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The Outer Planets
The Gas Giants
JUPITER
DISTANCE FROM SUN = 5.2 AU
MASS = 318 X EARTH
DIAMETER = 11 X EARTH
ATMOSPHERE = HYDROGEN AND
HELIUM
SURFACE = LIQUID HYDROGEN
ORBIT = 12 YEARS
ROTATION = 10 HOURS
MOONS = 63 (4 GALILEAN
MOONS)
ONE OBVIOUS FEATURE IS THE GREAT RED
SPOT, WHICH IS LARGE ENOUGH TO PUT TWO
EARTHS IN SIDE-BY-SIDE.
IT IS A LARGE STORM, AND IT HAS LASTED FOR
OVER 300 YEARS.
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto
TIDAL FORCES HEAT THE INTERIOR OF THE TWO
INNERMOST MOONS.
IO HAS TREMENDOUS VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
IO IS 2% LARGER THAN EARTH’S MOON.
EUROPA HAS A SHELL OF WATER ICE, WHICH IS
ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 12 AND 90 mi THICK.
EUROPA IS ABOUT 12% SMALLER THAN EARTH’S
MOON.
CASTILLO AND GANYMEDE ARE BOTH SLIGHTLY
LARGER THAN THE PLANET MERCURY.
BOTH MAY HAVE LIQUID OCEANS DEEP BENEATH
THEIR ICY CRUSTS.
JUPITER MAY HAVE A ROCKY IRON/NICKEL CORE
1.5 TIMES EARTH’S DIAMETER.
DUE TO THE EXTREME GRAVITY, THE CORE
TEMPERATURE MAY BE AS HIGH AS 20,000o C.
SATURN
DISTANCE FROM SUN = 9.5 AU
DIAMETER = 9.4 EARTH
MASS = 95 X EARTH
ORBIT = 29.5 YEARS
ROTATION = 11 HOURS
THOUGHT THAT SATURN HAS A CORE APPROX. 2.5
TIMES EARTH’S DIAMETER, 20 TIMES EARTH’S MASS,
AND 15% OF SATURN’S TOTAL MASS.
THE PLANET IS MADE MOSTLY OF MOLECULAR
HYGROGEN (88%) AND HELIUM (11%).
SATURN’S RINGS ARE VERY THIN. THEY ARE 250,000
km ACROSS, BUT THEY ARE ONLY 1 km THICK.
THERE IS NOT MUCH MATERIAL THERE. IF IT WERE
ALL COMPRESSED INTO A SINGLE OBJECT, IT WOULD
ONLY BE 100 km THICK.
LIKE JUPITER, SATURN RADIATES MORE
ENERGY THAN IT RECEIVES FROM THE SUN.
ALSO, LIKE JUPITER, SATURN HAS A STRONG
MAGNETIC FIELD.
SCIENTISTS THINK THIS IS CAUSED BY THE
METALLIC HYDROGEN IN THE INTERIOR.
TITAN IS THE LARGEST MOON OF SATURN.
IT HAS AN ATMOSPHERE COMPOSED MOSTLY OF
NITROGEN AND METHANE.
THE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE IS
1.6 TIMES THAT OF EARTH.
THE SURFACE OF TITAN IS COVERED WITH
HYDROCARBON LAKES, PRIMARILY METHANE
AND ETHANE.
PICTURE OF TITAN SHOWING ITS ATMOSPHERE.
SATURN WAS THE FURTHEREST PLANET FROM
THE SUN KNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS.
URANUS WAS NOT DISCOVERED UNTIL 1781 BY
WILLIAM HERSCHEL USING A TELESCOPE.
URANUS
DIAMETER = 4 X EARTH
MASS = 11 X EARTH
DISTANCE FROM SUN = 19.2 AU
ROTATION = 17 HOURS
ORBIT = 84 YEARS
THE ROTATIONAL AXIS IS ONLY 8 DEGREES OUT
OF THE PLANE OF THE ORBIT, SO WE SEE IT ON
ITS SIDE.
COMPOSITION = MOSTLY HYDROGEN AND
HELIUM.
MOONS = 5 LARGE AND 10 SMALL
THE BLUE COLOR IS DUE TO METHANE IN THE
ATMOSPHERE.
URANUS HAS A MAGNETIC FIELD ABOUT 50 TIMES
STRONGER THAN THAT OF EARTH.
IT DOES NOT HAVE AURORA LIKE JUPITER AND
SATURN AS IT IS FURTHER FROM THE SUN.
URANUS HAS SOME NARROW RINGS – PROBABLY
ROCKY COMPOSITION.
NEPTUNE
NEPTUNE IS SLIGHTLY SMALLER IN DIAMETER
THAN URANUS, BUT HAS SLIGHTLY GREATER
MASS.
DISTANCE FROM SUN = 30 AU
ROTATION = 16 HOURS
ORBIT = 165 YEARS
NEPTUNE IS THOUGHT TO HAVE A ROCKY CORE
ABOUT 15 TIMES AS MASSIVE AS EARTH.
TILT ON AXIS = 50 degrees
NEPTUNE HAS A MAGNETIC FIELD
SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THAT OF URANUS.
NEPTUNE HAS FAINT RINGS.
IT HAS 2 LARGE MOONS AND 6 SMALLER ONES.
THE LARGEST IS TRITON AND IS ABOUT THE SAME
SIZE AS OUR OWN MOON.
TRITON HAS A THIN ATMOSPHERE OF MOSTLY
NITROGEN AND POLAR ICE CAPS – ALSO
NITROGEN.
PLUTO
PLUTO IS 2/3 THE SIZE OF OUR OWN MOON AND
1,200 TIMES FURTHER AWAY.
THIS MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE, EVEN
WITH A TELESCOPE.
DISTANCE FROM SUN = 40 AU
ROTATION = 6 ½ DAYS ORBIT = 248 YEARS
PLUTO’S ORBIT
PLANET
MERCURY
VENUS
DISTANCE FROM
SUN
0.39
0.72
EARTH
MARS
JUPITER
1
1.5
5.2
SATURN
URANUS
NEPTUNE
PLUTO
9.5
19.2
30
40