AS101 Lecture 20: AS101 Lecture 20
Document Summary
All of the jovian planets have many satellites as well as rings. Each planet with its moons and rings forms a whole interacting system: They are heated internally through tidal forces from the main planet. Matter is exchanged (for example, there"s evidence that material ejected from io"s volcanoes ends up on europa. ) Although none are much bigger than mercury, some of the jovian moons are active, interesting worlds. Internal heating by tidal stresses leads to geological activity (volcanoes, geysers, moving plates, etc. ) Low surface temperature allows titan to have an atmosphere. Io (jupiter): closest of the four large gallilean moons. Europa (jupiter): cracked icy surface probably covers ocean of liquid water. Titan (saturn): thick hazy atmosphere of mostly nitrogen. Like the asteroid belt, consists of a large number of small objects. Includes some dwarf planets (like pluto), comets, etc. First kuiper belt objects (kbos) discovered 1992. More icy in composition whereas asteroid belt is more rocky.
