mass 2x the mass of all other planets combined

no solid surface

differential rotation

bright zones and dark belts

Great Red Spot

mostly H but some He

small amounts of methane, ammonia, and water vapor

radiates more energy than it recieves from sun because interior is still cooling from formation

central core is metallic hydrogen and helium and is rocky

outer core is molecular hydrogen and helium

surrounder by huge magnetic belts

about 300 km across, extends beyond Saturn's orbit

20,000x Earth's magnetosphere

Io

Europa

Ganymede

Callisto

Physical Properties of Io

iron, iron/ sulfide core

rocky mantle

many volcanoes

particles from eruption form Plasma Torus

youngest surface in solar system

no craters

sulfur and sulfonic compounds

iron, iron/sulfide core

ice crust with possible water underneath

tidal forces cause ice to crack forming an ice jumble on the surface

almost no craters

crater: Pwyll

discovered Jupiter's Rings

carried message to ETs

The Grande Tour

found that Saturn's rings have spokes

discovered more of Saturn's moons

only mission to reach as far as Uranus

found 6 small Neptune moons

found that Neptune's rings were complete but thicker in some parts

discovered that rings form from the crashing of inner satellites

saw Aurora on Neptune

visited asteroids Gaspra and Ida

first craft to leave carrying message to ETs

passed close by Saturn

small

eccentric orbits

rocky

C-type: carbonaceous, dark

S-type: silicate (rocky)

M-type: metallic (iron and nickel)

asteroids with orbits so eccentric

they cross Earth's orbit

less than 100 m in diameter

most rock, some iron

usually between 4.4 and 4.6 billion years old

nucleus

coma of gas and dust (most visible part)

dust tail and ion tail

very eccentric orbits

icy

Dirty Snowball Model

Whipple

a comet is composed of dust grains, rocks, and frozen gases

iron: found most often but compose only 6% of all meteorites

stone: most common

stony irons

iron, iron sulfide core

rocky mantle

icy crust

surface features indicate plate activity

dark areas that resemble maria but are just dirty ice

craters indicate old surface

largest moon in SS

larger than Pluto or Mercury

history similar to Earth's moon but has ice instead of rock

no plate activity

most heavily crated surface in SS

Vahalla impact basin with possible ocean inside

similar to Ganymede

Rhea (largest)

Dione and Tethyes

Mimas

Enceladus

Lapetus

Small Moons of Saturn

Hyperion

Phoebe

almost as big as Ganymede

thicker and denser atmosphere than Earth

atmosphere is Nitrogen

methane and ethane lakes and rivers

orange haze due to organic molecules

relatively flat and cratered surface

craters and wisps but no large craters

similar to Tethyes

icy and cratered surface

craters, wisps, and rays

similar to Dione

icy and cratered surface

large crater and canyon

closest moon to Saturn

has crater covering 1/3 of its surface

has giant canyon opposite crater

orbits close to Mimas

very shiny, indicates it may be covered with ice

recent activity and internal heating

2 faced

leading side very dark

trailing side very bright

hamburger shaped

same size as Mimas

captured asteroid

retrograde motion

Ariel

Umbriel

Titania

Oberon

Miranda

youngest surface in SS

tectonic activity

few large craters

global fractures/ fault lines

darker

uniform surface covered with craters

unexplained bright ring feature

few large craters

many young scarps

some fresh material

trenches

many large craters

high mountain scarps

dark patches in crater floor

part of surface has undulating cratered plains

part with regions of scarps that show up as dark bands

global faults

chevron feature

racetrack feature

most unusual of the moons

Triton

Nereid

large

normal orbit

retrograde motion

ice volcanoes

nitrogen atmosphere

weird terrain in different hemispheres

flooded ice plains

small

very eccentric orbit

prograde motion

made of dark aluminum hydrosulfide

dark

sinking

white ammonia clouds

cooler

rising

coriolis forces

anticyclonic storm (high pressure center with low pressure surrounding)

Jupiter's Ring System

Gossamer ring, main ring, halo

can be viewed from Earth using special telescope

forms from collisions of inner satellites

Properties of Saturn

less dense than water

flattened due to rapid and differential rotation

prominent but then rings

77% H, 22% He

no solid surface

95x Earth's mass

differential rotation rates

belts and zones like Jupiter but much less bright

similar to Jupiter's but pressure is lower

three cloud layers, thicker than Jupiters

mostly H some He (less than Jupiter's)

wind patterns similar to Jupiter's but with zonal flow

similar to Jupiters

rick/ice core

inner core metallic H

outer core molecular H

radiates more energy than it gets from sun due to interior still cooling

H and He not well mixed

strong magnetosphere but only 5% of Jupiter's

creates Auroras

so large and complex that telescopes can see them

composition of particles is water/ice mixture

all rings inside roche limit

radial spikes form and then dissipate

cassini division caused by resonance with other particles and Saturn's moon

F Ring

outer most ring

appears to have kinks and braids

oddities caused by its 2 shepard moons

too active to have been there since beginning of SS

either the result of a catastrophic event or are continually replenished

mass 14.5x Earth's

similar to Neptune

axis of rotation lies in its plane of orbit (very odd, causes extreme seasonal variation)

similar to Uranus

mass 17.7x Earth's

outer atmosphere similar to Jupiter and Saturn

cold enough to freeze ammonia

mainly methane (gives it its blue color)

internal heat source

band structure more visible

storms similar to those on Jupiter but much fewer

substantial magnetic field but at a large angle to their rotation axis

magnetic fields are not produced by dynamos like other planets

rocky core surrounded by a type of slush then surrounded by molecular hydrogen

Neptune has internal heat source

both have very faint ring systems only recently observed

2 shepard moons keep epsilon ring from fusing

Neptune has 5 rings

eccentric

inclined to the plane of the ecliptic

crosses Neptune's orbit

high level of photochemical haze (cant see surface)

dark polar cap

brightening in mid latitudes

atmospheric movements indicate something is happening in interior

interior rotates slower than atm

9 rings found from ground based observation

epsilon ring is largest and most easily seen

very narrow

little dust in rings

consist of particles several cm across

had Great Dark Spot that disappeared in 1994

scooter=bright feature below great dark spot

interior similar to Uranus

blue due to Methane

strangely off center like Uranus'

probably caused by some form of ice that can conduct

Aurora seen by Galileo Spacecraft

mapping of surface using lunar occulations

interior thought to be similar to icy moons like Ganymede

no evidence of a magnetic field

escaped moon from Neptune

Kuiper Belt asteroid

possible victim of violence in early SS

less than that of the moon

more like comets when they burn up in the atmosphere

more like asteroids when they hit Earth

a few km on average

loses 1% of mass as it orbits around the sun

rotates

maximum at perihelon

ion tail goes straight back

dust tail curves due to radiation pressure

hydrogen cloud

bright due to reflecting sunlight and fluorescent gases

can be up to 100,000 km across