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The Planets Part A: In your Space Journal answer the following questions: 1. Compare and Contrast the geocentric and heliocentric models. 2. What evidence supports the heliocentric model over the geocentric model? 1. The geocentric model came before the heliocentric model, but the heliocentric model ended up being the simpler, more accurate model of the two. The geocentric model was a model that was Earth-centered. It was developed first by Aristotle, and was very complex as well as contained some flaws. For example, one of the problems was explaining why Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn seemed to occasionally reverse their direction of orbit. An even more complex arrangement resulted in order to solve this; however, the whole system seemed to make sense despite the complications. Models could be built based on the geocentric model that could show things such as phases of the Moon, when Mars would pass Jupiter, etc. However, the system we currently use is the suncentered model called the heliocentric model. It is a far more simple model where the Earth rotated while travelling westward around the Sun. The heliocentric model also included the solar plane- a non-existent flat disk stretching out from all sides of the Sun’s equator on which the orbits were arranged. The planets orbited the Sun on this solar plane. This composition helped to explain the retrograde motion of some of the planets, and was much easier to understand compared to the geocentric model as well. 2. The heliocentric model is the model we use today for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that it is far less complex than the geocentric model, making it easier to understand. For example, the geocentric model was complicated enough before the retrograde motion problem was solved. However, after epicycles were introduced in order to solve the retrograde confusion, the geocentric model became even more complex. It was so complex that it became hard to make sense of it, although it did make sense despite the complexity. However, the heliocentric model wasn’t only simpler but it explained the retrograde motion in a better way as well. For example, when all of the planets can be seen orbiting around the Sun, it is easy to see what is happening when retrograde motion occurs because we get a different perspective. But when everything revolves around the Earth, the retrograde motion will look almost the same as it does from our point of view. Another thing that supports the heliocentric model over the geocentric is the fact that in the geocentric model cannot show things such as moons orbiting around their planets. If moons orbited around planets like Jupiter, this meant that everything did not orbit the Earth. This is another flaw of the geocentric that proves how the heliocentric model is much more efficient and accurate than the geocentric model. Part B: Create a chart in your Space Journal to record 5 significant features for each of the planets. Mercury -closest planet to the Sun -rocky/terrestrial planet -no rings -no moons -only a little larger than Earth’s moon Jupiter Venus -only a little smaller than Earth -second closest planet to the Sun -rocky/terrestrial planet -no moons -no rings Saturn Earth -third planet from the Sun -rocky/terrestrial planet -ocean planet: 70% of the surface is oceans -no rings -one moon Uranus Mars -rocky/terrestrial planet - thin atmosphere mainly made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon -two moons: Phobos and Deimos -no rings -currently cannot support life as we know it Neptune Pluto (Dwarf Planets) -fifth planet from -sixth planet from -seventh planet -eighth planet -solid, rocky the Sun the Sun from the Sun from the Sun and/or icy bodies -one day on -gas-giant planet -one day on -one day on -most dwarf Jupiter=10 hours -53 known moons Uranus= 17 hours Neptune= 16 planets have -faint ring system -seven rings -gas giant hours moons -currently cannot -atmosphere -atmosphere -gas giant -cannot support support life as we made up of made up of -13 moons life as we know it know it mostly hydrogen mostly hydrogen, -six rings -no known rings -gas-giant planet and helium helium, and a bit -days and years -50 known of methane vary on dwarf moons -27 moons planets Then use the site to help you answer the following 6 questions in your Space Journal: 1. Which planets are most unlike Earth? Why? 2. Which planets are most similar to Earth? Why? 3. Why does Venus have a higher surface temperature than Mercury? 4. Venus is considered Earth's twin, yet we would probably not survive on Venus. Why? Explain using specific data gathered from the site. 5. If a planet were discovered beyond Pluto, speculate about what features it might have. Include at least 5 features. 6. What is your favorite planet? Use 5 reasons/facts to support your answer. 7. Explain the differences between planets, moons, comets and asteroids. A chart may work best for this. 1. The gas giant planets are the most unlike Earth. This includes Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They are the most unlike Earth because they do not have a solid surface, while Earth is a rocky/terrestrial planet with mountains, valleys, canyons, etc. Also, none of the gas giant planets can support life as we know it (although the same thing goes for all of the other planets). Another fact is that they all have at least 10 moons, while Earth only has one (Saturn has 53 known moons). Saturn is also very much unlike earth because it has seven rings, while Earth has none. They all take a different amount of time to rotate once in comparison to Earth as well. In terms of comparison to Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are also much larger in size. 2. Venus and Mars are most similar to Earth. This is partly because Venus and Earth are very similar in size; however, Mars is only around half the size. All three of these planets are rocky/terrestrial planets, which is something that they all have in common. It has also been taken into consideration that Mars was possibly once able to support life in the past, and may have the potential for it as well; this has not happened with any other planet, other than Earth, which can currently support life. Another similarity between Mars and Earth is the day length. While Earth’s days last for 24 hours, Mars’ days last for about only a little over 24 hours. Venus, on the other hand, does not share this similarity. However a similarity that all three planets share is their material makeup, they are all made up of similar elements. 3. Venus has a higher surface temperature than Mercury because Venus is covered by a thick, quickly spinning atmosphere which creates extremely hot temperatures and also traps the Sun’s heat. No very much water has been detected in Venus’ atmosphere. Mercury has no atmosphere at all to retain heat, so at night, the temperature can drop. 4. We would almost surely not survive on Venus, firstly, because of the scorching temperature. As described in Q#3, Venus’ atmosphere causes the temperatures to rise to even higher than 470 degrees Celsius. The probes that have landed on Venus never lasted more than 2 hours against the heat. Also, Venus’ clouds drip with sulfuric acid, and it does not seem likely that any human being would survive that. 5. It would probably be generally similar to most of the planets in terms of life, meaning that it would most likely not be able to support life as we know it. I think it would be a gas giant or a terrestrial planet, but not a dwarf planet because many dwarf planets have already been taken account for. I also believe that it would have quite a few moons because many of the planets have a lot of moons, although some do not have any at all. I’m not completely sure as to what else it may be like, but I assume if there was a planet discovered beyond Pluto, it would be generally cold. I would assume this because any planet that far away from the sun cannot be very heated (does not receive much heat from the sun), even with a thick atmosphere to contain the heat. I also think that this planet would be found in the Kuiper Belt, because that is where Pluto is situated; if this planet was discovered just beyond Pluto, it would probably be located in the Kuiper Belt. 6. My favorite planet is Saturn. The main reason I’m so interested in this planet is because of the rings system; Saturn has a complex ring system that contains seven rings. Also, Saturn has 53 moons and even more to be discovered. I just find it fascinating how our one moon is so bright and seems so spectacular, but on Saturn where there are 53 known moons, it must look really amazing. Another thing I like about Saturn is how large it is compared to the Earth. Earth alone already seems so large, but with how large Saturn is, Earth seems tiny. One more thing that interests me about Saturn does not have a solid surface, it seems like a giant solid sphere from the pictures, but it is actually made of gases. Another reason that my favorite planet is Saturn is the fact that it takes 10.7 hours to make a full rotation. Despite the fact that days would be less than half the time they are on Earth, I think it would be nice to see so many sunrises/sunsets in such a short period of time (if I were on the planet itself). The last reason that Saturn interests me so much is that it takes 29 Earth years in order to make a complete orbit. I don’t think it would be very entertaining to endure a year that actually lasted 29 years; however, I still find it interesting. 7. Planets -orbit around the sun -has enough mass to take a roughly round shape -not a satellite/moon -has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit Moons -orbit around planets -no rings -come in many shapes, sizes, and types -cannot support life as we know it Comets -cosmic balls of frozen gases, rock, and dust -no rings -no moons -short-period comets are found in the ‘Kuiper Belt’ -long-period comets are found in the ‘Oort Cloud’ Asteroids -orbit around the sun (mostly) -orbit on the ‘Asteroid Belt’ -solid, rocky, irregular bodies -no rings -cannot support life as we know it