Jo(vian)mama

Astro Chap 10

This planet’s rings are very dark and may be rich in carbon particles or organic molecules, unlike the bright ice rings of Saturn.

uranus

Ring particles around this planet are only a few centimeters to a few meters across and are composed primarily of water ice.

saturn

This planet radiates more energy than it gains from the Sun; much of its heat comes from helium droplets condensing and sinking through its hydrogen atmosphere.

saturn

Titan has a diameter of about 5,000 km (slightly bigger than Mercury), a nitrogen atmosphere, and lakes of liquid methane and ethane on its surface.

saturn

At its equator, this planet spins once every 17 hours.

uranus

This planet radiates more energy than it receives from the Sun, probably from leftover formation heat or heavier material sinking toward its core.

neptune

This planet has an average density of about 1.27g/cm³ and is composed mostly of water, ammonia, and methane surrounding a rock and iron core.

uranus

This planet has one very large moon (Titan) and 61 smaller identified moons.

saturn

Triton has geysers that erupt mixtures of nitrogen, ice, and carbon compounds, and it is one of the few moons in the Solar System with an atmosphere.

neptune

Like Uranus, this planet’s blue color is caused by methane in its atmosphere absorbing red light.

neptune

This planet’s main ring band extends from about 30,000 km above its atmosphere to a little more than twice its radius (136,000 km).

saturn

The Great Red Spot is an atmospheric vortex bigger across than Earth, first discovered in the seventeenth century.

jupiter

This planet rotates once every 16 hours, and its equatorial winds reach nearly 2,200 km/h (~1,300 mph).

neptune

This planet’s average density is only 1.3 grams per cubic centimeter, slightly greater than water.

jupiter

Triton orbits this planet in a retrograde (backward) direction and is thought to have been captured from the Kuiper Belt.

neptune

About 10,000 km below the cloud tops, this planet’s interior becomes a vast sea of liquid hydrogen; deeper still, it becomes liquid metallic hydrogen.

jupiter

This planet’s rotation axis is tipped so that its equator is nearly perpendicular to its orbit; it spins nearly on its side.

uranus

This planet’s magnetic field near the cloud tops is about 20 times the strength of Earth’s, accounting for its larger radius, the field is 20,000 times as powerful.

jupiter

This planet’s diameter is about 9.5 times Earth’s, its mass is about 95 times Earth’s, and its average density is only 0.7 g/cm³, which is less than water.

saturn

Methane in this planet’s atmosphere absorbs red light, giving the planet its deep blue color.

uranus

This planet was discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel, who initially thought he had found a comet.

uranus

This planet rotates once every 10 hours, spinning so fast that its equator bulges significantly.

jupiter

This planet’s average density is 1.67 g/cm³; its interior is likely mostly water, ammonia, and methane with an Earth-mass rock and iron core.

neptune

This planet’s diameter is about 3.9 times Earth’s, its mass is about 17 times Earth’s, and it orbits at about 30 AU from the Sun.

neptune

Cassini’s division is primarily caused by a 2:1 orbital resonance with this planet’s moon Mimas.

saturn

This planet was discovered in the 1840s from predictions by Adams and Leverrier, based on gravitational disturbances in Uranus’s orbit.

neptune

This planet’s interior temperature may reach 30,000 K, about five times hotter than Earth’s core.

jupiter

Despite their immense breadth, this planet’s rings are probably less than a few hundred meters thick, so thin that stars can be seen through them.

saturn

The Galilean satellites have densities of 3.53 (Io), 2.99 (Europa), 1.94 (Ganymede), and 1.85 (Callisto) g/cm³, decreasing with distance from this planet.

jupiter

This planet has five fairly large moons, including Miranda, which has cliffs twice the height of Mount Everest.

uranus

This planet’s diameter is about 4 times Earth’s, its mass is about 15 Earth masses, and it lies approximately 19 AU from the Sun.

uranus

This planet is slightly more than 11 times Earth’s diameter and more than 300 times its mass; its mass exceeds that of all other planets combined.

jupiter