question

Which planets can be seen high overhead at night?

answer

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be seen with the "naked" eye

question

Besides the moon, which planets exibit a full set of phases?

answer

Mercury and Venus have a full set of phases in additon to Earth's Moon.

question

Should there be another planet [not dwarf] between Mars and Jupiter?

answer

Not enough material[=~4%Earth's Moon] to form another planet. Jupiter gravity=movement and jostling of material, made it impossible for formation of another planet.

question

Moon vs. Mercury

answer

Average density of Moon is 3.3 g/cm3 • Mare- dark flat lowlands with few impact craters and formed when lava flowed in to the low areas of the moon about 3.1-3.8 billion years • Highlands - bright, mountainous, cratered regions that are the result of countless meteorite impacts and formed about 4.2 - 3.9 Billion years ago • No tectonic activity • Moon-quakes caused by gravitational interactions with the Earth and not by tectonic activity • Little interior heat • Transient atmosphere produced by evaporation of surface material • Weak magnetic field

question

Mercury vs. Moon

answer

• Experiences huge temperature extremes because it has no atmosphere, a slow rotation and its close proximity to the sun •surface gravity is ~ 2x the Moon's • Crater Walls are less steep because of the higher Gravity • Smaller pattern of ejected material because of the higher Gravity • Lacks the large maria seen on the Moon

question

What are planetary rings composed of?

answer

dust particles, astroids hitting moons= debris

question

Which planets have moons bigger than Mercury?

answer

Jupiter-Ganymede, Saturn-Titan

question

Which planets rotate seemingly opposite from Earth?

answer

Venus, Uranus

question

What evidence suggests that Mars had liquid water on its surface?

answer

ancient river deltas, outflow channels, and dry riverbeds, and spherical rocks from salt drip.

question

Where is all the water on Mars now?

answer

escaped into space via UV rays, underneath perma frost, at the polar ice caps

question

How do volcanoes grow so big on other planets?

answer

If a planet doesn't have plate techtonics then the terrestrial portion of that planet adjusted over the magma hot just continues to grow.

question

Which planets rip apart there moons?

answer

as moons cross the threshold they explode

question

Why are these moons ripped up by their adjacent planet?

answer

they pass the rouche limit

question

Why was Pluto demoted to dwarf planet?

answer

The discovery of Eris

question

Chemical compositions of Jovian planets?

answer

liquid & gaseous

question

Chemical composition of terrestrial planets?

answer

rocky & metallic

question

What are the unique features of Uranus?

answer

• Diameter: 4x Earth • Mass: 14.5x Earth • Orbit: 20x further from Sun than Earth • Relatively featureless atmosphere • Methane gives the atmosphere its blue color • The axis is tilted by 97° • Rings & Moons orbit around the equator of Uranus

question

How does one determine high pressure/low pressure systems on other worlds?

answer

Hurricanes are low pressure systems: rotate counter-clockwise in the N. Hemisphere and clockwise in the S. Hemisphere • High pressure systems rotate the opposite sense

question

What is the most distant planet or plutoid from the Sun?

answer

furthest planet=Neptune CPME

question

As of 2012, how many moons orbit each planet/& dwarf planet?

answer

...

question

Which worlds have active volcanoes or geysers?

answer

Earth, Mars, Triton, Enceladus, and Titan

question

Why are Mercury and Venus so hot, and Mars so cool?

answer

Venus=96%CO2=runaway greenhouse effect, Mercury= no atmosphere, side facing Sun is searing hot, the side pointing away=dead cold, and slow rotation. Mars

question

What was Voyager II's mission, what is it doing now?

answer

designated officially to study just the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn then possibly hit Neptune and Uranus, not is likely to be travelling through the heliosheath and into interstellar space soon

question

Planets that have tilts similar to Earth are?

answer

Mars=25°, Saturn 26°, Neptune 29.6°

question

Why do some planets have huge atmospher's and others have little to none?

answer

the bigger the mass the higher the gravity= the more atmosphere it can hold onto

question

What types of gases can Mars hold in it's atmosphere?

