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A Tour Through Our Solar System
“Martha visits every Monday and just
stays until noon, period.”
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Only write the yellow text.
The SOLAR SYSTEM
• The sun
• Nine planets
• Lots of satellites (moons)
• Many comets and asteroids
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Some Definitions
• Planet: an object that travels in a path
around the sun or a star.
• Moon: an object that travels in a path around
a planet (or an asteroid).
• Revolution: The motion of one object around
another. E.g. Earth revolves around the sun.
• Rotation: Besides orbiting the sun, all planets
spin. This is the motion around its axis.
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The Sun
• 75% hydrogen and 25% helium by
mass
• Large enough to hold 1 million
Earths!
• Provides Earth with light, heat and
gravity to remain in orbit
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Norm Herr (sample file)
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Norm Herr (sample file)
This slide shows the relative sizes of the planets and sun.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
This slide shows the
relative
sizes of the planets.
Norm
Herr (sample file)
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The Terrestrial Planets
• Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars\
• Hard, rocky (silicate) outer parts
(crust and mantle) and inner cores of
Fe-Ni metal.
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•
•
•
•
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Orbit close to the Sun.
Volcanoes, mountains, valleys.
Very few moons.
No rings.
Norm Herr (sample file)
Comparing Interiors
active geology
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Norm Herr (sample file)
inactive geology
MERCURY
• Closest planet to sun
• Orbits the Sun in 88 Earth days (revolution)
• Turns on its axis every 59 days (turns 1.5 times
every orbit)
• One day equals 176 Earth days (rotation)
• T varies from -173 to 330 °C
• No atmosphere
• No satellites (moons)
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Composite picture of mercury
weak magnetic field
large metallic core
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Welcome to Venus!
• No spacesuit would save you on
Venus. The air pressure is 90 times
Earth’s, and the air is almost entirely
carbon dioxide, with traces of
various acids. Worse yet, the
surface is hot enough to melt lead!
•
Michael A. Seeds.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
• Venus is covered in a thick blanket of
white clouds thought to be made of
droplets of sulphuric acid.
• 17 probes have landed on its surface.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
VENUS
• 2nd planet from the Sun
• Third brightest object we can see in the
sky
• One rotation = 243 Earth days (in the
opposite direction of Earth)
• One revolution = 225 days
Collision with planetesimal or
solar tides in atmosphere
reversed its direction.
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• Atmosphere 96% carbon dioxide, 3.5%
nitrogen, 0.5% water vapor and acids
• Atmospheric pressure is 90 times that of
Earth
• T = 470 ° C due to the “Greenhouse effect”
caused by CO2 in atmosphere
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Norm Herr (sample file)
2004 image of
Venus from
Galileo
Spacecraft
showing clouds!
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Hubble
Telescope view
Venus
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Norm of
Herr (sample
file) 1999 in ultraviolet
Venus
Surface image from the Venera 13 spacecraft
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Radar
Map of
Venus –
clouds
have
been
removed.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Venus has
Craters
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Venus is Volcanic
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Norm Herr (sample file)
EARTH
• 3rd planet from the Sun
• period of rotation: 24 hours (1 day)
• Revolution equals 365.26 days (1 year)
• T = - 50 to 50 ° C
• Atmosphere: nitrogen, carbon dioxide,
oxygen
• 1 satellite is our Moon
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Norm Herr (sample file)
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Norm Herr
(sample
Photo
of the Earth taken
by
thefile)Apollo 13 mission
Where are we?
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Norm Herr (sample file)
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The Earth as seen Norm
from
the
surface
of the Moon.
Herr
(sample
file)
The MOON
• Orbits Earth every 28 days.
• Moon turns once on its axis every 28
days! (tidal coupling)
• This means that we see the same
side of the moon.
• Moon rocks are hardened molten
rock and contain no water (unlike
Earth).
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Norm Herr (sample file)
The Origin of the Moon
• 4 possible theories
– Fission hypothesis: a rapidly spinning Earth
broke in two
• What happened to all that angular
momentum?
• Why isn’t the moon in the same plane as
Earth’s equator?
– Condensation hypothesis: both the Moon and
Earth condensed from the same cloud of
material
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• Should have the same composition – but
they don’t Norm Herr (sample file)
– Capture hypothesis: Moon formed near
Mercury and was knocked over to Earth
• Relies on a chain of unlikely coincidences.
• Earth’s gravity couldn’t have captured it
without ripping it apart.
– Large-impact hypothesis: A large planetesimal
collided with Earth. Material was ejected into a
disk around Earth and eventually formed the
Moon.
• This is the currently accepted theory.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Photos of the ‘Far side of the Moon’
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Norm Herr (sample file)
11/15/99“Almost
full Moon”Norm
taken
Apollo
13 on it’s journey home.
Herr by
(sample
file)
Galileo picture of
moon taken in violet,
red, and near infrared
1990
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Moon
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Welcome to Mars!
