AS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Maxwell Montes, Venera 2, Venera 8
Document Summary
Solar system formed from a collapsing cloud. Spin of the solar system (and all the objects in it) comes from the spin of the original cloud. Spin is also responsible for the flatness of most of the solar system in the plane of the ecliptic. (note: this is the same process that gives the milky way galaxy its mostly flat shape. ) Chemical composition and size of planets changes with distance from the sun. This has to do with changes in temperature with distance from the sun: farther away = colder, and therefore more solids available for forming planets. One important boundary was the ice line: the distance at which temperatures were low enough to solidify water. Process of planet formation would have stopped soon after the sun. Turned on and drive away most of the remaining gas + dust. Review: two main ways of detecting extrasolar planets:
