1. Chapter 7 The Outer Planets

2. What do you think? Is Jupiter a “failed star” or almost a star? What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot? Does Jupiter have continents and oceans? Are the rings of Saturn solid ribbons?

6. Besides being the largest planet, Jupiter is probably best known for its Great Red Spot - a hurricane-like storms that has been observed ever since the invention of the telescope.

7. Jupiter’s rotation helps create colorful global weather patterns

9. Jupiter’s Chemistry 86% hydrogen 13% helium 1% stuff –methane CH 4 –ammonia NH 3 –water vapor H 2 O

10. The light zones are regions of hotter, rising gas, while the dark belts are regions of cooler, descending gas.

11. Jupiter’s interior has three distinct regions Upper atmosphere of clouds and gas Middle layer of liquid metallic hydrogen Small rocky protoplanet core

12. Pieces of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments collided with Jupiter in 1994

13. Jupiter is orbited by four large moons and tens of small ones

14. Io’s surface is sculpted by volcanic activity

16. Europa may harbor liquid water below its surface

18. Ganymede is larger that Mercury

19. Callisto wears the scars of a huge asteroid impact

24. Saturn’s banded surface and layered interior are similar to those of Jupiter

25. Saturn’s spectacular rings are composed of fragments of ice and ice-coated rock

26. Moons Pandora and Prometheus act as shepherd moons and keep the F ring to a band about 100km wide because of gravitational effects.

27. Dust spokes in Saturn’s rings

28. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon

29. Titan has a thick, opaque atmosphere rich in nitrogen, methane and other hydrocarbons (including ethane, acetylene, ethylene, and propane)

31. Uranus sports a hazy atmosphere with few clouds A system of rings and satellites revolves around Uranus

32. Uranus’ odd moon Miranda

33. Uranus’ tilt gives it very exaggerated seasons

36. Uranus and Neptune have similar interiors

37. Neptune’s Rings

38. Neptune’s largest moon, Tritan, was probably captured by Neptune’s gravity

39. And then, there is one planet unlike any of the others …..

40. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh by comparing photographs taken a few days apart.

41. Pluto and its moon, Charon, are about the same size

44. What did you think? Is Jupiter a “failed star” or almost a star? Jupiter has 75 times too little mass to shine as a star. What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot? The Great Red Spot is a long-lived hurricanelike storm. Does Jupiter have continents and oceans? Jupiter is completely enveloped in a sea of liquid hydrogen and helium Are the rings of Saturn solid ribbons? Saturn’s rings are all composed of thin, closely spaced ringlets consisting of particles of ice and ice-coated rocks. If they were solid ribbons, Saturn’s gravitational tidal force would tear them apart.

45. Self-Check 1: Name and describe the visible features in the Jovian atmosphere. 2: Sketch and label the major elements of the ring system of Saturn and describe its composition. 3: Compare and contrast the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. 4: Compare and contrast the internal structures of Jupiter and Saturn with that of Uranus and Neptune. 5: Compare and contrast the ring systems of the outer planets. 6: Compare and contrast the atmospheric features of Uranus and Neptune. 7: Describe the geologic activity observed on Io and explain the probable origin of this activity. 8: Compare and contrast the inner and outer Galilean satellites in terms of internal structure and surface features. 9: List the gases that compose Titan’s atmosphere and discuss the possibility of the existence of life forms there. 10: Compare and contrast the Voyager 2 observations of Triton with those of Titan in terms of atmospheric composition and surface features identified. 11: Describe the physical properties of Pluto in the context of planetary classification.