The Solar System (Ch. 6 in text) The solar system consists of the Sun
... Comets: Iceballs, most in highly eccentric orbits which extend far beyond Pluto. Spend most of their time far from sun (in the “Oort cloud”; also the “Kuiper belt” comets outside of Neptune’s orbit). Comets and asteroids are “debris”, but very important because they represent the solar system when i ...
... Comets: Iceballs, most in highly eccentric orbits which extend far beyond Pluto. Spend most of their time far from sun (in the “Oort cloud”; also the “Kuiper belt” comets outside of Neptune’s orbit). Comets and asteroids are “debris”, but very important because they represent the solar system when i ...
Rocky planets energy budget
... the planet is determined by the insolation and therefore by the planet-star distance, d In this idealized situation, a ring of distances will yield an interval of effective temperatures The concept of “circumstellar habitable zone”, that will be specified later in this course, originates from this s ...
... the planet is determined by the insolation and therefore by the planet-star distance, d In this idealized situation, a ring of distances will yield an interval of effective temperatures The concept of “circumstellar habitable zone”, that will be specified later in this course, originates from this s ...
WhatsInSolarSystem - School
... Sedna and Eris. If Pluto was a planet then these objects too should be planets and future objects of similar size. This is why the third statement above was decided upon in 2006. The third statement means that there are no other objects, other than its own satellites, in the region of its orbit. Obj ...
... Sedna and Eris. If Pluto was a planet then these objects too should be planets and future objects of similar size. This is why the third statement above was decided upon in 2006. The third statement means that there are no other objects, other than its own satellites, in the region of its orbit. Obj ...
Planets beyond the solar system
... make images of the disks of other stars, so all we can measure is the total light from the star. Since the planet is much smaller than the stars, the total light is reduced only by a few percent, even less for Earth-like planets. ...
... make images of the disks of other stars, so all we can measure is the total light from the star. Since the planet is much smaller than the stars, the total light is reduced only by a few percent, even less for Earth-like planets. ...
The Kepler spacecraft has found thousands of likely extrasolar
... ust over 20 years ago, astronomers first detected signs of planets outside our solar system. Initially, they expected to find solar systems like ours, but they quickly realized that isn’t how nature works. In fact, one of the first exoplanets discovered is about Jupiter’s mass but circles its Sun-li ...
... ust over 20 years ago, astronomers first detected signs of planets outside our solar system. Initially, they expected to find solar systems like ours, but they quickly realized that isn’t how nature works. In fact, one of the first exoplanets discovered is about Jupiter’s mass but circles its Sun-li ...
Skinner Chapter 2
... though it had been turned upside down. 46. On the Earth, plants and microorganisms have enabled carbon dioxide and water to combine, through photosynthesis, to make organic matter and oxygen. The burial of organic matter in sediment in effect removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 47. [See Fig. ...
... though it had been turned upside down. 46. On the Earth, plants and microorganisms have enabled carbon dioxide and water to combine, through photosynthesis, to make organic matter and oxygen. The burial of organic matter in sediment in effect removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 47. [See Fig. ...
1 Exoplanets 2 Types of Exoplanets
... Exoplanets are a hot topic in astronomy right now. As of January, 2015, there are over 1500 confirmed exoplanet discoveries with more than 3000 candidates still waiting to be confirmed. These exoplanets and exoplanet systems are of extreme interest to astronomers as they provide insights into planet ...
... Exoplanets are a hot topic in astronomy right now. As of January, 2015, there are over 1500 confirmed exoplanet discoveries with more than 3000 candidates still waiting to be confirmed. These exoplanets and exoplanet systems are of extreme interest to astronomers as they provide insights into planet ...
Transits
... HST and Spitzer space observations have shown that the transmission spectrum is broadly flat from the near- to mid-infrared. Exclude molecular features expected for a cloud-free hydrogen-rich atmosphere Either a water-vapor atmosphere, or the presence of clouds or thick hazes in a hydrogen atmospher ...
