Giant Planets Or Why the Solar System Is the Way It Is. Dr. Josh Colwell University of Central Florida

Transcription

1 Giant Planets Or Why the Solar System Is the Way It Is Dr. Josh Colwell University of Central Florida

2 Almost everything you see in this image is a galaxy containing tens of billions of stars each.

3 Figure 1.1

4 Figure 1.7

5 Planets are very tiny compared to distances between them.

6 Mercury Made of metal and rock; large iron core Desolate, cratered; long, tall, steep cliffs Very hot and very cold: 425 C (day), 170 C (night) MESSENGER spacecraft will go into orbit next March.

7 Mercury Made of metal and rock; large iron core Desolate, cratered; long, tall, steep cliffs Very hot and very cold: 425 C (day), 170 C (night) MESSENGER spacecraft will go into orbit next March.

8 Venus Nearly identical in size to Earth; surface hidden by clouds Hellish conditions due to an extreme greenhouse effect Even hotter than Mercury: 470 C, day and night

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10 Earth Earth and Moon to scale (size, not distance) An oasis of life The only surface liquid water in the solar system A surprisingly large moon

11 Mars

12 Mars

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14 Asteroids and Comets: The Leftovers of the Solar System Asteroid Gaspra Asteroid Ida and its moon Dactyl

15 Asteroid Orbits Most asteroids orbit in a belt between Mars and Jupiter. Trojan asteroids follow Jupiter s orbit. Orbits of near-earth asteroids cross Earth s orbit.

16 Asteroids and Comets Comet Wild 2 Comet Borrelly

17 Asteroids and Comets Comet Halley Comet West

18 Images of comet Hartley 2 taken November by NASA s EPOXI spacecraft. QuickTime and a GIF decompressor are needed to see this picture. 18

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20 Jupiter: the king of the planets. More mass than all the other planets combined.

21 QuickTime and a GIF decompressor are needed to see this picture.

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27 So, IS Pluto a Planet?

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29 So, IS Pluto a Planet?

30 Summary of Standard Model of Solar System Formation 1. Start with a cloud of gas and dust. 2. Stuff condenses at different distances from the Sun. 3. Once we have our seeds, gravity helps them grow through collisions into planets. 4. Jovian planets big enough to capture gas and form moons and rings. 5. Earth gets smacked and a Moon forms. 6. Solar wind gets rid of leftover gas.

31 Composition of the Solar Nebula Need solid material to make planet seeds.

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33 QuickTime and a Cinepak decompressor are needed to see this picture.

34 Cassini/Huygens - Mission to Saturn The Largest Interplanetary Craft

35 Approaching Saturn Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. 35

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37 The Four Year Prime Mission QuickTime and a H.264 decompressor are needed to see this picture.

38 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. 38

39 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

40 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. 40

41 512 by 494 by 489 km 3.9 Saturn Radii from Saturn Enceladus Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

42 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

43 nceladus tiger stripes Image: NASA/JPL/ Space Science Institute.

44 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

45 Enceladus Rev 80 Tiger Stripe Close-Up 24 m per pixel Image: NASA/JPL/ Space Science Institute.

46 Enceladus Rev 80 Tiger Stripe Close-Up 14 m per pixel Image: NASA/JPL/ Space Science Institute.

47 Enceladus Rev 80 Tiger Stripe Close-Up 14 m per pixel Image: NASA/JPL/ Space Science Institute.

48 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

49 Image: NASA/JPL/ Space Science Institute. 49

50 QuickTime and a GIF decompressor are needed to see this picture. Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. 50

51 Iapetus: The Two-Tone Moon

52 Dark Side Equatorial Ridge Image: NASA/JPL/SSI. 52

53 Image: NASA/JPL/SSI. 53

54 Looking along the ridge. Image: NASA/JPL/SSI.

55 Image: NASA/JPL/SSI.

56 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. 6

57 UVIS Scan of Cassini Division and A Ring at SOI

58 Image: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado

59 Image: NASA/JPL/ Space Science Institute.

60 Mimas m=4 vertical ( bending ) and horizontal ( density ) waves: Encke Gap Cassini ISS image: SSI, NASA/JPL.

61 A bending wave and a density (horizontal) wave. Mimas 5:3 Bending Wave Prometheus 12:11 Density Wave Cassini ISS image: SSI, NASA/JPL.

62 Ring transparency changes with viewing angle: clue to ring structure.

63 Azimuthal View Angle Dependence on Opacity

64 Blue represents larger clusters of particles. Bright represents higher opacity. 100 m Simulation: John Weiss and Glen Stewart 49

65 Equinox brings shadows. Image: NASA/JPL/SSI 65

66 QuickTime and a MPEG-4 Video decompressor are needed to see this picture. Image: NASA/JPL/SSI 66

67 The Huygens Titan Probe QuickTime and a Cinepak decompressor are needed to see this picture.

68 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

69 QuickTime and a Sorenson Video 3 decompressor are needed to see this picture.

70 Image: ESA/NASA/JPL/U. of Arizona.

71 Island is 90 km by 150 km, like the big island of Hawaii. Radar view of methane/ethane lakes on Titan

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73 You are here New Perspectives