Notes
Slide Show
Outline
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Astr 1050    Wed., Dec. 10, 2003
  •    Today: Course Evaluations
  •                        Chapter 18, Jovian Planets
  • Chapter 19, “Debris”
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Chapter 18: Worlds of the Outer Solar System
  • Jupiter
      • Condensation model
      • Atmospheric winds
      • Atmospheric chemistry
      • Magnetic fields
    • Other Jovian Planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
      • will only cover major differences from Jupiter
    • Satellites (i.e. Moons)
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Jovian Planets
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Ice+Rock Core    H+He “Atmosphere”
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Jupiter as seen by Cassini
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Winds near the Great Red Spot
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Hurricanes exist because
Low Pressure trying to turn winds to the left
almost balance
Coriolis Force trying to turn winds to the right.
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Jupiter has multiple cloud decks as air rises in low pressure “zones”
  • Mostly made of H, He
  • Trace amounts of C, N, O, S
  • CH4 present as gas



  • NH3, NH4SH, H2O can condense in colder upper regions Þ clouds
  • Colors from unknown trace chemicals


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Magnetic fields and trapped particles
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Aurora on Jupiter
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Jupiter as a miniature solar system
  • Four large moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto)
  • Regular (equatorial, circular) orbits
  • Pattern of changing density and composition with distance
    • Inner two (Io, Europa) mostly rocky
    • Outer two (Ganymede, Callisto) more icy
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Io, Europa break rules about activity
  • Io most volcanically active body in solar system
  • Europa shows new icy surface with few craters
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Tidal heating explains activity
  • Large tides from Jupiter flex satellites
  • Friction from flexing heats interiors
  • Important for Io, Europa, some other outer solar system satellites
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Possible H2O ocean on Europa
  • Tidal heating may keep H2O liquid under ice cover


  • Perhaps a location where life could evolve


  • “Europa Orbiter” Mission being planned to determine if ocean exists
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Callisto not active
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Comparison of Satellites
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Saturn as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope
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Titan
  • Largest moon of Saturn
  • Has thick atmosphere
    • Pressure ~ 1 earth atmosphere
    • Mostly N2, some CH4
    • Gas held because of low T
  • UV acting on CH4 Þ smog
    • Ethane produced – Lakes?
    • Can “see” surface only in IR
  • Cassini will drop probe in Fall 2004
  • “Code of the Lifemaker” by James P. Hogan, good sf
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Rings are individual particles all orbiting separately
  • Each particle – dust to golf ball to boulder size –
    is really a separate moon on its own orbit
  • Orbit with Keplerian velocities:  high in close, slow farther out
  • Nearby relative velocities are low – so particles just gently bump into each other – slowly grinding themselves up
  • Structure in rings largely caused by gravity of moons
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The Roche Limit
When can tides tear a moon apart?
  • As a planetary body get close to another object, tidal forces distort the body more and more.
    • Remember, Earth raises tides on the Moon
      just like it raises tides on the Earth


  • If the distortion gets large enough, the moon will be pulled apart
    • Happens at “Roche Limit” when moon is
      ~2.44 ´ radius of planet away
    • At that point, tidal force pulling up on surface of moon is greater than moon’s gravity pulling down


  • Only matters for objects held together by gravity
    • Astronaut in orbit will not be pulled apart
      • Is held together by much stronger chemical forces
    • Astronaut standing on the outside of the shuttle, hoping the shuttle’s gravity would hold her there, will be pulled away from the shuttle
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Comparison of Rings
  • All within Roche limit
  • Details controlled by Resonances and Shepard Satellites
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Comparison of Jovian Planets
  • Variation in distance presumably ultimate causes other effects
    • P:      Kepler’s third law
    • T:      Falloff mostly just result of falling solar energy
        • But Neptune hotter because more internal heat
    • M:     Clue to details of solar nebula mode
        • Less material in outer solar system – or perhaps less efficient capture
    • r:      Should drop with mass because less compression
        • Works for Saturn vs. Jupiter
        • Increase for Uranus, Neptune indicates less H, He and more heavy material
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Chapter 19:  Meteorites, Asteroids, Comets
  • Small bodies are not geologically active
  • They provide “fossil” record of early solar system
    • Asteroids
      • Mostly from region between Mars and Jupiter
      • Left over small debris from accretion, never assembled into a large planet
      • Meteorites come mostly from asteroids
    • Comets
      • “Stored” on large elliptical orbits beyond planets
      • Thought to be “planetesimals” from Jovian planet region, almost ejected from solar system in its early history
  • Meteorites provide only samples besides Apollo
    • With sample in hand, can perform very detailed analysis:  detailed chemistry; radioisotope age; other isotope info


