AST101H1 Lecture Notes - Galilean Moons, Cloud Top, Oort Cloud
5 Jun 2013
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AST101H1 Full Course Notes
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Comparing the worlds to one another, seeking to understand their similarities and differences = comparative planetology. Astronomers use the term planetology broadly to include moon"s asteroids, and comets as well as planets. Cosmic context the solar system: large bodies in the solar system have orderly motions. All planets have nearly circular orbits going in the same direction in nary the same plane. Most large moons orbit their planets in this same direction, which is also the direction of the sun"s rotation: planets fall into two major categories. Small, rocky terrestrial planets and large, hydrogen- rich jovian planets: terrestrial planets: Made of h, he, and hydrogen compounds. 99. 8% of the solar system"s total mass, making it more than a thousand times as massive as everything else in the solar system combined. Its gravity governs the orbits of the planets. Its heat is the primary influence on the temperatures of planetary surfaces and atmospheres.