• Without a spacesuit, you could live
only about 30 seconds on the
surface of Mars. The temperature
might not be too bad. On a hot
summer day at noon, the
temperature might reach 20°C. But
the air is 96% carbon dioxide, is
deadly dry, and contains almost no
oxygen.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Welcome to Mars!
• Also, the air pressure at the surface
of Mars is only 0.01 that at the
surface of Earth. Stepping onto the
surface of Mars without a space suit
would be about the same as opening
the door of an airplane flying at
30 000 m above Earth. (Jets fly
under 12 000 m!)
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Welcome to Mars!
• Because of the low atmospheric
pressure, if you stepped outdoors on
Mars without a space suit, your own
body heat would make your blood
boil! Michael A. Seeds.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
MARS
•
•
•
•
•
•
4th Planet from the Sun
Mars is known as the Red Planet
One rotation = 24 h 37 min
One revolution = 687 days
T = -140 to 20 ° C
Atmosphere of carbon dioxide, argon and
nitrogen
• Two moons
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Mars: The Red
Planet
The Surface of the Red Planet
Photo taken by the spacecraft rover ‘Opportunity’ in Jan. 2004
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Olympus
mons – the largest
volcano
in the solar system!
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Norm Herr (sample
file)
Martian surface as taken by the Viking Lander
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Landing
of the Martian
Land Rover 2004
Martian Land Rover – Sojourner
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Mars’ Polar Caps
Frozen carbon dioxide and possibly water underneath.
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The Moons of Mars
Deimos (Panic) and Phobos (Fear)
Named for the horses that pulled the
chariot of Ares, the Greek God of war.
They are thought to be captured
asteroids!
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Asteroid Belt
• Asteroids are irregularly shaped, rocky objects
• Located between Mars and Jupiter
• Largest is 1 000 km across
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Ida – as taken by Galileo. It is
estimated to be 52 km in
length.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Galileo’s Deployment
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Three Asteroids
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Ida and Its moon
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Double Asteroids
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Eros
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The Jovian Planets
The “Gas Giants”
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Many times larger than terrestrial planets.
Separated by enormous distances.
Primarily gaseous or liquid.
Have thick atmospheres.
Have many moons and complex ring
systems.
Norm Herr (sample file)
Welcome to Jupiter!
• If you parachuted into Jupiter with a small
rubber boat, expecting to go sailing on the
liquid hydrogen ocean, you would be
disappointed. Mathematical models tell us
that there is no surface. Deep below the
clouds, the temperature and pressure
exceed the critical point for hydrogen, the
temperature and pressure above which
liquid hydrogen and gaseous hydrogen
have the same density and are
indistinguishable.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Welcome to Jupiter!
• As you parachuted down through
Jupiter’s atmosphere, the temperature,
pressure, and density would rise, and
gradually the gas would become a fluid.
You would never splash down and your
rubber boat would be useless. Below the
clouds of Jupiter lies the largest ocean in
the solar system – and it has no surface
and no waves. Michael A. Seeds
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Jupiter
• Jupiter contains over 70% of the mass
in the solar system outside the Sun.
• It is the 5th planet from the sun and the
1st planet of the outer solar system.
• Jupiter is a ball of gas and liquid
(mostly hydrogen and helium).
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Norm Herr (sample file)
•
•
•
•
•
1 rotation = 10 hours long
1 revolution = almost 12 Earth years
63 satellites (moons)
T = - 148 ° C
Atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, and
methane
• Has a ring system made of three parts
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Jupiter Has A Ring
The dust making up Jupiter’s ring is young and is most
likely coming from neighbouring moons.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
The ring system of Jupiter and 4 of it’s moons.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
The Great Red Spot of Jupiter is 20,000 km wide which is
almost twice the width of the Earth (diameter = 12,756 km)
It is a giant storm which has existed for over 300 years!
Note the White Oval just below the Red Spot
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Norm is
Herr 9000
(sample file)
It is
another storm which
km wide!
The Great Red Spot
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Norm Herr (sample file)
A view of Jupiter showing one of it’s moons, Io.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Four of the
major moons
of Jupiter…
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Jupiter is hot Inside
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Herr (sample
file)
The
temperature at theNorm
core
is estimated
to be 30 000 K.
Other
moons:
Callisto
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Valhalla
Basin,
Callisto
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Ganymede
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Ganymede
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Close-up of
Ganymede
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Europa
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Europa’s Icy Crust
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Io – orbits
Jupiter in
under 2 days!
In order to
hold on to Io,
Jupiter must
be 318 times
Earth’s mass!
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Io Has Active Volcanoes
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Lava Flows on Io
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Eruption on Io
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SATURN
• Rotation period 10 hours 39 min
• Length of year is 29. 5 Earth years
• Has a ring system made of over 1 000
separate rings!
