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Kaitlyn Phillips Unit 14
WWKWE WILL COMPARE GAS GIANTS AND TERRESTRIAL PLANETS AND DISCUSS
THEIR DIFFERENT FEATURES
There are 9 planets* in our solar system- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (unless you’re not into the whole “Pluto is still a planet” thing).
There are two diff erent types of planets: Terrestrial Planets: A planet having a compact rocky surface
like the Earth’s. Gas Giants: A large, low-density planet composed primarily
of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia in either gaseous or liquid state.
*planet- a celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit around a star.
WHAT ARE THE PLANETS?
Mercury- This is the planet closest to the sun. It has zero moons, and
it’s orbit lasts 88 days. Since it is closest to the sun, you’d be right if you said it’s surface is very hot. Indeed, the side facing the sun is nearly 800 degrees Fahrenheit. However, because Mercury has nearly no atmosphere, it cannot trap heat. Therefore, the side facing away from the sun can be almost -300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Venus- Venus’ orbit lasts 225 days and also has zero moons.
Because it does have an atmosphere, it traps heat. Because of this, at any time of day, the surface of Venus can be up to 860 degrees Fahrenheit.
TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
Mercury Venus
Earth- We already know a lot about the Earth because of our past
units. We know it has one moon, our orbit lasts 365 days, and our atmosphere traps heat and greenhouse gases. Temperatures range depending on region, but on average, it’s temperature is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mars- Mars has 2 moons and it’s orbit lasts 687 days. Since it is
farther away from the sun, the surface is a bit colder than earth’s. However, it’s average temperature ranges from 68 degrees in the daytime to -130 degrees Fahrenheit in the nighttime.
TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
Earth Mars
Jupiter – Jupiter has 62 moons and 3 rings, which are made up of
space debris. It’s orbit is 12 years long. The average temperature of Jupiter is hard to pinpoint because the temperature varies as you descend into the planet. In the outer atmosphere, the temperature is about 68 degrees Fahrenheit, but as you descend further, temperatures reach high enough to turn hydrogen into liquid at 17,000 degrees Fahrenheit!
Saturn- Saturn also has 62 known moons. It’s rings are less than 3
miles thick, but 150,000 miles long in radius, which is 2/3 the distance from the Earth to the moon! It’s orbit lasts 29 years. It’s hard to tell what the temperature of Saturn is on average, but the highest clouds can be colder than -238 degrees Fahrenheit, and the inner core is said to be over 21,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
GAS GIANTS
GAS GIANTS
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus- Uranus has 27 known moons and it’s orbit lasts 84 years.
The planet has a few rings, but they are different from Saturn and Jupiter’s rings because they are made of icy boulders, and in some places are not even a complete ring. Uranus is very cold; in fact, it can go all the way down to -370 degrees Fahrenheit.
Neptune- Neptune has 13 moons and it’s orbit lasts 165 years. It has
5 rings, all made up of rock and dust. Neptune is said by scientists to be the coldest place in the solar system. It can dip down to almost -360 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s average temperature is -325 degrees.
MORE GAS GIANTS
Uranus Neptune
Mercury’s atmosphere is made of hydrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and potassium. The atmosphere is barely there.
Venus has an atmosphere with clouds made of toxic carbon dioxide. It’s atmosphere is very hot and thick. It’s made up of 96% carbon dioxide, 3.5% nitrogen, and less than 1% of other gases.
Earth’s atmosphere is made of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and <1% argon.
Mars’ atmosphere is very thin, and is made of 95% carbon, 3% nitrogen, and 1.6% argon.
Jupiter’s atmosphere is made of about 89% hydrogen, 11% helium, and <1% methane.
Saturn’s atmosphere is almost entirely hydrogen and helium.
Uranus’ atmosphere is a mixture of ammonia, ammonium, methane, and water.
Neptune is like Uranus, but it has a very high concentration of methane.
ATMOSPHERES
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter has been active since the 1880s and is 15,000 miles wide.
Even though Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, it is the fastest rotating planet. It only takes ten hours for it to make one full rotation.
In the early 17 th century, Galileo was the fi rst to see Saturn’s rings.
Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system. They can reach up to 2,100 km per hour. To compare, the fastest winds ever recorded on Earth were during Hurricane Andrew, with winds not exceeding 250 km per hour.
INTERESTING FACTS
In 2006, Pluto was stripped of it’s planetary status. Scientists believed that Pluto was just another Kuiper
Belt object, because there were a large amount of similar formations further out in the Kuiper Belt that did not meet the requirements for planetary status.
One of those similar objects, named Eris, has a similar ice/rock formation. However, it is larger than Pluto and is located further beyond Neptune. This made scientists skeptical about our Solar System having 9 planets.
WHAT’S UP WITH PLUTO?
How many moons does Mars have?
