Download Lecture 1: Our Solar System

Gibbous Moon
(Waning)
Betelgeuse Star
(Appears Orange)
Lecture 1:
Our Solar System
Jupiter
(Jovian Planet)
Professor Kenny L. Tapp
Orion
Constellation
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
StarMap Lite iOS App (Free)
Looking East-SouthEast
January 12, 2014
Professor Kenny Tapp
APOLLO PROGRAM MISSION
CONTROL CONSOLE
Stafford Air &
Space Museum,
Weatherford, OK
GEMINI CAPSULE MOCK
MODELS OF NASA ROCKETS
SATURN V ROCKET BOOSTER
POSSIBLE GEMINI ROCKET BOOSTER
Oklahoma
Professor Kenny Tapp
Recent Space News
Overview of the Solar System
Solar System includes...
• Sun
• Nine Eight planets & their satellites
• Asteroids, Comets, Meteoroids
Overview of the Solar System
A planet's orbit lies in an orbital plane
• Similar to a flat sheet of paper
• The orbital planes of the planets are
inclined
• Planes of seven planets lie within 3 degrees of
the Sun's equator
• Mercury's is inclined 7 degrees
• Pluto's is inclined 17 degrees
Overview of the Solar System
 Two groups of planets occur in the solar system
• Terrestrial (Earth-like) planets
• Mercury through Mars
• Small, dense, rocky
• Low escape velocities
• Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets
•
•
•
•
Jupiter through Neptune
Large, low density, gaseous
Massive
Thick atmospheres composed of hydrogen, helium,
methane, and ammonia
• High escape velocities
• Pluto not included in either group
Overview of the Solar System
 Planets are composed of
• Ices
• Ammonia (NH3)
• Methane (CH4)
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Water (H2O)
• Gases
• Hydrogen
• Helium
• Rocks
• Silicate minerals
• Metallic iron
Solar System Ingredients
Ingredient
The Sun dominates the Solar System
Percent of total mass
Sun
Jupiter
other planets
everything else
99.8%
0.1%
0.05%
0.05%
The Terrestrial planets are
made primarily of rock and metal.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, &
Mars.
The terrestrial planets are:
low in mass (< Earth
mass) high in density (>
3900 kg/m3).
Water = 1000 kg/m3
Air = 1 kg/m3
Rock = 3000 kg/m3
The Jovian planets are
made primarily of hydrogen and helium.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, &
Neptune:
The Jovian planets are:
high in mass (> 14 Earth
masses)
low in density (< 1700 kg/m3).
Jovian planets are made
mainly of light elements like
hydrogen and helium.
Pluto: The “Oddity” (Now a “Dwarf Planet”)
The Sun dominates the Solar System
Pluto is very low in mass and moderate in
density (about 2000 kg/m3). It is surmised that
Pluto is made of mixture of ice and rock.
Most (but not all) planets rotate in the same
direction (counterclockwise, seen from
above the North Pole).
All planets revolve in the same
direction (counterclockwise,
seen from above the North
Pole).
Evolution of the Planets
Uranus and Pluto are “sideways”, Venus is
“upside-down”.
