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Early astronomers knew:

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Sun, Moon, Stars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, comets, and meteors

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Now we know the solar system has:

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one star, eight planets (added Uranus and Neptune), 135+ moons, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.

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Pluto was added as a planet then

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reduced to a Dwarf Planet

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Orbital period

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can be observed

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Distance from the Sun

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known by Kepler's laws

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Radius known from

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angular size

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Masses from Kepler's 3rd Law as modified by

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Newton

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Rotation period from

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observations

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Density can be calculated knowing

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radius and mass

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terrestrial planets - Atmospheres and surface conditions

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are very dissimilar

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only earth has

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oxygen in atmosphere and liquid water on surface

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earth and mars rotate

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at about the same rate

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venus and mercury are

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much slower

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venus rotates in

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the opposite direction

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earth and mars have

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moons

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mercury and venus do not have

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moons

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earth, mars, and mercury have

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magnetic fields

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venus does not have

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magnetic fields

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asteroids and meteoroids are

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rocky

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asteroids are

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bigger

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asteroid eros is 34 Km long

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...

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comets are

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icy, with some rocky parts

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comet hale - bopp

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...

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mariner 10 flew by

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mercury, 1974-1975

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soviey venera probes landed on

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venus from 1970-1978

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viking landers arrived at

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mars in 1976

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pioneer and voyager flew through

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outer solar system.

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cloud of gas and dust contracts due to

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gravity

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conservation of angular momentum means it

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spins faster and faster as it contracts

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condensation theory

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interstellar dust grains help cool the cloud, and act as condensation nuclei to produce flakes

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local temperature in the

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condensing cloud determines where various materials condense

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overall structure

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mantle two-part core thin crust hydrosphere (oceans) atmosphere

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the blue curve shows the

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temperature at each altitude

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troposphere is where

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convection takes place - responsible for weather

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ionosphere is

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ionized by solar radiation, and is a good conductor

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the atmosphere reflects

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radio waves in the AM range

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but transparent to

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FM and TV

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ozone layer is between

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ionosphere and mesosphere

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the ozone layer absorbs

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ultraviolet radiation

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it is reported that man-made chloro-fluoro-carbons (CFCs) have been

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damaging the ozone layer, resulting in an ozone hole

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sunlight that is not reflected is

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absorbed by earth's surface, warming it

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surface reradiates as

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infrared thermal radiation

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atmosphere absorbs much of the

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infrared thus warming it

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the atmosphere scatters

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short wavelengths (blue), but not the longer wavelengths (red), making the sky appear blue

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secondary atmosphere came from

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volcanic activity, mostly nitrogen

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primary atmosphere was

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hydrogen, helium ; these escaped earth's gravity

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life appeared,

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creating atmospheric oxygen

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the construction of the earth is determined by

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studying the seismic waves generated by earthquakes

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mantle is much less dense than

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the core

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mantle is

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rocky;

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core is

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metallic - iron and nickel

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outer core is

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liquid

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inner core is

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solid; due to pressure

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volcanic lava comes from

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mantle; allows analysis of composition

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contintental drift:

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entire earth's surface is covered with crustal plates, which can move independently

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earthquakes and volcanoes occur at

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plate boundaries

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plates can also slide along each other, creating

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faults where many earthquakes occur

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a subduction zone is where

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one plate slides below another

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plates can move away from each other creating

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rifts

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the new crust created at rift zones preserves the

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magnetic field present at the time it solidified

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from this we can tell that field reversals occur about every

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500,000 years

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tectonic plate motion is

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drive by convection currents in the liquid mantle below the crust

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if we follow the continental drift backwards,

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the continents merge into one, which is called pangaea

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the magnetosphere is the

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magnetic field around the earth where charged particles from the solar wind are deflected and some are trapped

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the magnetosphere - the charged particles are

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trapped in areas called he van allen belts, where they spiral around the magnetic field lines

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near the poles, the van allen belts

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intersect the atmosphere.

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the charged particles can interact with

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air molecules; when they do, they create glowing light called an aurora

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many authors say that tides are due to

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gravitational force on earth from the moon

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force on near side of earth is greater than force on far side.

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greater than force on far side.

