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Chapter 1 – The Major Planets
Eight major or classical planets are currently recognized by the International
Astronomical Union (IAU), the body that gives official names to objects in the
solar system. The planets are commonly divided into two groups: the inner
planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune). The inner planets are small and are composed primarily
of rock and iron. The outer planets are much larger and consist mainly of
hydrogen, helium, and ice. Pluto, historically counted as the ninth planet, does
not belong to either group, and was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the IAU in
2006. Some astronomers have objected to the reclassification of Pluto and the
new IAU definition of a planet. Others feel strongly that classifying Pluto as one
of the largest members of a family of similar icy bodies orbiting the Sun beyond
Neptune provides a much better explanation of Pluto’s existence.
1.1 Mercury
The smallest of the rocky or terrestrial planets that include Venus, Earth, and
Mars, Mercury has a global magnetic field, but only a trace of an atmosphere and
no moons of its own. It is the second hottest planet after Venus. Mercury circles
the Sun every 88 Earth days at an average distance of 58 million km (36 million
mi) and takes 59 days to turns on its axis. It retains an ancient cratered surface
that has changed little since the formation of the solar system, making the planet
of special interest to planetary scientists. Mercury was named for the fleet-footed
messenger of the gods in Roman mythology.
Mercury’s diameter is 4,879 km (3,032 mi), about 40 percent the diameter of
Earth or about 40 percent wider than the Moon. Mercury’s volume and mass are
about one-eighteenth that of Earth. Mercury’s mean density, 5.4 g/cm³, is nearly
as great as that of Earth and is higher than that of any of the other planets. The
force on the planet’s surface is about one-third of that on Earth’s surface or about
twice the surface gravity on the Moon and about the same as the surface gravity
on Mars, which is larger than Mercury but less dense. Two moons in the solar
system—Jupiter’s Ganymede and Saturn’s Titan—are also larger than Mercury
but are much less dense and hence have lower gravity (about the same as the
Moon).
1.2 - Venus
Venus is nearly the same size as Earth, but takes 243 days to rotate on its axis in
the opposite direction. It also lacks a magnetic field and a moon. Why conditions
on Venus and Earth are so different remains a major puzzle for planetary
scientists. Venus circles the Sun at a distance of 108 million km (67 million mi) in
a little over seven months (about 225 days). The planet was named for Venus,
the Roman goddess of beauty.
Except for the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky. It is
often called the morning star when it appears in the east at sunrise and the
evening star when it is in the west at sunset. In ancient times the evening star
was called Hesperus and the morning star Phosphorus, Eosphoros, or Lucifer.
1.3 - Earth
From space Earth resembles a big blue marble with swirling white clouds floating
above blue oceans. About 71 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by water,
which is essential to life. The rest is land, mostly in the form of continents that
rise above the oceans.
Earth’s surface is surrounded by a layer of gases known as the atmosphere,
which extends upward from the surface, slowly thinning out into space. Below the
surface is a hot interior of rocky material and two core layers composed of the
metals nickel and iron in solid and liquid form.
Unlike the other planets, Earth has a unique set of characteristics ideally suited
to supporting life as we know it. It is neither too hot, like Mercury, the closest
planet to the Sun, nor too cold, like distant Mars and the even more distant outer
planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the tiny dwarf planet Pluto.
Earth’s atmosphere includes just the right amount of gases that trap heat from
the Sun, resulting in a moderate climate suitable for water to exist in liquid form.
The atmosphere also helps block radiation from the Sun that would be harmful to
life.
Although Earth is the only planet known to have life, scientists do not rule out the
possibility that life may once have existed on other planets or their moons, or
may exist today in primitive form. Mars, for example, has many features that
resemble river channels, indicating that liquid water once flowed on its surface. If
so, life may also have evolved there, and evidence for it may one day be found in
fossil form. Water still exists on Mars, but it is frozen in polar ice caps, in
permafrost, and possibly in rocks below the surface.
Moon
Telescopes have revealed a wealth of lunar detail since their invention in the
17th century, and spacecraft have contributed further knowledge since the
1950s. Earth’s Moon is now known to be a slightly egg-shaped ball composed
mostly of rock and metal. It has no liquid water, virtually no atmosphere, and is
lifeless. The Moon shines by reflecting the light of the Sun. Although the Moon
appears bright to the eye, it reflects on average only 12 percent of the light that
falls on it. This reflectivity, called albedo, of 0.12 is similar to that of coal dust.
