Download The Outer Planets

The Outer Planets
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
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Lesson Overview
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Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
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1.
Phenomenon of different parts of a planet having different periods
of rotation
2.
Flattened at the poles
3.
A hypothetical whirling gaseous mass within a giant cloud of gas and
dust
4.
The passing of one astronomical object in front of another
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Jupiter god
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Jupiter as Seen From
Earth and From Space
Jupiter is the Solar
System’s largest planet
318 times the mass of
Earth
Volume is 1,400 times that
of Earth
Takes nearly 12 Earth
years to cycle around the
Sun
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of Voyager 1, NASA
Jupiter’s Rotation
 Light- and dark-colored bands
parallel to its equator
 The phenomenon of different
parts of a planet having
different periods of rotation is
known as differential rotation
 Jupiter is somewhat oblate, or
flattened at the poles; this is
an effect of Jupiter’s swift
rotation
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of California Institute of
Technology
The Composition of Jupiter’s
Atmosphere
90 percent hydrogen and 10 percent
helium, with small amounts of methane,
ammonia and water vapor
Small amounts of certain heavier elements
Carbon, nitrogen and sulfur
Three so-called “noble” gases
Argon, krypton and xenon
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Jupiter’s Three Groups of
Moons
1. Fragmented moonlets
2. Galilean satellites: Io,
Europa, Ganymede,
and Callisto
3. Remaining 55 moons:
Astronomers speculate
that these moons are
captured asteroids
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of Galileo Project /JPL/NASA
Saturn Greek god
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Kronus
Saturn
The astronomer Galileo first observed
Saturn in 1610
Some 50 years later the Dutch physicist
and astronomer Christian Huygens
recognized that the “ears” on Saturn were
really rings
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Saturn’s Size, Mass, and Density
Not much smaller in diameter than
Jupiter
Only half as dense
0.7 the density of water
Has a less dense core and less
liquid metallic hydrogen than Jupiter
does
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science
Institute
Saturn’s Speed of Rotation and
Solar Orbit
 29.5 Earth years to orbit
the Sun
 Rotates on its axis in 10
hours, 39 minutes
 Saturn’s rings are in the
plane of its equator
 Tilts 27 degrees with
respect to its orbital
plane
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of NASA and the Hubble Heritage
Team, STScI/AURA/Acknowledgment: R.G.
French (Wellesley College), J. Cuzzi
(NASA/Ames), L. Dones (SWRI), J.
Lissauer (NASA/Ames)
Titan, Saturn’s Largest
Moon
Largest of more than 60 moons
Second largest in the Solar System
Data from Huygens probe suggest that
at one point, Titan had an atmosphere
five times as dense as it is today
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
The Particles That Form
Saturn’s Rings
Chunks of water ice and smaller
bits of rock and organic matter
Lots of empty space between
the chunks too
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Greek god Uranus
Father Sky
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Who Made the
Best Telescopes?
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
What Led Herschel to Discover
the Planet Uranus
Object did not
appear as a point of
light, as stars do
It moved
That suggested a
different kind of
celestial object
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of NASA/JPL/STScI
The Motion of Uranus and the
Tilt of Its Equatorial Plane
Takes 84 Earth years to orbit the Sun
Axis is tilted 90 degrees to its orbital plane
The poles alternate between 42 years of
sunlight and 42 years of darkness
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
How Uranus’s Moons Act as Shepherds
for the Particles of Its Ring
First reliable determination of Uranus’s
diameter used an occultation – the
passing of one astronomical object in front
of another
Inner moon will orbit faster than the ring’s
particles
Particles passing the outer moon are
slowed somewhat while doing so
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
God of Neptune
Poseidon
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Neptune’s Wind Speeds and
Differential Rotation
 Experiences differential
rotation – to an extreme
degree
 Magnetic field rotates every 16
hours and seven minutes
 Strong winds and storm
systems suggest that Neptune
has an annual cycle of
seasons
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Unusual Orbits of Neptune’s
Two Major Moons
Triton revolves clockwise around its planet
Nereid has the most eccentric orbit
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
A.
B.
C.
D.
Ganymede
Titan
Triton
Nereid
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Galileo
John C. Adams
Johann Galle
Herschel
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Review
The four planets farthest from the Sun are
called the Jovian planets
All of the Jovian planets have rings and
multiple moons
Scientists are still discovering information
about these planets
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Summary
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Next…
Done – The Outer
Planets
Next – Dwarf Planets,
Comets, Asteroids,
and Kuiper Belt
Objects
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD
A.
B.
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Occultation
Eccentric
Differential rotation
Chemical differentiation
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Oblate
Elliptical
Occultation
Eccentric
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Planetesimal
Nebula
Corona
Protoplanet
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Oblation
Occultation
Planetesimal
Eccentric orbit
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