Planets of our Solar System
 Nebular hypothesis
• Planets formed about 5 billion years ago
• Solar system condensed from a gaseous nebula
 Due to their surface gravities, Venus and Earth
retained atmospheric gases
 Due to frigid temperatures, the Jovian planets contain
a high percentage of ices
 As the planets formed, the materials that compose
them separated
• Dense metallic elements (iron and nickel) sank toward their
centers
• Lighter elements (silicate minerals, oxygen, hydrogen)
migrated toward their surfaces
• Process called chemical differentiation
Mercury
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Innermost planet
Smallest planet
No atmosphere
Cratered highlands
Vast, smooth terrains
Very dense
Revolves quickly
Rotates slowly
Planets of our Solar System
Planets of our Solar System
Venus
Venus
• Surface
• Second to the Moon in brilliance
• Similar to Earth in
• Mapped by radar
• Features
• 80% of surface is subdued
plains that are mantled by
volcanic flows
• Low density of impact
craters
• Tectonic deformation must
have been active during
the recent geologic past
• Thousands of volcanic
structures
• Size
• Density
• Location in the solar system
• Shrouded in thick clouds
• Impenetrable by visible light
• Atmosphere is 97% carbon dioxide
• Surface atmospheric pressure is 90 times that
of Earth's
Planets of our Solar System
Planets of our Solar System
Mars
 Mars
• Called the "Red Planet"
• Two moons (captured asteroids)
• Phobos
• Deimos
• Atmosphere
•
•
•
•
1% as dense as Earth's
Primarily carbon dioxide
Cold polar temperatures (-193ºF)
Polar caps of water ice, covered by a thin layer
of frozen carbon dioxide
• Extensive dust storms with winds up to 270
kilometers (170 miles) per hour
Valles Marineris canyon on Mars
Figure 22.12
• Surface
• Numerous large volcanoes – largest is Mons Olympus
• Less-abundant impact craters
• Tectonically dead
• "Stream drainage" patterns
• No bodies of surface water on the planet
• Possible origins
• Past rainfall
• Surface material collapses as the subsurface ice
melts
• Several canyons
• Some larger than Earth’s Grand Canyon
• Valles Marineras – the largest canyon
Planets of our Solar System
Artist’s view of
Jupiter with the
Great Red Spot
visible
Jupiter
• Largest planet
• Very massive
• 2.5 times more massive than combined mass
of the planets, satellites, and asteroids
• If it had been ten times larger, it would have
been a small star
Figure 22.14
• Rapid rotation
• Slightly less than 10 hours
• Slightly bulged equatorial region
Planets of our Solar System
Jupiter
• Banded appearance
• Multicolored
• Bands are aligned parallel to Jupiter's equator
• Generated by wind systems
• Structure
• Surface thought to be a gigantic ocean of liquid
hydrogen
• Great Red Spot
• In planet's southern hemisphere
• Counterclockwise rotating cyclonic storm
Planets of our Solar System
Jupiter
• Moons
• At least 28 moons
• Four largest moons
• Discovered by Galileo
• Called Galilean satellites
• Each has its own character
• Callisto - outermost Galilean moon
• Europa - smallest Galilean moon
• Ganymede - largest Jovian satellite
• Io - innermost Galilean moon and is also
volcanically active
Planets of our Solar System
Saturn
• Similar to Jupiter in its
• Atmosphere
• Composition
• Internal structure
• Rings
• Discovered by Galileo in 1610
• Composed of small particles (moonlets) that
orbit the planet
• Most rings fall into one of two categories
based on particle density
• Thought to be debris ejected from moons
• Origin is still being debated
The ring system of Saturn
PASADENA, Calif. (Oct., 2009, www.nasa.gov) — NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an
enormous ring around Saturn — by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings. The new belt lies at the
far reaches of the Saturnian system, with an orbit tilted 27 degrees from the main ring plane. The bulk of its
material starts about six million kilometers (3.7 million miles) away from the planet.
Saturn's newest halo is thick — its vertical height is about 20 times the diameter of the planet. It would take
about one billion Earths stacked together to fill the ring.
Figure 22.18
Planets of our Solar System
Saturn
• Other features
• Dynamic atmosphere
• Large cyclonic storms similar to Jupiter's Great
Red Spot
• Thirty named moons
• Titan – the largest Saturnian moon
• Second largest moon (after Jupiter's
Ganymede) in the solar system
• Has a substantial atmosphere
Planets of our Solar System
Saturn
• Recent storm
lasting more than
200 days, started
early December,
2010.