... HST and Spitzer space observations have shown that the transmission spectrum is broadly flat from the near- to mid-infrared. Exclude molecular features expected for a cloud-free hydrogen-rich atmosphere Either a water-vapor atmosphere, or the presence of clouds or thick hazes in a hydrogen atmospher ...
File
... There are four outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These planets are often called the gas giants. Unlike Earth, they do not have a solid surface, but rather are made mostly of helium and hydrogen with a small, rocky core in the center. The giant gas planets all have ring systems and ...
... There are four outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These planets are often called the gas giants. Unlike Earth, they do not have a solid surface, but rather are made mostly of helium and hydrogen with a small, rocky core in the center. The giant gas planets all have ring systems and ...
The Solar System (Ch. 6 in text) Consists of the sun (a typical star
... Comets: Iceballs, most in highly eccentric orbits which extend far beyond Pluto. Spend most of their time far from sun (in the “Oort cloud”; also the “Kuiper belt” comets outside of Neptune’s orbit). Comets and asteroids are “debris”, but very important because they represent the solar system when i ...
... Comets: Iceballs, most in highly eccentric orbits which extend far beyond Pluto. Spend most of their time far from sun (in the “Oort cloud”; also the “Kuiper belt” comets outside of Neptune’s orbit). Comets and asteroids are “debris”, but very important because they represent the solar system when i ...
Document
... • Rock & Metals form where T < 1300 K • Carbon grains & ices where T(gas) < 300 K • Inner planets and asteroids: Rocky and metallic • Snow line • Outer Jovian systems: Gaseous giants, carbon ices • Dust grains and ices collide, accrete, and eventually grow bigger gravitationally into planetesimals b ...
... • Rock & Metals form where T < 1300 K • Carbon grains & ices where T(gas) < 300 K • Inner planets and asteroids: Rocky and metallic • Snow line • Outer Jovian systems: Gaseous giants, carbon ices • Dust grains and ices collide, accrete, and eventually grow bigger gravitationally into planetesimals b ...
Circumstellar habitable zone
In astronomy and astrobiology, the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), or simply the habitable zone, is the region around a star within which planetary-mass objects with sufficient atmospheric pressure can support liquid water at their surfaces. The bounds of the CHZ are calculated using the known requirements of Earth's biosphere, its position in the Solar System and the amount of radiant energy it receives from the Sun. Due to the importance of liquid water to life as it exists on Earth, the nature of the CHZ and the objects within is believed to be instrumental in determining the scope and distribution of Earth-like extraterrestrial life and intelligence.The habitable zone is also called the Goldilocks zone, a metaphor of the children's fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which a little girl chooses from sets of three items, ignoring the ones that are too extreme (large or small, hot or cold, etc.), and settling on the one in the middle, which is ""just right"".Since the concept was first presented in 1953, stars have been confirmed to possess a CHZ planet, including some systems that consist of multiple CHZ planets. Most such planets, being super-Earths or gas giants, are more massive than Earth, because such planets are easier to detect. On November 4, 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs in the Milky Way. 11 billion of these may be orbiting Sun-like stars. The nearest such planet may be 12 light-years away, according to the scientists. The CHZ is also of particular interest to the emerging field of habitability of natural satellites, because planetary-mass moons in the CHZ might outnumber planets.In subsequent decades, the CHZ concept began to be challenged as a primary criterion for life. Since the discovery of evidence for extraterrestrial liquid water, substantial quantities of it are now believed to occur outside the circumstellar habitable zone. Sustained by other energy sources, such as tidal heating or radioactive decay or pressurized by other non-atmospheric means, the basic conditions for water-dependent life may be found even in interstellar space, on rogue planets, or their moons. In addition, other circumstellar zones, where non-water solvents favorable to hypothetical life based on alternative biochemistries could exist in liquid form at the surface, have been proposed.