KS
The comparisons of our solar system to extra-solar planets and how
they are detected.
WWK:
Extra-Solar Planet
An Extra- Solar Planet or ‘exoplanet’ is a planet outside our solar system not belonging to the Sun
‘51 Pegasi’ was the first exoplanet ever to be discovered in 1995
These planets are difficult to detect, because they are about One-billionth the brightness of their parent stars.
Butt! Since the year 1995, astronomers using highly sensitive instrumentshave succeeded in discovering them.
Comparisons?Both Exoplanets and our Solar system share something called elliptical orbits around their parent stars.
However, most exoplanets orbit are much closer to their parent stars than Earth is to the Sun. One explanation being that these planets are formed farther away from their parent stars and then gradually spiraled inward. Some of these exoplanets have even more elliptical orbits than usual.
Detecting Extra-Solar Planets
As previously mentioned before, exoplanets are pretty hard to detectWithout the use of some very highly sensitive instruments.
Three forms of Detection:
While astronomers have identified tons of exoplanets so far, they're all too small and distant to identify with just a telescope. Artists are relied on to help depict what these Extra-Solar Planets look to help label and study them.
Pulsar TimingA Pulsar is a neutron star as a result of a supernova.
This method was not originally designed for the detection of planets, but is Pulsar Timing is so sensitive that it is capable of detecting planets far smaller than any other method can. down to less than a tenth the mass of Earth.
The main drawback of the pulsar-timing method is that pulsars are relatively rare, so it is unlikely that a large number of planets will be found this way. Also, life as we know it could not survive on planets orbiting pulsars since high-energy radiation there is extremely intense.
Terrestrial Planet FinderThe Terrestrial Planet Finder or ‘TPF’ was a NASA
project that uses a series of four high sensitivity telescopes with revolutionary imaging technologies. It will measure the temperature, size, and the orbital parameters of planets as small as our Earth in distant solar systems. This would also allow chemists and biologists to use the relative amounts of gases to find whether a planet might support life. The launch was to be anticipated between 2012-2015 until NASA's budget cuts. One great challenge is how to detect
planets against the blinding glare of their parent star. The TPF would have reduced the glare of parent stars to see planetary systems up to 50 light-years away. IF IT HADN’T BEEN CANCELLED.
Radial Velocity Method
The vast majority of planetary detections so far has been achieved using this method which requires the light from a star to be passed through a prism and split into a spectrum. Ex. water droplets in the atmosphere splitting sunlight into a rainbow.
When the spectrum mentioned above is magnified, straight black lines can be seen overlapping on the colors. These black lines correspond to the wavelengths of light that have been absorbed by chemicals on the surface of the star that they came Every element and molecule generates its own chemical fingerprint through these 'spectral lines’ at different wavelengths.
Studying these lines can show which stars have large planets around them because as the exoplanet orbits the parent star, it pulls on it with its gravitational field, forcing the star into a “wobble” It makes it look as if the star is pirouetting around a point in space which indicates it’s dancing around an exoplanet. YAY COMPLICATED SCIENCE STUFF!
Exoplanet detection through the study ofSpectral lines and their varying wavelengths
Extra-Solar Planet:
Pulsar Timing:
Terrestrial Planet Finder:
Radial Velocity Method:
A NASA project that uses a series of four highly sensitive telescopes with revolutionary imaging technologies. It could measure the temperature, size, and the orbital parameters of planets in distant solar systems until cancelled by budget cuts.
‘exoplanet’ A planet outside our solar system not belonging to the Sun.
a small neutron star resulting from a supernova, known as a Pulsar, so sensitive that it is capable of detecting exoplanets far smaller than any other method can.
Exoplanet detection through the study of Spectral lines and their varying wavelengths.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yBB81ifc40
K.S.
WWK: The Characteristics of comets,
asteroids, and meteoroids.
By: Holly Belyea (Unit 14 Table 4)
Comets
Comets are a celestial object that has a nucleus made up of ice and dust, and orbits the sun.
There are 4 main characteristics to a comet the nucleus, the coma, the ion tail, and the dust tail.
1.) The nucleus is the solid dirty snowball part of the comet.
2.) The coma is the comets atmosphere.
3.) The dust tail is made up of the dust that comes off of the nucleus as the comet comes near the sun and heats up.
4.) The ion/plasma tail is made up of the gases coming off of the coma and is often hard to see.
Comets continued…The Coma
When the comet comes close to the sun it grows warmer and some of the ice heats up and becomes gas, which releases dust grains trapped in the ice to create the coma.
The comet actually has 2 tails, the ion tail and the dust tail.
Dust Tail
The bright white tail is called the dust tail, because it is made up of the dust coming off the nucleus as the comet is heated up by the sun.
