AST-1A Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Event Horizon, Mercurial, Ecliptic
Document Summary
Goal- to understand how solar system works. It takes 8 km/s to go from the surface of the earth to earth orbit. The size of the core differs from planet to planet, but most are made of iron. However, the size and makeup of the mantel varies. No all have a crust like we know it. Some have an atmosphere, but the size and composition vary. The surface of mercury is heavily cratered. This means that the surface of mercury is very old (4 billion years old) and geologically dead. However, there are mile high cliffs called scarps which are miles long. There are also long faults as shown on the right. The cliffs are a result of cooling. The core of mercury cooled so much early in its history that the plane shrunk by a few kilometers. The faults are another signature of this ongoing shrinking.
