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Caused by giant impact? Unusual seasons

Uranus Tilt. Caused by giant impact? Unusual seasons. Q. 45: Uranus’s Giant Impact. Uranus and Neptune – Colors and Bands. Clouds form deep Difficult to see Methane absorbs red light Methane scatters blue light Makes them blue. Uranus and Neptune – Bands and Clouds. False color.

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Caused by giant impact? Unusual seasons

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  1. Uranus Tilt • Caused by giant impact? • Unusual seasons Q. 45: Uranus’s Giant Impact

  2. Uranus and Neptune – Colors and Bands • Clouds form deep • Difficult to see • Methane absorbs red light • Methane scatters blue light • Makes them blue

  3. Uranus and Neptune – Bands and Clouds False color • Like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have bands • Near surface, these planets can have methane ice clouds

  4. Uranus and Neptune – Storms • Like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have big storms Neptune Uranus

  5. Neptune’s Great Dark Spot • Neptune’s super storm • Smaller than Red spot • It has subsequently disappeared • New spot appeared in northern hemisphere

  6. Moons of the Jovian Planets Moon Size • Moons orbit planets or other objects • We will categorize them by: • Size • Origin • Size categories, by diameter: • Large: >2000 km • Medium: 400-2000 km • Small: < 400 km Jupiter Io Europa Ganymede Callisto Saturn Enceladus Titan Iapetus Neptune Triton Uranus Miranda Mars Phobos Deimos Pluto Charon Earth Moon

  7. Moon Shape and Composition • Large are round and differentiated • Rock and metal inside • Ices (mostly water) outside* • No atmosphere** • Medium are round, not differentiated • Rock, metal, ices no atmosphere, mixed • Small are any shape, not differentiated • Rock, metal, ices* no atmosphere, mixed *Terrestrial moons and Io have no ices **Titan and Triton have atmosphere

  8. Moon Origins • When large planets formed, they sometimes had their own disks • Like mini solar systems • These coalesced into moons • These moons go around the same way the planets rotate • Sometimes, moons are captured by planets much later • These moons usually go around backwards Moon Rotation • Moons are gravitationally dominated by their planets • Usually tidally locked to the planet • Like our moon

  9. Moons of Jupiter Metis Adrastea Amalthea Thebe 4 large moons • Io • Europa • Ganymede • Callisto 75 known small moons Q. 46: Shape of Io

  10. Galilean Moons of Jupiter - Size Io Ganymede Callisto Europa Moon • Inner two comparable to Moon • Outer two comparable to Mercury • All have virtually no atmosphere • All are tidally locked to Jupiter Mercury

  11. Io • A little bigger than our moon • Colorful mottled appearance • No craters • Volcanoes!

  12. Io - Composition • Rocky Mantle • Metal Core • No ice/water

  13. Io’s Color and Volcanoes • Io covered with active volcanoes • Volcanoes spew out sulfur • Variety of sulfur compoundshave different colors • Sulfur responsible for Io’scolors

  14. Volcanoes on the Surface

  15. Volcanoes on the Surface

  16. Active Volcanoes Q. 47: Io and Craters

  17. Resurfacing at Work

  18. Where Does the Heat Come From? • Io too small for radioactivity to keep warm • Tidal heating keeps it hot • Changing shape as distance changes • Flexing generates heat Jupiter Io Q. 48: Relative Tidal Heating of Moons

  19. Jovian Moons and Tidal Heating • Tidal effects get smaller with distance (Io is closest) • Gravity has biggest effect on large moons • All Galilean moons are about the same size • Io a tad larger

  20. Europa • A little smaller than our moon • Thin ice layer • Cracked icy appearance • Less tidal heating • Very few craters

  21. Europa – Cracks and Surface • Covered in ice, mostly water ice • Heating causes stresses that cause cracks • Few craters  resurfacing (melting)

  22. Europa’s Cracked Surface

  23. Europa’s Cracked Surface

  24. Europa’s Cracked Surface

  25. Europa’s Composition • Metal core • Rocky Mantle • “Thin” layer of water Prospects for life? • Lots of water • No sunlight • Many terrestrial forms of life survive on thermal vents

  26. Ganymede • Largest moon in solar system • Larger than Mercury! • Dark regions separted by lighter ice • Composition: half rock, half water ice • Many craters • Little tidal heating

  27. Ganymede – Dark and Light regions • Ice broke apart • Water welled up and froze

  28. Ganymede – Pressure Ridges • Expanding ice • Ice deforms

  29. Ganymede – Craters • Many craters • But not like the Moon

  30. Ganymede – Craters • Over time, ice can flow, slowly • Plastic deforma-tion • Craters get flattened over time

  31. Callisto • Same size as Mercury • Composition: some rock, mostly water ice • Heavily cratered

  32. Craters on Callisto Crater chains

  33. Craters on Callisto Valhalla Crater

  34. Patterns in Jupiter’s Moons Europa thin ice Callisto mostly ice Jupiter Io no ice Ganymede half ice • Moons have more ice the farther they are from Jupiter • Why? • Early Jupiter was extremely hot • Sometimes called a “failed star” • Heated neighborhood very hot • Water evaporated from inner moons Q. 49: Ice on Jupiter’s Moons

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