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Transcript
An Astronomical Tour Objects in the Universe Objects in our Solar System A solar system is a collection of objects that are gravitationally associated with a star Objects in our solar system include star, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, meteors Active Sun viewed in X-rays -> <- Coronal loops Planets Objects that orbits (revolve around) a star Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune (Pluto is a minor planet) My very excellent mother just served us nachos Mercury Venus (UV) Earth Earth’s Moon Earth and its Moon Earth and its Moon Mars Jupiter and the four Galilean Moons Saturn and Its Larger Moons Uranus (true and false color) Neptune Pluto and Charon (from HST faint object camera) Our Solar System The Planets (in size perspective) Asteroids (Phobos, Deimos, Gaspra) Asteroid Belt Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a large “belt” of asteroids There are also groups of asteroids that orbit the Sun and cross the orbit of the Earth from time to time. Comets and the Oort Cloud Comets are “dirty snowballs” composed of frozen water and dust. As they approach the Sun they melt and leave a stream of water vapor and dust that is a “tail” Scientists believe that these originate from a large region filled with comet cores called the Oort cloud. Comet Halley (March 1986) Moving Out… Our solar system is a small part of a large collection of stars, gas, and dust called a galaxy. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way galaxy and is a spiral galaxy. Galaxies HST Deep Field Photo of Galaxies Star Deaths When stars finish their life cycle they may explode or throw out shells of gas. Such an object is referred to as a nebula (pl. nebulae) Nebulae are common objects in a galaxy. Eskimo Nebula Orion Nebula Carina Nebula Cat’s Eye Nebula Sting Ray Nebula (young) Bug Nebula Section of the Eagle Nebula Other Objects… There are special classes of stars called variable stars, neutron stars, pulsars and black holes. These may be stars in the process of evolving or the result of a star explosion.