Planets of our Solar System
Planets of our Solar System
Uranus
• Uranus and Neptune are nearly twins
• Rotates "on its side"
• Large moons have varied terrains
Planets of our Solar System
Neptune
• Dynamic atmosphere
• One of the windiest places in the solar system
• Great Dark Spot
• White cirrus-like clouds above the main cloud deck
• Eight satellites
• Triton – largest Neptune moon
• Orbit is opposite the direction that all the planet's travel
• Lowest surface temperature in the solar system
(-391ºF)
• Atmosphere of mostly nitrogen with a little methane
• Volcanic-like activity
• Composed largely of water ice, covered with layers of
solid nitrogen and methane
Planets of our Solar System
Pluto
• Not visible with the unaided
eye
• Discovered in 1930
• Highly elongated orbit causes it
to occasionally travel inside the
orbit of Neptune, where it
resided from 1979 thru
February 1999
• Moon (Charon) discovered in
1978
• Average temperature is -210ºC
Asteroids,%meteoroids,%comets,%and%Kuiper%
Belt%objects%orbit%the%Sun.
Kuiper'Belt'
objects:''
made%of%ice,%
hundreds%of%
kilometers%
across.%(The%
“Kuiper%%%
Belt”%lies%
beyond%the%
orbit%of%
Neptune.)
Minor&members&of&the&
solar&system&
Asteroids
Asteroids:'made%of%rock%and%metal,%less%than%
1000%km%across.%(Most%asteroids%are%in%orbit%
between%Mars%and%Jupiter.)
• Most%lie%between%Mars%and%Jupiter
• Small%bodies%–%largest%(Ceres)%is%about%620%
miles%in%diameter
• Some%have%very%eccentric%orbits
• Many%of%the%recent%impacts%on%the%Moon%and%
Earth%were%collisions%with%asteroids
• Irregular%shapes
• Origin%is%uncertain%
The&orbits&of&most&asteroids&lie&between&Mars&
and&Jupiter
Figure 22.23
Comets:'made%of%dirty%
ice,%a%few%kilometers%
across.%(Comets%have%
tails%of%gas%and%dust%
when%they%come%near%
the%Sun.)
Minor&members&of&the&
solar&system&
Comets
• OQen%compared%to%large,%"dirty%snowballs"
• ComposiSon
• Frozen%gases
• Rocky%and%metallic%materials
• Frozen%gases%vaporize%when%near%the%Sun%
• Produces%a%glowing%head%called%the%coma
• Some%may%develop%a%tail%that%points%away%from%Sun%due%to%
• RadiaSon%pressure%and%the
• Solar%wind%%
Orienta8on&of&a&comet’s&tail&
as&it&orbits&the&Sun
Minor&members&of&the&
solar&system&
Comets
• Origin
• Not%well%known
• Form%at%great%distance%from%the%Sun
• Most%famous%shortXperiod%comet%is%Halley's%
comet%
• 76%year%orbital%period
• PotatoXshaped%nucleus%(16%km%by%8%km)%
Figure 22.25
&&&Comet&Hale>Bopp
What’s
Wrong with
this Exhibit?
Figure 22.26
Minor&members&of&the&solar&system&
Minor&members&of&the&solar&system&
Meteoroids
• Called%meteors%when%they%enter%Earth's%atmosphere
• A%meteor%shower%occurs%when%Earth%encounters%a%
swarm%of%meteoroids%associated%with%a%comet's%path
• Meteoroids%are%referred%to%as%meteorites%when%they%
are%found%on%Earth%
Perseids Meteor as viewed from ISS (Aug. 2011)
Meteor Crater Museum, Arizona
Meteoroids:'made%of%rock%and%metal,%less%
than%300%meters%across.%(When%a%
meteoroid%enters%Earth’s%atmosphere,%it%
produces%a%meteor.)
In&the&News...
Williamette Meteorite from Oregon, largest ever found in the US.
allposters.com
Meteor&Crater,&Arizona
End%of%Lecture%1
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