Celestial Wanderers/Teacher's Notes

Teacher's Notes

Session 3 – Celestial Wanderers

Having looked at the moon last session we turn our attention to the rest of the solar system – specifically focusing on the geology and evolution of these rocky bodies.

• The voyager probes were the first close up look at the outer solar system – taking advantage of a rare “lining up” of the gas giants allowing one probe to flyby them all. Video – The story of Voyager 2. Music is NOT Bach but I doubt any student will notice.
  

- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/index.html

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2

• Feb 14th 1991 Voyager took a departing valentine of the solar system – 6 of the 8 planets would prove visible in its final image before its cameras were shut down.
  

- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager-20100212.html

• The outer planets
  

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune

• Rocky bodies more interesting as we can see their surfaces.
  
• Mimas has a Massive Crater http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimas_(moon)
  
• Such craters also exist on Earth
  

- Manicouagan is clearly visible to astronauts

- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=3325

• The moon also has many craters – although lava flows in the “seas” have covered over many of them.
  

- Image taken by Apollo 8

- Dating surfaces possible by looking at crater counts. No craters = young surface

• Tycho crater can be seen unaided from the earth. The lines of ejecta cover ¼ of the near side of the moon.
  

- Craters can be dated by the layering of the ejecta’s over older craters.

- Possible that the asteroid that formed tycho was linked to the asteroid that caused the K-T boundary extinction.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_(crater)

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptistina_family

• Olympus Mons – Not a crater but the biggest volcano in the solar system.
  

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Mons

• The moons of the gas giants are also rich with surface geology
  
• Io – Jovian System – extremely volcanically active (notice no craters) due to extreme tidal heating from its close orbit with Jupiter
  

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Io_(moon)

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_force

• Europa – Jovian System – Surface also new – but made of water Ice. Theorised to be an ocean of liquid water beneath – kept liquid by the heat generated from radioactivity and tidal energies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon)

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B8mer%27s_determination_of_the_speed_of_light

• Titan is the biggest moon in the solar system – all 3 phases of Methane appear to be present on Titan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)
  
• The two stacked images are taken from Mars (top) and from Earth (bottom) only noticeable difference is the more red coloration in the sky.
  
• Venus – covered in cloud – need Radar (next image) to see the surface
  

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus

• Mercury – a planet smaller than titan...
  

- No atmosphere as it has been lost due to excessive heat, lack of a magnetic field and low gravity.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_planet

• The final image is one of the surface Mars showing evidence of the Martian Past.
  

- There are plenty of craters however also evidence of water flowing over this surface.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_on_Mars

Useful cloudy weather applications

• Build a model space probe to carry a delicate payload into orbit.
- Instrumentation simulated by an egg
- Launch simulated by a large plastic box which you shake around for 10 seconds...