Chapter 8 Flashcards
jupiter and saturn are mostly what gases?
H and He gas
Uranus and Neptune mostly what?
mostly hydrogen compounds; water H2O, CH4, NH3
Uranus has most extreme what?
seasonal change (rotation/tilt)
Jovian planet formation
beyond the frost line planetesimals could form ice
Hydrogen compounds are ________ than rock/metal so jovian planets got ______ and acquired H/He atmospheres
more abundant
got bigger
(more massive but less dense than terrestrial planets)
Jovian cores are very similar
mass of 10 earths
Jovian planets differ in the amount of?
H/He accumulated
timing : the planet that forms earliest captures what?
he most Hydrogen and helium gas
capture ceases after what?
the first solar wind blows the left over gas away
Location : the planet who forms in the denser part of the nebula what?
forms its core first
density differences: why are uranus and neptune denser than saturn?
they have less h/he gas and more hydrogen compounds and rocks, proportionately
jupiter is denser than saturn :
adding mass to a jovian planet ______ the underlying gas layers
compresses
greater compressions is why jupiter is not much larger than saturn
although it is 3 times more massive
jovian planets with even more _____ can be ______ than jupiter
mass
smaller
what are jovian planets like on the inside?
internal heat: from gravitational potential energy into thermal energy by contracting
describe the interiors of jovian planets
- no solid surface
- high pressure and high temperatures
- cores made up of hydrogen and compounds, metals and rocks
- layers are differnt for planets
inside jupiter
- the core is thought to be made of rock, metals, and hydrogen compounds
- core is the same size as earth but 10x more massive
jupiters atmosphere
- hydrogen compounds in Jupiter form clouds
- different cloud layers corresponds to freezing points of different hydrogen compounds
methane gas on neptune and uranus absorbs
red light but transmits blue light
blue lights reflects off ______ making those planets look blue
methane clouds
jupiters great red spot
- a storm twice as wide as earth
- has existed for at least 3 centuries
Ios Volcanoes
volcanic eruptions continue to change ios surface, impact craters have all been buried in lava flows
tidal heaing
Io is squished and stretched as its orbits jupiter causing volcanoes
io orbits around jupier in how many days?
1 1/2, highly elliptical
Europas interior also warmed by ______
tidal heating
titans is the only moon in the solar system that….
has a thick atmosphere
titans atmosphere consists mainly of ?
nitrogen, with some argon, methane and ethane
what provided the first look at titans surface?
Huygens probe in 2005
what did titans surface have?
liquid ethane/methane, “rocks” made of ice
neptunes moon triton is similar to what?
pluto but bigger
what does triton have?
- evidence for past geological activity
- thin atmosphere
- coldest large moon
jovian planets all have what?
ring systems, others have ring particles that are smaller and darker than saturn
what are planetary rings like?
nearer to the planet than any of the planets large moons
-orbiting equatorial plane of their planet
what are saturns rings like?
they are made of numerous, icy individual particles
they orbit over the equator
they are very thin (flattening via collisions)
rocky planets vs icy moons
-rocks melt at higher temp.
- only large planets have enough heat for activity
-
- ice melts at lower temperatures
- tidal heating can melt internal ice, driving activity
