The Outer Planets

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

A. Expert - I have done a lot of reading in this area already.

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C. Moderate - I know a little about this topic.

D. Rookie - I am a blank slate … but ready to learn.

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B. 1,400

C. 1,600

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Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Lesson Overview

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

1. Phenomenon of different parts of a planet having different periods

of rotation

2. Flattened at the poles

3. A hypothetical whirling gaseous mass within a giant cloud of gas and

dust

4. The passing of one astronomical object in front of another

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Jupiter god

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Jupiter as Seen From

Earth and From Space

Jupiter is the Solar System’s largest planet

318 times the mass of Earth

Volume is 1,400 times that of Earth

Takes nearly 12 Earth years to cycle around the Sun

Courtesy of Voyager 1, NASA

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Jupiter’s Rotation

Light- and dark-colored bands

parallel to its equator

The phenomenon of different

parts of a planet having

different periods of rotation is

known as differential rotation

Jupiter is somewhat oblate, or

flattened at the poles; this is

an effect of Jupiter’s swift

rotationCourtesy of California Institute of

Technology

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

The Composition of Jupiter’s

Atmosphere

90 percent hydrogen and 10 percent

helium, with small amounts of methane,

ammonia and water vapor

Small amounts of certain heavier elements

Carbon, nitrogen and sulfur

Three so-called “noble” gases

Argon, krypton and xenon

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Jupiter’s Three Groups of

Moons

1. Fragmented moonlets

2. Galilean satellites: Io,

Europa, Ganymede,

and Callisto

3. Remaining 55 moons:

Astronomers speculate

that these moons are

captured asteroids

Courtesy of Galileo Project /JPL/NASA

Saturn Greek god

Chapter 3, Lesson 3Kronus

Saturn

The astronomer Galileo first observed

Saturn in 1610

Some 50 years later the Dutch physicist

and astronomer Christian Huygens

recognized that the “ears” on Saturn were

really rings

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Saturn’s Size, Mass, and Density

Not much smaller in diameter than

Jupiter

Only half as dense

0.7 the density of water

Has a less dense core and less

liquid metallic hydrogen than Jupiter

does Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science

Institute

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Saturn’s Speed of Rotation and

Solar Orbit

29.5 Earth years to orbit

the Sun

Rotates on its axis in 10

hours, 39 minutes

Saturn’s rings are in the

plane of its equator

Tilts 27 degrees with

respect to its orbital

plane Courtesy of NASA and the Hubble Heritage

Team, STScI/AURA/Acknowledgment: R.G.

French (Wellesley College), J. Cuzzi

(NASA/Ames), L. Dones (SWRI), J.

Lissauer (NASA/Ames)

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Titan, Saturn’s Largest

Moon

Largest of more than 60 moons

Second largest in the Solar System

Data from Huygens probe suggest that

at one point, Titan had an atmosphere

five times as dense as it is today

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

The Particles That Form

Saturn’s Rings

Chunks of water ice and smaller

bits of rock and organic matter

Lots of empty space between

the chunks too

Greek god Uranus

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Father Sky

Who Made the

Best Telescopes?

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

What Led Herschel to Discover

the Planet Uranus

Object did not

appear as a point of

light, as stars do

It moved

That suggested a

different kind of

celestial object

Courtesy of NASA/JPL/STScI

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

The Motion of Uranus and the

Tilt of Its Equatorial Plane

Takes 84 Earth years to orbit the Sun

Axis is tilted 90 degrees to its orbital plane

The poles alternate between 42 years of

sunlight and 42 years of darkness

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

How Uranus’s Moons Act as Shepherds

for the Particles of Its Ring

First reliable determination of Uranus’s

diameter used an occultation – the

passing of one astronomical object in front

of another

Inner moon will orbit faster than the ring’s

particles

Particles passing the outer moon are

slowed somewhat while doing so

God of Neptune

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Poseidon

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Neptune’s Wind Speeds and

Differential Rotation

Experiences differential

rotation – to an extreme

degree

Magnetic field rotates every 16

hours and seven minutes

Strong winds and storm

systems suggest that Neptune

has an annual cycle of

seasons

Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

The Unusual Orbits of Neptune’s

Two Major Moons

Triton revolves clockwise around its planet

Nereid has the most eccentric orbit

Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

A. Ganymede

B. Titan

C. Triton

D. Nereid

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A. Galileo

B. John C. Adams

C. Johann Galle

D. Herschel

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Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Review

The four planets farthest from the Sun are

called the Jovian planets

All of the Jovian planets have rings and

multiple moons

Scientists are still discovering information

about these planets

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Summary

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Chapter 3, Lesson 3

Next…

Done – The Outer

Planets

Next – Dwarf Planets,

Comets, Asteroids,

and Kuiper Belt

Objects

Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD

A. Occultation

B. Eccentric

C. Differential rotation

D. Chemical differentiation

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A. Oblate

B. Elliptical

C. Occultation

D. Eccentric

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A. Planetesimal

B. Nebula

C. Corona

D. Protoplanet

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A. Oblation

B. Occultation

C. Planetesimal

D. Eccentric orbit

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