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water can flow

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freely in response

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the sun has less effect, but it does modify the

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lunar tides and produces neap tides and spring tides

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a more reasonable explanation of the tides if called the

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dynamic theory

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the earth and moon revolve around a

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common center of gravity (barycenter)

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the tide on the moon side is due to

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tidal force

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the tide on the opposite side is due to

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centrifugal force

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tides tend to exert a

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"drag" force on the earth, slowing it's rotation

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this also causes the moon to

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speed up in its orbit and "fall" away from the earth

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the sidereal day is

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one orbital period with respect to the stars

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one synchronous day is measured from

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full moon to the next full moon which is 29.5 days

question

the experiment package being deployed here is the

answer

ALSEP

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the lunar interior was determined from

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moon quakes as measured by the five seismographs deployed on the moon

question

the surface of the moon is covered with

answer

dust and debris from meterorite impacts called Regolith

question

the moon is still being bombarded by

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"micro-meteorites" that tend to soften crater edges

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highlands

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meteorite impact

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craters

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meteorite impact

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maria & basins

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impact & vulcanism

question

rays

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meteorite impact

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domes

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vulcanism

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rills

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vulcanism

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craters, highlands, maria, and basins were all made during the

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latter part of "creation", after the earth-moon system formed.

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the created record w have on the moon, mercury, etc. is from

answer

the "early intense bombardment"

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small craters have

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round bottoms

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larger craters have

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lumps in the bottom

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the largest craters have

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flat bottoms

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the lumps are due to

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compressed material relaxing

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the flat bottoms were filled by

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liquid rock from inside

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a meteorite strikes

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moon, ejecting material

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explosion ejects

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more material

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result of meteorites strikes:

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crater, lips (rim) and ejecta

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although most of the features on the mooon are due to impact there are some that come from

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vulcanism

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the GIANT IMPACT theory of the moon's origin says that

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two differentiated planetesmals collided. their crusts splashed and their interiors merged.

question

the merged interiors formed

answer

the earth

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the splash formed

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the moon

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viewed from earth, mercury is

answer

never far from the sun

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phases of mercury can be seen best when

answer

mercury is at its maximum elongation

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mercury was long thought to be

answer

tidally locked to the sun; measurements in 1965 showed this to be false

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rather, mercury's day and year are in a

answer

3:2 resonance; mercury rotates three times while going around the sun twice

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caloris basin (very large maria) is a

answer

very large impact feature imaged by mariner 10.

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the weird terrain on opposite side of planet comes from

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convergence of the impact shock wave

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mercury formed about

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4.6 billion yars ago.. as did the earth and moon

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they melted due to

answer

compression heating, then cooled slowly.

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the iron core of mercury

answer

shrank... crumpling the crust.

question

mercury has a weak

answer

magnetic field so much of the soar wind is shunted around the e.t

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never-the-less some of the solar wind particles plane do

answer

strike the planet surface

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more than 80% of the side seen by mariner 10, most disturbing are the

answer

long curved cliffs

question

the possible explanation is that the

answer

crust crumpled as the iron core cooled

question

mercuy was visited in

answer

1974 by mariner 10 for three quick fly-bys

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this year messenger went into a

answer

near polar orbit around mercury to do some intense studies

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most of the sensing time is going into

answer

geological and meteorological measurements.

question

two important date points for dr.einstein and the theory of relativity

answer

1 - explained orbit precession 2 - demonstrated bending of light around a mass

question

brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon

answer

venus

question

venus is also called

answer

morning or evening star, as it is also "tied" to sun

question

venus is much brighter than

answer

mercury, both because it is bigger and it is closer to the earth. and it is father from the sun than mercury

question

mass of venus

answer

4.9 x 10^24 kg

question

density of venus

answer

5200 kg/m^3 = 5.2 x density of water

question

rotation period of venus

answer

243 days, retrograde

question

radius of venus

answer

6000 km

question

dense atmosphere and thick clouds make

answer

venus' surface impossible to see

question

surface temperature of venus is

answer

about 730 k - hotter than mercury

question

venus and earth outgassed in a similar way. essentially all of the nitrogen and carbon dioxide remain

answer

above the surface.

question

venus is too hot for

answer

liquid water, so oceans could not form

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venus' surface is

answer

relatively smooth

question

there are two continent-like features,

answer

ishtar terra and aphrodite terra

question

there is no apparent

answer

plate tectonics on venus

question

there are very few mountains, a few impact craters, many colvanoes, and large lava flows

answer

...

