1. The Jovian Planets Chapter 9

2. The order of things  ___________ – The largest planet     The planet formerly known as Pluto (just kidding, I just wanted to make fun of Prince) Not a planet anymore

3. Jupiter  Gas giant  Temperatures are extremely cold 150 K (100 below freezing Fahrenheit)  Composed of mostly liquids and gases.  The Roman king of the gods. The Romans did not know how large Jupiter was when they first named it.  Jupiter is 10 times the size of Earth and 300 times in mass

4. The appearance of Jupiter  A Result of banding of clouds in the atmosphere.  Jupiter’s atmosphere is mostly Hydrogen, Helium, and methane.  The clouds that form the belts commonly seen on Jupiter consist of water, ice and ammonia compounds.  Jupiter Rotates MUCH faster than Earth  So much so that it bulges at the equator and is not a perfect sphere.

5. Jupiter’s Surface  Jupiter’s surface is masked by clouds  Astronomers are limited to theories to explain the surface and interior of the planet.  The extreme cold and the huge densities have a tremendous impact on the make up of the planet.  The average density is approximately 1.3 g/cc. This indicates that the Jupiter is mostly hydrogen.

6. Jupiter’s Surface  Calculations based on size, mass, and density indicate what is below the clouds of Jupiter.  Jupiter’s huge mass means a huge gravitational force.  The gravitational force of Jupiter is so great it causes gases to form liquids  Compounds in the liquid state are compressed even further into a metallic liquid  Remember the Main component of Jupiter is H

7.  Most astronomers theorize that Jupiter and the Sun have similar components.  Relative abundance  If that is the case that means Jupiter also has some heavy metals.  Where would the heavy metals be found?  Because of their densities have settle deep into the core.  See figure 9.2 for an illustration of the interior of Jupiter.

8. Jupiter’s Interior affects its Atmosphere  Jupiter’s atmosphere has convection currents. This convection results in severe winds. ____________ current – The rising and sinking motions in a liquid or gas that carry heat upward through the material.  Jupiter’s interior generates more heat energy than it receives from the Sun  Astronomers believe that Jupiter’s tremendous gravitational pull is causing elements such as He to collapse into the core. The movement of the elements is believed to be the source of the heat.  As planets form they shrink as there gravity increases. Some scientists believe that Jupiter may still be shrinking.

9. Jupiter’s Whirling Gases  Warm gases rise in the atmosphere and dissipate heat into space.  The cool gas then sinks back to the surface.  Stationary objects have convection currents that cycle from the interior to the exterior. Basically gasses rise and then fall toward the equator or poles.  HOWEVER, Jupiter is rotating. The rotation of Jupiter causes the convection currents to move in an eastward direction.

10. The Coriolis Effect   On Jupiter the ________ effect generates large wind systems – Jet Streams, and cloud belts.  On Earth the Coriolis effect makes storms spin

11. Jupiter’s Magnetic field  Just like Earth, Jupiter generates a magnetic field.  The magnetic field is produced by the rotation of the planet and convection in a metallic core.  Because Jupiter is so large and spins so fast, its magnetic field is vary strong. It is over 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s!  The coriolis effect and magnetic field cause Northern and Southern Lights on Earth as well as Jupiter.

12. The Ring of Jupiter  Saturn and Uranus both have rings  Scientists decided to look for rings around Jupiter.  As it turns out, Jupiter also has a ring.  It is VERY small, and difficult to see because of solar radiation.  The Probe Voyager I was able to take pictures of the ring

13. The Ring  Jupiter’s ring is composed of small rock and dust particles trapped by Jupiter’s gravity. The particles are so small that collisions gases are able to push them around!  They are slowly drifting closer to Jupiter’s atmosphere. And being incorporated into the planet.  The Rings are being “replenished” by the collision of tiny satellites of Jupiter that occasionally collide and fragment.

14. The Moons of Jupiter  The first to see the Moons of Jupiter was __________. He only saw 4 of the 63 moons, 48 of them are named  The Galilean moons are larger Most of the other moons are too small to see from Earth and were only photographed by the Voyager Spacecraft.  The Galilean moons are: _____, ________, _________, and ___________ All are larger than our moon except for Europa. Ganymede is even larger than Mercury!

