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Explore the four giant gas planets in our solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - and learn about their sizes, masses, temperatures, composition, and the possibility of life. Discover the fascinating features of these planets, such as the banded patterns on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, and the moons of Uranus and Neptune. Find out about the robotic exploration of these planets and their moons.

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Announcements

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  1. Announcements • Tests will be graded by Wednesday • Due to server problems, you may turn in Homework 6 as late as Wednesday. • Pick up Homework 7 (due Monday) • First project due Friday (5:00 p.m.)!

  2. The Jovian Planets 9 October 2006

  3. Today: • Tour of the four giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) and their moons • Sizes, masses, temperatures, composition, chance of life? • Robotic exploration

  4. The planets, to scale

  5. The Inner Solar System Mars Earth On this scale: 1 A.U. = 120 pixels Diam. of Sun = 1 pixel Diam. of moon’s orbit = 1/2 pixel Diam. of earth = 1/100 pixel Venus Mercury Sun

  6. The Outer Solar System Neptune On this scale: 1 A.U. = 7 pixels Orbital radii: Jupiter 5.2 A.U. Saturn 9.5 A.U. Uranus 19 A.U. Neptune 30 A.U. Uranus Saturn Jupiter

  7. Jupiter • 11 times earth’s diameter (1/10 sun’s diameter) • 300 times earth’s mass (1/1000 sun’s mass) • Visible surface is gas (mostly hydrogen); interior must be mostly liquid, with solid core • Fascinating banded patterns, hurricanes, great red spot • Four large moons, many small ones • Visited briefly 4 times in 1970’s (Pioneer, Voyager); orbited by Galileo spacecraft 1995-2003

  8. Moons of Jupiter • Io: VERY volcanically active, covered with sulfur • Europa: Covered with ice, with liquid ocean underneath • Ganymede: Bigger than Mercury, icy and cratered • Callisto: Also big, icy, cratered • Many smaller moons (basically chunks of rock)

  9. Tidal Forces Moon Different parts of earth feel slightly different pulls toward moon. Relative to earth’s center, 2 sides are pulled away and rest is pushed in.

  10. Io: Heated by tidal friction

  11. Europa: Water beneath ice Water is probably kept warm by tidal friction. Could this be a place to look for life?

  12. Moons of Jupiter

  13. Saturn • Prettiest planet in small telescopes • 9 times earth’s diameter • 100 times earth’s mass (1/3 Jupiter) • Gaseous surface, liquid interior, solid core (like Jupiter) • Rings! • Many moons • Visited by Pioneer 11 (1979), Voyager 1 & 2 (1980-81); Cassini currently in orbit, 4-year mission

  14. Cassini Mission

  15. Saturn’s rings Rings are mostly ice particles, from tiny grains to boulder-sized chunks. Gaps are created by tug of nearby moons.

  16. Titan (Saturn’s largest moon) Opaque atmosphere of nitrogen, methane, smog. Surface (cold!) could have liquid methane, other hydrocarbons. Huygens probe landed in Jan. 2005.

  17. Saturn’s other moons…

  18. Uranus • Discovered by William Herschel, 1781 • At the threshold of naked-eye visibility • Less than half the size of Saturn, and nearly twice as far • Another gas giant planet with rings (faint), many moons • Spin axis is tipped sideways • Visited by Voyager 2, 1986

  19. Uranus • Discovered by William Herschel, 1781 • At the threshold of naked-eye visibility • Less than half the size of Saturn, and nearly twice as far • Another gas giant planet with rings (faint), many moons • Spin axis is tipped sideways • Visited by Voyager 2, 1986

  20. Moons of Uranus All are icy, smaller than our own moon.

  21. Neptune • Discovered by mathematics (anomaly in orbit of Uranus) in 1845-46, by John C. Adams and Urbain Leverrier • Can be seen in binoculars (looks like a faint star) • About the same size as Uranus, but 60% farther away • Voyager 2 discovered a cool blue spot, which has since disappeared • Largest moon, Triton, is a little smaller than our own and orbits backwards; surface is covered with ice

  22. The Terrestrial Worlds

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