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PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 8: Jupiter & Uranus
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PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 8: Jupiter & Uranus
Next Lecture: Saturn & Neptune
School: Michigan Technological University
Professor: Robert Nemiroff
Online Course WebCT pages:
http://courses.mtu.edu/
This class can be taken online ONLY, class
attendance is not required!
You are responsible for…
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Lecture material
Listed wikipedia entries
 But not higher math
APODs posted during the semester
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APOD review every week during lecture
Completing the Quizzes
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Homework quizzes 1, 2 & 3 already due
Homework 4 quiz due before 5 pm today
See WebCT at http://courses.mtu.edu/
Wikipedia entries:
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Gas Giant
Jupiter
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Io_(moon)
Europa_(moon)
Callisto_(moon)
Ganymede_(moon)
Uranus
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Jovian Planets
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Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Large massive planets
Rings
Many moons
Expansive and thick gaseous
atmospheres
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_giant
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Jupiter
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Largest planet in Solar System
Planet Radius is 11.2 times Earth
Orbital radius is 5.2 times Earth
Orbital period is 12 Earth years
Upper clouds
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Liquid middle mostly Hydrogen
Core of heavy elements
Visited by spacecraft in 1970s
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Pioneer 11, 12; Voyager 1, 2
The Milky Way Over Ontario
Credit & Copyright: Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn
(Weather and Sky Photography)
APOD: 2008 July 20
Old Faithful Below a Yellowstone Sky
APOD: 2007 August 7
A True Image from False Kiva Credit &
Copyright: Wally Pacholka
(Astropics.com/TWAN)
APOD: 2008 September 29
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APOD: 2005 September 13
A Quadruple Sky Over Great Salt Lake
Credit & Copyright: Michael Wilson
Jupiter: Composition
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Core: rocky?
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Mantle: strange “metal”
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~10% of radius?
Metallic hydrogen: ~80% radius
Liquid hydrogen
Atmosphere: Gas
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Outer ~1,000 km
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Jupiter’s Atmosphere
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Mostly Hydrogen, then Helium
Rotates in about 10 hours
Zones and belts
Giant hurricane-like storm systems
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Colors have unknown cause
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Great Red Spot
Recently: Two smaller red spots
Always: Smaller white spots
Hydrogen and Helium are transparent
Radiates more energy than receives from
the Sun
Jupiter from Voyager
Credit: NASA, JPL, NSSDC, Voyager
APOD: 1995 June 25
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter
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Jupiter and the Red Spots
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon-Miller (GSFC), et al.
APOD: 2006 May 5
APOD: 2006 July 25
Jupiter's Two Largest Storms Nearly Collide
Credit & Copyright: Travis Rector (U. Alaska) et al. , Gemini Obs., AURA, NSF
Jupiter's Three Red Spots
Credit NASA, ESA, M. Wong,
I. de Pater (UC Berkeley), et al.
APOD: 2008 May 23
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When Storms Collide
Credit: NASA, ESA, Amy Simon-Miller
(Goddard Space Flight Center),
N. Chanover (NMSU), G. Orton (JPL)
APOD: 2008 July 24
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Jupiter's Clouds from Cassini
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, Cassini Project, NASA
APOD: 2005 September 11
Cassini At Jupiter: Red Spot Movie
Credit: CICLOPS, NASA, JPL, University of Arizona
APOD: 2000 November 23
New Horizons Spacecraft Passes Jupiter
Credit: NASA, JHU Applied Physics Lab, Southwest Research Institute
APOD: 2007 March 7
Jupiter's Rings
Credit: NASA, Voyager Project
APOD: 1995 August 2
Jupiter's Auroras
Credit: J. Clark (U. Mich.) et al., HST, NASA
APOD: 1996 October 18
Comet Impacts on Jupiter
Picture Credit: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope
APOD: 1995 July 14
Jupiter Moon Movie
APOD: 2007 March 29
Jupiter’s Moons
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Four largest: Galilean Moons
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Europa, Callisto, Ganymede, Io
Many smaller moons
Jupiter has a few small rings
Tonight: A Blue Moon
Credit & Copyright: Vic Winter (ICSTARS)
APOD: 2004 July 31
Jupiter And Family
Credit: Galileo Project, Voyager Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1997 September 29
Io
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“Eye-oh”
Very few craters
Hundreds of active volcanoes
Flex heated by Jupiter, Ganymede,
& Europa
Moon turns inside out every few
million years
Yellow color caused by Sulfur
Io: The Prometheus Plume
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1997 August 18
Dark Volcano Active on Io
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1997 November 10
Erupting Volcanoes on Io
Credit: Voyager Project, JPL, and NASA
APOD: 1996 August 5
Europa
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Highest albedo of any Galilean moon
Tidal and/or radioactive heating makes
the interior of Europa unusually warm
Possibly water oceans with life beneath
the surface
Mostly frozen water ice with a mix of rock
Ice plates move like Earth’s tectonic
plates
Europa Full Face
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1996 November 20
Europa's Surface
Credit: Voyager Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1996 August 13
The Cracked Ice Plains of Europa
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1996 October 22
Europa's Disconnected Surface
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1998 January 2
Ganymede
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Largest moon in the Solar System
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Larger than planet Mercury
Less dense than Mercury
Mostly frozen water-ice over a
rocky core
Strange grooved terrain is younger
than most impact craters
Fields of Minerals on Ganymede
Credit: NIMS, Galileo Mission, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1996 November 7
A Flyby View of Ganymede
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 1996 October 25
Callisto
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Looks like giant smashed ice-ball
Dark ice-covered world
Has large impact craters that show
concentric rings
Strangely, very few craters are
smaller than 100 meters across
Possibly oceans deep inside
Callisto Full Face
Credit: Galileo Project, Voyager Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2002 January 20
Uranus
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Excuse me?
Very similar to Neptune
Planet radius is 4 times Earth
Spin axis is very tilted
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Orbital radius is 19 times Earth
Orbital period is 84 Earth Years
Many small moons, rings
Atmosphere almost featureless
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Strange seasons
Mostly Hydrogen and Helium
Visited by Voyager 2 in 1986
Uranus: Composition
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Core: center
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Middle: Mantle
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Rock
Out to ~20% radius
Ices: water, ammonia, methane
Hot dense fluid
Out to ~80% radius
Most of Uranus’ mass
Atmosphere
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Gas: hydrogen, helium
Outer ~20% radius, very little mass
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Uranus: The Tilted Planet
Credit: Voyager 2, NASA
APOD: 1997 November 15
A Sharper View of a Tilted Planet
Credit: Lawrence Sromovsky, (Univ. Wisconsin-Madison), Keck Observatory
APOD: 2004 November 18
Uranus' Ring System
Credit: Erich Karkoschka (U. Arizona Lunar & Planetary Lab) and NASA
APOD: 1996 April 30
Ringed Planet Uranus
Credit: E. Lellouch et al. (ESO-Chile), VLT Antu, ESO
APOD: 2003 January 15
Uranus' Moon Miranda
Credit: NASA, JPL, Voyager 2
APOD: 1995 December 24
Verona Rupes: Tallest Known Cliff in the Solar System
Credit: Voyager 2, NASA
APOD: 2007 July 23
Io in True Color
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2004 May 2