Astronomy Study Guide for test 3

Stephen Davis
With the solar system use common sense. So lets break it down
The formula for the solar system. �The Recipe�
The sun makes 99.9% of the solar system and the other .1% is made up of the
remaining planets and materials.( asteroid belt ) and so on.
Gravity is the center of everything
The Recipe of the Nebula 98% (Hydrogen and helium) and 2% (rock,metal, carbon)

Nebular Theory
Where did the solar system come from--The core of stars that exploded. Gas clouds
pulled together by gravity
How old is the solar system-4.6 billion years ( known because of radioactive decay)
What causes the orderly patterns of motion in our solar system?-gravitational
momentum and angular momentum
Why are there two types of planets?- Because of Frost line
Why are the asteroids and comets come from? They are leftovers from the creation of
our solar system. Asteroids reside in the asteroid belt. A lot of them also reside
in the oort cloud.
What features of solar system support the Nebular theory?

Terrestrial Planets
Mercury- closest to the sun and the smallest
Venus- Size of earth. Thick thick atmosphere- acidic rain.carbon dioxide atmosphere
Earth- most magnetic field of terrestial planets- molten core. Made mostly of
nitrogen atmosphere. Earth is in the Goldie locks zone. Its just the right distance
from the sun where it can sustain life and have water not be evaporated nor frozen.
Due to its distance but also its greenhouse gases and having enough masses.
Mars- dead. Mainly made of carbon dioxide gases in the air. 100 times less dense
than earth. Has water but its frozen. Most and biggest volcanies

Frost line and asteriod belt where remaining material is at. The rosetta mission
released the

Jovian Planets
All Jovian planets have rings around them. Have a stronger magnetic field than
earth and are have a core about the size of 10 earths. Strong atmospheric storms
and winds.
Jupiter- Dynamic weather. biggest of the jovian planets has the 4 moons galileo
founded. Ganymede is the biggest one. Io is volcanic in nature do to tidal heating
and due to its orbit around jupiter. Europa provides the most evidence for tidal
heating.
Saturn-Second biggest. Has the moon Titan. Titan has its own atmosphere composed
mainly of Nitrogen and hydrocarbons. Titan is also a cantolope. Has evidence of
water and tectonics
Uranus- 17 earth sizes. Has larger radius than Neptune but less mass
Neptune- more mass than uranus but only 14 earth radius.

Kuiper belt is beyond Neptune.

Earth doesnt have high levels of carbon dioxide like the other planets because of
the water

Random Knowledge
Tests are 24%
Menu points are 16%
Final Exam is 20%

The moon is far from Earth than we think sometimes.