. The gas and dust freed from the nucleus make the comet's tail.)

How do we know that Jupiter and Saturn generate substantial internal heat?

· They emit more infrared radiation than is expected to result from solar heating alone.

(Outer Planets: Unit 45- Jupiter & Saturn) What is the Great Red Spot? Why has it persisted for centuries?

· has been observed for over 300 years · is a high-pressure vortex · changes color and size over the years

Venus's features

—Volcanic mountains —Pancake (or lava) domes —Continent-like masses Two small continents: Aphrodite & Ishstar. The unusual circular features found on Venus's surface are called pancake (or lava) domes. True, the surface has been mapped by radar, showing two small "continents" (Aphrodite & Ishstar) and smooth low-lying lava plains cover most of the surface.

(Unit 35 - The Origin of the Solar System) What hypotheses explain why some terrestrial planets have atmospheres and other do not?

because gases and liquids were brought to those planets by comets, creating an atmosphere while the planets w/o an atmosphere were not. OR Small terrestrial planet has a lower escape velocity than a large one, so it. cannot hold on to an atmosphere as effectively. Smaller planets have less volcanic activity, so there is less volcanic outgassing to start with. THUS IF THERE IS NO SOURCE OF REPLENISHMENT ALL TERRESTRIAL PLANETS WOULD EVENTUALLY LOSE THEIR ATMOSPHERES. OR LOW MASSES.

(Unit 1 - Our Planetary Neighborhood) About how many times bigger in radius is the Sun than Earth? How many times bigger in mass?

- The Sun is 100 times the diameter of Earth and over 300,000 times more massive.

(Unit 35 - The Origin of the Solar System) How are radioactive elements in rocks used to estimate the age of the Solar System? Why do rocks have different ages?

- due to radioactive atoms. -radioactive atoms w different half-lives

Scarp

-A cliff produced by vertical movement of a section of the crust of a planet or satellite -Scarps in Mercury's crust suggest that... core has shrunk as it has cooled -Scarps are one kind of wrinkle

(Inner Planets: Unit 40- Mercury) What are scarps? How might they have formed?

-A cliff produced by vertical movement of a section of the crust of a planet satellite (40.1) -

(Unit 35 - The Origin of the Solar System) What is the difference between condensation & accretion? What are planetesimals?

-Accretion is the addition of matter to a body. Examples are gas falling onto a star and asteroids colliding and sticking together. Whereas condensation is conversion of free gas atoms or molecules into a liquid or solid. A snowflake forms in our atmosphere when water vapor condenses into ice. -Planetesimals one of the numerous small, solid bodies that, when gathered together by gravity, form a planet.

(Unit 38 - Earth's Atmosphere & Hydrosphere) What is the Coriolis effect? What motions does it affect? What motions does it NOT affect the student?

-Air flows or even flying objects are deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere of a rotating planet, appearing to take a curved path because the ground below them is turning. This motion is known as the Coriolis effect.

(Inner Planets: Unit 41- Venus) What gas dominates Venus's atmosphere? How is this known?

-CO2 -

Mercury's orbital period, rotational period, solar day, year, etc.

-How long does it take from sunrise to sunrise on Mercury? Two orbital periods, a total of 176 Earth days (Reason: The combination of Mercury's 58.7 Earth day rotation period and its 88 Earth day revolution period results in a two-orbit solar day). -One year on Mercury is... 88 Earth days; shorter than a solar day on Mercury -One day on Mercury is 176 Earth days, longer than its rotation period -T/F: Mercury's solar day is twice as long as its year. True or false: As a result, sometimes the Sun travels backwards across the sky during the dayTrue (Reason: The Sun moves backwards near perihelion, when the orbital motion changes the Sun's position faster than the rotation). -Mercury's orbital period is 88 Earth days. Its rotational period is 58.6 Earth days. From this and the figure, we can infer that... Tidal interactions between the Sun and Mercury have been important; The solar day (noon to noon) is 176 days; Mercury spins three times for every two orbits.

(Unit 1 - Our Planetary Neighborhood) Besides the Sun and planets, what other kinds of objects are members of the Solar System?

-In addition to the eight planets, the Solar System is filled with a vast number of smaller bodies, satellites (moons), asteroids, and comets.

