Astronomy 1021 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8-9: Galilean Moons, Metallic Hydrogen, Tidal Heating

• School: Western University
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: Astronomy 1021
• Professor: Sarah Gallagher

Document Summary

Jupiter: 5. 20 au from the sun, mass = 318m earth, composition: mostly h, he. Saturn: 9. 54 au from the sun, mass = 95m earth, low density for size, composition: mostly h, he. Uranus: 19. 2 au from sun, mass = 14m earth, composition: hydrogen compounds, rock, h and he. Neptune: 30. 1 au from the sun, mass = 17m earth, composition: hydrogen compounds, rock, hydrogen and helium. In terms of composition you can divide the jovian planets into two types: jupiter and saturn are gas giants, uranus and neptune are ice giants. Jupiter and saturn are made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium with just a small amount of their masses coming from hydrogen compounds: all jovian planets differ primarily in their relative proportions of hydrogen compounds. Their inner compositions are more similar to the sun than the terrestrial planets. All jovian planets are thought to have grown from ice-rich planetesimals.