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The Solar System

The Solar System. Our Planetary System: Part A. Inventory of the Solar System. Our System 1 Star 8 Planets 5 Known Dwarf Planets (Potentially 100’s more) 166 Known Moons (and growing) 10,000’s Asteroids (6 with diam > 300km) Countless Comets Countless Meteroids ( diam < 100m).

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The Solar System

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  1. The Solar System Our Planetary System: Part A

  2. Inventory of the Solar System • Our System • 1 Star • 8 Planets • 5 Known Dwarf Planets (Potentially 100’s more) • 166 Known Moons (and growing) • 10,000’s Asteroids (6 with diam > 300km) • Countless Comets • Countless Meteroids (diam < 100m)

  3. Inventory of the Solar System • Planetary Properties • General • Nearly Rounded, Spherical in Shape • “Nearly” Circular Orbits • Mercury: Most eccentric, 0.204 • All Orbit Counterclockwise (from Celestial north pole) • All orbit in the same ecliptic plane • Sizes are determined through angular measurements • Masses Determined by observing other orbiting objects.

  4. Inventory of the Solar System

  5. Inventory of the Solar System • Terrestrial Planets • 4 Innermost Planets • Small, Dense, Rocky, Few Moons • Mercury • Venus • Earth • Mars

  6. Inventory of the Solar System • Jovian Planets (Gas Giants) • 4 Outer Planets • Large, Low Density, Gaseous, Many Moons • Jupiter • Saturn • Uranus • Neptune

  7. Inventory of the Solar System • Dwarf Planets • Must be “nearly round”, and orbit the sun. • Five Official Dwarf Planets • Ceres • Pluto • Haumea • Makémaké • Eris • 2011, Published List of 390 Candidates • Range from “Nearly Certain” to “Possibly”

  8. Solar System Debris • Interplanetary Matter • Asteroids • Rocky • > 100m • Meteroids • Rocky • < 100m • Comets • Icy, Dusty, Tail(s) • 1-10 Km

  9. Asteroids • Asteroids • Asteroid Belt • Between 2.1 – 3.3 A.U. • Between Mars and Jupiter • Majority of known asteroids • Low Eccentricity • Ceres- Largest asteroid (dwarf planet) • (1/3 of entire belt mass)

  10. Solar System Debris

  11. Solar System Debris • Trojan Asteroids • Some asteroids lead/follow planets (Jupiter) at stable points in its orbit. • Earth’s first Trojan asteroid was just discovered. • Earth Crossing Asteroids • Highly eccentric orbits • Potential for Collisions • Icarus (6 Million km in 1968) • 2002 MN (120,000 km in 2002)

  12. Solar System Debris

  13. Solar System Debris • Between 1990 and 2000, 40 asteroids came with in 10 million km. • Geological records indicate approx. 3 collisions per 1 million year period. • Impact craters on Earth, Moon, Venus, and Mars • 1-km asteroid impact, more energy than the world’s nuclear arsenal combined.

  14. Solar System Debris • Gaspra • Ida • Mathilde • Eros

  15. Solar System Debris • Comets • Travel Highly Eliptical Orbits • Consist of: • Nucleus • Coma • Hydrogen Envelope • Ion Tail • Dust Tail

  16. Solar System Debris • Comet’s Tails • Not a brief streak (like a meteor) • Continuous trail of ions/ dust due to solar wind. • Always points away from the sun.

  17. Solar System Debris • Comet Origins • Kuiper Belt • Between 30-100 A.U. • Short Period Comets (< 200 years) • Region includes Pluto’s orbit • Largest object Quaoar

  18. Solar System Debris • Oort Cloud • Long Period Comets • Theorized existence since most comets spend majority of time away from the sun. • Up to 100,000 A.U. in diameter

  19. Solar System Debris • Meteoroids • Meteoroids- “Small asteroid” in space • Meteors- Meteoroid entering earth’s atmosphere • Shooting Stars • Meteorite- Meteor that survives entry, impacts ground/ocean

  20. Solar System Debris • Meteoroids • Meteors • Meteorites

  21. Solar System Debris • Meteor Showers • Active levels of debris entering atmosphere. • When earth passes through the path of a (broken) comet. • Small objects (a few cm)

  22. Solar System Debris • Prominent Showers • Fall/Winter • Draconids, ~ Oct 7* 500/hr • Orionids, ~ Oct 20 30/hr • Taurids, ~ Nov 7 10/hr • Leonids, ~ Nov 16** 12/hr • Geminids, ~ Dec 13 50/hr • Quadrantids, ~ Jan 3. 40/hr

  23. Solar System Debris • Prominent Showers • Spring/Summer • Lyrids, ~ Apr 21 10/hr • Eta Aquarids, ~ May 4 20/hr • Beta Taurids, ~ June 30 25/hr • Delta Aquarids, ~ July 30 20/hr • Perseids, ~Aug 12 50/hr

  24. Solar System Debris • Larger Meteroids • Not Associated with Comets • Small Bodies strayed from the Asteroid Belt • Majority of Craters on Earth/Moon/Venus/ Mercury/Mars/Jovian Moons etc.

  25. Solar System Debris • Barringer Crater- Winslow, Arizona • 1.2 km diameter, 0.2 km deep • About 50 m, 200,000 tons.

  26. Solar System Debris • Tunguska Event- • Siberia, 1908 • Shallow Impression, no fragments • Exploded above the ground • Predicted to be approx 30m diameter

  27. Formation of the Solar System • Formation model is Incomplete • Various hypotheses have risen/fallen/risen again • Discovery of Extrasolar Planets is testing/forcing revisions of our theories.

  28. Formation of the Solar System • Solar Nebular Theory • New stars are born in a Nebula • Nebula- Cloud of gas and dust • An external influence triggers gravitational collapse/rotation

  29. Formation of the Solar System • While condensing, rotational spin increases • “Spin up” (Think Figure Skating) • A disk forms at the center • Gas/Dust • Condensed Center

  30. Formation of the Solar System • The Majority of gas condenses to form Proto-Star • The disk material begins to clump together in Planetesimals • Eventually the star begins Fusion • Larger Planetesimals become Planets • Collect/Eject smaller objects

  31. Formation of the Solar System • The “Solar Nebula” Theory explains • Orbits- “Circular,” Coplanar, Prograde • Each planet has its own “space” • Acquisition of Moons • Varying Densities Planets • Remaining Planetesimals: Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud

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