1.3 Building the Solar System Flashcards
how much of the sun makes up the solar system
98% mass
what’s the second largest body in the solar system
Jupiter, less than 1% mass
what planets are the small rocky inner planets
mercury, venus, earth, mars
what planets are the large gassy/icy outer planets
Jupiter, saturn, neptune, uranus
where is the Kuiper Belt and what is it
ice material and some dwarf planets like Pluto, near Neptune
what is the Oort Cloud
hypothetical spherical cloud of ice material 5000 to 100,000 AU
how do planets rotate, which planets are exceptions and what is this called
spin on their axis in the same direction that they rotate around the same
exceptions: Venus and Uranus, retrograde rotation
what is obliquity
axes of rotation are inclined to certain degree
do inner planets or outer planets have a higher density
inner planets
what are inner planets made of
primarily oxides and metals
what are outer planets made of
primarily ices
what is the solar nebular disk model (SNDM)
Forms from collapsing cloud of internal dust and gas 4.5 billion years ago
SNDM timeline *break up by stage
1) large molecular cloud, gravitational kick, supernova shockwave, areas within cloud collapse - stars form, “stellar nursery”
2) pre solar nebula creates vortex, majority of mass in centre (proto sun), after 100,000 years outer areas of cloud flatten into protoplanetary disk around 200AU across
3) gravitational collapse heats up central area (t-tauri stage of sun development), within 50 ma sun has enough mass for hydrogen to be fused not helium (sun starts up, main sequence), solar winds clear up material from protoplanetary disc
4) before main
what is the Conservation of angular momentum
more mass, faster rotation = same effect in figure skating
how much longer will sun live
5.5 billion years
