PH1600: Introductory Astronomy Lecture 6: Mercury, Venus, & Mars What is this?

PH1600: Introductory Astronomy Lecture 6: The Terrestrial Planets: Mercury, Venus, & Mars Next Lecture: Earth and Moon School: Michigan Technological University Professor: Robert Nemiroff Online Course WebCT pages: This class can be taken online ONLY, class attendance is not required!

You are responsible for… Lecture material Listed wikipedia entries But not higher math APODs posted during the semester APOD review every week during lecture Completing the Quizzes Homework quizzes 1 & 2 already due Homework 3 quiz due before 5 pm today See WebCT at

4 Wikipedia entries: Mercury_(planet) Venus Mars Phoenix Lander 4

Terrestrial Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, & Mars Mostly composed of rock All in the inner Solar System

Orbits of the Terrestrial Planets Text

Mercury First rock from the Sun Very hot Little atmosphere Orbits once in 88 Earth days Rotates once in 59 Earth days 3:2 orbital resonance of elliptical orbit Visited by Mariner 10 in MESSENGER in 2008 Will orbit Mercury in 2011

Mercury Over Leeds Credit & Copyright: Tony Cook APOD: 2005 March 7

Mercury Spotting Credit: SOHO - EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA APOD: 2004 June 6

A Mercury Transit Sequence Credit & Copyright: Dominique Dierick APOD: 2003 May 27

Mercury: A Cratered Inferno Credit: Mariner 10, NASA APOD: 2004 September 12

Southwest Mercury Credit: Mariner 10, NASA APOD: 2003 February 16

Messenger Launch Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper APOD: 2004 August 14

14 Mercury in Accentuated Color Credit: MESSENGER, NASA, JHU APL, CIW APOD: 2008 March 19

A Spider Shaped Crater on Mercury Credit: MESSENGER, NASA, JHU APL, CIWMESSENGER APL APOD: 2APOD: 2008 February 4ary

Mercury's Faults Credit: NASA, JPL, Mariner 10, Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton (LANL) APOD: January 21, 1996

Mercury's Caloris Basin Credit: NASA, JPL, Mariner 10 APOD: 1996 January 20

Venus Second rock from the Sun Size and mass similar to Earth Covered by highly reflective clouds Mostly Carbon Dioxide Orbits once in Earth days Rotates once in 243 Earth days

Venus Surface atmosphere hot and dense Surface temperature: 750 K Surface pressure: 90 times Earth Caused by greenhouse effect Landing by Soviet Veneras in 1970s & 1980s Venus Express (ESA) arrived in 2006 Studying clouds

A Quadruple Sky Over Great Salt Lake Credit & Copyright: Michael Wilson APOD: 2005 September 13

The Belt of Venus over the Valley of the Moon Credit & Copyright: Christine Churchill APOD: 2006 July 23

Space Station, Venus, Sun Credit & Copyright: Tomas Maruska (SAAD) APOD: 2004 July 20

A Picturesque Venus Transit Credit & Copyright: David Cortner APOD: 2004 June 23

S is for Venus Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel APOD: 2005 January 7

Venus Express Arrives at Venus Credit: ESA/MPS, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany APOD: 2006 July 17

Venus: Earth's Cloudy Twin Credit: Galileo Spacecraft, JPL, NASA; Copyright: Calvin J. Hamilton APOD: 2004 May 16

Venus Unveiled Credit: Magellan Project, JPL, NASA APOD: 2005 September 3

Venus' Once Molten Surface Credit: E. De Jong et al. (JPL), MIPL, Magellan Team, NASA APOD: 2005 April 10

Atete Corona on Venus Credit: Magellan Spacecraft Team, USGS, NASA APOD: 2002 March 12

Lava Flows on Venus Credit: Magellan Project, JPL, NASA APOD: 2004 March 23

One Hundred-Kilometer Terrain on Venus Credit: Magellan Spacecraft, USGS, NASA APOD: 2001 May 7

A Venus Landing Credit: Soviet Planetary Exploration Program, NSSDC APOD: 2003 November 30

Venus Express in Venus orbit

Swirling Clouds Over the South Pole of Venus Credit: ESA/MPS, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany APOD: 2007 May 1

Mars Fourth planet from the Sun Once thought inhabited by Martians making canals Orbits in 687 Earth days Rotates in 24 h 40 m Thin atmosphere Mostly Carbon Dioxide Coldest: -140 C; Warmest: 21 C Surface pressure 1% of Earths

Earth Webcam Catches Mars Rotation Credit: Howard C. Anderson (Astroshow.com) APOD: 2003 August 26

Retrograde Mars Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel APOD: 2003 December 16

Z is for Mars Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel APOD: 2006 April 22

Mars Then and Now Credit & Copyright: Tom Ruen, Eugene Antoniadi, Lowell Hess, Roy A. Gallant, HST, NASA APOD: 2003 November 12

Mars Moons Credit & Copyright: Johannes Schedler (Panther Observatory) APOD: 2003 October 24

Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA APOD: 2004 November 19

Deimos: A Small Martian Moon Credit: Viking Project, JPL, NASA APOD: 2001 September 2

Valles Marineris: The Grand Canyon of Mars Credit: Viking Project, USGS, NASA APOD: 2006 July 30

A Digital Opportunity Rover on Mars Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA Rover Model: D. Maas - Synthetic Image: Z. Gorjian et al. APOD: 2005 December 14

Earth or Mars? Earth Image Credit & Copyright: Filipe Alves; Mars Image Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA APOD: 2005 April 12

Red Mars from Spirit Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA APOD: 2004 January 7

Heat Shield Impact Crater on Mars Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA APOD: 2005 February 9

Steep Cliffs on Mars Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA APOD: 2005 March 15

Unusual Plates on Mars Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA APOD: 2005 February 28

Water Ice in a Martian Crater Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA; Image created for and Copyright: Nature APOD: 2005 July 20

A Dust Devil Crater on Mars Credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA APOD: 2003 December 30

A Martian Dust Devil Passes Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA APOD: 2005 April 26

Global Dust Storms Threaten Mars Rovers Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA APOD: 2007 July 25

55 Victoria Crater on Mars Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA APOD: 2007 October 22

Inside Victoria Crater on Mars Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA APOD: 2007 September 17

57 Phoenix Digs for Clues on Mars Credit: Phoenix Mission Team, NASA, JPL- Caltech, U. Arizona, Texas A&M University APOD: 2008 June 15

58 Phoenix and the Snow Queen Credit: Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo, Phoenix Mission, NASA, JPL, UA, Max Planck Inst., Aviation Week and Space Technology APOD: 2008 June 12

A Face On Mars Credit: The Viking Project, NASA APOD: 1998 April 6

Mars Express Close-Up of the Face on Mars APOD: 2006 September 25