Planets and Their Facts PDF

Lec 1 Planets and their facts Mercury Earth No atmosphere Closest planet to the sun Cratered surface Rocky exterior with a huge iron core Temperature ranges from -170°C to 425°C Two probes have visited Mercury Venus Same size as Earth Num...

Lec 1 Planets and their facts Mercury Earth No atmosphere Closest planet to the sun Cratered surface Rocky exterior with a huge iron core Temperature ranges from -170°C to 425°C Two probes have visited Mercury Venus Same size as Earth Numerous volcanoes Thick CO₂ atmosphere Runaway greenhouse effect makes it hotter than Mercury Rains acid Surface temperature consistently around 460°C No moons Rotates slowly and backwards Visited by many probes and landers Earth: O₂ and N₂ atmosphere Large oceans regulate CO₂ Surface heavily influenced by life 23.4° orbital tilt creates significant seasons Mars Extinct volcanoes Very thin CO₂ atmosphere Oceans have evaporated No known life Two small moons Dust storms 25.2° orbital tilt produces significant seasons Many probes and landers have visited Earth Jupiter Earth: O₂ and N₂ atmosphere Large oceans regulate CO₂ Surface heavily influenced by life 23.4° orbital tilt creates significant seasons Largest planet in the solar system Extremely thick gaseous atmosphere surrounds a giant ball of liquid hydrogen Has very faint rings More than 60 known moons to date Saturn. Neptune Second largest planet Structure similar to Jupiter Has distinctive rings 60 known moons to date Several probes have visited Farthest planet from the Sun Structure similar to Earth Rotation axis tilted 28 degrees More visible surface features than Uranus Uranus Coldest planet Small rocky core Thick water, ammonia, and methane mantle Thick hydrogen and helium atmosphere Rotation axis tilted 98 degrees Thin rings and numerous moons Planets and their moons Earths moon 1. rocky like the earth 2. no atmosphere Jupiters moon  1. Over 60 known moons 2. Four moons over 1,000 km in diameter 3. High ice content 4. It is the most geologically active body in the solar system Neptunes moon 1. Over 60 known moons 2. Four moons over 1,000 km in diameter 3. High ice content 4. It is the most geologically active body in the solar system dwarf planets 9 identified, but there may be hundreds. Only Pluto and Ceres have been visite Astroid belt Around a million asteroids larger than 1 km in diameter exist in the asteroid belt. The total mass of the belt is about 3% of the Moon's mass. Several asteroids have been visited by space probes. Kuiper belt vast collection of small icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. Includes several of the dwarf planets. Arrokoth Kuiper belt visited by the new horizon probes in 2019 Commets Smaller icy bodies from the outer solar system highly elliptical orbits emit tails when they get close to the sun Lec 2 summer daylight is longer and darkness is shorter sun gets higher in the sky, so sunlight is more direct Winter daylight is shorter and darkness is longer sun does not get as high in the sky, so sunlight is at an angle the angle a light hits a surface matters light at a steep angle is concentrated - brighter light at a lower angle is spread out - so dimmer constellations looking at the sky, one can see the patterns in the stars we can imagine ligjhts between them & picture what they might represent Chinese constellations Chinese constellations were defined as Western Constellations looking at the sky one can see the stars we can imagine lines between them and picture what they might represent Ojibwe Constellations constellations developed in the America are completely independent of those in Europe or Asia Babyloninan constellations the ancient Babylonians has their own set of constellations this set of patterns date back to around 1200 BC Does astrology work? → Western popular astrology claims to be able to determine personality based on stars and plants at time of birth → A double blind study was done: psychologists and astrologists both determine personality traits → No correlation found between them → Horoscopes claim to be able to predict events in daily life → In several large studies these claims gave failed to beat random chance but: many people feel that they do work for them This may be, at least partially, due to the very general nature of the horoscopes This may be, at least partially, due to “confirmation bias”