CAS AS 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Ammonia, Galilean Moons, Planetary Science

• School: Boston University
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: CAS AS 101
• Professor: Catherine Espaillat

Document Summary

There are eight major planets with nearly circular orbits. Dwarf planets are smaller than the major planets and some have quite elliptical orbits. The inner planets (mercury, venus, earth, mars) are smaller than out of planets, rocky, and dense. All planets rotate counter clockwise around the sun. Venus because it"s orbit is interior to ours. At midnight, we face directly opposite of the sun. We can learn more about a world like our earth by studying it in context with other words in the solar system. Stay focused on processes common to multiple worlds instead of individual facts specific to a particular world. Those patterns provide insights that help us understand our own planet. Planets are very tiny compared to distances between them. Converts 4 million tons of mass into energy each second. Made of metal and rock, large iron core. Very hot, very cold 425 c (day), -170 c (night)