Jovian homework Flashcards
What are the two basic categories of planets?
terrestrial (rock and metal) and jovian (hydrogen and helium)
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have core temperatures much higher than Earth’s core temperature. Why is this?
jovians have more mass and are larger than terrestrials
If you went halfway into a jovian planet, you would be more likely to find sufficient pressure to make liquid metallic hydrogen in a planet with
more mass (like a gas giant)
How was Neptune discovered?
astronomers predicted its location by mathematically modeling where the planet would have to be to disturb Uranus’ orbit
Consider the sizes of the Jovians and their distances from the Sun. Which do you expect is true about their “surface” (cloud-top) temperatures and internal energy compared to Earth?
cooler “surface” temperatures, more internal energy
Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune are far from the Sun, making them much colder than Earth. However, they seem to be radiating more energy than they take in from the Sun. Why is this?
they have a lot of heat leftover from formation, as well as energy generated by contraction and condensation
If you were falling into Jupiter, you would fall through the clouds, possibly seeing a storm or two, and sink like a rock all the way through the layer of liquid metallic hydrogen. Would you at any point splash into an ocean like you would if you fell onto Earth?
no, you would just feel the air getting thicker and denser until it acted like a liquid rather than a gas
Astronomers determined Jupiters’s ______ by watching clouds and _______ by watching the magnetic pole motion
wind speed, rotation
Why do Saturn, Uranus, Neptune have such a bland appearance compared to the high-contrast banded look of Jupiter?
clouds can form deeper in the atmosphere, since they are colder, and are seen through a thick haze of methane
Both ice giants rotate at about the same rate, however Neptune has much faster winds than Uranus! This is due to Neptune’s greater
internal energy
What would I have to do to the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, to let them have layers of liquid metallic hydrogen like the gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn?
add more mass
What property of a Jovian causes it to have a global magnetic field and makes shape slightly less spherical and more flattened?
rotating quickly
What would I have to do to make Jupiter appear as bland as Saturn?
move Jupiter farther from the Sun so it is colder
If I wanted the the jovian planets to have global magnetic fields, I should
actually, they already have magnetic fields
What are seasons like on a jovian planet?
Summer is warmer and has more clouds and storms, Winter is colder with fewer clouds and storms