• T = - 178 °C
• 56 moons
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• It has strong surface winds (500 m/sec).
• Hydrogen, helium and methane make up
its atmosphere.
• Saturn is less dense (0.7) than water so it
could float!!!.
Infrared
picture of Saturn
taken
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Norm Herr (sample
file) in 1998 by Voyager.
The rings are made up of billions of ice particles
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Norm Herr (sample file)
The
ice is constantly replenished
from Saturn’s icy moons.
Spacecraft Voyager
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The cratered surface of Saturn’s moon Rhea
looks a lot like Mercury or Earth’s Moon.
It is only 1500 kilometers in diameter and has an
icy
crust.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Other
moons:
Mimas
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Enceladus
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Tethys
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Titan
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Two views of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Photo on left shows a band of clouds near the N. pole.
Other photo shows a blue haze of nitrogen. Titan is
the only moon in the solar system with an
atmosphere!
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Norm Herr (sample file)
A comparison of the size of the inner planets and the large moons.
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Norm Herr
(sample
file)bigger than Mercury!
Notice
that Ganymede and Titan
are
both
URANUS
•
•
•
•
Uranus has 27 moons
1 rotation = 17 hours 18 min
1 revolution = 84.1 Earth years
Rotates “on it’s side” with S. pole
facing the Sun
• T = - 216 °C
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Norm Herr (sample file)
URANUS
• Orbit can take it past Pluto
• Atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and
methane
• Has at least 12 rings made of fine
dust
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Infrared photos of Uranus taken 90 minutes apart shows
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Norm Herr (sample
file)a view of the rings.
movement
of 7 of the moons
and
Photo of the
gas giant
Uranus…
…blue
colour is
due to the
presence of
methane in
the
atmosphere
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Uranus from Voyager
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The Rings of Uranus
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The Moons of Uranus
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Miranda
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Rift on
Miranda
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Triton
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Norm Herr (sample file)
NEPTUNE
•
•
•
•
•
•
1 rotation = 15 hours 40 min
1 revolution = 165 Earth years
13 moons
T = - 214 °C
Ring system present
Atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and
methane
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Norm Herr (sample file)
• The blue colour is due to the presence of
methane
• The Great Dark Spot was a storm that moved at
1200 km per hour
• Winds around the GDS moved at 2000 km per
hour!
• The Scooter was an irregularly shaped cloud
that traveled around the planet every 16 hours
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Norm Herr (sample file)
As seen by Voyager 2
The Great Dark Spot (GDS) and
Scooter.
The GDS is 6000 km wide
Scooter is the white
area to the lower left
Below it is a smaller dark
spot with a bright core.
All 3 move at different speeds
around the planet
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Norm Herr (sample file)
This photo shows another view
of the GDS which appears to
rotate counter-clockwise and is
accompanied by white clouds.
The Scooter and ‘small dark
spot’ are also in the photo.
According to the Hubble
Space Telescope, the GDS
has since disappeared.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
The Rings of
Neptune. The
black band blocks
reflected light
from the planet.
Otherwise the
rings could not be
seen.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
A comparison of the Jovian planets
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Norm Herr (sample file)
PLUTO
• The smallest “planet”or dwarf planet
• Often the most distant object from the
Sun
• 1 rotation = 6.4 Earth days ( in the
opposite direction of Earth)
• 1 revolution = 247.7 Earth years
• T = - 230 °C
• 3 moons
• No longer a planet ?
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Norm Herr (sample file)
PLUTO
• Thin atmosphere of methane and
nitrogen
• Discovered in 1930 by accident.
• Some astronomers believe that
Pluto is not a planet but rather the
largest member of the Kuiper belt.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Pluto
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Norm Herr (sample file)
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Pluto and the satellites
orbiting him….
Notice the orbits of Pluto and Neptune…..
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Norm Herr (sample file)
An artist’s conception of the surface features of
Pluto (on left) and Charon (on the right)
Pluto is 2300 km in diameter, Charon is 1200 km
wide.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Pluto and it’s moon Charon
Hubble telescope image at 4.4 billion km from Earth.
This is the clearest image ever taken of them. They are
so close together that when seen through a telescope
from Earth they would look like one object.
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Beyond Pluto?
• Sedna
– a “new” miniplanet past Pluto
– It is the coldest body in the solar
system
• Quaoar
• Plus lots of others!
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Kuiper Belt
30 – 50 AU
• Vast reservoir of icy rocks beyond
Neptune’s orbit
• Possibly number in the millions!
• Each are thought to be half rock and half
ice
• On occasion a gravitational “bump” from
Neptune knocks a Kuiper belt object out of
orbit and sends it toward the sun forming
a comet
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Norm Herr (sample file)
Oort Cloud
10 000 – 100 000 AU
• Envelops the entire solar system
• Consists of trillions of loose lumps
of dust and gases – leftovers from
the formation of the planets
• Comets originate here
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Norm Herr (sample file)