The diameter of the Moon is about 3,480 km (about 2,160 mi), or about onefourth that of Earth. The Moon’s mass is only 1.2 percent of Earth’s mass. The
average density of the Moon is only three-fifths that of Earth, and gravity at the
lunar surface is only one-sixth as strong as gravity at sea level on Earth. The
Moon moves in an elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit around Earth at an average
distance of 384,403 km (238,857 mi) and at an average speed of 3,700 km/h
(2,300 mph). It completes one revolution in 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes. For the
Moon to go from one phase to the next similar phase—as seen from Earth—
requires 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes. This period is called a lunar month. The
Moon rotates once on its axis in the same period of time that it circles Earth,
accounting for the fact that virtually the same portion of the Moon (the “near
side”) is always turned toward Earth.
1.4 - Mars
Mars is a relatively small planet, with a diameter of about 6,794 km (4,222 mi) or
about half the diameter of Earth. Mars has about one-tenth Earth’s mass. The
force of gravity on the surface of Mars is about three-eighths of that on Earth.
Mars has twice the diameter and twice the surface gravity of Earth’s Moon. The
surface area of Mars is almost exactly the same as the surface area of the dry
land on Earth. Mars is believed to be about the same age as Earth, having
formed from the same spinning, condensing cloud of gas and dust that formed
the Sun and the other planets about 4.6 billion years ago.
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are named after the sons of
the Roman god Mars. These tiny bodies are heavily cratered, dark chunks of
rock and may be asteroids captured by the gravitational pull of Mars. Phobos
orbits Mars once in less than one Martian day, so it appears to rise in the west
and set in the east, usually twice each day. Deimos has the more ordinary habit
of rising in the east and setting in the west.
Phobos
Phobos orbits Mars at an average distance of only 9,378 km (5,827 mi), closer to
its planet than any other moon in the solar system. In fact, the moon is so close
to the planet that tidal forces caused by Mars’s gravity are slowly dragging the
moon down. Phobos spirals inward about 1.8 m (about 6 ft) per century. Around
50 million years from now Phobos will be so close to Mars that the moon will
either break apart, forming a ring around the planet, or crash into the Martian
surface. Because it is so near Mars, Phobos completes its nearly circular orbit
every 7.65 hours, whizzing around the planet three times each day. As seen from
the surface of Mars, Phobos crosses the Sun’s disk about 1,300 times a year.
The moon is tidally locked, which means that it keeps the same face toward Mars
at all times, just as Earth’s Moon keeps the same face toward Earth. Phobos
therefore rotates once per orbit around Mars.
Deimos
Deimos orbits Mars at an average distance of 23,460 km (14,580 mi), completing
an orbit once every 1.26 Earth days. The moon’s orbit is almost circular and is
only slightly tilted relative to the Martian equator. Deimos rotates once in exactly
the same amount of time that it completes one orbit, keeping one face toward
Mars at all times, just as Earth’s moon shows only a single face as seen from
Earth’s surface.
1.5 - Jupiter
The fourth brightest object in Earth’s sky, after the Sun, the Moon, and Venus,
Jupiter is more than three times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star. Due to its
prominence in the sky, the Romans named the planet for their chief god, Jupiter.
Jupiter orbits the Sun at an average distance of 778 million km (484 million mi),
which is about five times the distance from Earth to the Sun. Jupiter’s year, or the
time it takes to complete an orbit about the Sun, is 11.9 Earth years, and its day,
or the time it takes to rotate on its axis, is about 9.9 hours, less than half an Earth
day.
Io
Io circles Jupiter in a slightly elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit over Jupiter’s equator at
an average distance of 422,000 km (262,200 mi). It completes an orbit once
every 1.769 Earth days and rotates once in the same period. Io is slightly larger
than Earth’s moon, with a radius of about 1,820 km (about 1,130 mi). Like Earth’s
moon, it ranks among the ten largest moons in the solar system.
Europa
Europa rotates once in exactly the same amount of time that it takes to complete
one orbit around Jupiter and therefore keeps a single face toward the planet at all
times. The moon’s slightly elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit parallels Jupiter’s equator.
