AST101H1 Chapter 2: AST101 Readings 2

• School: UTSG
• Department: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Course: AST101H1
• Professor: Bryan Gaensler

Document Summary

Table 7. 1 (don"t memorize it, have a general idea of sizes and scales) Identify key properties of each planet, emphasizing commonalities and exceptions. Figure 7. 1: large bodies in the solar system have orderly motions. All planets have nearly circular orbits going in the same direction in nearly 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 2 major categories: small, rocky terrestrial planets and large, hydrogen- rich jovian planets. Many moons and rings: swarms of asteroids and comets populate the solar system. Vast numbers of rocky asteroids and icy comes are found throughout the solar system, but are concentrated in 2 distinct regions: asteroids are made of metal and rock, and most orbit in the asteroid belt between. Table 7. 1: shows sizes and scales of the planets.