Astronomy 1021 Lecture 7: Astronomy – Chapter 7
16 Jan 2019
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Name the terrestrial planets and their moons; give their masses and orbital semi-major axes (relative to that of the earth) to one significant figure. Moons: 2 (very small) phobos and deimos. Three main areas we want to focus on when looking at terrestrial planets: interior, surface, atmosphere. Three regions: core (metals) (solid inner, liquid outer, mantle (oxygen, crust (granite) We can infer the density structure of earth"s interior by using seismic waves. Studying these waves tells us what the earth"s interior looks like. There is some seismic activity on moons as well. Lower-density material rises to surface, indicated crust must have been molten at some point. Gravitational potential energy is converted into thermal energy. Mars has limited activity, earth is active. The magnetic field is an effect of internal heat; it is caused by moving charged particles in the liquid part of the core, it protects us from space radiation (suns solar wind)
