Lecture Notes:
Terrestrial planets: Summary
text: Chapter 8: Section 8.5
Summary and Model check:
- Tectonic activity
- appears to be related to size
- smaller -> cools faster -> less activity
- Mercury is least active
- Venus and Earth are most active
- model works fine
- Atmospheres
- related to size, mass and temperature
- Mercury: small, low mass, high temperature => no
atmosphere
- Mars: intermediate size and mass, low temperature =>
weak atmosphere
- Venus and Earth: large, high mass, moderate temperature
=> atmosphere - but no hydrogen or helium
- model works fine
- Circulation
- patterns depend on relative strength of rotation and
convection
- model is OK
- Magnetic field
- some possible problems with model
- OK in some cases
Now leaving terrestrial planets.
Skip over the asteriod belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Look at Gas Giant planets next.
We expect:
- colder temperatures (farther from Sun)
- more gasses trapped in atmospheres (especially hydrogen and
helium)
- larger planets
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