Astronomy 1021 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Great Red Spot, Valles Marineris, Terrestrial Planet

• School: Western University
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: Astronomy 1021
• Professor: Prof

Document Summary

Chapter 1 - tour of the solar system. All those objects that are in orbit around the sun: Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit (this is why pluto is. Mercury, venus, earth, mars, jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune. A dwarf planet is a celestial body that. Has sufficient mass for its self-gracity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape i. e. is large enough to have settled into a round shape. Has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit (this is why pluto is not a planet) All other bodies except satellites that orbit the sun shall be referred to as small solar-system bodies. Astronomical unit (au): the mean distance between the centers of the sun and the earth = 1. 5x1011m (150 million km) Inclination rances 0 < inc ( ) < 7. The orbital periods (i. e. the length of their year) is longer for planets forther out.