outer planets
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Outer PlanetsAstronomy Chapter 2.4
Pages 70-77
• The gas giants– Jupiter
– Saturn
– Uranus
– Neptune
Outer Planets
• Structure:– Do not have solid
surfaces
– Huge spheres of gas, no well-defined surface
– All have rings.
Outer Planets
• Structure:– Large masses =
large gravitational pulls
– Gravitational pull keeps gases from escaping
– Thick Atmosphere’s contain mostly hydrogen and helium
Outer Planets
• Solid Core– Each gas giant has a partly solid core– These cores have much more mass than
Earth.– Not much is known because they are buried
deep in the planets.
Outer Planets
• The most massive planet. (300 times more massive than Earth.)
• Thick atmosphere, colorful bands of gases
• The Great Red Spot – giant area of swirling clouds (many times bigger than Earth)
Jupiter
• 4 of Jupiter’s moons – Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto) discovered by Galileo
• Scientists have found 62 moons so far.
Jupiter
• Io – active volcanoes
• Europa – icy crust, may have liquid water under it
Jupiter
• Ganymede – largest moon, twice the mass of Earth, icy, cratered surface with huge grooves
• Callisto – icy surface, no part of surface is free of craters
Jupiter
• Second largest planet
• Thick atmosphere
• Atmosphere also contains clouds and storms.
Saturn
• Less dense than water. Would float in huge body of water.
• Known for its hundreds of beautiful rings.
• Rings made of ice and rock.
Saturn
• Titan is the largest moon.
• Titan has such a thick atmosphere light can not pass through it.
• Scientists have found 61 moons so far.
Saturn
• Twice as far from the sun as Saturn.
• Looks blue because of methane in atmosphere.
• Axis is tilted on its side at a 90° angle.
Uranus
• Rings go around the North and South poles.
• Moons show volcanic eruptions and crater hits.
• Scientists have found 27 moons so far.
Uranus
• 30 times farther from the sun than Earth.
• Atmosphere contains clouds, surface is not as smooth as Uranus.
Neptune
• Discovered as a result of a mathematical prediction
• Great Dark Spot lasted 5 years
• Scientists have found 13 moons so far.
Neptune
Based on the characteristics of both innerand outer planets, should Pluto be a planet?
Why or why not?
Pluto
• Pluto has one moon, Charon– Charon is ½ the size of
Pluto• Pluto is 1/3 the size of
Earth’s moon– Classified as a “dwarf
planet”• Pluto is the largest of many
rocky, ice objects revolving around the sun beyond Neptune’s orbit.
Pluto
What to Work On• Complete Inner and Outer Planet packets
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