Comparative Planetology Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars Astronomy 100 Comparative Planetology Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars

Now: How are planets formed. Why does Earth have water Now: How are planets formed? Why does Earth have water? How do rocks form? Main concepts: solar system formation, comparative planetology, Moon formation hypotheses, cratering, plate tectonics, volcanism, earthquakes, atmosphere, solar wind/auroras, Vocabulary: protoplanetary disk, crater, Heavy Bombardment, cratering, atmosphere, mantle, differentiation, plastic, greenhouse effect, albedo, ejecta, rays, solar wind, auroras

Formation of the Solar System The Solar Nebula was spinning Protostar Protoplanetary disk Bits coalesced Ta-da – planets! NOW: String represents 5 billion years (50 feet) Each foot is 100 million years. Place the events in order. You have 20 minutes ONLY

Heavy Bombardment

Differentiation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss1FNrNTGRM Robert Simpson http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/2946389087_57dfbb682e_b.jpg

Crust Mantle Core Plastic From: NASA http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/wbkids/k_earth_prt.htm

Fission, Capture, Condensation, Giant Impact? Starchild/NASA http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question38.html

Crater, ejecta, rays, albedo NASA http://craters.gsfc.nasa.gov/crater_diagram.html

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/ Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/ Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/ Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Comparative Volcanoes

Volcanoes Composite Shield http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/atlas/images/oly-az.jpg http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/stories/Landsat_USCities/images/mt_rainier_natural.jpg

Plate Tectonics http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/mission/images/PIA02820_mola.jpg

Martian North Pole and Terrestrial (Earth) South Pole Describe three things that are the same about the landforms. Describe three things that are different about the landforms. Why do both planets have ice caps? Why are the ice caps different sizes? Valles Majas & the Grand Canyon What force do you think formed the Grand Canyon? What force do you think formed Valles Majas? Do you think it is the same force? Why or why not? How do your observations support this conclusion? Olympus Mons and the Hawai’ian Islands Using the contour gauge, trace the profile of both Olympus Mons and Hawai’i. Draw your guess for what the internal structure might look like inside both volcanoes.

Weathering/Protection Water Atmosphere Greenhouse effect Solar wind

Answer Now: Why do the Moon and Mercury have more craters than the Earth? What types of planets are there in our Solar System?

Vocabulary: Apollo, MER, Altair, Constellation, Venera, MESSENGER Now: How many other worlds have humans walked on? How many “planets” have we “explored?” Main concepts: Mercury missions past and future Venus missions past and future Moon missions past and future Mars missions past and future Vocabulary: Apollo, MER, Altair, Constellation, Venera, MESSENGER

Answer Now: Why do the Moon and Mercury have more craters than the Earth? What types of planets are there in our Solar System?