answer

1% of Earth's (trace amounts of oxygen), CO2 migrates seasonally from the N. Polar cap to the S. Polar cap

question

Terrestrial planets vs. Jovian planets

answer

Small/Low Mass, Rocky/Metallic, High Density, Thin Atmosphere

question

Jovian planets vs. Terrestrial Planets

answer

Big & massive, gaseous/ liquid, low density, thick atmosphere, many moons and rings • All Jovian planets have Hydrogen and Helium rich atmospheres • Atmospheric composition more similar to the Sun than the Earth

question

What is a solar day?

answer

24h; time between successive passes of the Sun

question

What is a sidereal day?

answer

23h56min; time between successive passes of a given star

question

Which planets have long sidereal days?

answer

Venus' sidereal period is 243.02 days[solar day 1/2x] Mercury's sidereal period is 58.6467 days. [nights 2x longer than year]

question

Billions of years ago the Moon was alot closer to Earth. How did this effect the tides and day length?

answer

meaning that each day/night cycle was shorter, and tides would also have been higher [possible couple hundred meters high]

question

Why do some moons have spherical shapes and other not?

answer

a Moon's mass must be big enough so that the force of gravity shapes the moon into a sphere.

question

What are the Galilean moons?

answer

Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto

question

M,V,E,M,c,J,S,U,N,p,h,m,e

answer

order of planets, dwwarf planets, plutoids

question

How would the sunset look on the surface of Mercury?

answer

just a big freakin yellow Sun against a background of black, atmosphere=1%of Earth's

question

How would the sunset look on the surface of Venus?

answer

Cloudy, dark, Raining sulfuric rain

question

How would the sunset look on the surface of Mars?

answer

appear blue because dust scatters, and reflects Sun's light towards me [ie. in space= appear red because blue scatters away from me], Sun would have a halo

question

Important moons of Saturn:

answer

Titan, Enceladus, Mimas, Hyperion

question

Titan:

answer

Saturnian, 2nd largest, Only moon with a dense atmosphere - Atmosphere: Nitrogen (90%), no Oxygen - Methane clouds rains down methane on surface

question

Enceladus:

answer

Saturnian, "tiger stripe", cracks=water geyser venting from South Polar Region and forms the E-ring [shoots 100+ mi. into space], N.Hemisphere=preserved, surface covered in water ice

question

Mimas:

answer

Saturnian, "death star", is causing a gap in Saturn's Ring through a gravitation resonance [2:1] [like kicking on the swing at just the right time]

question

Hyperion:

answer

Saturnian, "sponge-like'' Not enough mass to shape itself into a sphere, abnormal craters, covered with sharp edges

question

How do the atmopheres of the Jovian planets differ from eachother?

answer

Jupiter: 90% hydrogen, 10% helium Saturn:hydrogen and helium, ++sulfur=yellow color,nitrogen and oxygen Uranus: blue methane, reflects blue& absorbs other colours Neptune: blue methan, clouds=crystalized methane

question

Planet criteria:

answer

Orbits around the Sun • Sufficient mass for its self-gravity to shape itself into a sphere (or ellipsoid) • Cleared its neighborhood around its orbit

question

Dwarf Planet criteria:

answer

Orbits around the Sun • Sufficient mass for its self-gravity to shape itself into a sphere (or ellipsoid) • Not cleared its neighborhood around its orbit • Not a moon

question

Plutoid Criteria:

answer

Orbits around the Sun • Sufficient mass for its self-gravity to shape itself into a sphere • Not cleared its neighborhood around its orbit • Not a moon • Orbits beyond the orbit of Neptune

question

If the Earth's axis was no longer tilted, then how would Earth be affected?

answer

no more seasons

question

Roche Limit

answer

minimum radius at which a moon may orbit a planet without being ripped apart

question

Saturn: Possible Ring Origin

answer

an object came too close to this planet and was torn apart by gravity, creating rings

question

Saturn's Ring Characteristics

answer

Rings are very thin: 30 feet thick (on average) Rings are composed of icy dust particles that orbit around this planet's equator

question

Saturn

answer

Jovian, Diameter: 9.5x Earth Mass: 95x Earth Orbit: 10x further from Sun than Earth -thick upper atmosphere=cannot see below it

question

Kuiper Belt

answer

Disk region between 30 - 1000 AU that harbors about 100 million comets

question

Oort Cloud - Sph

answer

erical shell between 10,000 - 100,000 AU containing up to a trillion comets

question

Venus

answer

Diameter: 95% of Earth's, Mass: 82% of Earth's, Orbit: 28% closer to Sun Solar Day = 117 Earth days Axis: tilted by 177° (rotating backwards)

