AST 2002 Lecture 1: [AST 2002] - Final Exam Guide - Everything you need to know! (140 pages long)
Document Summary
Planetary interiors heat up through: accretion, differentiation, radioactivity. Planets cool off through: conduction: heat flowing on the microscopic level, convection: heat flowing on the macroscopic level (bulk motions, radiation: energy transferred by photons. The larger the planet, the longer it takes to cool off. You feel cold when you step outside in a t-shirt on a winter day because you are losing heat through conduction. Three ingredients for planetary-scale magnetic field: electrical conductor (in the core, convection- warm interior (moves stuff from the inside to the outside, ex. Ours deflects the particles that come from the sun. Metals are good conductors are electricity and heat. Earth has the strongest magnetic field of the terrestrial planets. Major geological processes that shape planetary surfaces: Objects hit planet at 10-70 km/s: a solid rock is vaporized, a crater is excavated. Matter is ejected in all directions: craters are circular, large craters have a central peak.
