Download Planets study outline

Planets study outline
Know the general character of the planets:
Craters, liquid flow, atmosphere & major components, motion (spin, axis
orientation, ...) volcanoes, moons, rings, surface features, possible internal
structure.
For instance:
Planets :
Mercury
small, cratered, orbit slightly out of plane of ecliptic
Venus
Cloudy, hot, sulfuric acid/dense CO2 , greenhouse runaway. Slow
daily rotation (retrograde : pole inclined almost 180 deg.) Volcano
Earth
Oxygen in atmosphere, water, volcanoes, tectonics
Mars
canyon, dry riverbeds, volcanoes (largest in solar system-Olympus
Mons), dunes, water ice present, thin atmosphere, cratering
Jupiter
Bands, storms in atmosphere; largest planet, 4 large moons + more
Io volcanoes, small ring system, high wind velocity;
Saturn
Rings, hazier atmosphere, many moons, Titan: largest moon in
solar system, has atmosphere; most flattening of all planets
Uranus
Pole tipped into plane of ecliptic (90deg), moons still equatorial
orbit. Miranda with mixed features. Methane atmosphere
Neptune
Methane atmosphere (blue), storm spots, several moons, ring arcs
Pluto
small, irregular rock, moon Charon almost as big. Orbit very
elliptical, well out of ecliptic.
The characteristics and differences of Terrestrial & Jovian planets are:
Describe and define:
Asteroids –
Comets -
Principle of superposition
Erosional features :
Gravity effectsMode locking or resonance (moon, mercury, Kirkwood gaps)
Ring stabilization (shepherding satellites)
Plane of ecliptic (with angular momentum conservation)
Describe the evidence of the formation of the solar system provided by each of
the items listed here. Briefly describe the simplest whole picture which ties these
together.
Shape of planets
Cratering
Differentiation – internal, planet/moon systems
Orbit, rotation orientation
Molten cores
Atmospheres – Gravity-Temperature & chemistry, stripping, …