Planets, Features, and their Moons

Question 1

Tidal Locking

Answer 1

Tidal Locking Occurs when one side of an object is always facing the object that it revolves around. This occurs when an object’s rotation and revolution are similar. Mercury is tidally locked to the Sun, the Moon is tidally locked to Earth, Calisto is tidally locked to Jupiter.

Question 2

Mercury

Answer 2

Mercury is smaller then Earth but has a similar density to Earth and a similar appearance to our moon (without the lava flows). Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, and it had no atmosphere, which it allows it to be constantly bombarded by asteroids. Mercury has a weak magnetic field and the side facing the Sun is 700F while the side facing away is -300 F. Mercury has no axial tilt and no moons.

Question 3

Venus

Answer 3

Venus is inhospitable and has extreme winds, thick clouds, and runaway greenhouse effect. Venus has a dense atmosphere because it is composed of 95% CO2 that is mostly due to volcanic outgassing. Venus has no magnetic field and is similar size and density to Earth and is often called “Earth’s twin”. Venus is believed to tidally lock in the future. Venus has a high axial tilt (177) which makes it appear as it rotates clockwise but ALL planets rotate counter-clockwise

Question 4

Mars

Answer 4

Mars has an almost identical geological composition to the earth. Mars has a thin atmosphere made of CO2 and Mars’ surface shows erosion which indicates that water was once present. Ice caps are made from frozen CO2 and there a lot of dust storms present. Mars is a cold planet that has two moons that are slowing their revolution meaning they will eventually crash into Mars. Axial tilt is similar to Earth’s.

Question 5

Jupiter

Answer 5

Jupiter is the largest planet, it contains 70% of the mass of all the planets. Jupiter has a rocky inner core surrounded by metallic liquid hydrogen. Jupiter has clouds of hydrogen and helium. Stripes on Jupiter are violent winds. The Great Red spot is a storm that has been observed to have lasted over 300 years.

Question 6

Jupiter as a failed star

Answer 6

It is believed that due to its mass, Jupiter originally began forming as a second star but did not have enough mass to achieve this status. Jupiter has some rings.

Question 7

Moons of Jupiter

Answer 7

Jupiter is believed to have 95 moons, 53 are named. The r most important rooms are known as the Galilean moons and they are named after Galileo. Io has volcanic activity due to the gravitational pull of Jupiter. Europa contains frozen water. Ganymede has icy sheets of methane and contains a magnetic field. Calisto is tidally locked to Jupiter.

Question 8

Saturn

Answer 8

Saturn is known for its ring system that is made of bands of ice and rocky materials. Saturn’s atmosphere contains hydrogen and helium. Saturn is less dense than water. Saturn has 146 moons and Saturn’s largest moon is Titan, which has an atmosphere of nitrogen and methane.

Question 9

Uranus

Answer 9

Uranus is smaller than Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus has a heavy rocky core surrounded by liquid methane which makes it a very dense planet (in relation to other Jovian Planets) Uranus’ atmosphere is composed of hydrogen helium and methane. Uranus has rings, 28 moons, orbits perpendicular to its orbital plane. Oberon shows evidence of geological faults.

Question 10

Neptune

Answer 10

Neptune contains an atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and methane. Neptune has weather patterns and a great dark spot that is still unknown to us. Neptune has 16 moons.

Question 11

Planet Criteria

Answer 11

In order to be a planet something must
- orbit the sun
- have enough mass to be round
- cleared its orbit of debris

Question 12

Earth’s Moon

Answer 12

Earth’s moon is named Luna and it is 1/4 the size of the Earth. The moon has the same composition as the Earth’s mantle because it was once a piece of molten that broke of the earth and cooled too rapidly for plate tectonic to form like Earth.