Ion/Plasma Tail
The smaller tail is called the plasma/ion tail and is often hard to see. It is also made up of the gases coming off of the coma.
Asteroids
Asteroids are sometimes referred to as minor planets and have rocky metallic bodies that revolve around the sun, usually in a region known as the asteroid belt and orbit between Jupiter and Mars.
There are 3 types of asteroids
C-type (carbonaceous)
S-type (silicaceous)
M-type (metallic)
Asteroids continued…
C-type
C-type asteroids are extremely dark and make up more than 75% of all asteroids.
S-type
S-type asteroids are relatively light and made up of metallic nickel-iron and make up 17% of all asteroids.
M-type
M-type asteroids are bright and composed of pure nickel-iron and make up most of the other asteroids.
Meteoroids
A meteoroid ,or what we like to call a shooting star, is a small body that becomes a meteor when it enters the earths atmosphere.
A meteoroid that survives the fall through earths atmosphere and collides with the earth is called a meteorite.
A meteoroid ranges from the size of dust to 10 meters in diameter and generally smaller than asteroids.
K.S.
Name 2 of the 4 characteristics of a comet.
You will know the positions of comets, asteroids, and meteoroids along with the knowledge of their orbital
regions.
UNIT 14 PRESENTATIONBY: KELSEY LEWIS, TABLE 4, PERIOD 5
THE SOLAR SYSTEM The solar system is a collection of planets and their moons in orbit around a sun, together with smaller bodies such as comets, asteroids, and meteoroids.
By understanding the solar system, we will be able to identify the orbital regions these “smaller bodies” follow throughout their existence.
POSITION OF THE COMETAs we know, a comet is a frozen remnant from outer planet formation. This is why there are comets found near the solar system. Since comets begin from the formation of these planets, they tend to continue the motion as the planets do. They take on a specific orbit. The planet’s orbits are typically shaped in a circular fashion, while comet’s orbits take on more of an oval shape, referred to as an ellipse.
An elliptical orbit means there is a point for each comet where it is closest to the Sun. (aka: perihelion---”peri” means “close,” and, “helio” is the root word for, “sun.”)
While most comets orbit the sun, others are said to inhabit in an area known as the Oort Cloud; a cloud which extends to one light-year more from the sun containing comets and excess dust particles.
Once within the Oort Cloud, many comets over time, orbit to a more flattened, inner region in the cloud, called the Kuiper Belt. Because the Kuiper Belt orbit is closer to the Sun, if the comet’s perihelion is close enough, it receives enough solar energy to become bright and visible in the night sky.
POSITION OF THE ASTEROIDJust like comets, asteroids are considered to be remnants left over from the formation of the solar system.
Asteroids unlike comets though, actually have a specific area where they orbit.
This is called the Asteroid Belt.
The Asteroid Belt is found right in between Mars and Jupiter. Many astronomers believe the belt is made up of potential material expected to birth a planet, but never took hold due to Jupiter’s gravitational pull.
There are known to be more asteroid orbits around other planets, but they are minor and the Asteroid Belt is where the majority are found.
POSITION OF THE METEOROIDMeteoroids are smaller than asteroids….more like the size of a pebble. These are formed from the broken pieces of comets and asteroids. They can also be broken particles from the moon and planet Mars.
Meteoroids orbit around the sun and all travel at different speeds and orbits. Some orbit together in packs known as, stream components and then others are more sporadic.
The fastest meteoroids travel roughly at 26 miles per second (42km per second) through space.
Sometimes, meteoroids break through the earth’s atmosphere as the Earth orbits the sun and they become, meteorites.
HISTORIC SIGHTINGS OF THESE INTERGALACTIC BODIES
Halley’s Comet
Most popular of all periodic comets, Halley’s comet visits the solar system every 75-76 years.
Sir Edmond Halley was the first to calculate it’s orbit who predicted it’s return in 1759.
Mark Twain who was born in 1835 during the passage of the comet predicted he would, “expect to go out with it,” which he promptly did in 1910.
It is predicted to grace Earth’s night skies again in 2061.
THE GREAT DAYLIGHT FIREBALL OF 1972
This asteroid ranged from 3 to 14 meters in diameter, depending upon it’s make-up.
(could’ve been made of ice or rock)
The asteroid burned through the atmosphere from Utah to Canada for about a minute and a half.
Thankfully, the asteroid struck a glancing blow---had it hit Earth directly, it could’ve blasted us with ½ a Hiroshima worth of energy.
ALLENDE METEORITE
The Allende Meteorite was the most-studied meteorite ever. This car-sized chunk of rock flamed through Earth’s atmosphere in February, 1969.
It ended up breaking into thousands of smaller pieces, found through out the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua.
The meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite, a rare type of meteorite that makes up only about 4 percent of known meteorites.
KS
• What is an elliptic orbit?