Mercury's interior

-Layers of Mercury's interior... Iron-nickel core (and perhaps sulfur), Silicate mantle, & Silicate crust -The silicate skin on a large iron-nickel core is due to Mercury's density & gravitational field -A rotating liquid core of iron & sulfur could explain Mercury's properties, such as, wobbles on it's axis and has a magnetic field. ---due to Mercury's liquid (molten) core is why Mercury wobbles a bit on its axis & has a magnetic field

Mar's interior

-Mars' interior is most similar to... Earth and Venus (Reason: Mars has a partially molten core about half the radius of the planet, composed mainly of iron and surrounded by a rocky mantle and a silicate rock crust). -The interior of Mars appears to have...Cooled, but volcanic activity may still have occurred in the last few hundred million years.

Mercury's volcanic activity

-Mercury has had more volcanic activity than the Moon. -Mercury has more volcanic activity than the Moon due to... it's magnetic field and rotational wobble implying the interior is still molten. -Astronomers believe pits or hollows on Mercury's surface is due to volcanic activity or volcanic venting, which might have been indirectly caused by impacts altering the crust -

Mercury's surface

-Mercury's surface experiences extremes of hot and cold because... It is so close to the Sun and has such a long night -Surface features you might find on Mercury: Craters,(Solidified) Lava floods, Scarps, Volcanic vents, Surface stretching & wrinkling -On Mercury's surface... Large impact crater occurred first, then lava flow, and then small crater -Where did the ice seen on Mercury come from? Comets carrying water that struck the surface and vaporized, would try to escape to space, but would be slowed down by Mercury's gravity; Which then may result in the vapor drifting toward Mercury's cold polar regions and cause them to freeze. Or, from volcanic outgassing where gases are released which includes water vapor, and water vapor is destined to escape to space. But the water vapor from the gases would be slowed to down due to Mercury's gravity hanging onto them, which may result in them drifting towards Mercury's cold polar regions, causing them to freeze there. And over billions of years, the frost deposits (frozen water vapors from comets or volcanic outgases) may have built up the ice.

(Inner Planets: Unit 40- Mercury) Why does Mercury have no atmosphere? How does this affect Mercury's temperature?

-Mercury's temperature is very high & it's mass is very low -Mercury's no atmosphere is affected by its high temperature because ....

Carol Basin

-The largest impact crater region yet seen on Mercury. -The Caloris Basin is a huge impact feature that is somewhat like a.... Lunar mare. -Its circular shape and the presence of odd terrain on the opposite side of the planet from it indicates that the Caloris Basin on Mercury was likely caused by... A massive impact (Reason: The circular shape indicates the impact, and the global effect shows is was massive).

(Unit 35 - The Origin of the Solar System) What is the Solar Nebula? What shape does it have, and why?

-The rotating disk of gas & dust from which the Sun & planets formed. -rotating disk-shaped cloud

(Inner Planets: Unit 41- Venus) How is Venus's rotation unusual? What might have caused this?

-Venus has a rotational period of 243 days and an orbital period of 225 days. It also spins backwards (retrograde) compared to the orbital motion · The Sun rises in the west · The solar day is shorter than the rotation period. · The stars that rise, rise in the west.

(Unit 1 - Our Planetary Neighborhood) What is a dwarf planet? Name two objects currently in this category.

-an object orbiting the Sun that is so massive that its gravity pulls it into a roughly spherical shape but, because it is not the dominant mass in the neighborhood of its orbit, it cannot be called a planet. -Pluto, Ceres, and Eris are considered dwarf planets. Several dozen trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) may soon be added to that category.

(Unit 1 - Our Planetary Neighborhood) What are the eight planets in order of distance from the Sun?

1. Mercury (0.4 AU) [closest to the Sun] 2. Venus (0.7 AU) 3. Earth (1.0 AU) 4. Mars (1.5 AU) 5. Jupiter (5.2 AU) 6. Saturn (9.5 AU) 7. Uranus (19 AU) 8. Neptune (30 AU) [farthest from the Sun]

(Unit 37 - Earth as a Terrestrial Planet) What generates the magnetic field of Earth?

