ASTR 001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Giant Planet, Solar Wind, Planetesimal
Document Summary
Timing: the planet that forms earliest captures the most hydrogen & helium gas. Capture ceases after the first solar wind blew the leftover gas away. Location: the planet that forms in a denser part of the nebula forms its core first. Far more numerous than the medium and large moons. Not e(cid:374)ough gra(cid:448)it(cid:455) to (cid:271)e spheri(cid:272)al: (cid:862)potato-shaped(cid:863) Captured asteroids, so orbits do not follow patterns. Orbits can be tilted, elliptical, and even backwards. Ices deform and melt at much lower temperatures than rock, allowing icy volcanism and tectonics at surprisingly low temperatures. Many particles of ice and dust orbit jovian planets. Many particle collisions cause the rings to be very thin (tens of meters!) Gap moons and orbital resonances create the effect of rings and gaps. Asteroid - a rocky leftover planetesimal orbiting the sun. Comet an icy leftover planetesimal orbiting the sun, regardless of its size or whether it has a tail.