question

venus' largest impact crater named after

answer

margaret mead

question

venus does not have a

answer

magnetic field, probably because it rotates too slowly

question

venus very likely has an

answer

iron core

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there are several missions on their way to study

answer

the atmosphere in more detail

question

mars' orbit is

answer

fairly eccentric - affects amount of sunlight reaching it

question

mars can be either in the direction of

answer

the sun (conjunction) or not (opposition)

question

long-distance observation of mars shows that you can see

answer

polar ice caps that grow and shrink with the seasons

question

the hubble space telescope and other good telescopes can see

answer

much detail on mars.

question

the different sides of mars provide different

answer

aspects and images of different terrain

question

early observers before photography struggled to

answer

see and display martian details

question

percival lowell

answer

in the years from about 1890 to 1910 lowell firmly believed that the canali that schiaparelli saw were canals. he believed in canals and the intelligent life forms needed to dig them.

question

long-distance telescopic observations of mars have shown:

answer

- shifting dust cover makes surface look like it is changing -changing polar ice cas are frozen carbon dioxide; water ice is permanently frozen -frequent dust storms, with high winds -no canals

question

martian atmosphere is mostly

answer

carbon dioxide, and very thin.. too thin to retain much heat; temperature drops sharply at night

question

martian internal structure

answer

-from behavior of crust, it is estimated to be 100 km thick -no seismic studies have been done -no magnetic field, so core is probably non-metallic, non-liquid, or both

question

the northern hemisphere (left) of mars is

answer

rolling volcanic terrain

question

the southern hemisphere (right) of mars is

answer

heavily cratered highlands

question

the average altitude in mars is

answer

5 km above northern

question

the assumption is that northern surface is

answer

younger than southern

question

this means that the northern hemisphere must have been

answer

lowered in elevation and then flooded with lava

question

the major feature of the northern hemisphere of mars is the

answer

tharsis bulge

question

the tharsis bulge is the size of

answer

north america and is 10 km above the surroundings

question

associated with the bulgeis the

answer

great grand canyon named the valle marinaris

question

other features of note are the

answer

giant volcanoes. they are the largest in the solar system

question

because of the minimal cratering seen, this surface is

answer

the youngest surface on mars

question

mars has the largest

answer

volcano in the solar system : olympus mons

question

(size) olympus mons is

answer

25 km high, the caldera is 80 km in diameter, it is 700 km diameter at base

question

three other martian volcanoes are only slightly

answer

smaller

question

the mars global surveyor (MGS) was designed to

answer

image the entire surface of mars in visible and infrared wavelengths every sol for one entire mars year.

question

there is no water on the surface of mars today

answer

but there are two apparent water features whose images were captured by the MGS.

question

impact craters less than 5 km across have

answer

mostly been eroded away in the northern hemisphere

question

recently, gullies have been seen that seem to indicate

answer

the recent presence of liquid water; interpretation is still in being debated

question

much of mars' northern hemisphere may have been

answer

ocean.

question

both viking landers landed in

answer

low-latitude northern plains. care was taken to find a location where the rocks were small

question

the rocky surface of mars was analyzed and the red color was due to

answer

iron content

question

one of the trickiest parts of the mars exploration mission is

answer

actually getting the rovers to mars in working condition.

question

the pathfinder carried

answer

the first US rover on mars.

question

the rover that went on mars was named

answer

sojourner. it analyzed the element content of rocks

question

both the pathfinder and the sojourner were active for

answer

more than three months

question

spirit's landing place was similar to the

answer

vikings'

question

the opportunity went down into

answer

the victoria crater.. it has now left the victoria crater to search of another crater to explore.

question

intrepid geologists * discoveries

answer

- layering as if by water deposit - spherical pebbles such as in a stream - rust (color) same as the red iron oxide as in southern utah

question

intrepid geologists * adventures

answer

- stuck in sand dune - covered by dust in a storm - uncovered by a whirl wind -lived through a long mars winter -are still going strong (four times as long as expected)

question

each rover has become

answer

bigger and more complex as we have learned how to build them and use them

question

mars pathfinder and mars global surveyor

answer

success

question

mars polar lander and mars atmosphere observer

answer

failed

question

2011 mars odyssey

answer

- arrived october 24, 2001 - gathering data today

question

landers

answer

future - biology and geology laboratory - to gather rocks and return them to earth

question

phobos (fear) is the

answer

larger of the two. they are both tiny and badly scarred by impacts but phobos looks like it was nearly shattered

question

the japanese are planning to send

answer

a robot to pick up dirt and rock samples from diemos (terror) to return them to earth

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