Exam 3

What phenomenon on the Sun reverses about every 11 years?

Magnetic field polarity

The Sun is composed of about 99.9% of which element(s)?

Hydrogen & Helium

Hydrostatic equilibrium is the balance of which pressures?

Gravitational and radiation

Which layer of the Sun do we see with our naked eyes on a typical day?

Photosphere

hydrostatic equilibrium

when the pull from gravity and the outward pressure of radiation is equal.

first layer of the sun

core

core

center part of the sun, high temp and density

plasma

gas composed of charged particles such as electrons, protons, and ions

Radiation zone

Energy transported up by photons from the core, transparent to visible light

second layer of the sun

radiation zone

third layer of the sun

convection zone

convection zone

energy transported up by rising hot gas, opaque to visible light

fourth layer of the sun

photosphere

photosphere

visible part if the sun

fifth layer of the sun

chromosphere

chromosphere

invisible to the human eye

sixth layer of the sun

Corona

corona

waves of magnetic energy propagating upward from near the solar surface

solar wind

flow of charged particles from the surface of the sun

proton-proton chain

how hydrogen fuses into helium in the sun

proton-proton chain - in

4 protons

proton-proton chain out

he nucleus, 2 gamma rays, 2 positrons, 2 neutrinos

how does the sun make light

through nuclear fusion

solar thermostat

how the sun keeps a constant temperature

decline in core temp

fusion rate drops so the core contracts and heat up to normal 

rise in core temp

causes fusion to rise so the core expands and cools down.

sunspots

region of strong magnetic fields that are cooler

prominences

loops of bright gas that connect sunspot pairs

sunspot cycle

fall and rises in an 11 year cycle

solar flare

when a prominences break

coronal mass ejections

sends burst of high energy massive particles into space at a very high speed.

Planets acronym

Mary's 'Virgin' Explanation Made Joseph Suspect Upstairs Neighbor

Terrestrial planets 

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Jovian planets

jupiter, saturn, uranus, and neptune

Mercury drastic difference in surface temp

long day/night cycles leads to hot days and cold nights

why mercury has no atmosphere

small size and proximity to the Sun

why is venus’ atmosphere thick

composition is mainly carbon dioxide

The darker regions of the lunar surface are ancient, cooled lava plain, known as:

maria

Carbon dioxide is the most abundant gas in which of the following planet’s atmosphere?

mars

Which planet was theoretically predicted before it was actually observed with a telescope?

Neptune

Pancake volcanoes are features of which planet’s incredibly thick, heavy atmosphere?

venus

Terrestrial Planet interior

core, mantle, lithosohere, and crust

Earth Magnetosphere

convective motion of charged, molten iron, far below the surface in Earth's outer core.

Why doesn’t Mars have a magnetic field like Earth’s?

lack of convection

primary atmospheric composition of Venus and Mars

carbon dioxide

primary surface Mercury

mixture of heavily cratered and smooth regions

primary surface Venus

pancake volcanoes

highlands

bright, heavily cratered, mountainous regions of the Moon's original crust

which planet rotates backwards

venus and uranus

which moon is most likely to have extraterrestrial life

Europa, Jupiter's moon and Enceladus, Saturn's moon

jovian planets

Jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune

Of which two elements are the four jovian planets mostly made?

hydrogen and helium

Why do Uranus and Neptune, specifically, appear much more blue than other planets?

tiny amount of methane can affect the color of a planet significantly.

nebular theory

solar system formed from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar gas cloud — the solar nebula

accretion

process by which the collision of two objects form a bigger object

disk flattening

collision between particles in the cloud it to flatten onto a disk

why terrestrial planets are rocky and jovian planets are mostly gas

Inside the frost line: Temperatures were high due to the heat of the young sun - terrestrial

Outside the frost line: In the cooler outer regions, abundant water, ammonia, and methane could freeze and mix with rock and metal

Meteoroid

• Location: Space.

• Description: A small, rocky or metallic body traveling through interplanetary space.

• Origin: Most meteoroids are fragments of comets or asteroids, though some come from debris ejected from collisions on the Moon or Mars.

• Size: They can range in size from a grain of sand to a small asteroid

Where do long-period comets come from

take up to 1 million years to orbit the Sun! (from the Oort Cloud)

here do short-period comets come from?

kuiper belt, orbit the sun in 200 years or less

Meteor

• Location: Earth's atmosphere.

• Description: The streak of light that appears when a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burns up due to friction. It is also known as a "shooting star".

• Appearance: The bright glow is caused by the heat of entry heating the surrounding atmospheric gases, not the rock itself catching fire.

• Meteor showers: A meteor shower is when Earth passes through the trail of debris left by a comet, causing many meteors to appear in the sky. 

meteorite

If some material survives and lands on the surface

asteroids

failed planetesimals and, thus, failed planets. oddly shaped rocky objects

Planetesimals

small, solid objects that are considered the building blocks of planets

The primary difference between a planet and a dwarf planet 

whether or not it has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit

The more a young solar system gravitationally collapses, the faster it rotates. This is an example of which conservation law

Angular Momentum