Lecture 10 Our Solar System 2 Flashcards
inner solar system consists of
- inner planets (aka. terrestrial planets), namely Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
asteroid belt
outer solar system consist of
- outer planets (aka. gas giants), namely Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
outermost parts of solar system (beyond Neptune) is considered what
a distinct region
e.g., Kuiper belt
characteristics of inner planets (6)
- solid and high density
- made up of rocks and metals
- none have rings (like ones around Saturn)
- small compared to outer planets
- made of cooled igneous (volcanic) rock
- have an iron (Fe) filled core
characteristics of outer planets (5)
- much larger than inner planets
- much lower density (mass/volume) than inner planets
- mostly made up on gases (hence the name gas giants)
- consist primarily of elements hydrogen (H) and helium (H), extremely light gases
- all have rings (not just Saturn, all)
what elements make up the sun and how does it work
LIKE OUTER PLANETS:
- hydrogen (H) and helium (He)
sun has enough gravity to hold onto H and He
where does H and He escape on earth
escape our atmosphere
- while hydrogen still occurs naturally on Earth and is produced through chemical reactions and bacterial activity, hydogen eating atmosphere can escape
what produces He
radioactive decay of elements Uranium (U) and Thorium (Th) in igneous rock produces He
what is the worlds largest producer of He
united states
how is Helium essential
essential in running MRI medical imagining equipment as it serves a vital cooling role
MRI = magnetic resonance imaging
what are outer ring planets rings made of
made of dust and particles
what is special about Saturn’s rings
- they are easy to observe
- made of water ice (H2O) and likely formed when solar system was young
what is the theory of the moons containing ice
they were drawn to saturn (by gravity) and subsequently broke apart, releasing ice dust and particles
- which is how its rings formed
what are jupiters rings made of
very small dust particles
what is neptune’s rings made of
- methane ice (CH4)
- ammonia ice (NH3)
what are Uranus rings made of
rock boulders
(large rocks)
what does the prefix “proto” mean
- first
- foremost
- earliest form of
how old is earth believed to be
4.54 billion years old
how many years ago did our solar system start forming
4.6 billion years ago
what material did our solar system form from
from material in cloud of gas and dust called Solar Nebula
what does solar nebula consist of (elements)
- Hydogen (H)
- Helium (He)
what did gravity do to solar nebula
gravity it caused solar nebula to collapse, spin and flatten into disk shape
what is the flattened disk shape nebula called
protoplanetary disk
how is was a protostar formed
most of solar nebulas material was pulled towards center of protoplanetary disk, forming a protostar
what did protostar become
our Sun
what happened to solar nebulas remaining material
it came together in “clumps”, forming “planetsimals”
what did planetsimals do
they merged with other planetsimals to form protoplanets
what did protoplanets become
planets
- including Earth
what is the name of the protoplanet that became earth
proto-earth
what happened to proto-earth
- proto-earth grew
- heavier elements sank towards the center, forming earths core
- lighter elements moved towards earths surface
what is the movement of heavier elements (especially iron) towards Earths center and lighter elements towards Earths surface called
differentiation (of earth)
what did differentiation led to
the formation of earths layers (inner/outer core, mantle, crust), oceans, atmosphere and eventually continents
what is planetary differentiation
process by which chemical elements of a planetary body accumulate in different areas
ex: heavier iron (Fe) sinks towards center while lighter materials rise upwards
what is theia
- greek goddess of sight, vision and billiance
- supplied gold (Au) , silver (Ag) and gems with their brilliance
- another protoplanet about the size of Mars
what is a hypothesis
a proposed explanation made on asis of limited evidence - a staring point for further investigation
what is the giant-impact hypothesis
- first proposed by canadian geologist Reginald Daly in 1946
- approximately 4.5 billion years ago, theia, a protoplanet, collided with protoearth, releasing material from both into space
- some released material came together and forme our moon
who is selene
daughter of goddess theia
- selene is goddess and personification of our moon
what is the legend in northwest communities
Raven stole light in form of sun, moon and stars from old chief who kept it locked away in a box
after Raven escaped with box through smoke hole of chiefs home, he places sun, moon and stars in sky for al beings to enjoy
originally Raven had white feathers, but flying though smoke hole made Raven feathers black
how has our moon inspired us
has inspired us since the beginning of time
- poems
- philosophical texts
- songs
- artwork
etc
what is the diameter of the moon
3475 km
