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Georgia State University *
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Course
1000
Subject
Astronomy
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
Pages
2
Uploaded by KidTreeButterfly36
Astronomy 1000
Worksheet #3
Due Wednesday, Mar. 06
(Each question is worth 2 points)
Student Name: Aylo Tureson
1.
During our in-class lectures, your instructor introduced the planets Mercury and Venus by showing you an image of a transit
of these two planets, so that you could see them projected against the face of the sun. You were not shown similar transit events for the remaining planets of the solar system, and for a very good reason. Explain why.
This is because other planets in the solar system are further away than Mercury and Venus, and it is difficult to travel throughout the solar system as it is heavily reliant on the planets being lined up. It is much easier to use the gravitational pulls of the planets and moons to help slingshot us further out into the outer parts of the solar system. So, if the planets are not lined up in a specific way, then it becomes very difficult to keep traveling out, as it would then become heavily reliant on the minimal amount of fuel on the probe, satellite, rovers, etc. that we send out. 2.
You should never go to Venus, even if given the opportunity. Give at least two reasons why. (Seriously, don’t do it!)
One reason you should never go to Venus is because it is the hottest planet in the solar system. The surface temperature is at a uniform 460 C, and there is little to no variation when it’s day or night. Another reason is that the atmosphere has this thick cloud of sulfuric acid that not only traps heat in, acting as a greenhouse gas, but also leads to acid rain on the planet.
3.
Explain why the maria
of the moon have a darker coloration compared to the rest of the moon’s surface.
The maria of the moon has a darker coloration because heat built up within the moon that allowed the lava within to well up to the surface, filling in some previously made craters. The cooled lava is darker due to the higher iron content.
4.
NASA and various other space agencies have sent many unmanned satellites and rovers to other planets. Name any two of them and give a brief, one sentence description of the object(s) that mission visited and a major discovery or observation it made.
One exploration was Voyager 2, which is the only mission so far that has flown past Neptune and Uranus; it also visited Jupiter and Saturn. Another was the Mariner, which was the first exploration that visited multiple planets and the first to visit Mars, revealing the past evidence of water.
Astronomy 1000
Worksheet #3
Due Wednesday, Mar. 06
5.
The planet Mars and the moons Europa and Titan are generally seen as the best places to look for evidence of life in the solar system beyond Earth’s atmosphere. For each of these three worlds, give a brief one-sentence explanation as to why.
The planet Mars has evidence of water on its surface in the sedimentary rock and river channels. The moon Europa, as it is believed to have a vast subsurface ocean, The moon Titan is the only moon with an atmosphere containing mostly nitrogen, methane, and hydrogen.
6.
All the gas giant planets in the solar system have ring systems, but none of the rocky inner planets do. In a few brief sentences, explain why.
The rocky inner planets do not have ring systems because the Roche limit is closer to the planet’s surface. In the case of Earth, the moon is very far from where the Roche limit lies, and the moon would need to be far closer to be torn apart to form a ring system. Nor are the moons of the rocky planets icy and able to expel icy material to build ring systems.
7.
What is an orbital resonance
? Describe one example of an orbital resonance in the solar system and the effect this resonance has had on the development, geology, or overall structure of objects in the solar system.
Orbital resonance is when two planets, moons, or celestial objects are locked into an orbit and exert gravitational influence on each other, which can cause their orbits to become synchronized over time. This phenomenon can lead to stable patterns of motion, such as the three-body resonance seen in the moons of Jupiter. Io, Europa, and Ganymede, where for every time Io orbits Jupiter, Europa orbits twice around Jupiter, and Ganymede orbits four times around Jupiter.
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