AST-1A Lecture 14: Ast-1A_-_Day_14
Document Summary
Material left over from solar system formation. 1. 1-1. 9 million asteroids (if all added together would be smaller than earth"s moon). C= carbonaceous 75% - most common composed of silica rock and clay. S= stoney 17% - silica rock, iron and nickel. Largest is ceres actually considered a dwarf planet. Belt is very sparse, average million mile distance from each other. Meteor=particle that vaporizes in earth"s atmosphere (shooting star). A gas giant 75% h and 24% he. Twice as massive as all other planets combined. 80 times bigger and it would become a star. Fast rotation = 10 hour rotational period. Solid core of rock/ice surrounded by liquid metallic hydrogen. This liquid metallic hydrogen does not exist on earth but is believed to exist in the great pressure near jupiter"s core. This convects and is responsible for the strong magnetic field (20,000 x"s earth"s field). Does have a ring of fine particles.