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Asteroids
  • Most located between Mars and Jupiter
  • Largest is Ceres
    • 1/3 diameter of moon
    • Most much smaller
  • >8,000 known
  • Total mass << Earth
  • A few make it to earth
    • source of the meteorites
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The larger asteroids
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Are Asteroids Primitive?
  • Ida (56 km diam.) and its moon Dactyl (1.5 km diam.)
    • Colors have been “stretched” to show subtle differences
  • Imaged by Galileo on its way out to Jupiter
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Phobos & Deimos:  Two “misplaced” asteroids?
  • Phobos and Diemos are small (~25 km and ~15 km diam.) moons of Mars
  • Look like captured asteroids rather than moons formed in place
  • Are “C” class – i.e. dark “Carbonaceous” type “asteroids”
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Meteors vs. Meteorites
  • Meteor is seen as streak in sky
  • Meteorite is a rock on the ground
  • Meteoroid is a rock in space
  • Meteor showers (related to comet orbits) rarely produce meteorites
    • Apparently most comet debris is small and doesn’t survive reentry
  • Meteorites can be “finds” or “falls”
    • For a fall – descent actually observed and sometimes orbit computed
    • Most have orbits with aphelion in asteroid belt
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Large Meteor over the Tetons (1972)
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The Leonids  2001
  • APOD site:  Picture by Chen Huang-Ming
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Meteor Showers and Comets
  • Meteor showers caused by large amount of small debris spread out along comet orbits
  • Almost none makes it to the ground – no meteorites
  • Occur each year as earth passes through orbit of comet
  • Appears to come from “radiant point” in sky


  • Leonids:  Mid November
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Comets:         Hale-Bopp in April 1997
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Comet characteristics
  • Most on long elliptical orbits
    • Short period comets – go to outer solar system
      • “Jupiter family” still ~ in plane of ecliptic
      • “Halley family” are highly inclined to ecliptic
    • Longer period ones go out thousands of AU
      • Most of these are highly inclined to ecliptic
  • Become active only in inner solar system
    • Made of volatile ices and dust
    • Sun heats and vaporizes ice, releasing dust
    • “Dirty snowball” model
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Comet structure
  • Gas sublimates from nucleus
  • Dense coma surrounds nucleus
  • Ion tail is ionized gas points directly away from sun
    • shows emission spectrum
    • ions swept up in solar wind
  • Dust tail curves slightly outward from orbit
    • shows reflected sunlight
    • solar radiation pressure gently pushes dust out of orbit
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Hale-Bopp clearly shows components
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Where do comets come from?
Long period comets:  The Oort Cloud
  • Most (original) orbits have aphelions of  >1000 AU


  • Need ~6 trillion comets out there to produce number seen in here
  • Total mass of 38 MEarth


  • Passing stars deflect comets in from the cloud
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Importance of comets
  • Evidence of solar nebula
  • Source of H2O and CO2 for earth
  • Impacts continue
    • Impacts on Earth
      • Extinction of the dinosaurs
    • SL-9 impact on Jupiter


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Chapter 16-19 Review
  • Solar Nebula
  • Terrestrial Planets
    • Properties of Earth
    • Greenhouse Effect (cf. Venus, Mars)
    • Cratering, origin of moon
  • Jovian Planets
    • Properties of Jupiter, composition, atmosphere
    • Moons and Rings
  • “Debris”
    • Asteroids and Comets
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Chapter 16-19 Review
  • We’ve covered this material fast – exam will not cover subtle concepts or obscure facts.  Very basic information and only the most fundamental ideas.


  • Things you should know include:
    • Order of planets in solar system, general sizes of orbits, sizes and compositions of the planets (also asteroids and comets in general, notable moons).
    • How these items fit into the solar nebula picture.
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Chapter 16-19 Review
  • Example questions:
  • True/False:
    • Jupiter was probably influential in preventing the formation of a planet at the location of the asteroid belt.
    • The dirty snowball theory suggests that the head of a comet is composed of ices.
    • Jupiter radiates more heat than it absorbs from the sun.
    • Venus is very hot because its atmosphere is rich in CO2.
    • The Greenhouse effect occurs because gases like carbon monoxide are opaque to IR radiation.
    • The Jovian planets have lower densities than the terrestrial planets.


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Chapter 16-19 Review
  • Example questions:
  • True/False:
    • Meteorites appear to be composed of material similar to that found in comets.
    • Jupiter’s interior is mostly liquid helium.
    • Saturn’s rings are composed of metallic dust grains.
    • Flow channels on Venus suggest it was once rich in water.
    • The oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere was outgassed by volcanic explosions.
    • Mars is the third rock from the sun.


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Chapter 16-19 Review
  • Example questions:
  • Multiple choice:
    • On a photograph of the moon, the moon measures 30 cm in diameter and a small crater measures 0.2 cm.  The moon’s physical diameter is 1738 km.  What is the physical diameter of the small crater?
      • About 1738 km
      • About 12 km
      • About 520 km
      • About 350 km
      • About 3.5 km
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Chapter 16-19 Review
  • Example questions:
  • Multiple choice:
    • Though Titan is small, it is able to retain an atmosphere because?
      • It is very cold.
      • It is very dense.
      • It rotates very slowly.
      • It attracts gas from the solar wind.
      • It has a very strong magnetic field.
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Exam #4
  • 20 Multiple Choice questions, 10 true/false, 1 or 2 essay/written questions, plus 1 follow-up extra credit problem (computational and meant to be challenging).
  • About 1/2 of the questions covering the solar system
  • About 1/2 of the questions covering Chapters 12 and 13
  • Questions mostly cover the basics and are not intended to be subtle or tricky.
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Exam #4
  • List of possible topics for essay questions:
    • Dark Matter
    • Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
    • Extrasolar Planets
    • Comparative Planetology of Venus, Earth, and Mars