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Astronomy > Unit 4 Solar System > Flashcards

Unit 4 Solar System Flashcards

1
Q

What year was Pluto Excluded as a planet

A

2004

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2
Q

What is the order of the planets from the sun outwards

A 
sun
mercury
venus
earth
mars
Jupiter
saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
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3
Q

How do we represent the earth?

A

pinhead
1mm ball
15,000km in one mm

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4
Q

How do we represent the moon?

A

a millet seed, 3 cm far from the pinhead

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5
Q

How do we represent the sun?

A

10 cm diameter croquet ball

- distance between ball and pinhead is 10 m

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6
Q

What does the 9km^2 lot contain and what is it?

A 
1 croquet ball
2 nuts
2 peas
2 pinheads
3 smaller grains
- how we represent and scale the solar system
- it is mostly empty
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7
Q

What is the heliosphere

A

the region surrounding our sun and solar system

- it is 1000m

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8
Q

How many years ago did the solar system form and how

A
  1. 5 billion years ago from a vast cloud of interstellar gas and dust called the solar nebula
    - the main source of nebula’s matter is old stars which shed parts of their bodies
    - the final size of our solar system is by far smaller than it was initially
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9
Q

What are the two main factors in the solar system formation

A
  1. gravitation (pull everything together)
  2. rotation (push everything apart)
    - the gas becomes compressed, the temperature rises and weight is pulled together (gets faster when closer) , endless numbers of collisions forming dust clumps
    - the strongest planets survive
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10
Q

How many young circum-stellar disks are in the Orion nebula

A

2
both of which are less than 10 million years old
- there are two potential planetary systems

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11
Q

How did collisions in the early solar system lead to planet formation

A
  1. Planetesimals (10 km objects)
  2. Protoplanets- the result of accretion
  3. a few planets formed
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12
Q

How old is our moon

A
  • 2.6 billion years old
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13
Q

How did lunar craters get on our moon

A
  • most lunar craters were formed during the moons first 700 million years pf existence when the rate of bombardment was much greater than it is now.
  • additionally, all foot prints on the moon will likely be there forever because there is no water on the moon to wash them away
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14
Q

What is the composition of the earths atmosphere

A
  • nitrogen : 78%
  • oxygen: 21%
  • noble gases: 0.94%
    -carbon dioxide: 0.03%
    traces of other gases
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15
Q

What is the earths atmospheric mass

A
  1. 15x10^18 kg

- it falls by half ever 5.5 km

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16
Q

Where does the majority of the earths atmospheric mass lie

A

75% of the atmospheric mass lies within 11km lower layer

- the troposphere

17
Q

Where is the earths ozone layer

A
  • in the stratosphere

20-30 km

18
Q

What is the Ozone cycle

A

Oxygen atoms cycle between oxygen molecules and ozone. The sun’s rays split oxygen molecules (O2) apart into individual O atoms. These O atoms then join with an oxygen molecule (O2) to make Ozone (O3). As the ozone absorbs UV rays, it splits into O and O2.
- the ozone layer protects us from harmful rays

19
Q

Why is the earth so hot inside?

A
  1. collision between chunks of rock our planet was formed of
  2. internal friction due to tides
  3. heat released because of nuclear fission of element like uranium
20
Q

What are the layers of the earth starting at the centre

A
  • solid inner core due to pressure, iron rich core
  • liquid outer core
  • rocky mantle
  • crust (rock, floats on denser material below)
21
Q

What is the main source of the earths internal structure

A
  • seismic waves analysis
22
Q

How thick is the continental crust and ocean crust

A

Continental : 20-40km

Ocean: 15-20km

23
Q

What is another name for the earths crust

A
  • lithosphere
24
Q

What is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

A
  • created by lava seeping up from the earths interior
25
Q

What is the the supercontinent Pangaea?

A
  • published by Alfred Wegner
  • pangaea was one large continent 200 million years ago which separated into our now known continents
  • his observations between shore shapes on either side of the Atlantic ocean
26
Q

Theory of Continental Drift

A
  • supported by Alfred Wegner
  • proposes that the continents of either side of the atlantic ocean have drifted apart
  • 2.5cm per year
27
Q

How is the earths surface divided

A
  • divided into a number of rigid plates that move relative to each other,
    The boundaries between plates are zones of seismic and geological activities
28
Q

what causes the earths rigid plates to move?

A

-convection currents in the earths interior lead to the rigid plates extremely slow motion

29
Q

What is an example of plate tectonics separating?

A

the syrian-african rift

30
Q

What is an example of plate tectonics colliding

A

Himalayas

31
Q

How where the rocky mountains formed

A
  • as a result of subduction
  • the oceans lithosphere is recycled into the earths mantle at convergent boundaries
  • 80 to 55 million years ago
32
Q

What is the hydrosphere, mass, area and depth of our hydrosphere? How much of our water is fresh water

A
  • area of the world ocean is 361 million square km or 75% of total surface of our planet
  • mass: 0.023% of earths total mass
  • average depth: 3790 meters
  • less than 3% is freshwater
33
Q

What are the ocean surface currents

A
  • complicated combination of the rotation of the earth

- this is important for climate changes

34
Q

What is the Gulf Stream

A
  • from gulf of mexico to atlantic ocean
  • roughly 100km wide, 800- 1200 meters deep
  • current velocity: 2.5 meters per second, 9km/h
35
Q

Describe the earths magnetic field and does it go into space?

A
  • generated in the earths metallic (iron) core.

- the earths magnetic field extends far into space

36
Q

What does the earths magnetic field protect us from

A
  • solar wind: stream of very fast charged particles
37
Q

What are the Van Allen Belts

A
  • the magnetic field traps charged particles in two huge, doughnut shaped structures called the van allen belts
  • discovered in 1958
38
Q

What is the scientific name for the Northern Lights? What are they?

A

Aurora Borealis

  • can see them from the space shuttle
  • a deluge of charged particles from the sun can overload the van allen belts and cascade toward the earth producing auroras about the surface of the earth
39
Q

What is Yellowstone Caldera

A
  • hotspot, upper mantle magma and heat source
  • is drifting and growing, and getting shallower
  • near idaho

Astronomy (10 decks)

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