Before: Question of The Day During; PPT notes on Uranus After: Week 4 Day 1

Which moon contains nitrogen? Week 4 Day 1 Question of The Day

A gas giant 7 th planet from the sun 3 billion Km. from Sun Orbit is an ellipse –stretched circle At first Uranus was named “Georgium Sidus”, after George III (the King of England at the time). Uranus was eventually named after the Greek god of the sky. The god Uranus was Saturn’s father. Week 4 Day 1 Uranus

One Uranus year = 84 Earth yr. One Uranus day=a little over 17 hr. Uranus is a blue-green color Small even when viewed through a telescope Gases include: methane, hydrogen, helium Core of melted rock Core blends into a dirty ocean of water, ammonia, and other elements Dirty ocean blends into clouds Uranus

Winds blow at over 400 MPH At least 15 moons largest, and furthest away, of Uranus’ moons are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon Moons are named after characters in the stories of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope Remaining 10 small moons discovered by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in Uranus

All the gas planets have rings Rings of Uranus are very faint Rings cannot be seen from Earth Seem to be made of larger chunks of very dark, rocky material. Discovered by William Herschel Uranus Special Features: lies on its side Thought to be result of collision with something Spins vertically (north to south)

lies on side – Thought to be result of collision with something – Spins vertically (north to south) Uranus Special Features

Before: Question of the Day During: PPT Notes on Neptune After: Exit Ticket Week 4 Day 2

What was the first name given to Uranus? Week 4 Day 2 Question of The Day

a gas giant 8 th planet in our solar system almost 4.5 billion km. from Sun orbit almost a perfect circle named after the Roman god of the sea One Neptune year = 165 Earth years One Neptune day = sixteen hours Week 4 Day 2 Neptune

almost 4 times the size of Earth can be seen with a telescope small central core of melted rock. above center is extremely cold liquid After the liquid is a top layer of gases (hydrogen, helium, methane) Methane gives Neptune its blue-ish color Winds can blow as fast as 1000 MPH at the planet’s equator Neptune

Neptune has 13 moons Two can be seen from Earth Triton– Neptune’s largest moon Voyager space missions gave us our info on the moon. The spacecraft sent back pictures of nitrogen “geysers” erupting on Triton’s surface Neptune rings-- small, very dark clumps of rock --about the size of a small car. Have a large amount of dust in the rings One of the rings has a twist in it. Neptune

Some sources say the astronomers Galle and d’Arrest discovered Neptune on September 23, 1846, although other sources say that it was Adams in Interesting fact --astronomers were looking for it before it was known to exist. After William Herschel discovered Uranus, astronomers noticed that Uranus’ orbit didn’t seem to obey the laws of physics. Something was making Uranus move in unexpected ways. Astronomers decided that there must be another planet making Uranus move and they then calculated where the new planet might be.Uranus Neptune

Before: Question of The Day During: PPT Notes on Pluto After: Exit Slip Week 4 Day 3

How long is a Neptune day? Answer: day sixteen hours Week 4 Day 3 Question of The Day

In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted Pluto from a Planet to a Dwarf Planet. Out of the 10,000 members only about 500 were at the meeting to vote on this decision. 237 voted to demote 157 voted to keep as a planet A Planet or Not????

As defined by the IAU in August 2006 – Must orbit a sun – Must be big enough for gravity to squash it into a round ball – Must have cleared other objects out of the way in its orbital neighborhood To clear an orbit it must be able to pull the objects into the planet itself or to sling-shot them around the planet and into outer space What it takes to be a planet!!

According to IAU, in 2006, Pluto did not meet third criteria. New Horizons sent to Pluto – A nine yr. trip New Horizons spacecraft arrived on Pluto in July Because of info. gathered by New Horizon, Plutos right to be a planet was argued at IAU assembly in August Pluto

Nothing decided in 2015 Many people calling Pluto a planet again NASA’s Dawn space ship arrived on Ceres in March 2015 Evidence gathered leads us to believe Ceres meets planetary requirements. – Ceres first discovered —classified as planet – Demoted to asteroid 1850 – Promoted to Dwarf Planet in 2006 IAU 2016 assembly will decide weather or not these two “Dwarf Planets” deserve to be reinstated as Planets!! Pluto

a small planet an outer planet elliptical orbit average distance from the Sun --6 billion km. Origins of name unknown—Possible origins – Pluto is the Roman god of darkness and the underworld. – Pluto is always in darkness. – It may have also have been given its name from the fact that its symbol “PL” are the initials of Percival Lowell, who founded the observatory where Pluto’s discoverer, Mr. Tombaugh, worked. Week 4 Day3 Pluto

Comparison to Earth-ping pong ball to soccer ball Earth’s moon is larger than Pluto. can not be seen with a normal telescope from Earth Pluto is the only planet in the solar system that has not been explored with a spacecraft. Discovered Clyde Tombaugh Pluto

dark frozen world made of a mixture of rocks and several kinds of “ices” most of the ices are frozen methane and ammonia surface temp. are less than -200 degrees Celsius atmosphere to thin to support life one tiny moon– Charon – discovered 1978 – half the size of Pluto – No other moon in the solar system is as large, when compared to the planet it revolves around. – Pluto and Charon are so similar in size that some astronomers think of them as a double planet. Pluto Hypotheses

orbit is tilted Looking at the solar system from an “edge”, most of the planets are in a line like a table top, with the Sun in the middle. This line, or plane, is called the ecliptic. The rest of the planets’ orbits stay on this plane. However, Pluto’s orbit is tilted at an angle to the rest of the solar system. Pluto spins in the opposite direction from Earth. This means that the dim Sun would rise in the west and set in the east.Earth Pluto Special Features

Before: Question of The Day During: Review After: Mini-Q Week 4 Day 4

When was Pluto’s moon discovered? – Answer: discovered 1978 Week 4 Day 4 Question of The Day

Before: Question of The Day During: Review After: Mini Test Week 4 Day 5

Which two planets spin in the opposite direction of Earth? Answer: Pluto and Uranus Week 4 Day 5 Question of The Day