15. Moon formation  Some astronomers believe the moons of Jupiter formed in a similar manner to the formation of the solar system.  Jupiter’s large mass caused enough gravitational pull to have trap some planetesimals that kept colliding together and formed the moons. (Similar to planet formation.)  Evidence also suggests that Jupiter released enough heat to affect moon formation by altering moon density and even the compositions of the moons.

16. Io  _________ to Jupiter.  Tidal forces move the crust which results in __________ activity.  The unique color of Io is a result of the lava flows and Sulfur outpourings.  Shows ________ craters because of the constantly changing surface due to the severe volcanic activity.

17. Europa  The _________ Galilean moon.  Appears white because of the frozen ____ on the crust.  The red streaks are mineral rich liquid water that seep from underneath.  Europa shows _____ evidence of craters!  Any asteroids that strike the moon leave no marks because of the liquid water underneath a glacier like sheet of ice.

18. Callisto and Ganymede  Callisto Similar in appearance to our moon, but that is about the extant of any similarities. Evidence suggest it too has an icy crust and a liquid water ocean underneath. However, there is evidence of craters  Ganymede Cratered, but not as many as Callisto Shows some evidence of tectonic activity

19. Saturn  The second largest planet   10x larger than Earth, 95 x its mass  Very low density – suggesting Saturn is made mostly of ___________  Believed to be similar to Jupiter in structure  Even though Saturn is similar to Jupiter, it is cooler and farther from the Sun  Results in less noticeable banding of clouds.

20. The most striking features of Saturn:  The rings  First seen by __________  The rings are very wide (over 100,000km)  BUT they are also Very thin. (few hundred meters thick)  The rings are made of very small particles ranging in size from a few cm to meters  Composed mainly of frozen water!  Darkly colored rings contain larger amounts of Carbon

21. Origin of Rings  Rings were believed to be formed from material produced as a result of moons breaking apart.  Moons can be ripped apart because of tidal forces  Occurs when a moon gets too close to a larger planet.  The Roche limit –

22. The Roche Limit  First predicted and mathematically proven by M.E. Roche  Occurs because the force of the planet pulls more on the side of the moon closest to the planet.  When the density of the planet and the moon are equal, the Roche limit is 2.44 planetary radii.  See figure 9.14

23.  The Roche limit applies only to objects held together by gravity.  Smaller objects whose shape is a result of bonding or mechanically fastened are not affected by the Roche limit. (it is a result of gravity)

24. The moons of Saturn  Of all the planets in the solar system, Saturn has the most moons.  The moons of Saturn are less dense than the Galilean moons. This suggests they are made of mostly ice  The moons of Saturn are not tectonically active.  Titan, the largest, has an atmosphere of N and may have “rain showers” of ethane Do we use ethane? Can you imagine a scenario where we harvest the natural resources of other planets?

25. Uranus  Believed to be composed of water, ammonia, and methane.  The core may be composed of Iron, rock and maybe even ice!  The methane in the atmosphere absorbs red light and reflects blue, giving Uranus its blue appearance.  Uranus’ ring system is very narrow and dark. Probably composed of Carbon compounds

26. The moons of Uranus  Uranus has _____ small moons and 5 larger moons  The smallest of the large moons, Miranda, may have been shattered by a large object and then re-coalesced after impact.  It has the most extreme topography with cliffs 2x as high as Mount Everest.  Uranus was also hit by a large object that knocked it on its back. The Poles actually point toward the sun!

27. Neptune  Outer most plant in the solar system.  30 AU from the Sun  Has a similar composition as Uranus.  Contains an atmosphere of methane and a “dark spot” similar to Jupiter’s red spot.  Neptune generates convection currents which result in a coriolis effect.  Winds reach 1300 miles per hour

28. Neptune  Also has a ring system. They are very narrow and composed of more dust than other ring systems.  Astronomers believe they will collapse into Neptune in a million years or so.  Neptune has two sets of moons. Six small moons orbiting close to the planet and then two other moons orbiting at a great distance from the planet.

29. Kuiper Belt Objects (KBO)  The Kuiper belt is an area in the solar system extending from the orbit of Neptune to 50 AU from the sun. ___________________  Pluto and its moon Charon are considered to be Kuiper belt objects  Another Kuiper belt object recently discovered is Eris. It is actually larger than Pluto  Neptune’s moon Triton is a captured KBO