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Solar System Geology & Astrophysics Solar System Geology & Astrophysics

The Home Planet

-Diameter: 7,973 miles -Diameter: 7,973 miles (12,831 kilometers)(12,831 kilometers)

-Distance from the Sun: 93 -Distance from the Sun: 93 million miles (150 million miles (150 million kilometers)million kilometers)

-Surface Temperature: -Surface Temperature: 5959ºF (15°C)ºF (15°C)

-Length of Year: 365 days-Length of Year: 365 days

The Home System

8 planets or 9?8 planets or 9? 5 Terrestrial planets5 Terrestrial planets 4 gas giants with rings4 gas giants with rings 1 star wannabee1 star wannabee Ice, rocks, dirt and . . . .?Ice, rocks, dirt and . . . .? Water, water everywhereWater, water everywhere

The Home System: Water

Mercury – iceMercury – ice Luna (Earth) - iceLuna (Earth) - ice Mars – ice, recent Mars – ice, recent

liquidliquid Europa (Jupiter) – ice, Europa (Jupiter) – ice,

liquidliquid Titan (Saturn) – water Titan (Saturn) – water

or methane?or methane?

Water flow formations on Mars

Broken ice formations on Europa

The Home System: Moons

Jupiter: 52 and counting! Jupiter: 52 and counting! – U. of Hawaii: – U. of Hawaii: www.ifa.hawaii.edu/ifa/www.ifa.hawaii.edu/ifa/ 4 Galilean moons: 4 Galilean moons:

Io (volcanic),Io (volcanic), Europa Europa

(icy/watery), (icy/watery), Ganymede (icy), Ganymede (icy), Callisto (icy, dead)Callisto (icy, dead)

Saturn: 30 and counting!Saturn: 30 and counting!

The Home System: Newton’s Orbits

Objects orbit the Objects orbit the barycenterbarycenter

Barycenter moves as Barycenter moves as objects moveobjects move

Stars “wobble”Stars “wobble”

Other Systems

100 planets – 2 100 planets – 2 dozen in a single dozen in a single week!week!

8 double-planet 8 double-planet systems; 2 triplessystems; 2 triples

One recent One recent discovery: a star the discovery: a star the same age as our Sunsame age as our Sun

www.space.comwww.space.com

                        

The Home Star: Sol

75% Hydrogen and 75% Hydrogen and 25% Helium by mass25% Helium by mass

Average G2 starAverage G2 star New Secrets:New Secrets:

Hairy sunspotsHairy sunspots Dark canalsDark canals

www.spaceweather.com

www.genesismission.org

Other Stars

Sun is Sun is average size, average size, age, densityage, density

Color shows Color shows age & massage & mass

Other Stars: Life Cycle

AgingAging red giant/planetary red giant/planetary

nebulanebula supergiant/super-supergiant/super-

novanova DeathDeath

white dwarfwhite dwarf neutron starneutron star black holeblack hole

The Home Galaxyhttp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/mw/mmw_MW.html

The Home Galaxy

http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/gcenter/index.html

Credit NASA/UMass/D.Wang et al.

The Center of the Home Galaxy

(artist’s rendition from http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020626bhlight.html)

The Home Universe: Bang?

The Missing Universe

30% Dark Matter: 30% Dark Matter: pulling things togetherpulling things together

65% Dark Energy: 65% Dark Energy: accelerating things accelerating things apartapart

5% stuff we knew 5% stuff we knew about alreadyabout already

                       

 

Stellar Reading

Stephen Hawking: Stephen Hawking: Ill.Ill. Brief History of TimeBrief History of Time, , Universe in a Nutshell, Universe in a Nutshell, Theory of EverythingTheory of Everything and and othersothers

Brian Green: Brian Green: The Elegant The Elegant Universe or Cosmology & Universe or Cosmology & String TheoryString Theory

Richard Feynman: Richard Feynman: Six Six Easy Pieces (Essentials of Easy Pieces (Essentials of Physics)Physics)