Europa is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon, with a radius of 1,565 km (972 mi).
Like Earth’s moon, it ranks among the ten largest moons in the solar system.
Ganymede
With a radius of 2,634 km (1,637 mi), Ganymede is even larger than the planets
Pluto and Mercury. The moon is only half as massive as Mercury, however,
because about half of Ganymede’s composition is frozen water, which has a
lower density than Mercury’s rock and iron.
Ganymede orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 1.07 million km (665,000 mi),
completing an orbit once every 7.155 Earth days. The moon is tidally locked,
meaning that it rotates only once per orbit and keeps the same face toward
Jupiter at all times. Ganymede’s nearly circular orbit parallels Jupiter’s equator.
Callisto
Callisto completes an orbit and rotates in the same amount of time, once every
16.69 Earth days. Its nearly circular orbit parallels Jupiter’s equator.
Callisto is spherical and is the third-largest moon in the solar system. The moon
has a radius of 2,403 km (1,493 mi), making it nearly the same size as the planet
Mercury. Since Callisto consists mostly of low-density water ice, however, the
moon is only one-third as massive as rocky, metallic Mercury. Callisto’s interior is
probably not differentiated into a rocky core surrounded by lighter icy material,
like that of the other three large moons of Jupiter—Io, Europa, and Ganymede.
Instead, scientists believe that the entire moon is a mixture of rock and ice, with
the percentage of rock in the mixture increasing toward the moon’s centre.
1.6 - Saturn
Saturn’s most distinctive feature is a giant system of rings that surrounds the
planet at its equator, stretching over twice the width of the planet itself. The first
person to see the rings was the Italian scientist Galileo in 1610, using one of the
earliest telescopes. Space probes have greatly increased our knowledge of
Saturn, its rings, and its many moons. Flybys by the Pioneer and the Voyager
probes led to the Cassini orbiter that began studying Saturn in detail in 2004. As
seen from Earth, Saturn appears as a yellowish object—one of the brightest in
the night sky. The planet is named for Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture.
Saturn takes about 29.5 years to orbit the Sun at an average distance of 1,435
billion km (891.5 million mi), or about 9.59 astronomical unit (AU). An AU is equal
to the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or 150 million km (93
million mi). Saturn rotates on its axis in about 10.5 hours and is tilted at about
27°, giving the planet distinct seasons.
Titan
Scientists think Titan may provide important clues about conditions on the
primitive Earth, and even how life began. Titan is spherical, measuring about
5,150 km (about 3,200 mi) in diameter, larger than the planet Mercury. It is the
second largest moon in the solar system, after Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
Saturn’s first moon to be discovered, Titan was found in 1655 by Dutch
astronomer Christiaan Huygens. A space probe named for Huygens landed on
the surface of Titan in 2005. The moon is named after the Titans, a family of
giants in Greek mythology.
Mercury Venus Earth Mars
Jupiter Saturn Uranus Mercury Moon Moon
1
2
diameter
(Earth=1)
0.382
0.949
1
11.209
diameter
(km)
4,878
12,104
12,756 6,787
mass
(Earth=1)
0.055
0.815
1
mean
distance
from Sun
(AU)
0.39
0.72
orbital period
0.24
(Earth years)
orbital
eccentricity
0.532
9.44
4.007
0.382
0.949
1
142,800 120,000 51,118
4,878
12,104 12,756
0.107
318
95
15
0.055
0.815
1
1
1.52
5.20
9.54
19.18
0.39
0.72
1
0.62
1
1.88
11.86
29.46
84.01
0.24
0.62
1
0.2056
0.0068
0.0167 0.0934 0.0483
0.0560
0.0461
0.2056
0.0068 0.0167
mean orbital
velocity
(km/sec)
47.89
35.03
29.79
24.13
13.06
9.64
6.81
47.89
35.03
29.79
rotation
period (in
Earth days)
58.65
-243*
1
1.03
0.41
0.44
-0.72*
58.65
-243*
1
inclination of
0.0
axis (degrees)
177.4
23.45
23.98
3.08
26.73
97.92
0.0
177.4
23.45
mean
temperature
at surface
(C)
180 to
430
465
-89 to
58
-82 to
0
-150
-170
-200
-180 to
430
465
-89 to
58
gravity at
equator
(Earth=1)
0.38
0.9
1
0.38
2.64
0.93
0.89
0.38
0.9
1
escape
velocity
4.25
10.36
11.18
5.02
59.54
35.49
21.29
4.25
10.36
11.18
(km/sec)
mean
density
(water=1)
5.43
5.25
5.52
3.93
1.33
0.71
1.24
5.43
5.25
5.52
atmospheric
composition
none
CO2
N2 +
O2
CO2
H2+He
H2+He
H2+He
none
CO2
N2 +
O2
number of
moons
0
0
1
2
63
62
27
0
0
1
rings?