Electrical currents in the molten (outer) iron core of Earth create Earth's magnetic field. (reason: moving electric charges (currents) create an electromagnetic field.) · Convection currents in the molten iron core. (Reason: Rotation and convection-induced currents in the molten iron core cause Earth's magnetic field.) . Earth's magnetic field is the result of convection currents in the molten iron core. (Reason: Rotation and convection-induced currents in the molten iron core cause Earth's magnetic field)

Fault

Fault—In geology, a crack or break in the crust of a planet along which slippage or movement can take place.

(Unit 38 - Earth's Atmosphere & Hydrosphere) What is the greenhouse effect? How does it relate to global warming?`

Greenhouse effect: · slows the rate at which energy that heats Earth is lost (radiated into space) · traps infrared radiation in the atmosphere · is stronger when there is more water vapor and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Greenhouse gas (definition and results)

Greenhouse gas— A molecule, such as carbon dioxide, methane, or water vapor, that efficiently absorbs infrared radiation. Results of Venus's greenhouse effect include: —Little change in temperature from day to night; and —Surface temperatures much hotter than can be explained by Venus's distance from the Sun.

Would it be possible to make Venus a habitable place for humans if we could somehow block enough of the Sun's light so that Venus received an amount similar to what Earth receives?

I do not think so unless there is a way to create 50% of oxygen and reduce the CO2 (carbon dioxide)

(Inner Planets: Unit 42- Mars) What is the Martian atmosphere like?

Mars' atmosphere has a percentage of carbon dioxide that is much higher than Earth's and about the same as Venus'.

If astronauts were to someday explore the surface of Venus, what kind of protection would they need?

Oxygen tanks, protection from the Sun, proper gear to climb mountains and walk and move on extremely hot surfaces and rocky areas, and lots of water.

Photodissociation

Photodissociation— the breaking apart of a molecule by intense radiation.

Retrograde spin

Retrograde spin— A spin backward from the unusual orbital direction. For example, seen from above their north poles, most of the planets orbit and spin in a counterclockwise direction; however, a few have a retrograde spin. True, Venus rotates backwards slowly because of a major collision when it formed and is why 1 day for Venus is half the length of its year. —Venus was struck late in the formation process by a large planetesimal. —Venus retrograde spin is a result of tidal interactions with the Sun, Earth and other planets (Reason: Interaction with the Sun alone would not explain it, but detailed modeling shows once nearly tidally locked to the Sun, other planets could nudge Venus into the rotation observed). False, Tidal braking with the Sun is NOT sufficient to explain Venus' retrograde rotation. Consequences of the retrograde motion: —The Sun rises in the west; —The solar day is shorter than the rotation period; and —Stars that rise, rise in the west.

Runaway greenhouse effect

Runaway greenhouse effect— An uncontrollable process in which the heating of a planet leads to an increase in its atmospheric greenhouse effect and thus to further heating. The process significantly alters the composition of the planet's atmosphere and the temperature of its surface. The runaway greenhouse effect is why Venus's atmosphere is extremely hot and dense.

Similar properties of the Earth and Venus and differences.

Similarities: —A core made of iron-nickel and a mantle of rocky silicates —Total mass of about 1 M⊕ Venus is similar to Earth in size, density, and equatorial radius. Differences: —Grids of narrow cracks and Pancake domes are not found on Earth as they are on Venus. Venus's atmosphere is very different from Earth's by: —Atmospheric density; —Surface temperature; and —Atmospheric composition (it is almost entirely carbon dioxide).

Perihelion

The point in a planet's orbit where it is closest to the Sun.

If comets carrying enough water to create an ocean collided with Mercury, what do you suppose would happen?

They would turn into ice by either the water trucking mercury's surface and vaporizing, drifting toward Mercury's cold polar regions and freeze or wo

Methods

Venus undergoes resurfacing by what method? —Periodic Major Resurfacing Events (Reason: The internal heat of Venus builds until it is released in a major event) Methods astronomers used to observe Venus's surface: · Spacecraft Landers to photograph the surface (Reason: Soviet Venera missions between the late 1960s to the early 1980s obtained radar and a few photographic images of the surface) and; · Radar Mapping (Reason: The US orbiter Magellan, as well as ground-based telescopes on Earth, have used radar to penetrate the clouds and map the geology of the surface). —We have mapped the surface of Venus by bouncing radar off the surface from satellites and Earth (reason: Venus's clouds are thick but do not block radio waves). True, Several Soviet spacecraft successfully transmitted images of the surface of Venus before succumbing to the intense heat and pressure of the Venusian surface. (Reason: Even though each only survived for a few hours, between 1970 and 1981, several Venera landers made it to the surface and transmitted pictures).