question

Mars

answer

• Diameter: 50% of Earth's • Mass: 10% of Earth's • Orbit: 52% further from Sun

question

Mercury

answer

• Diameter: 38% of Earth's • Mass: 6% of Earth's • Orbit: 61% closer to Sun

question

Planetary Atmospheres

answer

• The more massive the planet the larger the gravity and the more gas it can hold in its atmosphere • The speed of the gases will determine if the planet's gravity can hold the gas in its atmosphere • Higher the temperature, the faster the gas velocity

question

Neptune

answer

• Diameter: 3.9x Earth • Mass: 17x Earth • Orbit: 30x further from Sun than Earth • Methane in the upper atmosphere gives its blue color, White clouds of crystal methane found high in the atmosphere • Great Dark Spot is a high pressure storm system

question

Saturn

answer

• Diameter: 9.5x Earth • Mass: 95x Earth • Orbit: 10x further from Sun than Earth

question

Jupiter

answer

• Diameter: 11.2x Earth • Mass: 318x Earth • Orbit: 5x further from Sun than Earth Galilean Moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto

question

Solar System Formation

answer

from the collapse of a rotating cloud ~10000 AU in size (Solar Nebula) composition of a planet depends on the type of material that condenses into a solid at the planet's location, frostlines

question

Outside the frost line

answer

rocks, metals and hydrogen compounds like water, methane and ammonia condense to form a solid material, Jovian planets form

question

Inside frost line

answer

rocks and metals condense to form a solid material , the Terrestrial planets form

question

Jupiter Great Red Spot

answer

High pressure Storm system that has lasted over 300 years, Rotates with period of 6 days, Can fit 2-3 Earths across Storm,

question

Moons further away from Jupiter

answer

experience less gravitational heating: less active surface, more cratered, older surface

question

low pressure systems

answer

rotate counter-clockwise in the N. Hemisphere and clockwise in the S. Hemisphere [hurricanes]

question

high pressure systems

answer

rotate clockwise in the N. Hemispher and counter-clockwise in the S. Hemisphere [Jupiters Eye]

question

Jupiter's Interior

answer

The lower the depth, the higher the temperature and pressure, Hydrogen gas turns liquid at 1000 km in depth, Liquid hydrogen turns liquid metallic at 20,000 km in depth

question

Runaway Greenhouse Effect

answer

caused by the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere

question

Venus' interior

answer

is very hot like the Earth, but does not possess a magnetic field of its very slow rotation of 243 days

question

Venus' atmosphere

answer

Atmosphere: 85x Earth's, 96.5% CO2, Temperature: 870° F, without CO2 the temperature would drop to about 150° F

question

Venus' surface

answer

highlands & lowlands, active geological processes

question

Mar's seasons

answer

caused by the axial tilt and distance from the Sun, last twice as long as on Earth CO2 migrates from the N. Polar cap to the S. Polar cap

question

Mar's surface

answer

rocks rich in iron and silicon (iron reacts with O2 to form rust (rusty red)

question

Mar's atmosphere:

answer

1% of Earth's (trace amounts of oxygen), Temperature: -211° to 80° F (Average: - 50° F)

question

Mercury's surface

answer

surface gravity is ~ 2x the Moon's, crater walls are less steep because of the higher Gravity=Smaller pattern of ejected material, lacks the large maria seen on the Moon

question

Mercury's atmosphere

answer

Experiences huge temperature extremes because it has no atmosphere, a slow rotation and its close proximity to the sun

question

Triton

answer

Neptunean's, the only major moon to orbit its planet in retrograde motion (captured Kuiper belt object)

question

Io

answer

Jupiters, blue geyser, volcanically active, no impact craters,

question

Europa

answer

Jupiters, "q-ball", water/ice, cracks caused by Jupiters gravity

question

Ganymede

answer

largest moon in the solar system, old regions=dark-many impact craters, youg=light-few craters, bright area=rich in water/ice

question

Callisto

answer

Jupiters, "black with star pattern", +++preserved craters, cool, furthest from Jupiter,

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