what is the difference in size between earth and moon
earths diameter = 12760 km
moon is 27% (or 1/4) the size of earth
what is the distance from Earth to the Moon
384 400 km
what is the shape of the path of the moon around Earth
slightly elliptical (ellipse shape)
- earth is not at the center of moons orbit
- thus, distance to moon change as it orbits our planets
what does apo mean
away from
what does peri mean
around, surrounding, or near
since earth is not at the center of moons orbit…
distance to the moon changes
when is the moon at its apogee + what happens here
when its furthest from the earth
- full moon looks slightly smaller at this point
- we call it micromoon
what’s micromoon
moon when its at its apogee (furthest from the earth)
when is the moon at its perigee + what happens
when its closest to the earth
- full moon looks slightly larger at this point
- we call it supermoon
what is supermoon
moon at its perigee (closest to the earth)
why is our moon called “the moon”
since humanity didn’t know other moons existed until Galileo Galilei discovered 2 of Jupiters Moons in 1610
T or F: our moon is slowly moving away from earth at a rate of approximately 1 inch per year
true
what is hemisphere
- a geometric shape that has one curved surface and one flat face in shape of a circle
- it is half a sphere
what of the moon do we see from earth and expand
we see 1 hemisphere of the moon
what do we call the hemisphere that always faces away from us (the one we dont see)
“dark side” of the moon
(aka. far side of the moon since it is not always dark)
what did moon have long ago
active volcanoes which have not erupted for millions of years
what are active volcanoes + examples
volcanoes with a recent history of eruption; expected to erupt again
ex.
- kilauea in Hawaii USA
- Mount Etna in Italy
what are dormant volcanoes + examples
volcano that has not erupted in a long time but is expected to erupt again
ex:
- Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
- Mount Fuji in Japan)
what are extinct volcanoes
volcanoes that have no erupted in human history (often in the past 10,000 years)
and not expected to erupt again
ex:
- Huascaran in Peru
- Ben Nevis in Scotland
how is moon and earth similar
moon has a core (inner and outer) mantle and crust
is the moons core bigger or smaller than would be expected when it is compared to that of terrestrial planets
smaller
characteristics of moons core
- inner core is solid and rich in Iron (Fe)
- outer core is liquid iron (Fe)
the moon has a ___ region containing ___
partially molten region
partially molten/liquified materials
what is the moons mantle made of + what minerals
- magnesium (Mg)
- Iron (Fe)
- silicon (Si)
oxygen (O)
minerals
- olivine
- pyroxene
what is olivine chemical formula
(Mg,Fe)2SiO4
where (Mg,Fe) means (Mg or Fe)
there are different chemical formulas for olivine but they all contain SiO44-
what is an ion
an atom or group of atoms that carry:
- a positive charge (if 1 or more electrons have been lost)
- a negative charge (if 1 or more electrons has been gained)
what is a polyatomic ion
an ion composed of more than one atom
what is pyroxene’s chemical formula
XYSi2O6
where X and Y are a variety of metals
all of the types of formuals contain Si2O64-
what are olivine and pyroxene
silicate minerals
what does the moons crust contain
- Oxygen (O)
- Silicon (Si)
- Magnesium (Mg)
- Iron (Fe)
- Aluminum (Al)
and small amounts of other elements
characteristics of surface of moon
- temperatures range from approximately 127C in full sun to -173C in darkness
what does the moons often get hit by and what does this result it
regularly hit by
- asteroids,
- meteorites
- comets
results in craters
- also find charcoal/gray disk and rocky debris everywhere
what is a crater
large bowl shaped cavity in ground or on surface of a planet/moon
what are meteoroids
- space objects
- made of rocks and/or metals
- sizes range from dust grains to small asteroids
- have broken off larger bodies such as comets, asteroids, moons,and even planets
what happens as meteoroids approach earths surface and enter earth atmosphere
- slowed down by gases present
- burn up, generating fiery tails
once meteoroid in atmosphere start burning up they are no longer referred to as meteoroid, now referred to as ___
meteor
aka. shooting star
if our meteor survives the trip through atmosphere and hits grounds, it then becomes a ___
meteorite
how much meteoritic material falls on earth every single day
44 000 kg
what are comets
- frozen leftovers from formations of solar system
- made of dust, rock (frozen) ices from different substances
- from kilometers to several kilometers in size
- orbit sun with elliptical orbit
what happens when comets approach sun (due to elliptical orbit) and what does this do
- warm up
- spew out dust and gases
dust and gases released result in massive glowing head and extremely long tail (tail can stretch for millions of miles)
who is the ancient god who personifies the sun
Helios
what is helium (He) named after
helios
what is the greek word for sun
ilios/helios