Venus's atmosphere

Venus's atmosphere: —Temperature hotter than Mercury's near the surface; —Clouds of sulfuric acid; and —More than 90% CO2. The CO2 (carbon dioxide) atmosphere has created conditions for a runaway greenhouse effect, making Venus hotter than Mercury even though Mercury is closer to the Sun than Venus! In Venus's atmosphere and weather: · Lightning occurs in the sky; and · The surface temperature is in excess of 700 K. —H2O rises to the top and is broken up by ultraviolet light, which is a process called photodissociation. —Atoms do not re-form into water because the freed Hydrogen atoms are too light for Venus's gravity to hang on to, and many escape to space, and Oxygen eventually combines with Carbon (Reason: The hydrogen and oxygen that remain may eventually become part of sulfur compounds).

Venus's internal heating

Venus's internal heat affects its surface by: —Rising plumes of melted rock stretch the surface and crack it and Domes, uplifted regions, and faults result; —The crust is too thick to break into plates and move, but convection in the mantle causes bulges, volcanoes, and wrinkles in the crust; and —Heat builds in Venus's interior, melting the underside of the crust, periodically, breaks occur and massive lava floods renew the surface. Radar images show volcanoes and crustal bulges from internal heating (but it is unclear when volcanic activity last occurred)

Venus's thick crust may prevent..

Venus's thick crust may prevent tectonic activity, like tectonic plates, and possibly impact craters if there is geological activity happening to erase them.

(Unit 34 - Structure of the Solar System) What is meant by a volatile substance, and why would we expect to find objects made out of volatile substances far from the Sun?

element or compound that vaporizes at low temperature. Water and carbon dioxide are examples of volatile substances that form solids far from the Sun

(Inner Planets: Unit 42- Mars) What is the evidence that Mars once had running water on its surface? Is there evidence for water in any form today?

· Compounds that form in water have been detected using spectra. · Images show features that appear to be dried-up river channels or lakes. · Substantial ice is currently present in the polar caps and under the surface. · Mars no.

(Unit 37 - Earth as a Terrestrial Planet) What factors cause the interior of Earth to be hot?

· Earth has active volcanoes. · Earth has a magnetic field. Magnetic fields form from currents in a liquid metal core. · Every 100 m we dig into the Earth, the temperature goes up 2 K.· Plate tectonics (Reason: Volcanoes and shifting plates only make sense if the mantle is hotter than the surface.). · Direct temperature measurements in holes dug in the crust (Reason: We have not gone much deeper than 10 km, but the temperature goes up as you go down.). · Models of planet formation.

(Inner Planets: Unit 42- Mars) What evidence indicates that Mars was once geologically very active but has been geologically inactive for hundreds of millions or billions of years?

· Giant volcanic mountains such as Olympus Mons · Giant rifts such as the Valles Marineris

(Unit 37 - Earth as a Terrestrial Planet) What s the evidence that Earth's magnetic field has undergone dramatic changes over time?

· Minerals in lava preserve the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field at the time the lava solidified. (Reason: When lava cools, the orientation is preserved in the rocks.)

All that happen to charged particles from the Sun when they encounter Earth's magnetic field.

· They move in spirals around the magnetic field lines and can create auroras · Some are deflected by the magnetic field and go around Earth. · Many are trapped in the Van Allen belts.

Venus's rotation:

—It is retrograde compared to its orbit; —It causes the solar day to be shorter than the rotation period and; —One 360° turn versus the stars takes longer than a 360° orbit. Venus has a rotational period of 243 days, and an orbital period of 225 days.

The water on Venus

—Venus's water evaporated in the heat. —Molecules drifted to the upper atmosphere and were split by ultraviolet light. —The hydrogen escaped to space. Liquid water may once have been present, but it boiled away, and sunlight broke down the H2O (photodissociation) allowing the hydrogen to escape.

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