AST 2002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Radar Imaging, Methane
Document Summary
Circular orbits in same direction as planet rotation. Io is squished and stretched as it orbits jupiter . The tugs add up over time, making all three orbits elliptical. Every seven days, these three moons line up. Titian is the only moon in the solar system with a thick atmosphere. It consists mostly of nitrogen with some argon, methane, and ethane. The huygens probe provided a first look at titan"s surface in early 2005. It had liquid methane, rocks made of ice. Radar imaging of titan"s surface has revealed dark, smooth regions that may be lakes of liquid methane. Fountains of ice particles and water vapor from the surface of encleadies. Moon miranda has large tectonic features and few craters (episode of tidal heating in past?) Neptune"s moon tritan similar to pluto, but larger. They are mad e up of numerous, tiny individual particles.
