Other Objects in the Solar System

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Other Objects in the Solar System

• Scientists find valuable information about the
  origin and evolution of our universe from
  examining other objects in our Solar System.
• Copy down the purple sections.
• Planetary Moons
• Satellites or Moons large natural objects that
  revolve around planets
• moons contain huge amounts of useful minerals
  that humans may mine one day

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Some Moon Facts

• Average distance from Earth 384 000 km.
• Due to the elliptical nature of the orbit -
• - Minimum distance 363 000 km (called
  perigee)
• - Maximum distance 405 000 km (called
  apogee).
• Diameter 3 500 km (1/4 that of Earth's)
• However as viewed from Earth, the size of the
  Moon appears to change by as much as 11 from
  perigee and apogee.
• Orbital path elliptical but constantly slightly
  altered
• In addition to the Earth's gravity, the Sun is
  also exerting a gravitational force on the Moon
  as well. The Sun's gravity sometimes causes the
  Moon to speed up or slow down slightly in its
  orbit.
• Rotation it takes 27.3 days to turn once on its
  axis
• (this is why we always see the same face of
  the moon)
• Surface filled with hills and valleys as well as
  craters caused by the impact of large and small
  objects from space

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Moon Tides (400 min) http//www.youtube.com/wa
tch?vrRPtNAA-9UE Cookie, onion, orange analogy
(200 min) http//www.youtube.com/watch?vCTQ6ciH
ENgINR1
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Recall Phases of the Moon
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Asteroids

• Asteroids made up of stoney/rocky and
  metallic materials (eg. iron)
• rich in minerals (like planetary moons)
• largest asteroid is only about 100 km in diameter
• about 91 Apollo asteroids have been identified
  potential for colliding with Earth (theory for
  extinction of the dinosaurs)
• called minor planets or planetoids
• rocky leftover mass of the inner
• planets

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• Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter there is
  a ring of asteroids
• Scientists think it might have formed into a
  planet if the gravitational force of Jupiter
  werent so strong

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Meteors and Meteorites

• Meteoroid lump of rock or metal that travel
  throughout the solar system with no fixed path
• similar in origin to asteroids and comets
• when trapped by Earths gravity it is pulled
  through the Earths atmosphere
• This causes the meteoroid to heat up and
  vapourize due to the friction with the molecules
  in the atmosphere which results in a

• Meteor
• incorrectly calledshooting star
• bright streak of light across the sky, occurs in
  seconds
• Most of the meteoroids are completely burned up
  in our atmosphere, however, a few very large ones
  will get through and are then called

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• Meteorites
• - if a meteor does not burn up completely and
  strikes the Earths surface
• - produces craters when they hit the ground

Example Barringer Crater, Winslow, Arizona, at
1.2 km in diameter, smaller crater
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Other craters
This incredible 72km wide impact crater in Quebec
has slowly transformed into its current state.
What was originally the rim of the crater has
since eroded away due to glaciation. The impact
occured around 212 million years ago and the
diameter of the meteorite is estimated to have
been approximately 5km.
With an astounding diameter of around 300km,
Vredefort basin in south Africa is currently the
largest confirmed impact crater on Earth and also
one of the oldest at 2 billion years. the crater
was the result of an extreme impact with an
object whose diameter was 10km.
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How Much Damage?
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What causes meteor showers?

1. Lots of falling stars
2. Clouds
3. Debris left in the path of a comet
4. Solar wind particles

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Meteoroid Shower

• Meteoroid shower often occurs when the Earth
  cross the orbit of comets. The many particles
  left by the dust tail of the comets collide
  with the Earth, causing the meteoroid shower.

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The Cause of Meteor Showers
P55/Tempel-Tuttle
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The 1833 storm
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The 1966 storm
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1997 Leonids from Orbit
Meteor shower associated with the comet
Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids get their name from
the location of their radiant in the
constellation Leo the meteors appear to radiate
from that point in the sky.
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Comets

• Comets chunk of frozen matter that travels in a
  very long orbit around the sun
• basically a dirty snowball (ice, dust and gas)
  with an elliptical orbit around the sun
• icy leftovers of the outer solar system
• as it approaches the sun, it is warmed and the
  frozen substances become gas creating a gaseous
  head and long tail
• Example Halleys Comet returns every 76 years

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The most distant region of the solar system is
the Oort Cloud. - It consists of billions of
fragments of ice and dust, and is thus a major
source of comets.
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Comets

• The strong gravity of the Outer Planets sucked in
  most of the comets in between Jupiter and
  Neptune, either sending them to a collision
  course with other planets, or ejecting them to
  the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.
• Comets beyond the orbit of Neptune have time to
  grow bigger and stay in stable orbit. Pluto may
  be (the biggest) one of them.

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Comet Tails

• Comets develop tails only when the get close
  enough to the Sun.
• Comet tails always point away from the SunThis
  is how scientists first realized the existence of
  solar wind.

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Composition of Comet Tails

• Plasma tail consists of gas escaping from the
  coma. The gas are ionized by solar UV radiation.
  Since they are charged particles, solar wind
  carries them outward from the Sun. The plasma
  tails always point away from the Sun.
• Dust tail consists of dust-sized particles from
  the coma. They are pushed by the radiation
  pressure (sun light), and generally curve back to
  the direction where they came from.

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Hyakutake
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Hale-Bopp
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Comet Halley 1910
Orbit Link

• Comet Halley was visible in 1910 and again in
  1986. Its next passage will be in early 2062. The
  period of its orbit is every 76 years.
• The average period of Halley's orbit is 76 years
  but you cannot calculate the dates of its
  reappearances by simply subtracting multiples of
  76 years from 1986. The gravitational pull of the
  major planets alters the orbital period from
  revolution to revolution.

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Two Showers for Halley due to
The Orionid meteor shower is one of two showers
that occur annually when Earth passes through
Halley's Comet dust and debris.http//www.suite10
1.com/content/the-orionid-meteor-shower-is-debris-
from-halleys-comet-a280661ixzz1AukiHym8
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• Home FUN!
• Finish Glossary handout.
• Start to Review for Quest on Monday, January 17,
  2011.