no
no
no
no
yes
yes
yes
no
no
no
mean
distance
from Sun
(AU)
0.39
0.72
1
1.52
5.20
9.54
19.18
0.39
0.72
1
orbital period
0.24
(Earth years)
0.62
1
1.88
11.86
29.46
84.01
0.24
0.62
1
orbital
eccentricity
0.2056
0.0068
0.0167 0.0934 0.0483
0.0560
0.0461
0.2056
0.0068 0.0167
mean orbital
velocity
(km/sec)
47.89
35.03
29.79
9.64
6.81
47.89
35.03
24.13
13.06
Mimas
Mimas orbits Saturn at a distance of about 186,000 km (about 116,000 mi) about
once every 23 hours. Mimas’s orbit is circular and tilted only 1.5° relative to
Saturn’s equator.
Mimas has a flattened or oblate shape, and measures about 397 km (about 246
mi) across, or about one-ninth the diameter of Earth’s moon. Its rapid rotation
around Saturn causes its diameter to bulge nearly 10 percent larger at the
equator than at the poles. Mimas’s internal structure and composition are
unknown, but measurements of its density cause planetary scientists to theorize
that it is made almost entirely of water ice, with very little rock.
Chapter 2 – Sun
The Sun’s energy is equivalent to four hundred million, million, million, million,
watts. That is a million times the power consumption of the United States every
year, radiated in one second, and we worked that out by using some water, a
thermometer, a tin, and an umbrella. (Cox, 2010:27)
29.79
The Sun is a huge mass of hot, glowing gas. The strong gravitational pull of the
Sun holds Earth and the other planets in the solar system in orbit. The Sun’s light
and heat influence all of the objects in the solar system and allow life to exist on
Earth.
Light is the only connection we have with the Universe beyond our solar system,
and the only connection our ancestors had with anything beyond Earth. Follow
the light and we can journey from the confines of our planet to other worlds that
orbit the Sun without ever dreaming of spacecraft. To look up is to look back in
time, because the ancient beams of light are messengers from the Universe's
distant past. (Cox, 2010: 7)
The Sun is an average star—its size, age, and temperature fall in about the
middle of the ranges of these properties for all stars. Astronomers believe that
the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and will keep shining for about another 7
billion years.
2.1 Asteroids
Hundreds of thousands of asteroids exist in the solar system. Asteroids range in
size from a few meters to over 500 km (300 mi) wide. They are generally
irregular in shape and often have surfaces covered with craters. Like icy comets,
asteroids are primitive objects left over from the time when the planets formed,
making them of special interest to astronomers and planetary scientists.
Most asteroids are found between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter in a
wide region called the asteroid belt. Scientists think Jupiter’s gravity prevented
rocky objects in this part of the solar system from forming into a large planet. The
giant planet Jupiter’s gravity also helped throw objects out of the asteroid belt.
The hundreds of thousands of asteroids now in the asteroid belt represent only a
small fraction of the original population.
Thousands of asteroids have orbits that lie outside the asteroid belt. Some of
these asteroids have paths that cross the orbit of Earth. Many scientists think that
an asteroid that hit Earth 65 million years ago caused the extinction of the
dinosaurs. Because asteroids can pose a danger to people and other life on
Earth, astronomers track asteroids that come near our planet. Space scientists
are also studying ways to deflect or destroy an asteroid that might strike Earth in
the future.
As it [the Sun] begins to run out of fuel, its core will collapse, and the extra heat
this generates will cause its outer layers to expand. In around a billion years’ time
this will have a catastrophic effect on our fragile world. In 6 billion years our Sun
will explode. The fate of the sun is the same as for all stars, one day they all must
die and the cosmos will be plunged into eternal night. (Cox, 2010:68)
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