AST 2003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Solar System, Gas Giant, Terrestrial Planet
Document Summary
The tilt happened because of an impact with a rocky planet. 1 uranus year = 84 earth years. 1 day= 17 earth hours: distance- 30 au, atmosphere. 2. 3 % methane: mass- 15 times that of earth, density- 1318 kg/m^3 ( it would sink in water, color and shape. To the naked eye the planet looks featureless. A closer look showed that the planet has belts and zones like jupiter. The methane molecule is the same size of the red light. When the planet is hit by the sun, all the red light is consumed by the methane and that is how we get the blue color: rings. Not visible because they are dark and very thin. 1977- occupation: they were looking at the stars in the there are currently 15 rings around the planet background of the planet. When the star got closer to the ring the star dimmed its light every time that it touched the rings.
